Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/333548
9 6 V I N E YA R D & W I N E RY M A N A G E M E N T | J u l y - A u g 2 014 w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m owned businesses that focus on relationships. Fans love feeling like they are a part of the action. + Remember who your audience is. Does your brand connect with consumers who like luxury items? Take pictures of your wine with lobster, oysters or chocolate truffles. At the eclectic Sleight of Hand Cellars in Walla Walla, Wash., winemaker/partner Trey Busch shares photos of tasting room visitors with album covers over their faces, with the hashtag Here are some tips for getting great shots: + Show off what's going on behind the scenes at the winery. Snap pictures of the vineyard workers during harvest, the winemaking team in the cel- lar or the lab, and the tasting room staff with customers or attendees at events (with their permission). These images will make your social-media mar- keting more personal, which is especially important for family- #sleeveface. Every photo shared is a reflection of the winery's per- sonality and customers. + Keep a bottle of one of your most popular wines in your car (or a dummy bottle, if you pre- fer to have an empty one.) You never know when a perfect sun- set will happen, and if you have a bottle of your wine on hand, you can easily take a few quick shots for social media. (When taking bottle shots, beware of the inadvertent selfie. Check the reflection in the wine bottle after you take a picture.) Ultimately, making sure your visuals reflect the personality of your winery is the most important tip to remember. Every winery has a unique story and posting photos on social networks is one of the easiest ways to share that story. Have fun with your photography, because wine is social! Shana Bull (formerly Ray) is a writer and digital marketing director who works with wineries, food pro- ducers and tech brands in Sonoma County, Calif. Find her on Twitter at @sharayray. Comments? Please e-mail us at feedback@vwmmedia.com. Compelling images, such as this one by Nick Aguis, make viewers want to put them- selves in the picture. TAKING SMARTPHONE PHOTOS TO THE NEXT LEVEL + Snapseed or Camera Plus: With these photo- editing apps, you can crop, adjust color and brightness, or add a frame. + Over or Phono: You can easily add text to pic- tures with these apps. + Hipstamatic: Use different films and lenses to take pictures and transform your images. + Diptic: Create mini-collages of your camera- phone pictures. All of the apps listed above are available through the iTunes App Store, except for Phono, which is an Android app and available through Google Play. – S.R. In addition to taking photos with your smartphone, you can download apps for free (or nearly free) that make it easy to edit images on the go. Photo: Shana Bull