Geotagging is the process of adding data to your digital photos to indicate the latitude and longitude where the photo was taken.

The digital photos you take already have a great deal of data stored with them.  This “metadata” helps define and categorize the photo.  The music on your iPod offers a good analogy; each song contains embedded information that includes the name of the artist the songwriter, the musical genre, and perhaps even artwork and lyrics.

Similarly, a jpeg image also has embedded information.  The metadata in a jpeg can include the camera make and model, date and time the photo was taken, lens settings, information about the software that was used and, increasingly, a geotag that shows where the photo was taken.  A growing number of cameras add geotags to each photo, and photos taken with a GPS-enabled smartphone almost always include a geotag.

This is both good news and bad.  The good news is that geotagging helps you remember where you took a photo.  You could use this technology, for example, to take pictures of properties for your records, or to make note of amenities or interesting architecture in your neighborhood.  Later, the geotags will allow you to view the photos on a map, and to see the location and the address where each photo was taken—great for searching, organizing and displaying the images.

But the downside is that photos of your home, your family, and friends that you post on, say, Facebook or Twitter, may also contain a geotag.  Photos taken at your home, for example, will contain information that shows exactly where you live.  Photos taken and posted while you’re on vacation will advertise loudly that you’re 1,000 miles away.  You may not know how to extract the metadata from the photos you post on the Internet, but lots of would-be cybercriminals do.

Therefore, it’s a good idea to know how to turn off the geotagging feature on your cameras and smartphone, so that it only works when you want it to.  Click here to find out more.

For agents, blogging is about developing name recognition and establishing yourself as an expert, as someone consumers would want to go to when they were ready to buy or sell a home.  One secret to building your name recognition on the Internet is to comment on other people’s blogs.

But when you leave comments on someone else’s blog, you’ll also want to be able to post a photo of yourself for instant brand and name recognition.  That’s where gravatars (and avatars) come in.

An avatar is a graphic representation of yourself that’s posted on the Internet.  Most social networking sites encourage you to upload a photo or some other image (i.e., an avatar) that will represent you on that site.  Avatars are useful because human beings spot and remember visual cues; we often recognize someone’s face, for example, when we can’t remember their name.  Therefore, when you leave a comment on another person’s blog, it’s better for your name recognition if there’s a photo along with that comment.  In fact, notice below how much more appealing it is when comment writers have an avatar rather than an empty box next to their name.

A gravatar is a “generally recognized avatar”.  Gravatars allow you to easily post the same photo as you comment on sites around the web.  Without gravatars, if you wanted an image with your comment, you’d have to upload a photo every time you posted a comment on someone’s blog.  But a gravatar is universal.  You create it one time and thereafter, each time you post a comment, the same picture is placed automatically.  And placing the same picture over and over again on the web is great for your name recognition.

Gravatars work on thousands of websites around the Internet.  It’s easy to create one—and it’s free. To get started, go to www.gravatar.com.  Watch the video and then create yours.

Photos add interest to your blog.  They grab the reader’s attention and make the blog more visually appealing.  So, if you’re writing a blog, you’ll probably want to add pictures.  If you do so, make sure you’re observing basic copyright laws.

Even though the Internet makes it easy for you to save and copy images from other websites, it’s probably not legal for you to add pictures you acquire that way to your blog.  You can only use pictures that are in the public domain or that you have permission from the copyright holder to use (or that you take yourself).  And that’s true whether you put the picture on a real estate blog, on your Facebook page, or on a blog you just write for fun and that’s not intended to ever bring you income or clients.

Photos and works of art created before 1923 are in the public domain and can be copied, used freely, and even used to create derivative works. Photos published after 1923 are likely to be copyright protected, although there are many post-1923 works that have lost their copyright protection because the artist failed to take the necessary steps to protect it.  But without the help of an intellectual property specialist, you’re not likely to know which post-1923 photos are in the public domain and which are not.  If you don’t know for sure, you probably shouldn’t use it.

For pictures published these days, the rules are fairly straightforward.  If someone takes a picture, they own the rights to it and they don’t have to do anything special to establish or maintain that right.  What that means to you as a blogger is that you probably can’t use photos others have uploaded to the Internet unless they give you permission.  So, where are you going to get pictures for your blog?

One solution is to take them yourself.  Many bloggers do.  Teresa Boardman, one of the best known real estate bloggers, annotates her blogs with photographs she takes of St. Paul and the Twin Cities area. She shoots buildings, street scenes, and out of the way places, and in so doing gives her readers a feel for life in St. Paul.

Be aware that you should obtain a written model release if you use another person’s likeness in a photo you post to your blog—even if you take the picture yourself.

Another solution is to look for photos with a Creative Commons license.  Creative Commons is a non-profit organization which has created a widely recognized set of standards that lets artists give others permission to use their works.  The Creative Commons website explains the various license categories.  Because the popular photography website Flickr makes it easy to search for photos which have been assigned a Creative Commons license, you may be able to find photos there that you can use on your website.

Finally, there are dozens of photography websites that make photos available for bloggers and others to use.  On some of these site, photographers upload their images, and the site specifies allowable uses. Other sites only offer photos that are in the public domain.  Some sites offer photos for free.  Others charge a modest fee—sometimes as little as $1.

Research any site you use to learn where it obtains its photos and be sure to observe all rules regarding the allowable use of pictures from the site. Some sites to try include:

www.sxc.hu

www.istockphoto.com

www.freedigitalphotos.net

www.dreamstime.com

www.fotolia.com

www.pdphoto.org

www.freephoto.com

www.cartoonstock.com

When you list a home, it’s best if you can have a professional take interior photos for the Internet.  If you must take photos yourself, follow these guidelines to get great shots.

1. Prepare the room by removing clutter.  Empty waste baskets; close the toilet lid; remove papers, shampoo bottles, notes held by refrigerator magnets, and any other personal items.
2. Turn on all lights and open the blinds.
3. Rearrange the furniture a little to get a better shot.  Also, feel free to add a bowl of apples or a vase of fresh flowers to give the photo interest.
4. Use available light.  Don’t use a flash.
5. Use a tripod.  Without a flash, you’ll need the tripod to steady the camera long enough to get a well-focused picture.  If you don’t have a tripod, set your camera’s auto timer, place the camera on a level surface, and let the camera shoot the picture without you holding it.
6. Use a wide angle lens.
7. Never shoot interior photos at night (the windows will appear as dark squares in the walls) but also never take photos when direct sunlight is streaming through the windows.
8. Shoot on an overcast day if possible; the light will be softer.  Light is also good early in the morning or late in the afternoon.
9. Vary the shots from room to room to make them interesting.  For example, in one room stand in the corner and take a wide shot.  In another room, hold the camera above your head or stand on a stepstool to shoot from a higher angle.
10. Do what the pros do and take many different shots of the same room from many different perspectives.  Then select the best photo to publish.

Study design magazines or websites like this one to get ideas that will improve your photos. Also consider taking a home staging course which will help you even if you don’t have to take photos for your clients.

Human beings are visual creatures.  We remember what we see, which is why we’ve all had the experience of meeting someone we knew but being unable to recall their name.  Pictures and images stay with us even when words and information don’t

That’s why your social networking profiles should all include a good photo of yourself.

• A good photo jogs the memory of people who’ve met you before.
• A good photo gives your profile a human touch.
• A good photo makes it more likely that a stranger will want to know you or work with you.
• A good photo says, “I’m confident, I’m knowledgeable, and I’m good at what I do.”

You’ll need to decide if you want to use the same photo on all social networking sites.  Having the same photo creates consistency and helps you build your brand.  But a photo that is too stuffy on Facebook or too casual on LinkedIn may look out of place.  So if you’re using only one photo, create something that’s business casual but that clearly communicates who you are and what you’re about.

What Makes a Good Personal Photo

• Your photo should be relatively current, not something taken years ago
• Use a cropped, centered headshot
• Don’t include photos of your dog, your children, your home or anything else—save those for your Photo Album
• Face mostly forward in the shot so people can recognize you
• Make sure the photo is well-lit to give it a more professional look
• If you’re using a camera phone, it should be 3 megapixels or better
• Have someone take the photo for you and/or use cropping tools to get it just right
• Smile