Jacob Mann
Creator, Producer, Photographer, Speaker
Current Work
Communicate more effectively
PHOTOS and VIDEOS make stories MORE COMPELLING
There is truth in the saying a picture is worth a thousand words, and the same applies to videos as well. Anyone can boost the effectiveness of their communication and storytelling by learning how to leverage photography, videography, and livestreaming.
Photography (print and digital)
Videography
Livestreaming
Hands-on demonstrations, tips, tricks, and hacks
Photography
Learning the basics of better photography can save significant time and money when you need great photos to complement your content.
Videography
Videos have become a keystone of content to attract and retain an audience, and producing great videos is surprisingly easy to learn.
Livestreaming
Live video streaming is quickly becoming a powerful communication tool for those who know how to do it right.
Tips, Tricks, Hacks
Knowing what pitfalls to avoid as well as simple optimization hacks will take your creative camera skills to a whole new level.
Creative Camera Content is Key
Why focus on visual content to complement written content? The answer is simple: 90% of information transmitted to a person’s brain is visual, meaning the human brain is uniquely suited to process visual information way faster than written content, to the tune of 60,000 times faster!
Both/And, Not Either/Or
It’s not about choosing either visual content or written content. Instead, it’s about making effective use of both written content and visual content.
The Need for Speed
Some studies have shown people are prone to distraction after about 8 seconds. Use visual content to help get your core message across whether or not people read the written content.
A Good Photo is the Ultimate Hook
If the first thing people see is a good visual, you’ll “hook” them in enough to check out the rest of the content, including text.
Video Content Creates a Multisensory Experience
When more than one sense is involved in processing information, the content becomes even more compelling and engaging. Video content offers both sight and sound, making it the most powerful content of all.
Engagement is the Goal
Visual content is more engaging than text by itself, which is why all the top social media platforms emphasize visual content. Visual content is also way more likely to be shared with others.
About Me
I was born in Michigan, but my family moved to Indianapolis when I was a young child, and I’ve known Indy as my home ever since. Fascinated by cameras from an early age, I finally got my first camera from a pawn shop on my twelfth birthday. It was a Minolta-X7A with a zoom lens and I was instantly hooked, learning everything I could about how to use it on my own. When I went to Europe with the Indianapolis Children’s Choir, I took a ton of photos with it. In high school I learned how to develop my own film. I also took a radio and television course in high school, which is how I got into making short videos, which I quickly grew to love as much as photography.
My experience in old-school photography has given me unique insights into demonstrating and teaching creative camera skills in the digital era of the twenty-first century. After all, when using a roll of film with a limited number of exposures, it forced me to be more deliberate about setting up a shot. The simple act of thinking through what you want to capture will put you ahead of most people who just point and click with their camera phone with little thought. An old-school manual camera becomes a powerful teaching tool to understand the basics of the exposure settings, including ISO (sensitivity to light), aperture (f-stop), and shutter speed. Knowing the when and why of making adjustments to these settings is the key to better digital photography, and there’s no better way to teach them than with an old-school manual camera.