# Who's on Instagram?



## mackguyver (Apr 30, 2014)

When Instagram first came out, I thought it was pretty lame and was just a way for mobile photographers to add filters to make their lousy photos look better. A while back, I signed up and was surprised to see National Geo and others posting real (i.e. not mobile) photos. After realizing that you can upload your own photos, I began doing so and just uploaded my 99th photo today. I don't like the square format - I don't like 4:3, either, I'm definitely a 3:2 or wider guy, but I'm having fun with it. I like seeing others photos and sharing my work with people from around the world. 

*[shameless self-promotion]*
If you'd like to see my photos and follow me, here's my link - click on the badge or use the link. I'm planning to hold a print giveaway contest tomorrow to mark my 100th post:




http://instagram.com/ianandersonphotography

*[/shameless self-promotion]*

How many other members are on Instagram? What are your thoughts on using it? 

If you like, please post your link so we can follow each other.


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## neuroanatomist (Apr 30, 2014)

What's Instagram?


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## AcutancePhotography (Apr 30, 2014)

Interesting to read that serious photography is now on instagram.

Good luck with it, hope you like the experience.


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## dcm (Apr 30, 2014)

Only use it for snapshot sharing with other family members so far.


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## mackguyver (Apr 30, 2014)

AcutancePhotography said:


> Interesting to read that serious photography is now on instagram.
> 
> Good luck with it, hope you like the experience.


Yeah, I was surprised, too. It had such a bad rap from photographers (myself included) when it started, but it's kind of fun. There's a huge Russian presence on it, which was unexpected, but nearly all of the NG photographers and a lot of others are starting to post their work on it. I'm not a fan of Facebook or Twitter so I thought I'd give it a try. It's still an experiment in progress but so far it hasn't cost me much more than about 5 minutes a day to pick a photo from my Smugmug app, crop it, and add a description and some keywords (aka hashtags) and hit post.


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## slclick (Apr 30, 2014)

My kids are.


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## mackguyver (Apr 30, 2014)

slclick said:


> My kids are.


Good answer


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## mackguyver (May 2, 2014)

Blog post from Reuters:
Instagram – a platform for professionals?


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## mackguyver (Aug 7, 2014)

Update on my experiences with Instagram. I've posted 179 photos now and have a whopping 69 followers...not so good compared to the millions others have...

It's 5 minutes at most a day and I did find some apps to uncrop, i.e. add white letterboxes, my photos, so it's not been a big investment, but it hasn't exactly paid off for me.

The best part - my old crappy "throw back Thursday" aka TBT photos and a photo of my cat have proven to be my most popular in terms of "likes". Well, one Osprey picture is my 2nd most popular at least!

Two conclusions so far - #1, I have no idea how to exploit this platform (clearly!), and #2, celebrities, cats, photos of young women's outfits, cleavage, "thigh gaps", and such are clearly the most popular photos.


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## Marsu42 (Aug 8, 2014)

mackguyver said:


> How many other members are on Instagram? What are your thoughts on using it?



I've recently been told that instagram is the one thing to post on next to tumblr if you want to spread your photography, but I don't really come to terms with it.

As far as I see it this has a destinct "upload your mobile phone shots" look & fell, and I recently read the user base is very young and predominantly female (I could try to remember the link if necessary) which squares with the people raving about it to me.


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## colin.davis (Aug 8, 2014)

Hey Mackguyver, on advice from a friend, I have given it a go. It is as you say pretty easy to just upload a photo from your collection. I seem to be doing pretty well, almost at the 1k mark. Whoop whoop. 

http://instagram.com/colindavisphotography


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## mackguyver (Aug 8, 2014)

Marsu42 said:


> mackguyver said:
> 
> 
> > How many other members are on Instagram? What are your thoughts on using it?
> ...


I think Instagram is growing and changing and it slants female, but it's certainly not like Pinterest (said to be 85-90% female). If anything, it seems to have a lot of Russians on it, which is interesting. As I said, for me, the investment so far has been minimal and it's kind of fun to interact with people from all around the world.

The thing I need to do is to learn how to use it better, but I guess that would require some investment of my time.



colin.davis said:


> Hey Mackguyver, on advice from a friend, I have given it a go. It is as you say pretty easy to just upload a photo from your collection. I seem to be doing pretty well, almost at the 1k mark. Whoop whoop.
> 
> http://instagram.com/colindavisphotography


Hey Collin, I just followed you (ianandersonphotography) and I like your work. You're obviously much better at IG than me, but I'm a social media disaster on Facebook and Twitter. Sadly, LinkedIn is the only one I seem to have had much success with, but I'm eager to change that with IG. Congrats on getting so many to follow you and now you're one follower closer to 1000!


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## dryanparker (Aug 8, 2014)

I use LinkedIn and Instagram quite heavily, and to a lesser extent Twitter.

Instagram has a lot of garbage on the platform, but a ton of really great stuff too. Much of the clutter is a result of people trying to monetize it. Indeed, a lot of "social media celebrities" have somehow amassed enormous followings (usually for alarmingly superficial reasons) and sell posts with product placement, brand mentions, etc.

I have a modest following, mostly friends and other photographers, and I use Instagram to share a mix of my "real photography" and everyday iPhone photos. I love the platform.

www.instagram.com/dryanparker


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## mackguyver (Aug 8, 2014)

dryanparker said:


> I use LinkedIn and Instagram quite heavily, and to a lesser extent Twitter.
> 
> Instagram has a lot of garbage on the platform, but a ton of really great stuff too. Much of the clutter is a result of people trying to monetize it. Indeed, a lot of "social media celebrities" have somehow amassed enormous followings (usually for alarmingly superficial reasons) and sell posts with product placement, brand mentions, etc.
> 
> ...


A fellow Floridian - I have followed you as well, and I agree with your thoughts on the platform. I like your mix of photos and I love that custom case you kept your RZ kit in - I hope you got some decent cash for the set.


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## dryanparker (Aug 8, 2014)

mackguyver said:


> dryanparker said:
> 
> 
> > I use LinkedIn and Instagram quite heavily, and to a lesser extent Twitter.
> ...



Thanks! Followed you too, Ian. Lovely nature photos, and I see a lot of familiar North Florida scenes!

I loved the RZ, but it was time to go back to digital. I'll eventually get back into medium format, too. It taught me a huge amount, and I have a binder of killer negatives that I'm proud to have made.

Unfortunately, the RZ gear was sold at a pretty substantial loss, but I got great enjoyment from it, and that goes a long way with me.


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## jocau (Aug 8, 2014)

Possibly one of the best things about instagram is that all pictures are only 612 pixels by 612 pixels (there is no other possibility). That means nobody can "steal" your photos and sell large prints of them to earn some money.


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## vargyropoulos (Aug 8, 2014)

I've recently created an account on instagram after speaking with some of my models who use it more than they do facebook and other social media. I will acknowledge that it has very good marketing potential but at the end of the day it turns into yet another popularity contest.

the other minimal value for me is that I know which people have used images that I took as part of a TFP arrangement and for which I had not been given photo credits.


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## mackguyver (Aug 8, 2014)

jocau said:


> Possibly one of the best things about instagram is that all pictures are only 612 pixels by 612 pixels (there is no other possibility). That means nobody can "steal" your photos and sell large prints of them to earn some money.


Very true, and I definitely like that aspect.



vargyropoulos said:


> I've recently created an account on instagram after speaking with some of my models who use it more than they do facebook and other social media. I will acknowledge that it has very good marketing potential but at the end of the day it turns into yet another popularity contest.
> 
> the other minimal value for me is that I know which people have used images that I took as part of a TFP arrangement and for which I had not been given photo credits.


I'm just trying to have fun with it and see where it leads, but I understand the popularity contest aspect. If you make that your focus, I think that's a bad idea. Also, photos can easily be deleted and put back up, so I'd think about contacting those TFP models and asking them to do that. 

It's funny though - I've added 6 followers (including some from CR) since I posted yesterday.


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## distant.star (Aug 9, 2014)

.
The idea of participating in anything where I would have "followers" creeps me out. There's just not enough Kool-Aid to go around, I guess!


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## mackguyver (Aug 9, 2014)

distant.star said:


> .
> The idea of participating in anything where I would have "followers" creeps me out. There's just not enough Kool-Aid to go around, I guess!


We all follow you on this forum, though  Okay, just kidding, but I can understand that, too. A better term might be fans or people interested in your photos.


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## Cali_PH (Aug 9, 2014)

mackguyver said:


> When Instagram first came out, I thought it was pretty lame and was just a way for mobile photographers to add filters to make their lousy photos look better. A while back, I signed up and was surprised to see National Geo and others posting real (i.e. not mobile) photos. After realizing that you can upload your own photos, I began doing so and just uploaded my 99th photo today. I don't like the square format - I don't like 4:3, either, I'm definitely a 3:2 or wider guy, but I'm having fun with it. I like seeing others photos and sharing my work with people from around the world.



First, I applaud you for having an open mind and checking it out despite your initial assumptions/reservations. Judging from many posts on this forum and other photography-themed ones, it seems to me many photogs tend to be a bit close-minded and not likely to change opinions on many subjects.

I haven't used Instagram in over year, mainly due to it being a big time-suck if I let it (not only browsing other's photos, but I tried to respond to each and every person's comments on my pics, which led me to start dreading posting...haha). That, and having several pictures 'stolen' with other users posting them as their own pictures. Not that I sell my work, but just having them stolen was frustrating and annoying.

Other than that my experience was extremely positive, probably partly because I joined before it blew up into a selfie/celebrity popularity contest. I actually had pics hit the popular page a number of times before it became full of selfies and had a few thousand followers, most of whom were actually interested in photography. That's not any big statement on my pictures or ability as I'm still just an amateur, I'm just saying things were different a couple of years ago.

Instagram is different things to different people, but there are serious photographers on there, pros and amateurs. I used to get feedback on my work which drove me to try to get better (at least a little ) and to connect with other photogs, just as it sounds like you're doing. My interest is mainly landscape, and after I got past the fear of meeting potentially psychotic strangers, I joined a few photo meetups and even led a couple (California coast and Antelope Canyon). Along the way I've been extremely fortunate to have made some great friends, one of whom plans 1-2 trips a year with me with no end in sight as we're trying to check things off our bucket lists. ;D


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## mackguyver (Aug 11, 2014)

Cali_PH said:


> mackguyver said:
> 
> 
> > When Instagram first came out, I thought it was pretty lame and was just a way for mobile photographers to add filters to make their lousy photos look better. A while back, I signed up and was surprised to see National Geo and others posting real (i.e. not mobile) photos. After realizing that you can upload your own photos, I began doing so and just uploaded my 99th photo today. I don't like the square format - I don't like 4:3, either, I'm definitely a 3:2 or wider guy, but I'm having fun with it. I like seeing others photos and sharing my work with people from around the world.
> ...


Thank you for the nice post, and I agree, people should be more open to trying new things and Instagram is one of those new things right now. It can be a time-suck like you say, but I guess it is what you make of it, and I'm happy to hear about your positive experiences.


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## TeT (Aug 11, 2014)

Its a great app... Especially if you have wifi on your body...


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## bornshooter (Aug 12, 2014)

I hated it then gave in, http://instagram.com/sommervillephotography


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## mackguyver (Aug 12, 2014)

bornshooter said:


> I hated it then gave in, http://instagram.com/sommervillephotography


I hated it too when it was just people slapping crappy vintage filters on iPhone photos, but it has evolved. I just followed you - nice portraits!


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