Take Your Best Shot

• Purchasing a digital camera
• How one works
• What makes a good picture?
• Graphic file formats
• Getting images from camera to computer
• Editing images
• Software options
• How to use your images
• Other considerations, including "do we need permission?"
• Time for questions and play!

Take it away, Best Buy!

 

Focus

• Squeeze gently
  
• Hold still!
• Use the self-timer

Good exposure

• Turn off the auto-flash
  
  

A good frame

• Get close
• Avoid centering your subject - Rule of Thirds
  
• Take landscape and portrait photos
• Use odd or unusual angles
• Get down or climb up!

People doing things

• Group shots tend to always look the same
• Capture the spontaneous
• Be subtle

Good color and contrast

• Pay attention to the light - indoor and outdoor
• Consider the background
  
• Look for eye-catching color
  

Shoot, shoot, then shoot some more!

• The more you shoot the greater the chance you'll end up with something fantastic
  
  
• Learn how to delete on your camera

JPG

• Best for photographs with lots of colors!
  
• Most digital cameras are set to automatically save images as JPGs.
  
• The image quality of JPGs can be set when saving them on your computer.

High quality, bigger file size (44.1 KB)

Lower quality, smaller file size (4.32 KB)

GIF

• Best for clip art, not for photos.
• Allows for only 256 colors.

.jpg                                                          .gif

PNG

• Created to replace GIF.
• Not as widely used, as some browsers do not support this format.

TIF

Take it away, Renee!

 

 

Most important tip:

Always save your edited image with a new name!

This will allow you to keep your original image as it was before editing in case you need to start fresh again.

Snipshot

• Free!
• Browser-based
• Import image from web or your computer
• Export to Flickr or save in a variety of formats
  (GIF, JPG, PDF, PNG, or TIF)
• Allows basic editing:
  crop, rotate, resize, and adjustments like contrast, brightness, saturation, sharpness and hue
• Unlimited undo and redo
• http://snipshot.com/

ResizR

• Free!
• Browser-based
• Allows you to resize images and rotate
• Images resized must be JPGs
• Very easy to use
• Great tool for quickly editing images to post on your web site
• Can be slow, but worth the wait (did I mention it's free?!)
• http://resizr.lord-lance.com/

Phixr

• Free!
• Browser-based
• Must set up a username and password to use
• Allows basic image editing:
  crop, rotate, resize, and adjustments like contrast, brightness, saturation, sharpness and hue
• Allows additional features:
  fix red eye, create a border or frame, make rounded corners, add text, convert to sepia or black & white, apply effects
• Export to Flickr or save in a variety of formats
  (GIF, JPG, PDF, PNG, or Text OCR)
• http://www.phixr.com/

Print output

Take it away, Renee!

 

Email to friends, family, colleagues

See handout.

Post them on your library's web site

• Do NOT resize in your HTML editor!
• Keep an eye on the file size
• Don't add fluff
• Futzing required!
  Examples of sizes that might be good to use on your web site:
  
  448x336
  
  
  300x225
  
  
  150x113

Share your photos on flickr

• Free!
• Browser-based
• Need to set up an account
• Uses tagging
• Great way to show the world what your library is doing
• Can make photos public or private
• Order prints from within Flickr or create MOO cards
• Bloggers can blog photos directly
• Check out the Libraries and Librarians Group and consider joining it
• Cool things libraries are doing with Flickr:
  new book shelf @ McGrath Library
  historical photos at Tutt Library
  Marathon County Public Library events
• http://www.flickr.com/

Use Kodak Gallery

• Free!
• Browser-based
• Need to set up an account
• Allows you to upload photos into albums and share them with selected people via email
• Order professional prints or use your photos to create products like calendars, photo books, mugs, cards, etc.
• Better for controlled access
• http://www.kodakgallery.com/

Snapfish

Take it away, Renee!

 

Create products to sell online

• Use cafepress.com to create products and
  open your own online storefront
• Free and easy to use
• Earn money on how much you sell or mark up your items
• Examples:
  InfoSoup
  Desperate Librarian
  
  

Use in presentations

Take it away, Renee!

 

Taking and posting pictures of patrons

Do you need permission to take pictures in your library?

• Technically? No
• Ethically? Maybe

Do you need permission to post pictures of patrons online or to use them in library publications?

• Technically? Maybe
• Ethically? Maybe

There is a wide variety of opinion out there, and there was no consensus.

• Do what you, your board, and your community is comfortable with
• Don't publish full names with photos
• Consider asking for verbal permission
• Find a balance that works for you
• Have a permission form ready

Use photos available for free online

Take it away, Renee!

 

Ask away!

Or feel free to contact us:

Beth Carpenter
Library Services Manager
Outagamie Waupaca Library System
bcarpent [at] mail.owls.lib.wi.us
920-832-6368

Renee Miller
Graphic Arts Specialist
Winnefox Library System
Miller [at] winnefox.org
920-236-5220

Thanks for coming to Take Your Best Shot!

General Sites

About: Photography
Includes everything you need to know: digital camera basics, digital vs. film, top cameras, getting better photos, understanding your camera, etc.

Digital Camera Help
Easy-to-understand information about digital cameras, accessories, image editing, and more. “Digicamhelp is simply the easiest place on the web to learn about digital photography!”

Kodak: Taking Great Pictures
Lots of tips on taking pictures, digital cameras, printing pictures, sharing pictures, projects and ideas, and enhancing and restoring images.

PopPhoto.com: How To
Tips on image editing, composition, lighting, shooting technique, and more.

Software for image editing

• Adobe Photoshop Elements ($89.99) -
  Can be found cheaper  elsewhere on the web – Amazon.com often has it on sale or with a rebate.
• Snipshot (free web)
• ResizR (free web)
• Phixr (free web)
• Picasa (free download)

Sites for photo sharing and ordering prints

• Flickr
• Snapfish
• Kodak Gallery 
• Picasa (Web Albums)

Creating products

• Some of the above sites and CaféPress.com

Other sites or products discussed during Take Your Best Shot

• Gorillapod
  Cool bendy tripod that can wrap itself around just about anything.
• Rules of photo composition
  A nice description of the Rule of Thirds and other composition rules to consider along with good visual examples.
• Flickr’s Libraries and Librarians group
  See what libraries and librarians are up to and explore the photos by this group. Join if you create an account for you or your library. Be sure to read the tagging guidelines on this page if you join the group.

Free stock photo sites

• http://www.sxc.hu/index.phtml
• http://yotophoto.com/
• http://www.barrysfreephotos.com/
• http://www.kavewall.com/stock/
• http://wikipedia.org/