Yesterday, I came up with an idea for a holiday photo project. There are great submissions in the comments.

Above is my submission. Below is my niece, Cindy, who would make a close second:

And here’s a quick video capturing the frenzy. Because we have to do that.

There are a few other Christmas photos here.

So, why do this? Because making media and then sharing it is one big, easy essential fundamental to understanding how the social web works. It’s what we do. It’s how we do it. It’s a way to get to know and understand others. And this was just a simple project. You can do this for your business with just a little bit of thinking. For your community, for your family, for whatever needs the effort. It’s not just marketing. It’s a way to capture the world around you and share it. (The “share” part is the big difference. We’ve had ways to take pictures for a century. It wasn’t until sharing that it really mattered.)

To Go With Your New Cameras

If someone you know (or you) got a new digital camera or video camera for Christmas, consider getting them set up at the following places:

• Flickr – for photo sharing.
• YouTube and Blip.tv – for video sharing.
• Picnik for online photo editing.

And there are probably a few other services you should consider trying out, but maybe you’ll leave your favorites in the comments.

What did you think of the project, those of you who did it?

First, A Note About Creative Commons

The photos that I use on Flickr for this blog are licensed to be used under Creative Commons. That means there are some rules to using them, but if you abide by the rules, you can use them. (More on Creative Commons.). There are multiple rules for these photos. I use the least restrictive photos, found by searching using this link, which will give you any photos posted by people who simply want credit attributed to them for their work.

Attribution

First off, this post by Steve Garfield should be required reading. He’s right that Flickr’s system needs some tidying up. That said, I’ll write from the perspective of how I’ve been using photos and how I attribute them.

The word “attribution” in this case means giving credit to a person for their work. The photo above was taken (or at least posted) by someone who goes by the name M@rg. If you note above, I’ve made the photo clickable, such that it takes you directly to the person’s Flickr page. Further, skip down to the bottom of this post, and you’ll see an italicized area where I point out the photo credit.

The best way to give credit would be to have the text of “photo by” or something directly under the photo, but I’ve yet to figure out the proper html syntax to accomplish that neatly for my blog. (You’re welcome to recommend how, in comments). That aside, I’ve at least give two ways for you to realize who snapped the photo, and how to find more about him or her.

Make Sure You Share As Well

I love that so many people make photos available for use on Flickr. You should be sure that your own settings in Flickr are set appropriately. I’ve written about that here. Simply, go into your Flickr account and adjust your settings here.

Quick Recap

To use great photos from Flickr for your blog posts:

1. Search for photos here.
2. Provide attribution by making the photo link back to the original source, and by adding a photo credit.
3. Share your own photos by updating your settings.

There. Anything else? Ideas? Thoughts?

Photo credit, M@rg

This morning, I felt like taking a walk. So, I grabbed my iPhone, to use it like an iPod, but ended up taking pictures along the way. I snapped all kinds of shots of my beautiful small town in New England, because it’s autumn, and the leaves are changing, and this is the prime time to show why people live their lives in New England (never mind that this lasts only 2 weeks usually).

I decided to share these photos on Twitter using Twitpic, which is integrated into Twitterific on the iPhone, but is easy enough to use on smartphones that have email capabilities and cameras. So, as I walked along, I’d snap a photo and write a quick blurb about it:

One interesting point: someone that I’d been “courting” lately, with comments and other touches to try to get “top of mind” for a moment dropped me a reply in twitter to the pictures. Never once to a blog post. Never to a comment on that person’s blog. But instead, this person responded to a photo of my beautiful New England town.

Think hard about that fact. Reaching people isn’t a linear business. Connecting isn’t a single effort. It’s a web of effort.

When wondering why your efforts aren’t having enough impact, think about this point: could you try a more multi-faceted approach? Are there other means to connect than the ways you’ve already tried? What else might you find in common with someone?

Photo site PicApp might prove useful for your blogging, especially if you’re looking for more legal-to-use pictures of famous people, like Jason Statham from the movie, The Bank Job. Though you often see pics of famous people on blogs, they’re usually there illegally. I read about it at GigaOm, and I think it makes for a nifty tool to add to the arsenal for certain types of blogs.

Mind you, I’ll probably never blog about Jason Statham again, unless he comments or something, and then, I’ll blog about the miracles of social media bringing him to me.

Bonus round: check out the nifty advertisement floating in the photo. Kind of a neat trick, eh?