I post regularly on Instagram. Definitely more often than I post here. I also spend a lot of those odd minutes in the day (while in lines... waiting for reports to load...) browsing the feed and checking out new posts. In the last few years, I've come across several recurring shots and styles that I both love and hate that seem to be especially popular on Instagram, but not other photo sharing collections.
I'm sure all of you have seen all these too because they're such canned tropes now that everyone with a smart phone wants to recreate these shots themselves. It makes me cringe when I see mass-replicated shots because I want to see something new! Something that makes me think and feel differently about a scene. It's the part of photography that's really art to me.
At least this was actually a candid photo...
Girl with Back Turned to Camera, suggesting a thoughtful moment as the solo adventurer
Love: generally, these shots are well-composed and can give a sense of scale or add the emotion of the moment to the capture.
Hate: it's so well-composed, it doesn't seem like a real, authentic moment you would have as a solo wanderer. You'd only be able to get the damn shot of yourself by yourself by setting up a tripod and using a remote or timer, which means hauling more gear with you. I'd also never turn my back on that much equipment for a shot, especially not in a public touristy place.
Alternatively, you could get this shot by having someone else take the photo for you... but if that's true, you're not exactly alone, are you?
Another variation on this is the Girl Leading Guy By Hand Through Streets. So popular and trite, it's painful. The very first shot I saw was interesting and now it just seems played out.
Supersaturation to the Max!
Love: My preferred style is vibrant and bold colors or light. I'm not a fan of the fade-y look. I love photos that convey a story with some strong emotion to make you feel something and get you straight into the scene. I also appreciate the artistic quality of pushing color or light beyond exactly what your eye sees on occasion. I'm not one of those anti-editing purists, but there's a line for me between fine art and just garishness.
Hate: All the time with every shot = Too. Fake. It goes back to that authenticity thing. I've seen images where the colors have been pushed beyond reality to a place of Picasso-esque art, I guess? I'm guilty of this too - I tend to oversaturate in post and come back later and temper it once I've had some time interacting with reality.
Drones or GTFO
Love: So cool to get another perspective on a place that only the birds and people in helicopters get. Definitely ticks the box of seeing something in a new way. Totally an amazing way to see the world from the comfort of your couch.
Hate: Definitely a "hate us 'cause you ain't us" situation here. I'm green with envy. I don't have a drone and even if I did, I don't think I could fly it reliably without it crashing horrifically and losing all the gear on-board. I also suffer from what I call the "if you give a mouse a cookie" problem where if I got a drone, then I'd need a camera. Then I'd need some filters. Then I'd also need a live monitor so I could compose properly... and so on and so forth.
All in all, I still love Insta for those otherwise boring minutes waiting for other things to happen. It is an easy community to browse and engage with and there are some awesome photographers there who will share their techniques and gear for capturing amazing shots.
Active Shooting Time: 0
Time Spent on Instagram In Preparation for This Post: 1.5
Hours To Date: 645
