Our third speaker at the Disney Social Media Mom Celebration in Portland was Victoria Lim, former journalist, current managing editor for Walt Disney World Public Relations. 


She completely schooled me on taking and using photos and videos on my blog. I can tell you right now that you will find I am still learning and have not mastered the tips she taught me. Obviously.
BUT I am trying. And just in case you are wondering how to improve your photos and/or videos, I will share some of the things I learned! 
She was fully aware that most of us these days use our phones for our primary photo and video camera. She keeps with her a bag of gear. Some of the things she has (with her phones) include: a selfie stick, bracket, gorilla pod, mini tripod, portable chargers, pouch of mini lenses, and a mic. 
AND she gave us some "Visual Guidelines," summarized below
Basic Guidelines to Maximize your Mobile

• Clean your lens!
• Steady your shots.
• Try Different Angles
• Zoom with your Feet
• Hold your phone Horizontally not vertically! (still working to remember that one...oops!)
• Be purposeful in shooting
• Don't tilt or pan unless purposeful
• Use Airplane Mode (this makes sure you do not get a video ruining phone call during filming-GENIUS hack there!)

Guidelines for Interviews

• Be mindful of ambient noise
• Be mindful of wind
• Where do you want interview subject to look
• Again, I will note-use Airplane Mode!

Aside from the great advice, Victoria also gave us fabulous insights on Apps we may want to use. I have only had the chance to try a few of them, and I do not have an iPhone, so I have not tried any of those. I am an Android girl! 

However, I though I would share all the Apps she suggested:

• Dropbox (I use and love Dropbox!)
• Disney Memories HD
• Show Your Disney Side (I believe only on iPhone)
• PicCollage
• PhotoGrid
• Magisto (for Video)
• Videolicious (on iPhone)
• Cute Cut
• We Video

If you want to see my early attempts at using some of these apps, see below.

Disney Memories HD

This app is too, too fun! I took a photo of me and Wes from Hawaii a few weeks ago and gave it some Disney magic below;

You can take a new picture or use one you already have, then you can ad dit to posed pics, or add stickers and accessories, and you can fancy up the style as well. It is a little like Instagram Disney style. Lots of fun for the Disney Fans like me!

PicCollage

This App is a quick easy way you could throw together a meme or something. You can pick one or more pictures and you can add stickers, text, backgrounds, etc. It is quick and easy to figure out and I can see using it a lot in the future. Here is my quickly thrown together pic of me and my Sawyer (from LOST):

Ahhhh....Sawyer.

PhotoGrid

This is one of the absolute easiest programs ever to be able to make a photo collage and more it around to look like you want it to. I took several of the pictures from the #DisneySMMC Portland and I threw this together:

It took about a minute total to make this and I love it. Super easy! Super cute!

Magisto

On Magisto, I picked some pictures, a theme, and a song, and it put together the video for me. No choice in the order of the photos or how they come up, but what a quick easy way to show off a lot of cute pictures! I chose Disneyland photos from various Disney trips from the last year, used a fun "memories" theme, and used a song I love from my own device (Happy). Here's what Magisto came up with:

So.Cute.

I have downloaded Cute Cut and We Video, but have not had the chance to test them out yet! I will let you know more about them when I get the chance!!!

I am really looking forward to using a lot of these tips and apps to upgrade my blog a little bit! I really appreciated all the great info from Victoria Lim!! 

If you know me "in real life" or even on line, you may be aware that I LOVE Disney. All things Disney. In fact, my family has had Disneyland annual passes for a number of years because we love Disneyland so much.

Well, one of my dreams as a blogger has always been to attend the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration. What is that you ask? Well, It is an annual conference held by Disney at Disney World (Once it was at Disneyland). This is not a conference you can apply for or register to attend, it is one where a small number of select bloggers are send invitations to travel with their families to Disney where they will have the opportunity to  learn, network, and get more involved in the Disney social media.

On top of the annual conference at Disney World (or Disneyland), Disney has begun to have Disney Social Media Moms Celebrations "On the Road". For the past few years I have been applying for these On the Road day long conferences. This year I had not planned to apply, but a blogging friend pointed out that the first stop this year is Portland (and I live a few short hours drive from Portland).

So, quite some time ago, I applied and promptly forgot. Then something magical appeared in my email while I was in Hawaii:

The email started with "Congratulations!" I was invited to the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration on the road!

So, After much schedule rearranging, I will be spending next Tuesday, June 9th at the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration! I cannot wait to take you blog readers on the journey with me! I plan to post as I can and to tell you all about it!

Until then though, I'll just have to find other ways to show my #DisneySide! Here are (way too many) pictures of the "Beckeesdeals" clan showing our Disney Side:

























Hope you have fun showing your #DisneySide!!!