Tips on Taking Stellar Instagram Photos at your Construction Site (Part 1)

Most of you know or frequently use the social networking site Instagram, but for our newbies who don’t, Instagram is an easy-to-use smartphone application that allows users to capture photos and videos and then share them with their network. Instagram gives users several options to enhance and customize a photo or video creation and anyone with a smartphone can download it for free.

We all know that social media, including Instagram, has a huge impact on the way we communicate these days, and people also engage much more frequently online with photos and videos. Flatiron Construction and our employees can actively share projects and their hard work with co-workers, friends, family, others in the industry and the public via a site like Instagram.

Before we get started on ways to take stellar photos at your construction site, here are some general guidelines to follow when sharing visual elements on social media:

• Check out your surroundings before you take a photo or shoot a video. Is there something that could be interpreted as a safety risk in the background? Will a bystander be captured in the photo that you’ll need to get permission from?
• Be wary of logos in photos and videos. For example, if a Starbucks coffee cup is blatantly in the background, you may want to retake the photo with the cup removed to avoid any copyright issues. The same goes for any logo of a contractor or partner that Flatiron may be working with on a project. If their logo is somewhere in your photo or video, make sure to get permission before you post it, or avoid it in the photo/video altogether.
• Do not post any photos that you think might offend someone. Again, if there is ever any doubt about posting something on social media, it’s as simple and just not posting it.
• Use good judgment. Do not post unprofessional behavior (e.g. photos with explicit gestures or videos with foul language).
• Follow all guidelines in the company’s social media policy and employee handbook.

Now that that’s out of the way, here are some tips to “building the best” images on Instagram:

• Whether it’s rain, sleet or snow, you can always get a great quality picture with HDR! If you have an iPhone, we recommend using the HDR feature. HDR combines the various image exposures and combines them into one quality image. Turn on HDR in your phone’s settings.
• The more the merrier! Combining multiple pictures into one is a great way to showcase a “before and after” at your construction site. All you need to do is download a free application like Pic Stitch, Frame Your Life or Pic Collage (just to name a few), insert your pictures, and the app basically does the rest for you.
• Become your own director. Instead of just taking a picture, film your sites progression. InstaVideo is the newest update to Instagram and it allows users to film individual clips to make a 15-second video. Simply hold down the video icon (pictured below) and this will allow you to film your shot(s). You also can apply filters and additional edits, as you prefer. This is a fun way to uniquely showcase your project.
• Utilize mobility. If you haven’t noticed already, we’re becoming increasingly more mobile as a society, so use your location to your advantage. Take pictures from different angles that the average person may not see. Here’s a great example and one of our favorite industry “Instagram-ers,” @MYCRANELIFE. He showcases his “day-to-day view from a mobile crane cab.”