From iPhone 4s to iPhone 6

I'm one of those photographers who's always on a tight budget, so I usually hesitate to upgrade equipment. When I do upgrade, I'm careful to pick the most important pieces first (computers, camera bodies), and then look at extras (flash, softbox, tripod). I always buy with the expectation that it needs to last for the next 3-5 years.. depending on what it is.

That said, I've been working with the iPhone 4s since my iPhone 3GS was stolen in early 2012 (I guess the kid did me a favor; God knows I made him work for it though). I know, it's ridiculous, technology changes so much in that time. But with limited resources, upgrades have to count.

So I just started the next wave of serious upgrades. I traded my iPhone 4s for an iPhone 6. My 4s was still pristine, thanks to one super-janky Otterbox, but the iPhone 6 had me with the promise of shiny pictures, and shiny Retna display. It's quite possibly TOO shiny for creating gritty b&w Hipsta shots (my favorite on Instagram), but that may prove to be a small sacrifice, eventually.

It's definitely a huge improvement for social media and product pictures. Everything looks pretty. I also love that Apple went a little wider with the lens (from 35mm to 29mm), and opened up the aperture from f/2.4 to f/2.2.

I hear there's an added exposure control and image stabilization too, but I've been too amazed with Hipstamatic's insane quick-processing to play with iPhone's native camera app. Hipsta cranks out the shots on the 6 (including near-instant tintype and double-exposure turnaround; on my 4s it was a toss-up as to whether or not the app would crash while birthing just one or two of these images). I'm super excited to put it to the test over the weekend.

To see a comparison of the 4s and the 6, check out this fantastic link:

http://www.phonearena.com/phones/compare/Apple-iPhone-6,Apple-iPhone-4s/phones/8346,5257

Sorry, no photos from me yet! But the shots in this article from FStoppers demonstrate the iPhone 6's prettiness:

https://fstoppers.com/contests/17-outstanding-photos-apples-shot-iphone-6-world-gallery-61493

Site Redesign

Between a flurry of shoots and freelance work in April, I squeezed in a redesign of the site! Now it's easier to navigate and easier to browse through my portfolio. I also tidied up several pages and added a contact form. Check out the redesign at: http://www.meganwolfephoto.com/

The Collierville Herald Sports Extra

On April 2nd, the Spring edition of the Herald Sports Extra is out! I'm so excited to see one of my favorite shots on the cover of this issue. We had several great images, but this one was really iconic, and so kickass!

Copies of the Herald Sports Extra can be purchased through The Collierville Herald.

Forward Motion on The Microscopic Giant

Photos from David Young V's solo show at Gauntlet Gallery, "Forward Motion", are now up on The Microscopic Giant, along with an interview with the artist. Check out The Microscopic Giant to read about Young's work, and see more of my photos of his show:

http://themicrogiant.com/project/forward-motion-by-david-young-v/#.VQmSArPF8vE

David Young V at Gauntlet Gallery

Back home in San Francisco for a visit! Or at least I was at the end of Feb. I didn't do as much shooting as I thought I would during my trip; I spent most of my time catching up with friends, and sitting around my favorite coffee shops. I did do some art photography to repay my host, however. David Young V had a solo show at Gauntlet Gallery, and needed a few additional photos for his website and marketing.

Here's a handful of those shots:

Collierville Dragons Girls Lacrosse

Two weeks ago I shot the Collierville Dragons girls lacrosse team for the Collierville Herald's "Spring Magazine". The magazine will feature an article about the team's former, late coach, who brought exposure to the sport.

Here's a few select photos from the team's practice:

Selling Retail Through Instagram

Work this year has included part-time gigs as a Social Media Specialist. For my work at Babcock Gifts, I photograph and share new items from the store, grow BG's social networks, and respond to online inquiries.

But my favorite thing to do is build online relationships; connecting us (BG) with new customers, and sometimes, other businesses. A few of my (BG's) followers and friends have purchased items from Babcock Gifts after seeing them on Instagram first.

I can't always show what this follow-through looks like from start to finish, but in this example, I can. We just received these painted wine glasses two weeks ago, and I Instagrammed them on Friday. Here's my first post, along with comments from BG's followers:

Pearl Dragon Collections follows BG from Miami, FL. An interior decorator and online store, we've been following each other's products and "liking" (or commenting) on each other's posts for the past month. On Monday, she called and ordered 8 of these hand-painted glasses.

I like to think of social media as a game of tag. It's exciting to meet someone else who knows how to play (not everyone does!). When Pearl received her wine glasses, she posted a picture and tagged us on both Instagram and Facebook - letting us know that she received our product, and also, sharing it with her followers.

Naturally, I re-grammed her picture (of the received wine glass) to BG's followers on Instagram and Facebook, and tagged her back. Now, our followers can see that we have a happy customer, one who will be using our product, and they can follow her to see how she uses it.

Followers also get to see that both Babcock Gifts and Pearl Dragon Collections are actively participating in social media; not just posting pictures for likes. If a customer purchases either of our products and tags us, we're more likely to share that interaction on our social media and create more connections for everyone. It's a successful (and fun) social media transaction!

Page Robbins Winter Gala 2015

Last weekend I covered the Page Robbins Winter Gala for the Collierville Herald. Most of the shots are pretty straight-forward; photos of attendees smiling, and socializing.

I usually don't share photos like these on Flickr or Instagram unless I'm sharing clips from the Herald, but sometimes I get questions about whether or not I can shoot events like this. So here's a handful of the photos I took at the event.

Collierville residents show support for the Page Robbins Adult Day Center. 

Jennifer and Tim Watson

Anna and Nate Mallet

Attendees drink from wine glasses hand-painted by clients of Page Robbins.

Attendees socialize before the dining room is opened.

The silent auction begins.

Three Great Multimedia Stories

Multimedia reporting is growing up, and these three stories offer readers, customers, and users, an engaging experience:

1. A Changing Mission, by the SF Chronicle

For "A Changing Mission", San Francisco Chronicle reporters spent eight months interviewing residents of 24th Street about the gentrification of the Mission District. The result? A collection of 13 stories, each offering a unique view of today's San Francisco.

"A Changing Mission" features photography, maps, video interviews, graphs and statistics. It's a great example of what's quickly becoming the standard approach to telling stories with multimedia.

2. Bush + Leavenworth

Ditching the traditional lookbook, menswear brand Bush + Leavenworth created a photographic storybook that tells the fictional (and futuristic) story of Mason, a scientist who finds solace in his family's organic farm.

The presentation of Mason's story isn't especially different from the media's approach to multimedia storytelling (there's some parallax scrolling, plus writing and photography), but Bush + Leavenworth is noted for applying it to retail (although, one shouldn't be TOO surprised about this, considering the people behind B+L are largely professional animators and illustrators).

Customers that dig Mason's style can buy it directly through the website.

3. ME-MO Magazine

Available for the iPad, ME-MO Magazine (or "MEmory in MOtion") is the ultimate multimedia experience, and the closest thing to interactive journalism I've seen so far. The free demo (which can be downloaded via Apple's Newsstand) includes "States of Identity", a story that prompts readers to plug in their headphones, and navigate the story by tilting and turning their iPad.


Readers also have the option to skip this feature and scroll through content. However, creating an experience is where MEMO excels. MEMO is loaded with stunning photography, writing, maps, and sound; most of which are interactive in some sense.


The first issue of ME-MO Magazine is available for $10.00 through the app store, and a demo is available for free. For more information about the founding of MEMO, Time Magazine has a nice write-up here.

Reported.ly Launches, Covers #CharlieHebdo

Last month I dropped a link to Reported.ly, a social network newsroom that was soon to launch. Where other newsrooms may begin with a print publication and then use social media to share that same content (usually after the magazine or newspaper has already hit the stands), Reported.ly is meant to be a newsroom that's start-to-finish online.

Online, the Reported.ly team uses social media to chase and share leads (publicly), communicate with reporters covering the story in person (publicly), and then report directly back to readers; creating an instant stream of up-to-date news.

That's the goal. Reported.ly launched less than 48 hours before the Charlie Hebdo shooting, and the chaos was a "Baptism by Fire" for the team.

It thrills me that in keeping with their commitment to transparency, Reported.ly has written an article describing the process of covering Charlie Hebdo, and how they plan to improve that process in moving forward. I'm really excited to see how Reported.ly evolves throughout this year.

Read "Baptism By Fire: What We Learned Covering #CharlieHebdo On Our 3rd Day" by Reported.ly