Left Image – Canon 5D Mark III On Manfrotto Tripod – HDR Image On Right

I never really paid much attention to Instagram until a few weeks ago. As a photographer, that was a mistake on my part, but I’m active on Instagram now. Please feel free to follow me on Instagram.

I have around 300 followers as of this post. But I’ve done it the right way and have NOT bought followers which I think is a dumb idea to begin with. It’s not about the quantity but the quality.

I stated the number of followers above to put the number of likes in perspective. I’ve found that most of my posts get between 20 and 30 likes on a consistent basis; however, the iPhone image on the left above of my camera on a tripod currently has 98 likes and the professional image (taken with my gear on the left) currently has 34 likes. Interestingly enough, I have found that my PHOTO GEAR posts, often taken with my iPhone, tend to get more likes than my professional work. I guess people just love seeing photo gear that makes their senses say, “I want that.”

With Instagram being very much a mobile focused platform, phone images look great when viewed on a phone. The larger images above do not look bad even on a desktop; however, if both images were enlarged to poster size, there would be a notable quality difference. However, on Instagram, I am not convinced that it’s about the quality of the image as much as it is about what appeals to the viewer and/or the creativity of the shot.

If you are a photographer, keeping all of the above in mind, just remember that you don’t always have to post your greatest work. It is OK to post phone images. However, that’s up to you as a photographer. I have noticed that some photographers seem to only post their pro work while others (like me) mix it up. In my case, I even post a few images taken on film ( yes, film).

You may be surprised at the images that get the most likes. Try it out for yourself and see what happens.

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I finally got active on Instagram in the last 30 days. As a photographer, that was not a good move on my part to just let Instagram sit on the back burner.

There are so many social media choices these days and most of you reading this are probably very active on Facebook but may not have (or make) time for other social platforms. If you enjoy images and/or do a lot of phone photography or regular digital photography, you may want to give Instagram a second thought.

Here’s the short version:

1) Post images and use # hashtags – If you are just starting out with virtually no followers, you should use relevant # hashtags about what you are posting including the name brand. For example, I might post: Image taken with a #Canon #5DMarkIII of my #GoldenRetriever “Tucker.” By just using those 3 # hashtags, my image is more likely to be seen. However, those with 1,000+ followers will likely be seen a lot more in general, but even those with lots of followers use # hashtags.

2) Use the @ sign to ping those that you want to give notification to – For example, in the image above @FamousSmokeShop did @raleighphotographer in the post giving me credit on the image (more on the image later) and I got notified. That made it easy for me to know they posted and to be able to thank them for giving me photo credit.

There are two core ways for me to get in front of  @canonusa on Instagram. (FYI, they have commented on my images numerous times.) That is by # hashtagging like #Canon #TeamCanon #Bringit to name a few and by using @canonusa in my post.

I shot the image above in my drive way on a sunny winter day. I first posted it on my feed which @FamousSmokeShop liked. (They follow me and have liked several of my images.) Then, yesterday, they posted the image on their feed and gave me photo credit. 15 hours later, it has 416 likes as of this post ( 1 of the 416 is me).

If you have not tried Instagram, you may want to give it a shot. I know that I have really enjoyed it over the last 30 days or so.

You can find me on Instagram @raleighphotographer or by clicking this link.

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