Colby Brown - Google+ for Photographers

Colby Brown

Google+ for Photographers
Colby Brown

Peachpit Press
1249 Eighth Street
Berkeley, CA 94710
510/524-2178
510/524-2221 (fax)

Find us on the Web at www.peachpit.com
To report errors, please send a note to
Peachpit Press is a division of Pearson Education

Copyright 2012 by Colby Brown

Acquisitions Editor: Cliff Colby
Project Editor: Valerie Witte
Production Editor: Katerina Malone
Developmental Editor: Anne Marie Walker
Copyeditor: Anne Marie Walker
Proofreader: Scout Festa
Composition: Kim Scott, Bumpy Design
Indexer: Joy Dean Lee
Cover Photos: Colby Brown
Cover Design: Mimi Heft
Interior Design: Mimi Heft

Notice of Rights
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. For information on getting permission for reprints and excerpts, contact .

Notice of Liability
The information in this book is distributed on an As Is basis, without warranty. While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of the book, neither the author nor Peachpit shall have any liability to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the instructions contained in this book or by the computer software and hardware products described in it.

Trademarks
Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book, and Peachpit was aware of a trademark claim, the designations appear as requested by the owner of the trademark. All other product names and services identified throughout this book are used in editorial fashion only and for the benefit of such companies with no intention of infringement of the trademark. No such use, or the use of any trade name, is intended to convey endorsement or other affiliation with this book.

ISBN-13: 978-0-321-82040-2
ISBN10: 0-321-82040-1

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Printed and bound in the United States of America

To my supporting and loving wife, Sarah; my adorable son, Jack; and all
those who choose to follow their passion for the art of photography.

As a photographer first and a writer second, I found that it is often easy to overlook the logistical and creative challenges that are part of the process of writing and publishing a booklet alone a book that people enjoy. The reality is that although I spent countless days researching and writing the content for this book, I was certainly not without support from many individuals who helped to put together what you see before your eyes. Without them, this book would not be what it is.

Throughout all my travels, the late nights, and the weekends I spend working on countless projects, my family has always been there to support me. Their love, compassion, and understanding help to drive me to follow my heart with everything I do. Sarah and Jack, my heart is forever yours.

To all of the contributors to this book, I want to thank you for your time, energy, and creativity. Thank you to Dave Cohen, Brian Matiash, Jay and Varina Patel, Scott Jarvie, Catherine Hall, Patrick di Fruscia, Alex Koloskov, Trey Ratcliff, and Elia Locardi for sharing your wisdom and thoughts on Google+ and photography in general. Thank you to Mark Waslick, Melaine Schweighardt, Jacob James, and Grayson Hartman for being selected to be a part of this book by opening up and sharing your moving experiences about your time on Google+ as aspiring photographers.

To Google and your employees, thank you for patiently answering my endless questions. It was truly a pleasure to work with you to make sure this book was as accurate as possible.

To the Peachpit team and all those who worked on this book, thank you! Without your help, creativity, expertise, and most important, patience, this book would not have been possible. To Anne Marie and Valerie, especially, thank you for the guidance and time you spent working with me. It certainly was not easy to write and publish a book as quickly as we did, and without your help I would have been lost.

And lastly I want to thank the photography community on Google+. Every day I am inspired and moved by your willingness to share not only your photography work, but pieces of yourselves as well. The close connections and relationships Ive formed on Google+ are unlike any Ive developed on an online network before. It has truly been a pleasure getting to know many of you over the last few months, and I look forward to meeting more people every day.

When I first started my career as a photographer, online networks for photographers were still in their infancy. Yahoos Flickr was easily the most prominent, but even then it was only a fraction of what it is today. At the time, I saw no point in utilizing these resources because in reality I did not know they were viable resources. Instead of having the ability to easily share my work with the world, I relied on the support of friends and family. Instead of increasing my knowledge of postprocessing my images by watching a YouTube video or stumbling across a blog article, I read every book I could find on the subject. Instead of finding a wide variety of potential customers and clients in a single location, I marketed myself the old-fashioned way, by word of mouth. Although I am certainly grateful for these experiences because they have helped shape my various photography businesses and me into what we are today, I cant help but look at how much online networks have helped change the photo industry.

One of the most exciting aspects of being a photographer today is not only the access to affordable camera gear, but also the ability to engage and interact with other individuals who share in your passions and interests. It doesnt matter if you are a seasoned professional or a novice with your first digital camera, the opportunity to connect with others to increase your knowledge, share your experiences, and even market to new customers and clients is just a mouse click away. Between message boards, photo sharing websites, and online social networks, photographers have more than their fair share of choices. However, for many, it has been confusing to figure out where to spend their time and energy. But once Google entered the online networking world with Google+, that all changed.

Although Google+ has one of the most active and engaging communities of photographers on the Internet, finding your footing in a new network can be challenging. This book originally started out as a guide on my blog titled Google+: A Survival Guide to a Photographers Paradise, which was read by over 500,000 people. Although the guide focused purely on step-by-step instructions on how the features of the network worked, my goal with this book was to expand upon just the feature set and show you how to best utilize the network to help you build a following and establish an online presence as a photographer. Each chapter features an interviewA Photographers Perspectivewith some of the most influential photographers in the photo industry, giving you an inside look at how these professionals utilize Google+ on a daily basis. By working directly with the Google+ team of engineers and employees, I was able to make sure the information in this book is accurate and relevant.