Using Instagram successfully
The free photo application allows you to edit photos and share them with people all over the world.
Facebook for photos: since it appeared in 2010 the Instagram photo app has developed into the most successful platform for photos within no time at all. 70 million photos are shared through the photo sharing service every single day. Its users include numerous stars such as the American singer Beyoncé Knowles, as well as professional photographers and photo and fashion bloggers.
Are you new here?
Everything starts by downloading the free app, which is available for iOS, Windows and Android. Come up with a name before you register. With 300 million users it is unfortunately highly likely that the name you want has already been taken. The best thing to do is to note down a few varieties that you would like beforehand and then simply try them all out. Once you’ve found a suitable name, edit your profile and link the app to Facebook or other platforms, if you like. This is the best way to reach your friends and get your first followers at the same time. You can also allow the app to search your contacts to find your friends who are using Instagram quickly and easily. The app also suggests a range of popular users to follow.
Editing photos is child’s play
Once you’ve set up your account, photos that you’ve taken using your smartphone can be edited and shared via Instagram as soon as you’ve released the shutter. However, you can also send photos to your smartphone from other sources, such as a DSLR camera and then publish them using the app.
The square format was typical of Instagram for many years. The app has also been offering portrait and landscape for a short while. 22 filters are available for photo editing. The filter strength is variable. There are also other options such as tilt shift (miniature effect), vignetting (shading around edge of photo) or for example editing the lighting. Most of the million photos uploaded to Instagram every single day are published without filter though (popular hashtag: #nofilter).
Finding friends through photos
Naturally you don’t have to share your photos with the whole world. Set your account to “private” if you only want yourself and your friends to be able to see your photos. Many people are using Instagram especially because of its possible reach
Tip: Even if your account is public, you don’t have to share all photos that you edit using the app with everyone. Switch your smartphone to flight mode while you’re editing the photo. This means your photos are saved on your phone but not online in the app.
&nbPlacing hashtags– increasing your reach Photos speak their own language but text should not be neglected either. Well chosen photo captions together with the photos create an even stronger and more memorable impression. Hashtags play a special part in this, i.e. tagging your photos with a keyword. These are the most important dissemination tool available to you. As other users can find your photos easier and become followers through them.
As inspiration: The 100 most used keywords and other rankings can be found at websta.me/hot. Apps, such as TagsForLikes, also provide up-to-date popular hashtags. Tags can be quite a bit more personal than just #bestPic or #YOLO (“you only live once”). Direct reference to the photo is often the best choice.
Creating your own imagery
Try to make sure your photos have their own imagery, whether it’s limiting yourself to a few filters or specialising in one or two focuses. The more certain users can be that they can see more photos of this style or on this theme from you, the more likely they are to follow you. A profile with photos as mixed up as a grocery store tends to be avoided.
Get more followers
Anyone who wants to be seen should be active themselves. Follow, like and comment on other users’ photo streams. You not only gain followers but occasionally even friendships through these dialogues. Geotagging your photos also helps. “Follow me, then I’ll follow you” comments on the other hand are neither very popular nor successful. What is more helpful is entering one of the competitions that take place on Instagram every day or week, for example the #photooftheday.
At the end of the day it is of course the quality of your photos and the chosen motifs that are crucial. Themes such as my morning latte macchiato are more of a criterion to click away. And you should of course follow the most important basics of good photography with your smartphone too. You can find suggestions and tips for this here.
Instagram for at home
You can also order prints of your work from your smartphone using the ifolor app, just as conveniently as you can edit photos using Instagram. You can also create and order photo books from ifolor really easily using your smartphone. As a result you can already create your holiday photo album on the journey back home.
Thanks to the massive improvement of the camera quality in modern smartphones the resolution of photos is not only adequate for prints but even for posters and other wall decorations. The frameless wall display from ifolor in 40 x 40 cm format fits the typical Instagram square format perfectly. With the latest new formats from Instagram you can use any product for your photos though.