A lot has changed in the world of photography. Some photographers hate the changes and suffer while others take advantage of the changes and grow their business.
Instagram has changed photography and how the world sees the medium.
Here are the screenshots of my Instagram account at the beginning of the module – 14/01/2019.
I personally use Instagram even before I made this separate account solely to showcase my photographic work. It is a great place to get –some— exposure and builds up an easily ‘consumable’ portfolio. Instagram is also a great tool to use because it “backs up” my website. It functions as a low maintenance blog and I use it as a marketing platform for my photography.
With my Instagram stories, I make use of it to show behind the scenes, rather than posting it on my feed. I try my best and make sure it looks good and try to stand out. Be different.
INSTAGRAM BEFORE AND AFTER
This is a before and after screenshot of my Instagram account. I made a couple of changes here.
1.) I changed my profile picture so it is the same with the photo I have on my website.
2.) I changed my description. Before it is quite loaded with information – including my personal account (which is not really necessary), and the information are quite vague.
for my updated Instagram, I want to be more straight to the point (Photographer |Documentary | Open for collaboration)
I also included a link from Dazed and confused, where my work got featured.
3.) Captions – Instagram has become a platform to tell visual stories, so I make sure my post is accompanied by an interesting title or story to encourage your followers to engage in it.
4.) Using Hashtags on Instagram – A very important way to engage with my followers and attract more people to my Instagram is to effectively use hashtags.
Instagram allows up to 30 hashtags per post, but it’s common practice to use between 5 and 12. BUT I personally ‘abuse’ the use of hashtags and put the maximum in each post.
Apparently, overusing hashtags will come across as “spam-y” to some hence result to decrease followers but I personally don’t see anything wrong with it as long as you use it effectively and not only put random hashtags.
5.) Instagram stories – It’s Instagram’s latest feature which allows you to share pictures and videos that, similar to Snapchat, will disappear after 24 hours. This lets me share images with my followers that I don’t want in my feed.
Before, I don’t make use of this feature and only focus on my feed. But now, I try my best to use this feature as much as possible because it is very important for this business and it also helps with the engagement with my followers.
I use my Instagram stories for my:
- Behind the scenes
- My locations
- Stuff I do when not working: examples are artist studio visits/gallery visits
- Research: sharing updates about the current project I am working on.
UPDATED INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT
Screenshots of my updated Instagram account
If you are like me who uses instagram as a mini portfolio, it is good to have a “theme” and stick to it because for me, you are not only creating an account, you are creating a story at that time. You’ll stop and think about every picture you put out there because building an Instagram theme is a great way to keep your branding visually consistent.
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