Tips For Sharing Your Dance Photos Regularly on Social Media
“What do I do with my dance photos after I get them?” is a question I hear quite often as a dance photographer.
You went through this whole journey of finding the right photographer to capture your dancing, planned and prepared for your session, dove into this immersive experience of dancing for still portraits (which is so different from performance photos), and now the time has come and you’ve gotten your photos delivered. The excitement is high and you can’t wait to share the images with your family and friends. You download the photos from your online gallery, open up Instagram, and post your favorite 10 photos. Boom. You’re done now, right?
Not so fast…
Your excitement wears off with time, that post of your favorite photos slowly creeps lower and lower on your feed, and suddenly those dance photos are now collecting virtual dust in your downloads folder on your laptop.
Don’t let this happen to you.
After all the time and energy strategically choosing outfits and dynamic dance shots that best represent you, you want those photos to live long past one generic excitement post.
If you’re reading this article wanting to know what to do with your new dance photos or even photos you had taken a year or two ago, and how to not let your dance photos collect dust, you’ve come to the right place.
This article will show you what to do (and what not to do) with your quality dance photos to continue to showcase your personality, technique, and performance on social media.
Let’s jump right in.
Do not do just one giant photo dump post right after you receive your final edited images and call it a day
I know, I know, it is soo tempting to do this. And it is totally okay to share a few of your favorites from the session right away, because of course you’re excited about them! But be sure to save some to share for special occasions, announcements, life events, and more.
Now, with that being said…
How to not forget about your photos:
Be sure you save and backup all of your photos in at least two places (external hard drive, usb, in the cloud, etc)
Take the extra step and label the album or tag the album with a color. You can even save a copy of the album on your desktop so you don’t forget too.
Having the photos saved in several safe places AND in a convenient spot on your computer will remind you to utilize your photos.
Utilize reminder apps and your online calendar to share photos online too
Jot down all major things you can share with your online community
Now that you’ve organized your photos and have made them available to use by putting them in a convenient spot and have labeled them, you can, and should, immediately write down ideas of things you can share periodically with your community so your photos can stay relevant.
Announcements, life events, and updates are a great place to start. Add those to your calendar and write up a few words for each one, then set a reminder to make a post, use a photo or two from your session, and share it.
If you teach fitness, yoga, or dance classes, this is a perfect time to put those photos to work and elevate how you promote your classes.
I also recommend saving some photos to share here and there and ‘for no reason’ too! Sometimes the world just needs a little bit more of you :)
Don’t know what to write? Here are some easy caption ideas for you:
Get their opinion: post two photos in a carousel and ask in the caption which photo, pose, etc they prefer
Share a few fun facts about yourself! Ask them what you have in common
Share a life update: Are you graduating next month? Moving places? Are you in the midst of auditioning? Did you just start a new project? It doesn’t matter how small, share an update. Trust me, people want to know what you’re up to.
Share something you’ve recently learned. Was there a lesson that resonated with you? A perspective or mindset shift? A new skill? You’ll probably help someone else by sharing this too!
So… why do all of this?
As dancers, it is important to keep your online image updated and relevant. If you’re auditioning, directors will likely be looking at your online profiles. You want to be sure that you have the wow-factor photos front and center when possible. For example, with Instagram you would want to consider having one of your high quality photos in the first 6-9 photos on the “grid” because that is the first glance of your page.
If you teach, having quality photos of you in your element moving and grooving it will not only show your professionalism, but heighten the perception of those who take class with you.
THIS is why keeping your quality dance photos in a constant rotation is key. Not many people, maybe your mom, will be scrolling through your entire feed. The first impression is what hooks someone looking at your profile and makes them want to stay longer and learn more about you. (And potentially will help them find out if they want to work with you or take your class!)
Tangible takeaways.
So here’s what you want to do NOW. I mean it. Here are 3 easy steps to do right now.
Find where your most recent dance photos are stored. Are they in your downloads folder? Already on a hard drive or usb? Locate it and make sure you have them in a safe space and if you don’t, find a safe space to store them and put them there. (and copy the album to multiple safe and easy to find spots)
Label your album - I recommend using the date (ex YYYYMMDD) and have a few descriptor words, something like “dance photoshoot” or “dance portraits” etc to keep things organized wherever you’re storing your photos. This makes the album easily searchable by having both the date and something descriptive in case you misplace them.
If you don’t have time to schedule out posts or to do something with them right away, DO set a reminder on your phone and/or computer for a time you know that you will be available to organize the photos for use. Look for an opening in your schedule - *cough cough*, possibly a time when you notice yourself mindlessly scrolling on your phone.
(I love the Apple reminder app for persistent reminders that don’t go away until you ‘mark as complete’ and I love Google Tasks that you can keep open as a sidebar in your Gmail account!)
Now get out there are share those awesome photos with your online community! You’ve got this! As always, these articles are for YOU. If you have any questions or need clarification on anything, please feel free to reach out to me via email!
Want to learn more on similar topics? Dive even deeper with these articles:
Do more than post your dance photos to Instagram: