Why stand-up video selfies matter for still photographers
Hamming it up at Canyon Falls
This is a screen capture still from a low resolution stand-up video selfie I filmed with my cell phone camera at Canyon Falls in the upper peninsula of Michigan.
When I’m traveling, I don’t choose the 4k option because that level of detail for these videos is not needed as what I’m after is a “friendly chat” and not a Hollywood screen test.
My “quick-and-dirty” clips are also easier to post to social media when cell phone signals are poor — like in the middle of nowhere in Michigan!
If YOU want to go all out with 4k or higher with self-promotional videos, go for it!
Here’s an example of an unedited cell phone stand-up video I did at Canyon Falls in Michigan’s upper peninsula. It doesn’t have to be perfect! This is called doing it in “one take.” A length of around one-minute is a good for social media.
Being a member of the Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) national-level professional organization for more than 15 years starting in 1990 was good for more than the major daily newspaper I was working for at the time (I am now retired from corporate America). Every year at the National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting (NICAR) conference, a sub-group of IRE, I was one of the few print journalists who chose to join the contingent of network news television journalists at their night-out group dinner. There could be easily 20 of us at the gathering.
I learned about on-camera, make-up secrets from both men and women along with how to create a portable kit stocked with the essentials: Think fishing tackle box and local chain drug stores.
We also traded tips and tricks for analyzing public records data in spreadsheets and relational databases.
BUT, the BEST tools and techniques I learned from them during this time that help me now in my freelance business relating to Nature Art Photography are:
— how to build up my confidence in business situations; and,
— how to do effective stand-up videos that are both informational and that double as branding.
Branding?!
Yes, branding. As freelance photographers, potential clients need to get to know us. Repeat clients want to know they are in the “inner circle.” Writing blog post stories, posting on social media, or sending out email newsletters helps with this, but stand-up selfie videos are the gold standard because they involve MOTION and AUDIO!
Now, in my semi-retired years when I am focused on my freelance photography business, branding is a priority.
The best cell phone selfie videos are done in ONE TAKE! That’s right, NO EDITING! This means they can be posted to social media or a website or both immediately. And, they should be about a minute in length.
Well, at first, I had a lot of misses with wording, my on-camera staging/movement, and the clip length. Then, it clicked! I just had to relax and remember the advice of my IRE/NICAR colleages from a different lifetime!
settle on an outline of a few bullet point topics — if needed, work from a written note but better yet, just do it from memory;
have a prop that that can be held, pointed to or both;
be conversational and relaxed when the camera is rolling;
don’t worry about being perfect;
SMILE;
most of all, have fun as that positive energy translates to the camera!
Go ahead. Try a few stand-up selfie videos of your own.
Then, start to add them to your website and social media channels that are tied to your still photography freelance business and watch your fan base grow!
This unedited “one-take” example is at Jacob’s Falls in Michigan’s upper peninsula.