Updated 21 March: Check out the marvelous gift you can receive just for guest tweeting!
What is a "Curated Twitter account"?
It is a Twitter account (no, really!) that allows different people to tweet from the same account on a weekly basis. It all started with @Sweden just over a year ago and has spread rapidly from there.
The early accounts were location based, like @Sweden, @PeopleofLeeds, @WeAreAustralia, etc. Then came accounts rotated amongst the staff of businesses like @FTinsider (already extinct, it seems) and @Mint_In.
The third wave, which began with @iamclimate, was issue-based accounts. These now include @TWkLGBTQ and @IndigenousX.
I think that what we are starting here is the fourth wave: subject based accounts. I can see this catching on for hobbies and professions alike. From Abseiling to Zoology! (edit: I found @SpeciesofUK which, since December 2012, has been tweeting about a different UK plant or animal. I suspect it's all done by the same person though!)
A much more in depth history of curated Twitter accounts can be found here on Sarah Stokely's Communications + Community site.
Why should you follow @WeRPhotography?
If you're on Twitter and you love photograhpy, you probably already follow a whole bunch of photographers. I know I do. My list, PhotoDudes has 439 members and there are probably more that I've followed on my iPad where you don't get a chance to put them in lists. (Update: That list is now maxed out at 500 photogrphers!)
But you know, there are probably more photographers out there that you just haven't found yet.
This could be just your chance to find someone to follow whose work you admire. Or you might find just the person who specialises in your own particular area of interest. Perhaps you'll find someone who tweets helpful hints about something you're interested in.
Nevertheless, I'm hoping you'll see some pretty good photographs along the way.
Why should you tweet for @WeRPhotography?
You probably already do this on your own blog or website, on Twitter, Flickr, 500px, Instagram, etc, &etc.
Even just one more pair of eyes would be good though, right? This could be just the way to introduce even more people to your art.
(edit: As of today, 1 Feb 2013, we have just passed 200 followers who could be looking at your photograpy!) (And at 21 Mar 2013, 540 followers! Yay team.)
As well as tweeting links to your photographs and responding to other Twitter users, you are more than welcome to use the account to show off your website, your blog or other photo sharing sites that you use.
Breaking news: (not really, I just got around to updating here) The wonderful Haje Jan Kamps (@Photocritic), who was a recent guest tweeter and is the inventor of the Triggertrap (@Triggertrap) series of devices, dongles and apps, has most kindly offered to donate a Triggertrap mobile dongle to each of the first 52 guest tweeters. We are nearly a quarter of the way through that number so best you get your name in quickly!
What are the rules for tweeting from @WeRPhotography?
Not a lot. You tweet your photography. For a week. As many times a day as you feel the need to.
Tweet finished images, before and after post-production shots, BTS shots or videos, lighting diagrams, hair or make up shots, gear recommendations or reviews†, whatever works for you.
†If you are being paid, in cash or in kind, for recommendations or reviews, I'd ask that you reveal that, either in your tweets or somewhere in the post to which you link.
Are there any restrictions on the images you can post?
Yes, but not many.
I should hope it would go without saying, but any images of children being exploited for purposes of sexual gratification will get you removed from this account, reported to Twitter, reported to your local police, and, if I have anything at all to do with it, a punch in the nose.
Having said that, I won't object to images of a sensual, even erotic‡ nature. Please use the hashtag #NSFW (Not Safe For Work) if it is appropriate to do so.
(My personal abhorrence of cheap "filters" or gaudy HDR is not relevant here.)
‡But not pornographic or exploitative. No "sneak" shots, no explicit close-ups, no, er, upstanding members.
How can I be a Tweeter for @WeRPhotography?
Is there anything else that I need to know?
Probably, but I can't think of it right now.
Oh, wait. It shouldn't need to be said, but of course you retain all copyright to your images.
Please make sure that you do have the right to post those images though. This is not supposed to be a "Hey, look what I found!" account. Do that using your own Twitter account.
If you try to sell images during your term as @WeRPhotography, and I have absolutely no objection to that, it's up to you to ensure that you have the appropriate model- or property-releases.
Finally, something that I don't know of being done on any other curated account, at the end of your week, you can send me 3-5 of your favourite images you tweeted and some text to accompany them and I'll make a blog post for each of the guest tweeters right here. (Edit: It's not often I'm right, and this time I'm wrong again. @createandrotate kind of does this with a questionnaire for each guest. I like this idea and may borrow it.)
Good Light!
Jim Campbell
@JustJimWillDo
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