There’s no doubt that in our digital age, social media and online presence is crucial to engaging with your customers, audiences or users. Due to the growing demand of higher quality images on these platforms, several of us in the DIU have recently given talks about achieving the best image quality using low-tech solutions. The great thing about phones and tablets is that we’re able to share content to social media from anywhere, creating a sense of immediacy and dynamism. Being able to take great photos and videos with just our phones can be challenging, but knowing the best settings and set-up can help to create great images that will make your posts more engaging.
I started the session with a talk about the importance of knowing copyright in our role as content creators, the reasons we need images on social media, showed several examples of poor images and asked our audience to identify what could be improved. Recognising what makes one photograph more effective than another is the first step to creating better images!
Susan then expanded on these ideas with a practical session which illustrated the importance of good lighting, framing and sharpness. This demonstration was centred around having a light (which represented a window) and how to best place the object in relation to it, to achieve the most even lighting. Reflectors were also discussed- what a difference a sheet of white paper can make!
Susan also showed us how to photograph books with shiny covers, and how best to minimise the reflection. Finally, a mention of how to photograph somebody against a bright background was also beneficial.
Malcolm rounded off the session talking about why videos are important for social media, and the key things to watch out for – the choice of landscape or portrait orientation, your framing and composition, and your lighting. 
The most important part, however was the importance of audio quality- we think everyone should watch this video, it’s so effective!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PLMiA18tBc
We hope everyone enjoyed the training sessions, and can’t wait to see your new and improved photo skills in action!
Juliette Lichman
Project Digitisation Assistant
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