Most of us in the photography and creative world are becoming all too familiar with the wonderful world of the newest social media site, Pinterest. But from what I seem to be hearing when I talk to friends who aren’t necessarily in creative professions, Pinterest is still a relatively unknown thing to a lot of people. What exactly is Pinterest you ask? I’m going to tell you all about it…AND, share with you how I’ve been using it to help my clients!
Pinterest is basically an online inspiration board. Once you’ve created an account, you’ll be able to create boards of different categories on which you “pin” things that you find around the web. You can also access boards of people whom you follow and “Re-pin” things that they may have pinned. Its popular with photographers, crafters and other artists because its so visual and allows us to share ideas, learn new things and be inspired. It also has a strong social networking component to it which allows you to comment on other people’s pins as well as tag people in pins, all in a very user-friendly way. It’s visual bookmarking at its best! At the moment, Pinterest is still by invitation only BUT, if you’d like an invite please leave a comment with your email address and I’d be happy to send you one!
What can YOU use Pinterest for if you aren’t a photographer or a creative at all? Well…pretty much anything! Use it as a place to visually organize some of your favorite online recipes (that part alone has made my life SO much easier!), use it to save articles or books you’d like to read, organize some home renovation project ideas, collect ideas for your wedding or new baby arrival, discover endless numbers of ideas of activities to to with your kids and even use it as a place to post all of your funny or swoon-worthy celeb photos. Wait…maybe that’s just me? 
Here’s what a few of my boards look like (and once you join, you can follow me HERE!):
Yes, that’s correct. At the time of this post I have 33 boards and 3689 pins. Some might say I’m easily inspired. I call it ADDICTED. Down right, utterly, completely and totally addicted. So its also worth noting that once you start pinning you won’t be able to stop. Don’t say I didn’t warn ya!
Now for the part I’m very excited about!!!
One of the most common questions I am asked from clients is ”What do we wear for our session?”. Most often I simply refer them to the page of my website where I indicate a few suggestions of what would work. The problem is, its not very visual. And if you are like me, visual is important. Its so much easier for me to see and understand something when its shown to me. So in an effort to make this easier for my clients to understand exactly what types of outfits photograph nicely, I created a board called “Client What to Wear Inspiration“. On this board I will be pinning anything and everything I can find that will help you determine what to wear for your session. If applicable I will also make note under each photo about what specifically works about the outfit(s) so that you as clients will see exactly what I think makes it awesome. And if you happen to be on Pinterest yourself, please feel free to ask questions or comment on any of the photos and I will happily respond!
I am thinking that over time, there is also the possibility that I could add additional boards for my clients too. Easy hairstyles, accessory ideas, helpful articles to read before your session, even local location possibilities! The ideas are endless! To find out about any of the new boards I create you can follow me on Pinterest or become a fan of my Facebook page, since I’ll likely announce it there too!
