How to Show Better Online Meeting Photos Using Zoom

 What do I learn from this photo at Braddell Heights Advanced online meeting? 

Angela, the President, top left, is holding her bee soft toy to remind you that she is busy as a bee. 

She is wearing a collared white shirt to frame her face (or a dickey, or false shirt front) and must remember to look in the mirror she keeps beside the laptop at online meetings to be sure the collar is straight. 

Ban Peng is up close. I see the chat box hand. I had not realised how the hand was visible to sit beside your photo in the mosaic picture of a group. Another discovery which I have learned from him is that you can raise the hand for a photo which draws attention to your picture, identify yourself in a crowd, and show support for the meeting and organizers. 

Next we have Sam. Thank you to Sam for supporting our club meeting.

The person taking the photo must shout 'one two three so that you know when the picture is being taken. That ensures the audience can sit still to prevent photo blur and keep your hands away from the screen. 

Kin Ng - beaming. If you have big teeth show them. 

Yudi, of learncool.sg. thanks for supporting up. Typically Singaporean, wearing glasses, looks academic. 

Mike, despite being from China, has a photo of San Francisco, which reflects either the developers of Zoom and Manycam or their audience or the best photo they had at the time. 

Jun Xian is making a hand sign, and has his books on display and some photos. His tee shirt matches the wall. Emphasizes his face. 

Lim Tong Lee gives us a double thumbs up but wears a mask to look mysterious. 

Jeff is hidden. Doing what?
1 He could be eavesdropping our meeting whilst being active at a work or social meeting.
2 Having dinner alone or with family. watching us surreptitiously on a mobile.
3 Popped out to the toilet, or doing something even more exciting which I will leave to your vivid imagination. 

We have only 9 in this photo although 13 were at the meeting. You can make a meeting look small or large by getting your family of four to all log on from different mobiles during a meeting.

You might miss out if you let people go for a break and then try to take a photo.

What a lot you learn from just a photo and our analysis. 

Come back to Braddell Heights every Wednesday evening. 
Learn more. On learncool.sg
Bring non-Toastmasters who could benefit from joining, your spouses, family, friends, colleagues, neighbours, people you speak to on the internet. All can benefit. All welcome to join our club. See you next week

Useful Wbsites
Ministry of Health Government Singapore
https://www.moh.gov.sg/covid-19

About the Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
The Author
Author, Author! About the Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. (Not related to the actress.)
Author of twenty books including: Quick Quotations; Who Said What When.
See books and profiles on Lulu.com and Amazon, such as Wedding Speeches & Toasts. Also watch videos on YouTube.
See other posts on singers and statues and languages and destinations.

If you want to learn to speak the Queen's English, or Received Pronunciation. join me at my online toastmasters club,
Braddell Heights Advanced. Wednesdays, 7-9 Singapore time which is seven hours ahead of London, England.
I am also a member of
Singapore Online.9-12 pm, Singapore time, Fridays. I am also a member of
Tampines Changkat Advanced.
Harrovians, London.
Tiarel, Singapore.
Toastmasters International Find a Club
https://www.toastmasters.org/find-a-club
https://books.google.com.sg/books?id=upSEBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA21&lpg=PA21&dq=quick+quotations
lulu.com/shop/angela-lansbury/who-said-what-when/paperback/product-21713991
learncool.sg

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How I Photograph Through Windows On Bus Journeys

Problems
You can't take good photos because you are at odd angles, traffic gets in the way, you get reflections, and the windows are likely to be smeary.

Solutions
EDITING PHOTOS
Angles
You can adjust the angle of the photo afterwards. If that cuts out half the signpost, the elegant chimney, or the pretty tree, leave the photos which are diagonal at the corner of the page as the angle is deliberate.

Mounting
The picture is out of focus? Put it behind the bolder headline as a faded background.

Crop
Crop the picture to remove unwanted litter, people, modern signposts spoiling the view of ancient buildings. On my laptop I get a grid dividing the picture into six or nine. Moving the focus of the picture into the middle sometimes improves it no end. The same goes to people. But occasionally I find that the trees or buildings on the left and right provide a good frame. So I go back to the original which is always there.

I used to duplicate pictures to keep the original beside the cropped version and compare them. when cropping and later Now I have so many pictures that it takes hours to find anything. I have to spend more time labelling the 'Information' on every picture to be able to find distant or detail or even a person and a place. Also too many pictures takes up space and costs money in more storage.

Overlap
If cropping the bottom right cut out something important at the top right, overlap the pictures so the next picture obliterates the corner. Nobody knows what they don't see. Yes, it takes time.

Cut it to the part you want. Overlap pictures to cut out the corners.

WINDOW CLEANING
Clean the bus windows. Why doesn't the bus company clean the windows?

Maybe they do. Even if they did, the first kid eating ice cream or sweets and stand up to look out, bracing against the window when the bus jolts or leaning forward to look out smears sticky all over the window.

Inside or outside? In theory, I could do the outside of a window when the bus is stationery before it departs at the start and end of the journey.

Probably if If I were to do the journey again, I would carry window cleaner. Maybe not. Perhaps wet wipes would be lighter and less bulky.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
I have other posts on photography, destinations, learning languages, London, worldwide. Please follow, bookmark and share links to your favourite posts.

Photo Credits: why you need to credit a photographer

Problems
1 I have written a post on another blog on blogger.com and the pictures and layout are all in HTML which I do not yet know. In the olden days, until earlier 2016, I could see the pictures in my draft text in the create box on the create and edit page. So I could know which picture was where and move it up and down into the right part of the page to match the text. Now, when I create my blog post, when I am creating I cannot see how big the photo is until I see the preview.

2 Why do you need to credit a photographer? (Why not? because it's a nuisance if you move photos around. You might forget to do it. The speaker is more important to you and the reader than the photographer.) Who should get the credit for the picture of one of the speakers? Often the photographer will say they don't need a credit.

3 TripAdvisor rejected our photographer's photos with his copyright symbol on them.

Sometimes I think that a post is so out of focus that I don't want a credit.

Answer
I need to credit each picture, especially if I have more than one photographer to avoid confusion if somebody wants more pictures of an event. And give credits for photos. Some professional photographers (me and my husband) insist on it.

Story
The websites are increasingly asking if it’s your photo. You have to state author’s own work or public domain. Wikipedia is getting tougher - you must only use your own photo and can’t even have a church or shop signboard with text because it’s somebody else’s copyright unless it’s in the far distance. or if you have permission to use it. You tube rejects videos which have you playing a piece of music which is copyright, even if its your piano, clarinet. Happy birthday has only just been make public after repeated court cases in the USA.
I need at least couple of hours with my husband to do the HTML and I’ll do it this evening or at the weekend.

Tip
Make a drawing or mind map of each post.
Introduction, paragraphs 1, 2, 3 with the suitable photo. Add the photo to each section not at the end. If you have to add photos later, do your blog post in pages outside first and then load it up with the photo captions in the correct place in order.
When copying a photo from Wikipedia, include the dete of the photo and the author in your Information caption, or the details. That way you can find a Wikipedia

Action
1 Create a fold for draft blog posts.
2 On a non busy day or in the evening after your important daytime tasks are done, add captions to pictures including names of photographers or authors of photos.
3 Superimpose your author name on all your photos to protect copyright.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.
See my posts and photos and performances on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest. Please like my pages, follow and share.

How To Take Better Photos

I was reading the rules for entering the competition for photos of monuments for Wikipedia when I clicked through to their advice page on taking photos. I knew several of the basics, including:

1 Make sure your picture is horizontal
2 Or correct it later
3 Ensure the autofocus is on the main subject of the photo.

Photographing People
Regarding autofocus, I know that when you are taking a picture of two people, you have to ensure that the camera is not focused on the wall behind and between them, in the centre of the picture.

Focus Fix
On some cameras which focus on whatever is in the middle of the box shape frame or cross in the middle of the picture, you can focus on the person, one of the people, press something to hold that focus, and then move back to correct layout. I have never mastered this. Also it causes delay. I prefer to move one of the people into the middle and have the other person behind looking over their shoulder.

What Wikipedia adds is how the camera might focus on the foreground, such as a lamp post, which is incidental, whilst the main subject of the photo, the cathedral in the middle distance, is out of focus.

The Wikipedia article handily shows several photos of the same scene.

Before And After
I have always wanted to do a before and after photo guide, or a wrong or right guide. Every time I delete a bad picture I think, maybe I should have kept that as an example of what goes wrong and how to correct it. I probably will do so eventually.

Meanwhile, enjoy the useful Wikipedia article, which is clear and not over technical which is the fault of many books on how to improve your photographs.

http://www.wikilovesmonuments.org.uk/category/common-photo-errors#11

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.

Photographing and videoing yourself, friends and family

When you plan a wedding or funeral and know the photo of the central  characters will be recorded on photographs which will be on record, you take great care that the clothes are elegant or attractive, the hair is adjusted and the women's make-up is neat and any blemishes are covered. The same applies to the model in a promotional video for a business.

At a formal occasion you have many photos of the chief personalities and the professional photographer edits out, or the paying customer rejects, any photos in which the bride, groom, or main speaker has their eyes shut or stands awkwardly.

Now that so many of us are being photographed in public places and events, and taking photos at public places and events, we are increasingly finding it important to look our best at all times in photos.

The Problem and Solution
Here are some problems I have noticed:
1 Lopsided Clothes - tie or scarf of boy or man
a)  A barmitzvah boy's tallis* (scarf) hangs lopsided. Children in photos have skew-whiff ties.
b)  Ask person being photographed or parent or pairs of children to check each other

2 Lopsided Clothes - scarf of man or woman
b)  Speaker at Toastmasters' meeting has scarf hanging longer on one side.
 Photographer asks people posing to check

3 People in back row are hidden
Ask small people to come to the front. (You might ask taller people to stand at back but its friendlier to ask small people to come forward rather than pushing people to the back.) If time, arrange taller people or VIP or visually appealing costume such as mayor in regalia in centre. Arrange heights in an arch from the centre. Alternatively a line.

4 Brighten dull line-up of known or known people
 In a wedding photo create movement or action or links. For example, everybody facing the right, everybody looking at the bride int he centre,  everybody raising a glass, linking arms on New Year's Eve, ballet dancers with right toe forward and hands together overhead, heads turned left.

5 Two people standing apart, but camera will focus on distant wall behind in centre
Ask people to stand together, or overlap. Alternatively, have one sitting, the other standing behind. Stand them back against the wall of the room so camera is not focussed on the wall in the distance. Get the club banner or vase of flowers in the centre so something in focus in the centre is of interest.

3 One shoulder higher
Very common, as any tailor can tell you. Can be made worse by carrying a bag on the right hand side which makes the right shoulder either droop or such up, or by sitting at a desk with right arm raised writing or by a car accident injuring collar bone or arm.

4 Standing Lop-sided
Standing with one leg forward or back. a) Get people to stand up straight.
b) Alternatively make a joking feature of it.  A comedian or kid or masked character or person pulling a face can make it look like the lopsided stance is deliberate and increases the funny effect.

5 Toes pointing in
Makes a shoe model, or any model, or any adult woman look like a gormless five year old. Ask the model person to keep feet parallel. I've seen this in Hotter shoe catalogue. I love the shoes but hate the pictures which do not draw attention to the shoes but distract me. I feel like throwing a catalogue in the bin when the photographer has an adult model or even a child with toes painting in. Anybody into chiropody or the Alexander technique would tell you that you are inviting foot and spine trouble to stand with toes pointing in - or you are giving the world the news that you already have a problem.

6 Knees apart when sitting
Makes a fat person look larger and aggressive. On a woman with a short skirt gives an ungainly view up legs of underwear or worse and distracts from face.

7 Folded arms in audience
Makes the member of the audience look bored and disrespectful and half awake.
Suggests the speaker is boring and the event is a waste of time.

8 Bags on floor
Trip hazard. Flusters members of audience leaving chairs to go on stage. Looks untidy in photos. Obscures full view of person being photographed.

9 Lopsided banners
Straighten the banner. It's an advertisement for the club - and the photographer. Don't look sloppy. Look smart. Nobody will know that you took the trouble to get the banner straight. But you will know. Yes, I got that right. Without my going to extra trouble. they would not have been looking as good as they do.

10 Lopsided badges, lanyards or necklaces
People were badges upside down, or the badges droop. Get them horizontal.

11 Untidy hair
At a recent meeting I watched a video of somebody else who had an uneven hair cut. I felt like going up and offering to cut the person's hair for free. It's hard to cut your own hair.  Imagine my horror when I then saw a video of myself at the same event, with my hair not combed, untidy at the back. I often arrive at meeting in a hat or hood which I remove. I go to the Ladies and comb my hair. On this occasion I was waylaid by organisers wanting help. I suggest that at meetings people get into pairs in advance and do a mutual check, whether for photos or just general appearance.

12 Create Interest For Singles and Pairs
Singles in photos and paintings can have an item in their hand such as a tennis racket or a pen or a book. Add a nearby decoration such as a vase of flowers, trophy, or something on the wall behind, such as the name of the venue, the restaurant menu showing the location name, or stand them beside the signpost of the city, the name of the museum, (providing this is not a security risk), or a uniformed person nearby such as the concierge of the hotel, the pilot of the plane, a person of a different height or race, a Masai warrior, a scuba diver, a shopkeeper with a bucket and spade, a waiter with a bottle or cake, a sign saying Best ...., a poster or advertisement, a calendar showing the date, the hotel flower display in the lobby, the flowers in the garden, the shops' s or neighbour's cat or dog or bird, a show room bicycle or car, a pretty or funny coffee cup or mug.  Take serious and smiling photos. Then they can be used for both happy occasions such as weddings and serious ones such as funerals.

Footnote
*(For anybody who doesn't know but wants to know, the tallis/tallit or fringed scarf, worn by Liberal Jews on special occasions as well as the Orthodox Jews at all times - follows the instructions in Leviticus or laws in the Jewish Hebrew Bible / English Christian Old Testament which is a translation.)

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

What is your travel blog doing for you?

A travel blog can do these things for you:

Are you writing daily for fun, for pleasure or profit, and could you do more of less of one and more or less of the other? Are you buying, keeping a record of travel and tours you bought, doing PR for others and yourself, paid or unpaid (if a paid advertisement or PR you must declare your interest/bias), or selling a place or product or experience for money?

You can make money by selling items for pennies to millions of people. Alternatively sell an item costing millions to one person.

Not sure? Use a blog to test the market. Use three websites or blog posts try all and see which is most successful.

(If not successful, or not willing to do all this work, admit you are retired and doing it for pleasure. If so, at least you have a positive answer for those business people who ask - are you making any money out of this?)

1 Personal:
 Help you keep a record of your travels. For your own use. Just in case you ever need it. Write a book for your family or descendants. Fill in your c.v. Prove from pictures of your passport and suitcase where you lost an item you are claiming on insurance and give the brand name.

2 Public or semi-public:
Enable you to share your records - with friends; and/or family; and/or acquaintances and/or colleagues. Just in case you ever need it. (Go into travel business. Start a new travel business. Start a new career. Write a book for the public.

3 PR:
Retired or interrupted career due to change of job, country, divorce, retirement, enable to show you are still in the know.

4 Focus:
Enable you or others to see your unique focus to start a business or book. Find out which posts get most readers and from which countries. I get most readers on
1) Where I am expert because I was there first -
for example restaurants in my local high street in London, or other countries.
2) Researched and tried and tested consumer advice
For example, travel advice on wider interest subjects such as travel suitcases attracts readers worldwide but two to one from the USA
3) Wild and wacky or unusual restaurants/theme parks/attractions
For example a botanical garden in Singapore with great photos gets readers from a range of countries.
4) Newsletter:
Gather readers or followers as you draft a newsletter. Send out through scheduling. Spend less time on blogging or use blog to direct readers to newsletter and link blog posts to other blog posts.

Angela Lansbury, author (books); photojournalist (travel/consumer shopping) and speaker (serious and humorous).