Instagram? For people like us?

[Richard M. Coda]

I was wondering if anyone was using Instagram... you know... us old geezers (speak for yourself) who use big cameras to make beautiful images... not hipsters who flood the world with garbage. Becky Senf, a friend of mine, and assistant curator at the CCP in Tucson, just raves about IG, but she is also a little younger than most of us and has fallen for the gimmick, I mean "allure" of vernacular photography. So, my college age daughter got me started on Instagram and I have been curating my images, resizing them to 640 px square and copyright watermarking them. From what I see, IG is mostly a bunch of narcissistic twits with iPhones, and everyone is a "photographer". I am hesitant to "like" most of the people who like my work because, well, I'm just not digging their work. So my question, is there anyone here successfully using IG as a marketing tool? Thanks for indulging me... I had three glasses tonight!

[Sirius Glass]

What is this Instagram of which you speak? Is it some type of fiber for one's diet?

[Darin Boville]

I recently started using it and love it. I'm not sure about its value as a marketing tool but it s cool to see interesting photographs and other people's lives. The quality of what you see depends entirely on the people you follow. Don't want cat photos? You know what to do...

If you want to follow me I'm at http://www.instagram.com/darinboville

I post pictures mostly of works-in-progress and picts from exhibits I visit, etc...

--Darin

[Fred L]

For many people, Instagram is no longer about using camera phone pics but rather are uploading photos taken with professional equipment. Look at the feed at Hasselblad_official. Some pretty impressive work there.

It is what users make of it. Flood it with great work and it's great place, flood it with cute kittens, well then I come here for respite lol

[Jac@stafford.net]

For many people, Instagram is no longer about using camera phone pics but rather are uploading photos taken with professional equipment.

How many? What ratio? Of what significance is professional equipment?

[Fred L]

Just an observation of what I see so this is skewed to what I look for and not representative of Instagramers as a whole. Pro equipment usually means professionally taken images vs cellphone pics.

An uploaded Hasselblad photo is probably going to look better. Models, mua, lighting etc.. These are photographers who are using Instagram as a marketing tool to get their name and work out there. I have no idea if it gets them more work but I think it's something that is worth looking into, depending on one's market/niche.

[Sirius Glass]

Of course when you post on it, you lose your control of the selling of your prints and the profit. You may not be able to sell copies of those photographs later. Giving it all away for 15 nanoseconds of glory on the internet is hardly worth it.

[Kimberly Anderson]

Of course when you post on it, you lose your control of the selling of your prints and the profit. You may not be able to sell copies of those photographs later. Giving it all away for 15 nanoseconds of glory on the internet is hardly worth it.

That's why I use it as a visual exercise and don't use it for anything serious.

@btnpshr

[Kodachrome25]

I plan on using it for contextual images of works like prints in the wash tray, mounting area & and behind the scenes, in action, on location. They will be great images with strong narrative but nothing of the finished work it self as a means to protect it. I'm launching an enormous marketing engine this year and Instagram will certainly be a part of it.

Also, I am not sure what value so called "professional" equipment has on Instagram as lots of work I have seen with iphones in terms of pure vision buries tons of other gear centric work deeply in the sand.

[Nicolasllasera]

That's why I use it as a visual exercise and don't use it for anything serious.

@btnpshr

Same here. Usually post stuff Im doing at the moment regarding photgraphy. It can be darkroom snapshots or the camera I am using at a certain moment. Just for fun.

@nicolaslllasera (on instagram)