Curating Photographic Content

A Hoopoe surveys the scene

For me, as a wildlife photographer, curating some of my best photographs has been a passion and a hobby for ages, because, ultimately, the purpose of taking photographs is to share them with the world. Behind every good photograph lies careful planning, patience and of course hard work. Take, for example, the idea of waking up early on a non-working day and reaching the location by, let's say, 7:00 a.m. so that you can catch the birds before they fly away home!

A Black-Necked Stork photographed from a great distance

It goes without saying that good content is a combination of important written information supported by good graphics, or, photographs. Story-telling is an important aspect of content curation and social media is an important medium to promote and curate content. Skilled photographers will do well to hone their story-telling skills as descriptions of the photographs taken by them. I use Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest to tell the story of my photoshoot.

A juvenile Owl looks at the camera with curiosity

Sharing is caring! The huge benefit of sharing images via social media platforms rather than a traditional website presents opportunities for interaction with others, and of course it provides engagement. A photograph worth sharing should never be away from others. Anyway, the ultimate idea of curating content is to be able to connect with other photographers,, followers, and hopefully, clients! Some of the ways to be more interactive include tagging brands in your images, uploading stories and reaching out to people whose work you admire.

A Spot-billed Duck glides across the water

Select your niche! Many photographers will diversify their portfolio to include, portrait, landscape, nature, motion, and even street photographs. For most, however, it is important to decide whether to shoot photographs with a niche appeal aimed at a particular target audience. For me it is wildlife photography and I like to plan for the same. I might not be that good at any other form of photography, like for example weddings, but then that shouldn't be a problem because one needs to specialize in a particular aspect in order to achieve excellence.

A Cormorant perches on a tree trunk before taking a dive

The niche approach is a good one if you specialize in one particular genre or style and have a specific audience in mind. However, diversification might help in attracting a wider audience. It took me quite some before I realized that I needed to focus on one genre before I went on to curate my own photography content. However, some genres merge into others, for example, macro photography and wildlife photography.

A Cicada photographed while on a trip to Bhimtal

Doing research on what is trending and what the audience wants can help. Photographing the first arrival of migratory birds, or spotting a rarely seen bird, might drive a larger viewership, than perhaps focusing on disappearing wetlands and forests that people will soon view as politically motivated, rebellious or even social activation that is biased and insidious! I have incidentally written so much about the Basai Wetland that people are now not very keen to read and see photographs on the topic.

A Red Naped Ibis confronts Red-Wattled Lapwing at the Najafgarh Lake

For me, content curation and wildlife photography happen to be hobbies and passions I follow but for others, it is their bread and butter! I happen to be a teacher who teaches English to senior-level students, besides being a faculty advisor for the photography club of my school - both of which support my interests. However, if one day I might have to fall back on these hobbies as a primary source of income, I would be glad enough to specialize in the field of content curation.

A Cicada in all its glamour