1. How did you author (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?
Something that I found to be annoying when filming is lighting, especially when it comes to reflective surfaces. The way light can bounce off a reflective surface and cent to hide what you’re trying to capture in the reflection. But I found a use for it this week. The object I decided to use was my camera and its lens. I had purchased the device last Christmas, and it is very dear to me as an object not to mention I am fascinated by the design of cameras. Initially, I decided to use just the camera. Still, I found that when the light bounces off the lens of the camera, it creates a unique multicoloured design that can be changed with the depth of the lens. What I did was lay my iPhone 7 rear-facing camera on my carpet directly above the single light source of my room, ensuring it captured the light-reflecting effect.
When using the Instagram camera to take the photo, I tried my best to put as little of the photo over the lens as possible to avoid catching the reflection of the phone on the glass lens. With this and increasing the zoom slightly, it also hid the full view of the camera to create a unique look with the lens, almost like an eye. To hide the grain of the image, I used the Paris filter when taking the photo and then before posting, used the Clarendon filter. This gave the picture a blue tinge that complimented the lights well. It reminded me of space in a way. This was also the time I discovered the other editing tools available on Instagram and was able to adjust the composition of the photo to comply with the rule of threes and adjust the exposure and colour on the image to my liking. Once again, I was impressed and happy with the features that Instagram provides to its creators.
The reason I chose to display the camera in this is to show the good quality design of a camera lens, how it can capture and reflect light that enters it and can be easily adjusted on the fly. By showing this in a more aesthetically appealing way, it ties better into the theme of my blog of the appealing and the practicality behind the appealing images seen.
2. How did you publish (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?
It took me a few tries to get the photo to a standard I was happy to post. I think, as someone that doesn’t use the app like most, I tend to overthink the images with this idea that it all has to be perfect. The account must be perfect with all meaningful images. Part of me thinks that in that regard that I am missing the personal aspect to Instagram that many other creators have. Still, I think this is something I have to improve upon. Regardless, I continued with the plan of having the photo showing aesthetic and the video showing practicality. They were published to the same account @networked_design
I tried to give the photo space/ Iris look and thus emphasized this with my caption ‘What way do you see the world?’ The question is meant to engage the audience and relates to the iris theme with the photo. I think it’s an excellent way to appeal to viewers and encourage them to keep scrolling through the account.
3. How did you distribute (the photo or video) you published on Instagram to other social media services?
While Instagram is the main source where the photos are being posted, I also posted the photo to Twitter and Tumblr using the same tags for all of them. I made sure they related closely to the image and that there was a variety to increase the chance that more people see the image. These tags were ‘#photography #lights #reflecting #camera #lens and #cameralens’. Something I did notice when posting these images elsewhere bothered me. When I posted the images last week, to twitter and Tumblr, I did so through my desktop as I was currently working from it. This week I tried to do the same on my phone, but I couldn’t do so from Tumblr. I’m unsure if this is because I set up the account on my desktop and thus can only reach it from there or if I need to allow a certain feature on the account to do so. Regardless, I posted the video through my desktop. I believe this may be a glitch or something, but if not, I find it rather disappointing that Tumblr has not changed this feature.
What way do you see the world? #photography #lights #reflecting #camera #cameralens #lens pic.twitter.com/R7qNIX5M00
— networked_design (@DesignNetworked) May 24, 2020