Biz Tips: How To Crush it on Instagram
GROWTH:
How To Crush it on Instagram
Go Hard or Go Home
Medium is a weird place to discuss Instagram. Yes, I’m aware of that.
But if you happen to have any inkling of growing your Instagram influence, we are in the same boat.
I have a love-hate relationship with Instagram. I had bursts of inspiration where I go on weeks posting every single day and then getting burned out until stopping altogether. I can’t find continuity or sense into what it is I was doing.
My dad got me my first DSLR back in 2007 when we were visiting Singapore. He bought me an entry-level Sony Alpha camera. It got me into photography, and that led me into studying light exposure through books and videos. The most impactful book that taught me everything was Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson.
From that day forward, I became the designated family photographer. I took a thousand photos of gatherings and vacations. I even made a couple of photobooks because you know, Facebook was not yet a thing.
I was not a massive FaceBook user, until now I rarely use it as a platform to share anything. I only use messenger or get updated with family or friends. So when Instagram became mainstream, I jumped the bandwagon. Finally, a platform where I can post my photos and express my work as a photographer.
But it was on-and-off for me. I love it, and then I hated it. I enjoyed the shooting more than the sharing. After taking a photo and editing it, I was done with it. It stayed on my hard drive and would look at them sporadically.
One day I was buying a second-hand vintage lens from an online seller cause I couldn’t afford brand new lenses. When I met up with this guy, he gave me a film camera for free. I was surprised by the generosity. He wanted to share his passion for film cameras that’s why he gave it away. When I checked the price of the camera, it’s not that expensive but still a gift that I appreciated.
This prompted me to buy rolls of film and have my first taste of analog photography. A roll of film has a finite number of exposures, unlike a phone or DSLR that can take thousands of photos. They limit you to either 36 or 24 shots (depends on the brand and variety), so you need to think hard before clicking.
I devised a self-imposed challenge of taking one shot every single day. After one month, I had 30 photographs that took time and effort. I was so happy with the project cause I learned so much from it.
I saw taking a hundred shots as mindless photography. I need to take my time and think, before hitting the shutter button. Film detached me from the result — after pressing the button, you don’t see the image. I had to get it processed in a lab and wait for days. It was delayed gratification, and it made me fall in love with photography again.
But the novelty didn’t last that long, it was hard to buy film rolls, and the local lab was damaging some of the photos. So I gave it up and sold the film camera.
I applied the lessons I’ve learned from analog into digital photography. The next challenge I gave myself was black and white (bnw). I took one bnw photo every single day. This forced me to think about composition more than anything.