https://www.instagram.com/p/BpBDaGOnX2y/?taken-by=the_door_enthusiast

1. How did you author the photo you recorded for upload to Instagram?

I used my iPhone 7 to capture this image and used the rear facing camera function on the Instagram app. I stood directly in the centre of the double doors to capture an optimal angle, best showcasing the double doors. Due to the affordance constraint of the square format of Instagram, I couldn’t get overly close to the subject otherwise parts of the image would’ve been cropped out. In terms of the editing process involved, due to there being minimal sunlight at the time of producing this image, I thought I would attempt to Incorporate a few filters to make the image slightly more vibrant and decrease the dullness of shot. I tried out the set filters available on the app, however these resulted in a highly edited and unnatural looking image. Finally, I ended up just focusing on using the editing features that are provided, such as adjusting the brightness, contract and saturation. This worked quite successfully in lightening up the image and enhancing the colours, whilst still looking quite professional and natural. 

Generally, I use my camera provided on my Iphone to originally capture the photos before I import them into the Instagram app. I feel as though It gives me more freedom to adjust and modify the image prior to getting it ready to post on Instagram. For example, the size of the image, various editing tools and framing of the image is easier to control on the iphone camera roll app. Thus, when taking images for a potential upload, they must to be perfect and worthy to be shared on my account, therefore I take several images and then compare them all. However, with this particular shot,  the photo was taken straight from the Instagram app to sharing it to straight to the public. Having experienced this method now I did find it saved me some time, whilst also providing some flexibility and a few other options as well, which is quite beneficial to know.

2. How did you publish the photo you recorded to upload to Instagram?

I stood in front of the door and took several images, and still wasn’t completely satisfied with the several outcomes. Some were quite dull and didn’t emphasise the colour composition and balance I wanted to highlight in the image for the visual aesthetic of my account.

I chose to add the location of my suburb before sharing the photo. I thought this may assist in expanding my following with some local viewers or potential future locals. As this suburb has recently increased in population and is currently a booming suburb, which may also help gain more exposure and interest in my post. I chose to include 3 relevant hashtags to attract more users; #justdoorthings #frenchdoors #doortraits. Through some research these hashtags seemed to be a popular and frequent search, so I decided to stick with these, as they are also related to the photo. After this, I immediately uploaded the image. Almost too easy!

3. How did you distribute the photo you published on Instagram to other social media services?

After merging the two platforms with my Instagram account, this made the process of distributing my image so much easier as well as saving me a lot of time. As each post uploaded automatically, without me having to post separately on these platforms. In terms of my hashtags I used, they were able to transfer and adjust relatively well to mainly Twitter, as this social media service is predominately written posts as opposed to visual ones. Similar to the affordances of Instagram, Twitter utilises hashtags effectively to archive content making it easier to find relevant content.