How to Use Pinterest to Improve Your Photography

Please tell me you’ve discovered the beauty and thrill of Pinterest… a site created for creative and visually inspired people like you and me.

I was introduced to it a few months via a twitter friend posting about how much she loved creating “boards” and finding new “pins.” I had no idea what she was talking about but clicked on her link and was instantly met with a visual feast… as Hemingway says “a moveable feast.” Seriously.

For newbies it’s a place where you can aggregate images, quotes, books, all visually into “boards” – similar to inspiration boards around whatever topics you choose. The boards on Pinterest are too varied to even mention here, but below is a snapshot of the ones I’ve created. You can see the titles and the first nine images in each board. When you click on the box, you’ll go to the entire board which could have hundreds of different images related to that topic.

So, how could you use Pinterest to improve your photography? There are a few ways…

Idea #1

1. Create a few categories that interest you: lighting, posing, fashion, expression, location, etc.
2. Start pinning or do a search for each of those topics and pin images that stand out to you.
3. Once you have a good number of images, go back through and find patterns.
4. Study the patterns to find your unique style and taste, then make a mental note to implement that style at your next photo shoot.

1. Create categories for the different types of photography that interest you: weddings, engagement, seniors, children, pets, etc.
2. Start pinning and doing searches within pinterest or outside pinterest and fill your board.
3. Look through the images before each shoot for ideas of what to do differently. It’s a great way to spark imagination if you feel like you’re stuck in a rut.

Idea #3

1. Create categories as in the above two ideas.
2. Fill your boards.
3. Create a collage for your clients to see what your vision is for a particular photo shoot, i.e. help them with posing, expressions, gestures, etc. Often clients struggle with these areas and letting you both have a visual of what you’re trying to achieve can be incredibly helpful.

Check out the collage I created for a past photo shoot in studio with my team of teen models. I let each of them choose a few images that they especially liked and then we used that as a starting point for practicing their posing and expression in front of the camera. It was a great learning tool and a fun experience!

Give it a go and if you’re signed up on Pinterest, make sure to add me so we can connect and share favorite images!