There are a ton of photographers on Instagram and it is a jungle for us professional photographers. How many photographers are there on Instagram, you ask? The number will surprise you.
EVERY INSTAGRAMMER IS A PHOTOGRAPHER
Every single user on Instagram is a photographer (at least in my mind). Do you have an account? Unless you’ve never posted a photograph on Instagram you’re a photographer too. Congratulations!
If you’re thinking that isn’t true, then think about the premise of Instagram. Sure there are words, hashtags, tags, comments, etc. but the core aspect is visuals (i.e. photographs). You could post a photo without any words, but you can’t post words without a photo. Twitter is the opposite where the focus is on the words.
BEING A PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER ON INSTAGRAM
Professional photographers cry because they think there’s so much competition. In reality there isn’t as much as they think there is.
Technology has just increased the level of the visual quality that we need to produce to be different. Top tier phones like the iPhone 7 and the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S8 have incredible cameras perfectly suited for the screens on which we use to view apps like Instagram.
I welcome the challenge of making my photography unique. Some of the ways I do so are by telling stories through my photography, using unique points of view, experimenting, editing in creative ways, and by creating diverse visual content that grabs at people’s heart strings.
I’m finding it hard to grow on Instagram and get to the women who enjoy what I create, but I am truly loving the journey. In fact, I hope this journey of growth, discovery, and learning continues forever. That’s what I find fun in life!
I’m going to continue jumping into the Instagram jungle as a professional photographer. Although I’ll do it with a drive of being different, I’ll still connect and engage with others like a regular person would. I may be running a business, but I still want the intimate interaction everyone else has!
You can follow and engage with me on Instagram: @madebyten.
Jonathan How is the photographer behind Made by Ten and calls Milton his home. He specializes in creating beautiful, creative portraits of real women. He uses photography (and this blog) to help them build confidence and love for themselves and creates artistic images for their homes and offices. You can see him driving around the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) in Ontario, Canada from portrait to fashion shoot and back again.