People love to share their photos. Today it’s so easy with the camera on your phone to snap a quick image and share it on many different social media or photo sharing sites. Just be sure to check out the privacy statements and terms of service if you are sharing online! I know… who has time to read those long and boring documents that everyone so easily clicks agree to? But ask yourself these questions and know the answers to them before you start posting away.
Who can see your photos? Who do you want to see your pictures?
What can they do with that image? Are you giving the rights to your image to the service or anyone who can see your photos?
At what resolution are you uploading your photos at? At what resolution are you, or anyone else, able to download that same photo at?
Once it’s out there in cyberspace, you never know where it may end up, and it never really goes away! Thinking before you post is important.
Having said all that, I do want you to share your photos with your friends and family. The internet makes it fast and easy. We no longer have to get extra prints made, pay to send them through the mail, and hope they don’t get lost. You put them in Dropbox or Linea and your family and friends can see or download them right away. If you just want to show off and don’t care who can see it, up on FaceBook or Instagram it goes.
Don’t forget that you can share your pictures and tell your story in other ways as well. Multiple images put together in a slide show, book, celebration board, or made into wall art can speak volumes to the people who matter most to you. There is the fleeting, “Look what I just did!” and the more reflective, “Look at who I am.” Both need to be shared with those far and near whom you love and cherish. Just think about the best way to share those images and who will see them when you do. Holding that physical print or book in your hands has a different impact than just looking at a screen.
When was the last time you shared your pictures? Did you use social media to show the world, or something more private? When was the last time you shared more than just an image or two, but told a story with several pictures?