The Lion Door Photo
- How did you author (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?
I authored this photo using the front facing camera of my iPhone 7. I utilised the inbuilt camera in the Instagram app. I found that I had to retake the photo a number of times, trying to get the framing right. The square format definitely influenced the way in which I chose to frame the photo and how I chose what to include within the frame. Additionally, I was considering how it would look in relation to the aesthetics of the my profile’s grid. I have decided to take advantage of the grid format on Instagram to cultivate an aesthetic theme for my account. As posts on Instagram exist in rows of three, I have decided to repost the same photo after the video to create a specific visual took on my account.
In the process of authoring the photo I used flash a couple of times but eventually decided not to use flash as it discoloured the door. In terms of editing, I chose to utilise the ‘Aden’ filter again to keep consistency across my feed. Something I noticed this week in the editing process, is how Instagram’s interface portrays its affordances in a straightforward manner that make it easy to understand what you are doing to a photo. I experimented with other editing options and I could easily add or retract changes to the photo without difficulty.
- How did you publish (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?
As mentioned in the previous question, I had to retake this particular photo a number of times. I was playing around with framing, distance from the door and lighting. Eventually, I decided to publish this photograph in particular. I chose this photo, which is a close up compared to the other medium shot photos, as I was considering my overall feed. As Instagram profile exist as a grid, it can be helpful to consider how the photo will look in relation to the other posts around it.
I published this photograph on the same day a new Game of Thrones episode was being released. As the content of the photograph was a door with a lion doorknob, I chose to make reference to House Lannister in Game of Thrones who’s sigil is a lion. Therefore, I decided to make a slightly cringe caption full of puns related to Game of Thrones. Comedic content and posts are quite prevalent on Instagram, increasingly gaining recognition and popularity. I also chose to place the location as ‘Casterly Rock’ which is the Lannister estate, a location I did not even know was a possibility until searching it into the locations whilst in the process of publishing the photo. It’s interesting that Instagram affords it’s users the ability to geotag a figurative location, driving fan related content.
- How did you distribute (the photo or video) you published on Instagram to other social media services?
In terms of distribution, I chose to post cross-platform on Twitter and Tumblr. My post had an emphasis on Game of Thrones as it is an extremely popular show, and Game of Thrones related content is very popular on Instagram. I was playing into this popularity through my use of hashtags and the geofilter in order to increase distribution. I included a number of popular hashtags relevant to the photo such as #GoT and #lion. As mentioned in previous posts, these hashtags will generate further reach and attract people to my Instagram page. Game of Thrones posts are ubiquitous on Twitter, often being reposted in articles. Therefore cross posting on Twitter hopefully increases reach and drives traffic to the post.