5 Digital Camera Etiquette Tips

Written by / Mighty Girl

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    • MightyEtiquettePOV.jpgNow that so many of us carry digital cameras everywhere, we’re finding
    new and amusing ways to annoy one another with them. We post awful
    photos of obviously drunk acquaintances, and push camera phones so
    close to people’s faces that it impedes their ability to blink.

     
    Every new technology comes with its own shiny set of social problems. A few suggestions on digital camera etiquette:

    1. Examine your priorities.

    Unless you’re a professional photographer, recording an event should take a backseat to experiencing it. It’s fine to use your camera phone, just don’t hide behind it.

    2. Protect minors.
    Only parents get to decide whether it’s OK to post images of their kids online. Ask them first, and respect their answer. As you know, once an image is out there, it can end up anywhere, so be sensitive to possible misappropriations. And mind your privacy settings, especially when it comes to bathtub photos, and shots of kids running jaybird naked through the sprinklers.

    3. Accentuate the positive.


    You know that photo of your mom where one of her eyes is half closed and she seems to be snorting? Or the one of your best friend where his martini is about to spill, and his eyes aren’t working as a team? Take those down. Otherwise, your friends will start to back away when they see you approaching with a camera. As an added measure of kindness, give your friends editing rights. Tell them you’ll remove non-group photos that they find embarrassing or unflattering.

    4. Give credit where it’s due.


    If someone else took a photo on your camera and you decide to upload it, credit their compositional skills in the caption.

    5. Blur identifying elements.

    If you’re publishing online, it’s nice to blur out license plate numbers, and street addresses. If you really want to play it safe, block out anything that associates you with an organization, like college logos on sweatshirts, or the baseball cap that has your workplace on it.

    What’s your pet peeve when it comes to digital camera etiquette?

    Read more by Maggie Mason:
    5 USB Sticks that Don’t Insult Your Data, Beyond Evite: Top 3 Unique Invitation Sites, Top Luxe Laptop Bags, 5 Stands to Keep Your iPad at Attention, 5 Great Covers for your iPad, 5 Cool, Easy Ways to Display Snapshots The Wired Pet Owner: Top 5 Pet Gadgets Top 5 Lapdesks: Spend More Time in Bed Gadget Case Roundup: Keep Your Gear Safe4 Tips for Creating an Inspiring Office, 5 Super Useful Camera Accessories, Five Small Camera Bags for the Casual Photographer, Gift Guide for Geeks, 6 Unique Tools for Better Photos, Budget Tech Gifts Under $50, Mighty Girl’s 2010 Resolution

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    Margaret
    Mason is the author of No One Cares What You Had for Lunch: 100 Ideas
    for Your Blog    , publisher of Mighty Mighty Media, and a Twitter power
    user (@Maggie). Her personal blog, Mighty Girl was recently nominated
    for a SxSW Lifetime Achievement Award, and she was named one of Silicon
    Valley’s Top 50 Influencers by Now Public.

    Margaret Mason
    Margaret Mason
    Maggie Mason is the author of No One Cares What You Had for Lunch: 100 Ideas for Your Blog, publisher of Mighty Mighty Media, and a Twitter power user (@Maggie). Her personal blog, Mighty Girl was recently nominated for a SxSW Lifetime Achievement Award, and she was named one of Silicon Valley's Top 50 Influencers by Now Public.

    Read More From Margaret Mason
    5 of 34 Articles:
    • http://profile.typepad.com/mojotooth Mojotooth

      You were doing okay until #5. Really, blur out the name of your college if you get a picture taken in your sweatshirt? If you’re concerned that someone will associate you with a given group because they see the logo, then maybe you shouldn’t be associated with that group in the first place.

      That advice goes way beyond “playing it safe” and into the realm of “playing it neurotic.”

    • http://profile.typepad.com/shellybean99 shellybean99

      How about adding- Judiciously crop. My friend posted a picture of me in a bikini wearing a cowboy hat (we were being silly) b/c she liked the shot of my face in the hat. Of course, I was laughing and sort of slumped over and she saw no need to crop out the belly rolls my posture had created, much less check before posting the most unflattering photo ever taken of me right onto facebook. I was mortified.

    • http://profile.typepad.com/margaretmason Margaret Mason

      Mojotooth, I agree that’s really playing it safe, but guess it depends what you’re doing in your college sweatshirt. And whether you have a scholarship that might be threatened by it.

      Shellybean99, I have a policy that if a friend doesn’t like a photo that’s only of them, I take it down. I’ve been kind of shocked by the photos people dislike of themselves though.

    • http://profile.typepad.com/patrickcorreia Patrickcorreia

      As an extension of #1, I’d add: “capturing a moment always takes a back seat to living it.” I’m always mortified when I’m lining up what I hoped would be a candid shot and people start moving around to accommodate me. I want to say, “Just keep doing the thing I wanted a photo of!”, but I have to remember that it probably means I need to back up or be a little more subtle with the camera.

      On the subject of “identifying elements”, remember that the location of the photo counts, too. If that photogenic moment happens in a private place like someone’s home, make sure that no geolocation information is included when you post the photo. (This is mostly an issue for cameraphones and mobile Twitter clients.)

    • http://profile.typepad.com/michellecampbell Michelle Campbell

      Have some courtesy for the people around you! I can’t STAND people who get all kinds of rude and pushy when they’re taking pictures, as if the world will end if they don’t get JUST. EXACTLY. THIS. SHOT.

      Whatever the event is, it does not revolve around your need to snap a photo.

    • http://profile.typepad.com/shilobyrd Shilobyrd

      I suppose this is an extension of your item number three (accentuate the positive), but if you take a photo with a friend and you look fabulous and they do not look equally fab, do not post it because you will just look like a vain selfish asshole.

      I had a friend post a photo of her and I once where she looked great and I looked, well, a bit frizzy and oafish (nothing against my looks, it was just an unflattering photo) and it really made me question the quality of her character. Was she really SO vain that she was willing to post a crap photo of me so her gorgeousness could shine, turns out yes, she was that vain and as such, we’re not close anymore.

    • http://profile.typepad.com/waywardgoddess1 WaywardGoddess

      My husband and I once asked to be moved at a restaurant. The people at the table, behind him and directly in my line of sight, we taking a million and one photos and the flash was like a never ending strobe light. We couldn’t have a conversation with out the flash, flash, FLASH that felt like it was right in my face.
      So, I’d add, be courteous of the people around you who might not appreciate being drug into your celebration

    • http://profile.typepad.com/tulipchainphotographywordpresscom Tulipchainphotography.wordpress.com

      +1,000,000 for Wayward Goddess – My ultimate annoyance is flash in restaurants.

    • http://profile.typepad.com/richeramanda Marvelty

      My most recent one was taking pictures in public places – a man on the subway was standing at the end of the car, with the camera at his chest, pressing the shutter button repeatedly while looking everywhere *except* where he was shooting. The whole vibe was strange and rather pervy (I thought). After, my sister pointed out that he was probably trying to get a candid shot of the woman seated next to me, as they were talking on the platform previously. Lesson: Don’t take 20+ shots of strangers in creepy ways or your ‘pretty candid shot’ will probably be ruined by them glaring at you in the last 15.