Have you ever wondered how people use media throughout their day? Tom Kennedy, former multimedia director for WashingtonPost.com, gave a talk to the Atlanta ASMP group, and one of his slides during the presentation intrigued me. He shared a list of ways people interact with media throughout the day:

• Commuting: Podcasts, iPhones, Radio
• Work Hours: Email Alerts, SMS, Tweets
• Lunch Hours/Office Breaks: Websites
• Daily Living Tasks: SMS, Tweets, IMs, Drive-By Media
• Home Leisure Time: Web, TV, Radio, iPods, iPhone

Kennedy pointed out that people often use media based on their available time. For example, when riding a train, sitting at an airport, or taking a bus, they are likelier to get messages through their phone. Therefore, it’s crucial to know how your audience receives your message. They may use a phone that allows web surfing, like the iPhone or Blackberry.

People cannot always surf the web during work hours, so they will allow for short messaging through email, tweets, and SMS (Social Media Sites). As communicators, we need to understand how our audience receives information. It’s easier to find the audience than to have the audience find us.

This past February was a milestone for SMS. Now, more people are communicating through Social Media than with email. We need to adapt to this change for those of us who are communicators.

If you want to engage with your audience effectively, you must ask yourself where your audience is and, more specifically, where they are throughout the workday. Are you waiting for them to find you, or are you looking for them? It’s essential to understand how your audience receives information and adapt your communication strategy accordingly.

I’m excited to help Chick-fil-A visually engage its base. I’m seeing how operators (franchise owners) use texting, email, Twitter, FaceBook, Websites, Billboards, Events, and more to engage with their audience. What’s exciting is they’re unsatisfied and feel they could do more and be even more effective. So let’s take a page from their book and look for more ways to engage with our audience effectively.

The making of great photographs requires an investment. We need a camera, computer, and software and, possibly, we need to attend classes to learn how to use all this equipment.

Should we buy a Mac or a PC? Which camera should we believe — Nikon, Canon, Leica, or Hasselblad? Which workshops or photo books do we require? We’ll need to read reviews of these products before making the investments.

However, the No. 1 investment a photographer can make isn’t about gear or training. Instead, it’s to invest your time and, as the Boy Scouts put it, “be prepared.”

Always Ready

National Geographic photographer Jim Brandenburg moved to the forest edge to have more time photographing wolves and other animals. He wanted to be ready when the time came to make those outstanding photos.

National Geographic photographers and writers usually spend three months on an assignment. Then, they take a break in the middle of the shoot, come home and review their work. The break gives them time to pause and reflect, so they can go back and fill in any gaps or expand parts of the coverage.

We can’t always devote three months waiting for great photo ops, but like Jim Brandenburg, we can be ready when the time comes.

How? By always have a camera with us.

Point and Shoot

The problem, of course, is that the size, weight, and bulk of the best-we-could-buy camera we own, not to mention the ancillary gear, can make that difficult.

That’s why many professional photographers have invested in point-and-shoot cameras. These small, pocket-sized cameras are as tiny as the old Kodak Disc cameras introduced in 1982. In addition, today’s point-and-shoots have resolutions rival the medium format film cameras, enabling you to enlarge to mural-size prints.

About a month ago, I bought a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5 — and I have been busy learning all that it can do ever since. In the process, I have rediscovered the excitement I felt when I first began taking pictures.

It is so tiny; I now carry it everywhere. While waiting for food at restaurants, I enjoy playing with the camera’s macro mode. It is fun just photographing saltshakers and other small objects on the table. Discovering interesting compositions and watching how the light affects these objects is a joy.

The depth of field is much greater than with larger 35 mm digital cameras. For example, the ƒ-stop of the ƒ/3.3 on my little Lumix (wide open) compares approximately to ƒ/22 on a 35 mm.

Conversely, this little camera has a 10-to-one zoom! That’s equivalent to a 300 mm lens, which fits in my shirt pocket. A 300 mm lens for a 35 mm camera weighs six pounds and is over 10 inches long.

During the past month, I have wondered why I have all this professional gear—I can do so much with this little camera.

Pros and Cons

As I’ve used it more, however, I’ve gotten a clearer sense of the pros and cons.

For example, even with vibration reduction, these cameras are exceptionally tricky to hold steady. A tripod is a great help.

Additionally, obtaining a shallow depth of field is impossible for most of these cameras—my advice: learn to live with it.

The camera manuals are different from traditional cameras. You will need to read the manual and practice what it preaches using all the available functions to discover what each mode will do. These cameras have many ways that take some time to understand. Having said all this, I’ve found that carrying this camera helps me to see and take photos more often; it fine-tunes the eye.

Of course, carrying a camera all the time can cause some minor problems with your family. As my son joked last night as I took his photo at a restaurant, “It’s like having your paparazzi!”

Isolation is happening to too many individuals in their jobs. Outside of their work, they are unknown. Isolation may be a costly mistake in today’s volatile economic times. Organizations are cutting staff positions, and freelancers’ clients have cut budgets or gone out of business.

If your source of income is drying up, one good way to find new work is through your network. Membership in professional organizations can be an outstanding resource. Having your name on a membership list can give you access to others in the organization; however, to make the organization work for you – you must work for it.

Volunteer. Become involved. Help the group accomplish its goals. For example, I volunteered to call members and guests to attend meetings. In making these cold calls, you are laying the foundation for a stable career.

You are getting to know others, and they are getting to know you. You will be way ahead if you ever need to call one of these people for a job. They know you, and it is no “longer” a “cold call.”

Serving on committees lets others see your skills and how you work and communicate. In addition, committees allow you to show your skills that are not in a resume, portfolio, or reference letter.

You are probably considered an expert due to your experience. People want to employ experts. It is a good idea to volunteer to lead seminars and workshops. While this shows your knowledge in their field, it also shows your ability to communicate your ideas to others. It shows you as a person who wants everyone to succeed.

Volunteer with more than one organization. They don’t all need to be within your work area so long as they help you connect to your community. For example, rotary clubs, coaching a youth sports team, volunteering for the Red Cross, and other groups will help you expand beyond your profession.

Industry leaders are involved in community programs. What better way to get to know leaders than to volunteer alongside them?

The number of groups you are a member of is not essential. What is important is not to be just a name on the membership role. Active involvement develops the all-important network.

I have worked with college recruiters and admissions offices for most of my career. Many of the suggestions I have listed are things colleges look for when going through applications. They want the best students to attend their college. It is the same with employers and clients. They want the best.

Networking builds communication skills. Volunteering improves skills in service roles and leadership positions.

All this volunteering is not just for the future. It is for right now. The benefits of networking help in current jobs.

The foundation of building a network is giving. As we learn to give our time and talents to those around us, we know that our most significant rewards are all the relationships we develop.

This blog is the third article I have written on using your Flash. My first one was about avoiding the dreadful red-eye syndrome. The second article I wrote was about whether you should use Flash. Finally, I want to address the technique of off-camera Flash specifically.

First, let’s start with what we do know about Flash. We know that most cameras with flash built-in give straight-on harsh light and are subject to red eyes. The red eye is due to the Flash being near the lens. Sometimes, this is the only option you may have for a situation. In this case, getting the photo is more important than not having a picture. Almost every point-and-shoot has a flash built into them, and most people’s photos have this harsh look. The other place we see this Flash is in crime scene photography, which has been made more famous through TV shows like the CSI series.

When the Flash on the camera is pointed straight at the subject, it will look like most amateurs’’ crime scene investigation photos. In other words, anyone can get this type of photo, which is almost the norm in flash photography.

When creative directors, art directors, and editors hire professional photographers, an assumption is expected and not always stated. People hire a professional photographer to get something different than what they would do with their cameras. Picking a unique angle with a different lens may give the client something different. Still, the minute you introduce the straight-on Flash, it immediately looks like something they would or could have done themselves quickly.

Lighting has more impact on a photograph than any other aspect of photography. Without light, there are no photos, and what kind of light determines much more than whether you can see the subject. It helps shape the issue and creates a mood more than a camera angle or lens choice.

When shooting in black and white, the direction of the light helps shape the object and can make a photo have more pop or subdued, for example. In color, the color of the morning and the direction will help establish the mood. Theater type of lighting makes your subject look dramatic, for example. A lot of white light can make something look clinical or even be used to simulate the feeling of being in heaven.

In earlier articles, I mentioned that you should avoid red eye bouncing your Flash off a ceiling or wall. What I consider one of the most dramatic types of lighting requires your Flash to be off-camera.

There are two angles which I like the best. First, having the light 45 degrees to either side of the subject relative to the camera gives a lighting effect used by the great artist Rembrandt. Rembrandt liked to have the light 45 degrees to the side of the subject relative to his perspective and about 45 degrees above his view. If the subject looks straight, you will get a small triangle on the cheek on the opposite side of the light. The shape of the nose and brow help create this triangle. You may have to ask the subject to move their head slightly to make this work right.

Second, I think side lighting the subject works well for people. Side light is where the light is 90 degrees from the camera on the left or right side of the subject.

There are two ways to achieve this technique. First, you can use a cable between your camera and the Flash. The second way is to use a remote to fire the Flash.

When using a cable (check your manual for the Flash and camera to get one for your camera), you must be physically close to the subject to get this to work. The reason is the further you are from the subject, the angle between the lens and the Flash relative to the subject will diminish, and you will have photos that look more like on-camera Flash. A straightforward solution is to buy a longer cable. However, there is usually a limit on how long this cable can be and still work with your Flash.

A slightly more expensive solution is to use a remote. There are two kinds of flash remotes: a generic radio remote and a wireless one designed to work with your Flash. Both of these will let you place your Flash away from the camera, and each has advantages and disadvantages.

The advantage of the radio remote is it works up to a distance of up to 400 feet—depending on the unit. It works around walls and even through them. The disadvantage is if you need to adjust the power of the Flash, you must go to the Flash and adjust it manually. Your TTL function—where the camera figures out the correct exposure is lost.

The advantage of the wireless system, like the SU-800 for Nikons, is you can control each flash unit separately through the units. Your camera will fire the units, and since it works in TTL mode, it will adequately adjust the exposure. While both systems will let you use numerous flashes together, the TTL wireless system allows you to ratio the lights from the unit, and therefore, you can look at your LCD and make an adjustment and never have to move. One more significant advantage of a wireless system like the Nikon is that you can use a shutter speed that is more critical than the sync speed of, say, 1/250. Faster Shutter speeds open up many possibilities—especially outside on sunny days.

Using off-camera flash requires a lot of practice to master the technique.

Will your photos be better because you use this technique? Maybe, but most importantly, they will look different; sometimes, this is enough to get your audience’s attention.

4th of July Fireworks at Roswell High School Good fireworks photos have one thing in common – good foregrounds. 

The fireworks are way up in the sky, of course, but what you put between you and the fireworks can make the difference between an okay photograph and a great shot.

During the 1976 Bicentennial Celebration at New York Harbor, some photographers used the Statue of Liberty in the foreground of their fireworks pictures. In Philadelphia some photographed the fireworks in the sky over Independence Hall. These pictures truly captured the celebrations’ mood and meaning because of the chosen foregrounds. 

Composition 

The most challenging part of using a foreground is balancing the exposure between it and the fireworks themselves. Since knowing the correct or preferred exposure for the fireworks is impossible, it is impossible to know how to balance the exposure for the foreground. While this may be done “on the spot,” an assistant or two would be necessary because of the shortness of time of the fireworks show. To solve this problem, use a foreground object that will work as a silhouette.

Before the event, find out where the fireworks will be launched. Then visit the site before the show and look around. Sometimes the best location could be far away and shot with a telephoto lens.

Pick your spot carefully because there will not be time to move once the excitement begins.

It’s hard to know how high the fireworks will go before they explode or how big they will be when they do. So after the first couple of shots, check the composition. Ensure it’s not too loose and the fireworks are too small or tight that they are going outside the frame. 

Equipment and Exposure 

A sturdy tripod and a cable or remote release are needed for successful fireworks photographs.

Start with the camera on the lowest ISO (100 or less). Set the aperture at ƒ/8 or ƒ/11 and the shutter speed on the bulb (this keeps the shutter open for as long as the shutter release is held down; hence the need for a cable or remote release to avoid camera shake).

A small flashlight is an excellent addition to your equipment for the shoot.

Take a shot or two, then check the exposure. It should be close, but tweaking it slightly should make the colors pop.

4th of July Fireworks at Roswell High School

Technique

When you hear the sound of the firework being launched, open the shutter and hold it open for two or three bursts before releasing it. Blues don’t photograph as well as reds or greens, so hold the shutter open longer for a blue burst. For different effects, change the length of time the shutter is open.

Twenty or so should be excellent photos out of around one hundred shots of a typical show.

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The cool thing about this – an expensive camera isn’t needed. Any camera that accepts a shutter or remote release can be set to “bulb” and has a tripod socket should work. Many of the point-and-shoot cameras will work nicely.

So check it out before the show. Find a spot with a workable foreground. Take a plethora of pictures. Isn’t digital significant – no film cost?

Cecil Court was the inspiration for Diagon Alley for the Harry Potter movies. London

According to Mark Twain, “America and England are two great nations separated by a common language.” He was right. For many Americans arriving in the U.K., it’s a shock to discover that American English can be vastly different from English English. When we think we fit right in and don’t stand out from the natives, it’s easy to make some embarrassing mistakes. (Don’t ask for an order “to go” at a British restaurant; it’s a “takeaway.”)

Lately, I’ve been reading about autism. Asperger’s syndrome is a type of high-functioning autism with better language skills than other forms of autism; people with this condition often find themselves in higher education as professors. They can lock in on a subject and stay focused. In the movie Rain Man, Dustin Hoffman showed us the savant aspect of autism with his ability with numbers. Unfortunately, he also showed another part of autism — clueless about things around him.

As a photographer, I study people and how they act and react to all sorts of things so that I can photograph them and show who they are. As a result, I have, over the years, become an armchair sociologist. I’m fascinated with people’s behavior, especially within groups.

Converting the Natives

I have watched missionaries in Africa “convert folks,” only to find out that the locals were being kind and didn’t want to embarrass them. The missionaries were equating to how people respond “back home” and were unaware of the foreign culture.

In parts of America, people are incredibly polite. So it isn’t easy to know where you stand with them. In other parts of the country, people don’t hold back their feelings; unless you are accustomed to this behavior, it’s easy to take it personally. Sometimes your best friends will point out your worst faults, yet your worst enemy is always pleasant to you.

The most successful business people try to win and hold clients for the long run — not just long enough to close a sale. If we focus on selling a product and finding a one-time buyer, we focus on the short-term. Like the missionary who thinks she has “converted a soul” but has not learned the culture, it’s a short-sighted approach to life.

Many successful people I have encountered are collectors. They may collect baseball memorabilia or classic cars, or art. They enjoy finding something and holding on to it. I think this is also how they feel about people. They want “collect” them and keep them around. They are interested in developing a relationship with these people — not just conducting a transaction.

In some cultures, it is rude to jump to the transaction or point of the visit immediately. Before getting to business, you must spend time with a cup of coffee or tea, talk about families, and complete other cultural necessities. Most cultures reward those who pursue relationships and not just transactions.

With Relationships Come Rewards

I believe if we focus on connecting with people, the rewards will follow. But, on the other hand, I think focusing on tips rather than relationships is the surest route to failure.

It’s easy to tell the difference when you deal with people. How many people have you met who made you feel necessary to them? Conversely, how many thought you were just a stepping stone on their path to success? Which of these did you look forward to meeting, or working with, again?

Showing an interest in other people and cultures is not only good business. It’s a more personally rewarding way to go through life.

The severe weather warning sirens in my town have been going off more and more lately due to tornadoes. But this isn’t what prompted me to write about the importance of backing up your computer.

One of the students I taught in Hawaii packed her computer and backup drive in the same bag; of course, this is the bag the airline lost when she flew home. As a result, she lost everything she had worked on at school.

My cousin works for a large furniture store. They dutifully backed up all their computers; however, they kept the backups in the same store as the computers. Unfortunately, the store burned to the ground one night, and they lost all their computers and backups.

I am not even going to go into my losses through the years.

Tornadoes, computer crashes, lost luggage, burglars, floods — there are a lot of things that can make our important files and photos vanish. So I’d like to discuss planning a system for backing up our computer files.

My Backup System

First, I prefer a permanent backup of essential files to CDs/DVDs. It is a more stable solution than a hard drive. Hard drives fail more often than CDs/DVDs.

I make two copies of these backup CDs/DVDs and put them in different locations. I keep one backup with me where I can get to it in a hurry if my computer fails, but I put the other copy in a safety deposit box or at a friend’s house.

Second, I have an external hard drive and make regular backups. Most external drives come with software designed to help you make backups.

I use this external hard drive to mirror — completely duplicate — my computer’s hard drive. When my computer dies, I only need to do a restore, which transfers everything to the new hard drive or a new computer.

Third, I bought yet another backup hard drive. Again, I labeled one A and the other B. I alternate backups between the two. I make sure these A and B drives are rotated, not just with the computer, but the location where I keep them (bank vault, neighbor, etc.)

Another option for backing up important files, like photographs, is an online backup. With a high-speed connection, you can take advantage of an online solution for a database. Your first backup takes the longest to complete. Only the changes to your hard drive from the last backup will change in the future. After I’ve gone to bed, I program my computer to do this at night. It takes longer than backing up to a hard drive connected to a laptop, but it is off-site and one more place to keep your data. One such provider is Carbonite, which only $49.95 a year for unlimited storage.

I stay away from tape backup systems. The computer department where I used to work decided to use a tape system to back up their image library. The system corrupted the files after five years of inputting data. After rescanning all the images and adding four more years of pictures, as far as I know, they never recovered the photos from those nine years.

You Need More Than One Safe Place

President John F. Kennedy’s photographer Jacques Lowe’s estate archived all their images in a safe deposit box housed in the vaults at 5 World Trade Center next to the Twin Towers.

I ensure my images and other important files are stored in more than one location.

Now, when I hear a weather alert, I’ve got one less thing to worry about.

Editors note –

I have much to do with working with people by taking better pictures and being a better communicator—my latest series of Newsletters address areas that have helped improve my photography. Becoming an expert on people allows me to specialize in covering people.

I love to play basketball. Over the years, I’ve had the rare opportunity to play with good players and a few professional basketball players. However, just because I played with outstanding players didn’t make me a pro player. It did open my eyes to the potential of a player.

I’m not in the physical condition of my youth, but my improved understanding of the game makes me a better player than when I could jump above the rim.

Being around the best in a field will help us learn. Conversely, when we reach out to help others, we are blessed at least as much as they are.

I have photographed the homeless in downtown Atlanta and heard them pray for the wealthy people in the suburbs. They’re worried that wealth may cripple the hearts of the rich and harm their relationships with others. They’re not praying for handouts but for people’s hearts.

I’ve served homeless men dinner at an overnight shelter, yet they have jobs at places like UPS. They send their money to their families living in towns where the cost is much less.

I’m unsure if I could make some of these homeless people’s sacrifices. Just being around these people teaches me a lot.

Some of my neighbors are from Bosnia, Croatia, Chili, Jamaica, Kenya, and Mexico. One family from Croatia had to pack in the middle of the night, leave everything they owned and flee from danger – not once, but twice.

Another neighbor, having already escaped the war and living safely in the US, returned to Bosnia to help his family and friends in the war raging in his home country. Now, back in the US, he spends his time in a wheelchair with a bullet in his back from that war. Last year his wife suffered a heart attack and died.

Just living around these immigrant neighbors teaches me so much about sacrifice. Their determination to make a better life for their children is astounding.

As a photojournalist, I have had the opportunity to meet so many people and hear their stories. It has given me a better perspective on life.

Another way I have been able to expand my relationships is through education. Formal education in the classroom forced me to learn about subjects I would have never encountered had the classes not been required. What I gained from my education experience is the desire to learn.

Reading biographies helps me to discover how a person was changed through time and experiences.

The Internet helps me connect with many people and reconnect with friends from the past. Our oldest son went off to college this year. He remained connected to many of his high school buddies through the Internet and cell phone.

This is a significant change from when I left for college. Then, with no Internet and cheap long-distance phone service, we had to sever ties with many of our friends.

I’m learning to improve my game; I need to reach up to those who are further along than me, those alongside me, and those who may need my help. I’ve also learned that when I reach down, I often reach up.

Reach out and get connected—it can change your life.