Source and Attribute Creative Commons Photos Like a Pro

Miss Manners will be the first to tell you that when someone gives you a gift, the proper response is a warm, enthusiastic, “thank you!” in writing. Did you know that when you accept the “gift” of a Creative Commons-licensed work such as a photo or illustration for use in your web projects, Miss Manners would endorse that same, warm, enthusiastic “thank you!” in the form of proper sourcing and attribution? Being a good citizen on the web means demonstrating proper behavior, at all events. Today, we’re going to share the wonder that is Creative Commons and your responsibilities for sourcing and attributing any material you may download there.

Widgets 201

In the first post of this series, “Widgets 101,” we introduced some popular widgets, including the Text and Image Widgets, and also mentioned quick ways to transform an image by changing its shape or adding a frame. Since this month is all about photography and phoneography, let’s focus on Image Widgets and explore how to customize them.

Beyond Instagram: More Photo Apps

Yesterday, we talked about Instagram — embedding images from your stream, sprucing up your blog with these instant pics, and more. Today, let’s explore other photo apps, shall we? From in-phone editing to photo sharing to managing your image libraries, you can experiment and have fun with other cool tools out there.

Embed Your Instagram Images

I can’t deny how convenient and fun Instagram is, even though I’m not totally sure how I feel about it — how it’s drastically changed the way I take photos, and how I interact in the midst of an experience. Some of you have voiced your displeasure with phoneography and mobile blogging in the comments of recent posts: A phone is a phone, not a camera. Or a phone screen is not an ideal place on which to write and edit your thoughts. It’s interesting to hear your varied perspectives on blogging and sharing on the go — we all use these new technologies differently.

Phoneography Challenge: My Neighborhood

It’s here: our first phoneography challenge!

To kick this off, grab your phone and head out the door. That’s right — get on your feet and go outside to explore — and document — where you live. I want to see your neighborhood: The path you take for your daily morning run. Your local coffee shop or dive bar. The nearby alley of street and community art. A shot of the intersection that perfectly captures the bustle of your own corner of town. Or a serene landscape view of your village:

The countryside path to my mother-in-law’s home in Kent, England. Taken with my iPhone 4s.

For this inaugural phoneography challenge, document where you live with just your phone. I’ll leave it to you to decide how best to capture it; you can post a shot like the one above, or get creative with angles. Maybe you want to get low, as suggested by our recent guest photographer Christopher Martin, as shown in this street shot in Oxford:

Low-angle street shot in Oxford. Taken with my iPhone 4s.

Or perhaps you want to zoom out and show us a view of your entire city from a favorite spot, like this shot of Los Angeles from up high in the Los Feliz neighborhood at the Griffith Observatory:

Wide shot of Los Angeles from the Los Feliz area. Taken with my iPhone 4s.

For this challenge, I really encourage you to use your camera phone to snap a picture, then create and publish a new post from your WordPress.com app. (I covered mobile app basics in Wednesday’s “Blogging on the Go” post, so take a peek if you need a refresher and download the app you need to get started.) But ultimately, use any camera you’d like for this and future phoneography challenges — we won’t disqualify your submission if you simply can’t stay away from your regular camera.

In addition to your image, type some text in the editor screen, too — tell us about the snapshot and more about your neighborhood, town, or city:

A post preview in the WordPress for iOS app.

You can publish a single image in your post, but if you’re looking for an advanced challenge, upload multiple photos and tell a story with a mini photo essay — created entirely on your phone.

In a new post created for this challenge, share a picture that reveals your NEIGHBORHOOD.

A few tips to consider:

• Get lost in the details. Capture details particular to your neighborhood: Brick wall exteriors of nearby buildings. Rare plants on the path to the park. Storefronts. Road signs.
• Capture a panorama. Want to capture your city’s skyline at night, or the creaky wooden bridge at the edge of town? Take a wide establishing shot. For example, on the iPhone, click Options at the top to use the panorama setting. Or on the Android, select the panorama mode and touch the green button to pan across the area you want in your image.
• Select a focal point. Let’s say you post a photo of a street corner, or apartment building, or wall inside your favorite café. Lead your viewer to the image’s focus. On some mobile apps, like the iPhone and Android, you can tap the part of the image you’d like to focus on; on the BlackBerry 10, drag and move the cursor on the screen to change the focal point. You can also run your photo through a camera app, like Instagram or Focus Camera, and manually focus. (We’ll give you bonus points for choosing an off-center or unexpected focal point that reveals something interesting about your neighborhood!)
• Experiment with motion. At the end of the day, your camera phone is a mobile device — which means you may not be able to avoid movement. Place your phone atop something to keep it steady as you shoot. Use the iPhone’s grid option (accessible via Options) to create a level horizon in your composition. Or if you’ve got a BlackBerry, enable stabilization mode if you’re on the move. But sometimes unexpected movement creates a cool picture — try taking a photo of street traffic at night and see what you come up with, or experiment with an app like Motion Camera for your Android and see what beautiful blurs you can capture.

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Looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

– Cheri

New to The Daily Post? Whether you’re a beginner or a professional, you’re invited to get involved in our Weekly Photo Challenge to help you meet your blogging goals and give you another way to take part in Post a Day / Post a Week. Everyone is welcome to participate, even if your blog isn’t about photography.

Here’s how it works:

1. Each week, we’ll provide a theme for creative inspiration. You take photographs based on your interpretation of the theme, and post them on your blog (a new post!) anytime before the following Friday when the next photo theme will be announced.

2. To make it easy for others to check out your photos, title your blog post “Weekly Photo Challenge: (theme of the week)” and be sure to use the “postaday″ tag. You can also link to this post to create a pingback here and to encourage more people to participate.

3. Subscribe to The Daily Post so that you don’t miss out on weekly challenge announcements. Sign up via the email subscription link in the sidebar or RSS.

My Blogging Mantras

In a workshop I gave for some bloggers earlier this year, I opened by talking about my three blogging mantras — and then had a “facepalm” moment when I realized I’d never shared them with you:

Nothing is permanent.

Don’t panic.

This is supposed to be fun.

If they sound self-evident, that’s because they are . . . but we still lose sight of them from time to time. Today, let’s take a break from phoneography for a moment of perspective.