11:24 PM, in bed. Gilmore Girls in the Background. Trying to plan my IG feed out on and then this happened.
The instant content, it's a big draw of taking photos on iPhones, well, any phone. With phone cameras constantly getting better it’s easier then ever to create good content whilst you're on the go. When I first started out on Instagram I was very much focused on producing high quality photos, I wouldn't even reach for my iPhone if I wanted to take a photo.
OH HOW TIMES HAVE CHANGED.
Once I started getting more in to Instagram, I noticed the flurry of phone pics that would be on my feed, fashion pages and the explore page. I don't think I ever consciously decided to veer toward the iPhone pictures but nevertheless, it happened. Whilst I do love the in the moment iPhone pics and in some instances they do genuinely create a more aesthetically pleasing result, it's made me lose sight to create something that's truly individual and unique. I started to realise that the photos I'm always in awe of, the photos that are stacking up in my saves, they're all editorial. They're all high quality camera photos with a purposefully picked background, they've been curated. But I know that the opposite is what a lot of people love about iPhone pictures, they're easily relatable, they happen in a regular environment, on the go, during a day to day routine but I feel there's only so much you can see when you're scrolling through the explore page until you wonder if you've seen the same account 40+ times.
I don't believe there is anything wrong with iPhone photos in the slightest, if it's working for you and you're happy with your content then there's no reason for you to question what you're doing, KEEP DOING WHAT YOU LOVE OF COURSE. This isn't meant to be words discouragement, it's more a moment of realisation. It’s sad because Instagram is a creative platform, it used to thrive on the different accounts and content that would be rolled out every day but now it’s a sea of aesthetically similar content because that’s all Instagram seems to favour, so we all follow suit as we want our accounts to be seen and we want to grow.
Its an internal battle of choosing to create content that you’re genuinely in love with, or creating content that will do well, pull in the likes and will hopefully make it on to the explore page.
It's easy enough to stand and snap an iPhone picture, find a background to compliment what you're wearing, full bod, half bod, to fit in a square, click and you're done. Ring the photos through your phone apps, apply the filter and et voila, you’re ready to go. But lately I've been feeling so disheartened by the process, there's no creativity behind what I go to create now. I’ve spent times looking at my feed and wondering what I’m doing because I grow to hate the content so quickly. I've been trialling a few different things, some video content, flash photography, taking steps back toward my camera photos and I’m finding my passion in it again.
This is a word of..wisdom? no, I'm not the wizard of oz or anything guys, but if I could click my heels together and put Instagram back to how it was, well, you best damn believe I’d be clicking them. I guess what I'm trying to say is don't lose sight of what you loved creating in the first place, don't warp your content to fit the explore page. You will find your own audience. With 2018 approaching, we all tend to look back at what we've been doing and how we can better ourselves next year. I'm going to be waving goodbye to iPhone pics, I'm going to be exploring different paths of photography, lenses and trying my hand at more video content.
what do you see for your content in 2018?
