Instagram: A Beginner's Guide

Raise your hand if you are a gadget girl....

If you have your arm up high in the air, chances are that you own an iPhone. Am I right? If you are also interested in photography, you probably already know what Instagram is all about. Just in case you are a gadget girl with an iPhone and don´t have an Instagram account yet, here is a quick introduction on how to get started.

So what´s all the fuzz about Instagram?

Instagram now has over 15 million users from all over the world, many of them visit the Instagram on daily basis. Users typically share snapshots from their personal life and/or working life, showing others what they are doing, what they love, where they are in terms of location, events they attend, etc. I too started

Instagram with an intention to becoming better at taking everyday's life snapshots. As a photographer working with quality DSLR cameras as well as clients and models, I often forget to record my daily life through pictures. And I´m not happy to bring that heavy Canon with me on vacations and field trips with the kids. So Instagram and iPhone are the perfect combo for me - a match made in heaven..smile...I´m such a fan!

Everything you get from the Instagram app:

* It´s a camera for your iPhone.

* It´s a social network where you can communicate with friends and make new contacts. You can follow people you admire or inspire others with your own work. You have the choice of liking other people's photos, be a follower and get followers.

* It´s an online place to store your iPhone pictures so that you can easily access them from your computer, iPad and iPhone. You will have access to your pictures no matter where you are. Isn't that wonderful?

* Instant sharing with friends and family. Take a picture and upload it to Instagram. A second later your friends can view it on Instagram and even Twitter and Facebook.

* Easy photo editing. Forget about advanced, difficult to learn editing process. Instagram is so easy to use. You can add filters to make your snapshots look retro or add a tilt shift effect.

...and it´s FREE...now go get it in the iPhone app store :-)

How to get started with Instagram


Create your profile
After you download the Instagram app, you need to create a profile. Choose a profile name, add a little bio and a profile picture. You can easily get your profile avatar directly from Facebook or Twitter.

I do recommend that you add a personal profile picture of yourself, as many users usually reluctant to follow users that do not have profile pictures. Connect your profile to your Twitter and Facebook accounts if you like. Now you are ready!

Take a picture
Snap your first picture, add a filter, play with the tilt-shift effect and press share. Voila, your picture is now on the web for friends and family to see.

Add friends
Find out if your Facebook and Twitter friends are already on Instagram. You can easily do this via your Instagram profile. You can also invite friends and family so you can follow each other and stay in touch even if you live far away from one another.

I have connected with many of my old flickr friends as many of them are now on Instagram. I love the fact that Instagram allows us to stay in touch despite our busy lives and despite the fact that we live in different countries.

Find new friends and inspiring people
Via the popular page you can get a look into pictures of people you may want to follow. Personally, I´m not always inspired by the popular page as the content/quality tend to vary a lot.

The best way to find interesting new people to follow is to get a sense from my friends, meaning which pictures they like and who they follow. I´m lucky to have friends with great taste and through them I have found amazing new iPhone photographers to follow.

Get around the world in a few minutes
One of the things I love the most about Instagram is my daily peek into the big wide world! When I log into Instagram, I get to see the world through my friends' eyes.

For example, I got to see SNOW in Rome last week (wow!) or tulips in Sweden, surfers in California, frozen canals in Amsterdam and a fashion show in London! Can you see now why I love Instagram so much?

The thought of real people photographing real moments takes my breath away!


Hook up with Webstagram or Statigram
When you are on your computer you can log-in into sites like Webstagram and Statigram. This is where you access your pictures online. This is where I download my own pictures so I can share them on my blog or  even better, print them!

A documentary of your life
The great thing about your iPhone is that it´s always with you, unless you forget to carry it, or drop it in a toilet (by accident of course), or it is stolen (knock on the wood!) Anyway, my point is that you carry it most of the time in your pocket or in your cute little handbag.

This makes it so easy to take snapshots of your daily life. What you eat, whom you are with, where you go, what you see and experience. I think this is an amazing way to keep a diary and then look back in the end of the year.

Instagram etiquette
When you follow someone, their photos will show up in your stream. A good rule of thumb on Instagram is that you 'like' and 'comment' on their photos as a gesture of following good etiquette. Your contacts will really appreciate these actions.

The atmosphere are very laid back and cosy. Mostly Instagram is all about being friendly and having fun! Similar to other social networking sites, there are copycats, perverts and crazy people - or normally they will find you. So, if you do run into a stranger with bad intentions, don't hesitate to block the person. Luckily they come in low numbers and are easy to block for good.

Good for your bizz
There is not much indication yet how Instagram could help your business, but I have heard of a few photographers who have become very popular because of Instagram. If you are a photographer, artist, fashion designer, food stylist, interior decorator or in anyway are a doing something visual, Instagram can be a great way to get people's attention.

If you wish to experiment with Instagram to help grow your business, make sure that you only upload your best work. Just like Pinterest, Instagram can be a great tool for building your brand.

Use Hastags and Geotags
You can add geotags to show where your pictures are taken. Meanwhile, hashtags are used as a search tool. So if you add the # sign in front of a word, your picture will show up in search results when other users are looking for that particular words.

For example, if I take a picture of my dog, I can opt to add these hastags: #Dog, #Golden Retriever, #Dogs on Instagram and so on. You can add one or many - it´s really up to you.

Experiment with other photo apps
If you are already familiar with Instagram, you might want to explore more by experimenting with different photo apps. Among my favorites are Photo Toaster,  Camera Sharp, and  Pro Camera. Some apps are just a camera, others are a combination of editing tools, filters and a camera (Sweet? Yes!)

You can find links to my previous articles about apps at the end of this post. To find out more about which apps fits you, go to this great blog.

Upload only iPhone camera pictures
Avoid the temptation to upload your professional DSLR photos. Try to be loyal to the Instagram community by only uploading pictures taken with your iPhone. See this as a creative challenge. I mean you can show your DSLR pictures everywhere else like Facebook, Flickr, your website and blog.

Let Instagram be authentic - let it be for iPhone only. It´s not in anyway forbidden to upload photos taken with other cameras, it´s just not as exciting. I personally prefer to follow iPhone photographer only as they feed my curiousity and my creative mind with good stuff that makes me smile every day!

Consider to upgrade of your iPhone
Arrgg...I hate to put this advice up...because iPhones are so expensive..sigh.. and I will be the first to say that iPhone3 works fine as a camera. The secret to take good pictures if you have an iPhone3 is to use camera apps like Camera Sharp and Photo Toaster.

These are the tools that helped me out back then. So it´s important for me to say that it´s NOT impossible to get good photos with an iPhone3. A few months ago I upgraded my iPhone to iPhone4s which has an 8MP camera, including a flash, and the possibility to turn your screen which makes it easier to take self portraits.

The quality is so much better (I do have to admit that.) So, if you have the chance, don´t hesitate to upgrade :-) I´m not sure when iPhone5 will be released, but my guess  it will be at the end of 2012. The important question is, will it have a better camera?

I hope you enjoy my little beginners guide to Instagram. If so, please share it with friends on Twitter and Facebook. Or pin it on Pinterest, Thanks darlings :-)

More about Iphone Photography and Instagram

iPhoneography - a love affair


My Iphoneography workflow


iPhoneography Tip ( PicFrame )

xoxo, Christina


PS. To find me on Instagram look for @christinagreve

See you there :-)