Polylooks reveals Brits’ photo sharing habits

Photos were made for sharing

With the prevalence of decent quality cameras on mobile phones and affordable, easy to manage point and click digital cameras, we decided to take a closer look at how Brits treat photos. It was great to learn, for example, that while two-thirds (68 per cent) of young people share their photos on social networks such as Flickr and Facebook, some 29 per cent of women and 20 per cent of men still enjoy printing out photos and keeping ‘traditional’ physical photo albums.

We commissioned research group YouGov to quiz more than 2,200 people from across Great Britain about the way they treat digital photography, and the findings make interesting reading. Women (35 per cent) and slightly more likely to share photos over social networks than men (32 per cent), while men (17 per cent) are twice as likely as women (nine per cent) to spend more than £400 on a camera.

Phones no substitute for cameras

When it comes to taking pictures, it is clear that the rise and rise of ever more intuitive camera phones does not pose a threat to traditional photography. While only seven per cent of Britons say that using their camera phone has heightened their interest in photography, just over a fifth (21 per cent) believe that their camera phone is sufficient for their photographic needs. Nearly one in three interviewed in the survey (28 per cent) owns an SLR (single-lens reflex camera).

Interesting, we also found that almost one in ten (nine per cent) have considered converting their passion for photography into a career at some point in their life and a similar number (ten per cent) say they would consider submitting their images on microstock sites, such as Polylooks.

When it comes to sharing images, Londoners are more ‘social’ than those in other regions of the UK. Londoners (12 per cent) believe that sharing photos is a critical part of the way they interact with their friends and family, putting more emphasis on images than those in the rest of the south (six per cent) and Wales (five per cent).

What is clear is that the British passion for photography remains as strong as ever. Our survey demonstrates that while many of us now have a decent camera as part of our mobile phone, most British consumers prefer to use a high-quality camera for personal photography.

Also – great news for microstock – a comparatively large amount would like the option to make money from their images. Find out more on how to buy and sell images online with our online microstock guides.

Capturing summer

Today is summer solstice (21 June), the longest day of the year. So long as the weather holds – and remember, this is around the time of the Glastonbury Festival and Wimbledon – the longest day gives give snappers across the UK some 16 hours, 38 minutes and 22 seconds of sunlight.

Summer is the season of light, so we’ve put together a guide on how to best capture the month in all its colourful glory.

Light relief

With so many hours of sunlight to play with in summer make sure you shoot when the sun is low – either in the morning or evening. This is especially important when photographing people, as a high sun may make them squint. Also, the sun is more camera-friendly in the morning and evening, with warmer colours and shadows to get creative with. Sunsets are long and linger in summer so make the most of them. Remember not to cast your own shadow over the subject, mind!

Use the sun cleverly. With the sun head on you can fully illuminate your subject, while from the side you can create an air of mystery with shadows. Using the sun behind the subject you can create either a silhouette or a back-lit effect. This works particularly well with natural aspects such as leaves, flowers and trees.

Sunlight can be hard to handle, so look into using UV and polarising filters, lens hoods and exposure settings to overcome any unwanted glare. You’ll have more overall control in sunny conditions if you use the manual setting on your SLR rather than the automatic. Do you have spot metering on your camera? Check the manual to see how this could help.

Composition

It’s summer so think about seasonal themes, especially if you’re taking pictures to sell on microstock sites such as Polylooks think about quirky images that really encapsulate summer such as ice creams or ball games. Think about using colour as much as possible, that’s what people want from summer – something upbeat and fun. Use people and smiles are always popular. If you’re taking an atmospheric shot remember the golden rule – keep the horizon straight! There’s nothing worse than seeing the sea at an unnatural slant! If you’re really happy with a picture but not with the angle you can use photo editing software to resolve it.

If you’re looking for inspiration, why not visit Polylooks.co.uk and use the intuitive filters to see our nearly 50,000-strong photo collection tagged as ‘summer’. However you spend it, have a great summer with your camera!