INK361

Time for our next photo challenge - “Print” - hosted by the very cool and extremely friendly, @elbow_macaroni!

As most of you may know, INK361.com recently launched a printing service for your awesome photos. For this week’s challenge we want to see all the photos you would want to “Print”! Join our challenge for your chance to win $40 USD credit to use on INK361.com to print your winning photo and other of your faves - or try our new Mosaic prints!!

To join - tag photo with #ink361_print

Share the love and tag any friends relevant to the pic or who might be interested in the challenge.

A total of four winners will be selected, one winner will be announced each day Mon-Thurs EST. The last day to submit a photo is Midnight May 29th EST

We are looking forward to your entries.

Happy photo sharing from the #Ink361 team!

(A big thank you to our host for this shot)

By Matt Glastonbury, accomplished Mobile Photographer, providing great tutorials and App reviews. Matt is an independent blogger who acts as a Contributing Editor to Ink361. (Add Matt on Google Plus)

There’s often a lot that goes into taking your photos, sometimes they are once in a lifetime captures, so it’s worth taking great care to look after them and store them well.

Here’s a run-down on what I do, and what Mobile Photography gear I use to get them.

Phone storage: Ensure there’s enough storage on your phone to take the photos needed. If there isn’t, I check my backups to see the last stored photo, then I know how many I can delete off the phone to allow enough memory space. I also make sure KitCam app has had it’s Film Shelf (Master files) backed up via iTunes, then emptied.

My Gear: I always ensure I have the right gear for different lighting, locations, and weather conditions.

Tripods: I recommend using Joby and Manfrotto, plus a cheap tripod you don’t mind throwing in the water. I like to use the Joby GorillaPod for everything except when I need more height. All my tripods have the Joby GripTight adapter screwed on for quick phone attachment.

Exposure adjustment light: I use a Black Diamond water resistant head-torch to shine into the phone’s lens and manually force the ISO and shutter speeds to change to my desired setting. Oh, and also to see after dark.

Batteries: I use Mophie Juice Pack Powerstation Pro, dust, and water resistant, battery pack.

Waterproof case: Lifeproof frē is the best option for keeping your phone safe from dust, water, snow, impact.

Phone flotation device: Lifeproof make a slip-on LifeJacket Float for the frē case which comes with two different lanyards that are such a great thing to have when you’re hanging off a jetty, boat or jet-ski.

Lens: olloclip, three-in-one, lens system, is perfect for additional angles.

Sunlight: Choose the right place at the right time. The main app I use for sun direction and location info is LightTrac. This app will help you find the best spots and/or tell you when the sun will set based on your location, or even how long the shadows will be and at what time. I use this all the time when looking for new sunrise, or sunset, locations.

Capturing: I always use the best camera apps that give me the most control: KitCam, PureShot, ProCamera. KitCam is my preference because, like Lightroom, it keeps a master file and uses non-destructive when enhancing its photos.

Storing your photos: Backup the backup. This is where mobile inevitably changes to Desktop or Laptop unless you have Google Plus, or Dropbox apps set to auto upload as you shoot. I always import my photos onto network attached storage via the computer using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. Here I create a separate catalog for Mobile Photography, and backup that catalog regularly too. I highly recommend keeping a space for storing your mobile photos, and then using a removable drive to regularly backup those stored photos. That way, you have another copy separate from your computer storage that you can always use if your computer fails or goes missing.

Concluding… with this workflow and gear guide, I have tried to allow for any lighting, weather, and/or storage failure situation. I’m always looking for ways to add new practical and interesting gear to my kit. Not only is it fun, but it also brings new dimensions to my ability to shoot different scenes and locations. I’ll be reviewing some of the products, listed here, and new ones soon too, so stay tuned.

Hosted by our very own CEO, @cva71 - we saw some very cool shots of Bikes! There were artistic submissions along with some unusual looking bikes. Here are the winning entries:

A @corrieowens

B @cinecycle

C @wellettas

D @lindalaughs

To check out all the entries for this challenge you can view the album: #ink361_bikes!

Check tomorrow for our next challenge!

The INK361.com Team

Earlier this week, we introduced MOSAICS to our printing service. Today, we will teach you how to create your very own! Just follow these simple instructions:

1) Click the pink PRINT button on the top right section of your screen.

2) SELECT THE PRODUCT on the left hand side. You can also select the size you want to order. (The mosaic layout is currently available for Cards, Photo, Fine Art, and Framed prints)

3) For style, choose the MOSAIC option.

4) Choose a LAYOUT and adjust your settings for the grid.

5) To select your photos, simply CLICK on the photos you want to appear in your mosaic.

6) If you make a mistake, hover over the photo you want to delete and click on the RED CROSS.

7) Once you are satisfied with your mosaic, click on the pink ADD TO CART button on the left and you are ready to complete your order.

TRY IT NOW

If you have any questions, please leave a comment below or email support@ink361.com

Instagram may only create a sale in 5% of cases, but if you’re a small business it’s still important to have a creative account; it’s all about building your branding and creating a personality for your business. Customers want to know there are creative, passionate and inspiring people working on the companies they buy from, so fill your feed with a few of these delights and get inspired to create your own visually striking Instagram account!

QooQoo Fashion
Username: QooQooShka

QooQoo is a design house that specialises in print and hand makes ethically made fashion pieces from their small workshop in Latvia. Their Instagram offers a lot of exciting behind the scenes shots of upcoming collections and items.

What can you learn from QooQoo?
Make your Instagram followers feel like they have exclusive access to the brand with behind the scenes photos.

Lime Crime
Username: LimeCrimeMakeup

Infamously colourful make-up brand Lime Crime’s Instagram reflects their brand personality perfectly with plenty of colour and magic. They feature new products, make-up tutorials and looks created by their fans using their products. Instagram then provides them with an excellent platform for launching new products.

What you can learn from Lime Crime:
Show off how your products can be used and inspire your customers!

Her Tiny Teeth / Natasha Lillipore
Username: Lillipore

Natasha Lillipore is a model/blogger turned fashion entrepreneur who runs a business called Her Tiny Teeth, her instagram shows off her gorgeous lime green hair against her sparkling embellished sunglasses, making every item look covetable and exciting.

What you can learn from Her Tiny Teeth:
Use Instagram to affiliate your products with a lifestyle your potential customers’ desire – create an image for your brand.

Lazy Oaf
Username: LazyOafs

Lazy Oaf creates pop inspired, enigmatic clothing. Prints feature heavily on their Instagram, and there are plenty of pictures showing the clothes being modelled, and their fun cartoonish style looks great through the Instagram filters! They’re a brand that likes to have fun, and they even named their Instagram feed their Oafagram.

What you can learn from Lazy Oaf:
Stay true to your branding and make your Instagram coherent with your ecommerce website.

Iron Fist
Username: IronFistClothing

Alternative fashion brand Iron Fist has a distinct brand that it wants its customers to relate to. Its style is grungy pop art with a rebellious L.A. feel, and its Instagram account features shoes, outfits and nail art to die for.

What you can learn from Iron Fist:
Your branding and seasonal trends should show through on your Instagram, by looking on your profile or Ink361 page this should shine through instantly so your followers know what you’re creating this season.

Dolls Kill
Username: Dollskill

Dolls Kill’s branding is LA chic with a hint of punk, they sell unique pieces that are far detached from anything you might find at a high-street shop.

What you can learn from Dolls Kill:
Be yourself, don’t set things up just for Instagram, the whole point of the app is to capture life as it happens, so take your phone everywhere and document your company’s day to day goings on.

Audrey Kitching / Crystal Cactus
Username: aKitching

Audrey Kitching is another famous model turned mogul who opened her online store Crystal Cactus in 2012, it sells a range of beautiful reiki-infused crystals, bath goodies and cactuses in teacups! Audrey often gives her Instagram followers a private view into her life and her day-to-day goings on.

What can you learn from Audrey Kitching?
Show that you’re personally passionate about the brand, people want to know you use the products you create, and you’re not just trying to sell them any old thing.

Written by Kirstie-Ann Pimbbet. Kirstie is a digital marketing executive at Webtise - Magento development agency located in the UK. Connect with Kirstie on Instagram via INK361

Welcome to our recap of last week’s best of Instagram! Our featured Daily Discovery users were:

A @cityzen63

B @esteeveeen

C @misswinter

D @rorytucker

E @chrisonthebrink

Make sure you go to their feeds and check out their latest work!

Happy photo sharing!

The INK361.com Team

Time for next week’s photo challenge -“Bikes” and is hosted by our very own CEO and cycling enthusiast - @cva71!

Whenever he has free time, @cva71 loves to bike around town with his wife and explore new places to shoot. So for this challenge, we want to see your best or favourite shots for the theme “Bikes”! Join our challenge for your chance to win $40 USD credit to use for the INK361.com printing service!

To join:
1) tag photo with #ink361_bikes
2) Share the love and tag any friends relevant to the challenge

A total of four winners will be selected, one winner will be announced each day Monday through Thursday EST. The last day to submit a photo for next challenge is Midnight May 22nd EST

We are looking forward to your entries.

Happy photo sharing from the #Ink361 team!

(A big thank you to our host for this shot)

By Matt Glastonbury, accomplished Mobile Photographer, providing great tutorials and App reviews. Matt is an independent blogger who acts as a Contributing Editor to Ink361. (Add Matt on Google Plus)

Composition is really important when it comes to making your photo balance, flow, and look just-right. A lot of the composition concepts are based on the brain’s natural subconscious attraction to shapes, weight of objects, tension, energy, eye-travel-direction, interest, and alignment. So, let’s briefly look at a few.

Visualising in shapes: When capturing a scene, try to imagine it broken into different solid shapes. I find this helpful in simplifying a scene, which enables me to balance the objects more easily.

Tip: Heavy shapes and colours always look more balanced near the bottom. If they can’t be at the bottom, then try to put the heavy shapes only in the top third of the scene. Heavy generally = dark colours, big shapes. You can adjust this by moving around and changing the angle of the lens.

Angles: When it comes to shooting a scene where the horizon plays a strong part, it’s always important to straighten it in a photo editing app. That’s the way the brain sees and remembers the horizon. This is also the case with group photos, but not necessarily with shots of individuals. When you are capturing people, animals, or any scene, with little emphasis on the horizon-line, a 10 degree slant can also be really appealing.

The Rule of Thirds: This rule/guideline, is all about aligning your scene’s shapes onto four places within your photo. The guideline suggests that your scene can be split into three equally-spaced rows and columns, and that dominant shapes should be placed along these lines. This technique is said to create more tension, energy, and interest, in the composition than if you simply placed all your subjects in the middle of the shot.

Tip: You’ll find excellent screen-overlays for some compositions when using KitCam or ProCamera, that can help a lot with lining up your shapes and composition.

Dominant Lines: Look for big lines running through your scene. While moving the camera you can align them with different parts of you screen to see how it affects the composition. Also try lining up big, dominant, lines, and shapes, with the corners of your photo.

Symmetry: This is generally a much easier and safer method of composing your scene layout, but, when done well, it can have a very dramatic impact on the composition of the image. Symmetry is all about making things balance evenly/symmetrically on either sides of your image and usually involves a strong centre point focus.

Tip: try getting down low between strong lines when shooting symmetrically, this really emphasises the shapes and depth in your photo.

Cropping: When you photograph people, or any subject, it’s always important to remember to focus on what they are doing, or the emotion, or their action, rather than placing them in the middle of the photo. Often we find ourselves placing subjects in dead-centre with the face in the middle, which cuts off the lower half of your subject and leaves a lot of space above. Try to crop in closer either with the camera, or later in post-processing, where you can reduce the space above and follow the Rule of Thirds. This is a common problem because we try to focus the lens on the middle of a subject, but forget to lock that focus, and then move the lens for the best composition. To learn about locking the focus and moving the lens, see MOBILE PHOTOGRAPHY - EXPOSURE AND FOCUS

Tip: When photographing people or animals, try to place more space in-front of the direction they are facing, this gives a sense of depth and space, and shows a little of what they are looking towards in the scene. That technique can really help the viewer to imagine being in the scene.

Background: Try to control the shapes and colours in the background by moving around. Try getting down low and shooting up, or down, or move left and right, and watch for interesting shapes, reflections, and colourful areas that can help compliment your subject rather than detract from it.

Tip: When capturing a whole person, try not to cut off the feet and legs while focusing on the face.. remember to frame them with space just below their feet, and the top of their head, and don’t be afraid to crop-in really tight later. (toes to hair) Cropping-in tight helps to emphasise the subject more, and focus less on the background. Also, don’t forget to allow more space in-front of the direction they are facing.

Concluding… Try taking each of your scenes with different compositions, try the different thirds top and bottom, left and right, and later, see what works best for you. Sometimes these guides just don’t feel right. But, I recommend trying them anyway, and taking lots of different shots, then deciding what photo worked best.

Enjoy!

New on Ink361 - Mosaics - create a grid of your favorite Instagrams - or uploaded pics - to order as a Card, Photo, Fine Art or Framed Print.

Available in a variety of grid layouts, these collage prints are a great way to show off a collection of photos. Once you select a layout, you can further refine your mosaic by selecting the backround color - black or white - and the thickness of the grid.

Try it out. and let us know what you think!

What themes will you create?

Note: not all products available in all countries.

Hosted by awesome mother of four, @ayanah - this week’s Mother’s Day challenge saw some of the most heart warming shots full of joy and love. Here are the winning entries:

A @mothering4myhome

B @carlaeez

C @thistlefire

D @jubei203

To check out all the entries for this challenge you can view the album: #ink361_mothersday!

Check tomorrow for our next challenge!

The INK361.com Team