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Instagram Love or Hate?

AlanSMitchell
polycounter lvl 14
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AlanSMitchell polycounter lvl 14
Instagram has literally exploded all over FB specifically my FB. I don't really see the appeal of it make your photos look aged. I thought people got past taking photos that look age after the polaroids died off years ago. Perhaps it's nostalgia these photos like the polariod had, a certain style and a certain age that can be tied to Americana the "good old days."
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I found this article that I liked on the matter.
http://www.wired.com/rawfile/2012/05/why-instagram-is-terrible-for-photographers-and-why-you-should-use-it/?utm_source=Contextly&utm_medium=RelatedLinks&utm_campaign=Previous

I don't claim to be a photographer well not since High School, I have dabbled in it as a hobby ever since. Personally and this may just be me; the instagram is to photography, that lens flare is to Photoshop. Again I don't like this style but tell me what you think? Love it or hate it, people are interested in photography more now.
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  • uncle
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    uncle
    I'd just stick to photography with decent camera. You can easily achive better results.

    Also, concerning good old days :) -> [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aZwFQbeD1k"]Gogol Bordello - Ultimate - YouTube[/ame]
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  • AlanSMitchell
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    AlanSMitchell polycounter lvl 14
    Uncle: I agree with you completely! 100%
    lol
    digging the music reminds me a bit of this band I found rencetly diego's umbrella, and I'm really digging them too.
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  • Envart
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    Envart polycounter lvl 6
    The hipster filter! It's canned creativity at the press of a button. I think that, based on the fact that FB bought it for 1 billion USD, is absolute genius and I wish I'd thought of it first.
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  • Visceral
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    Visceral
    Second on hipster filter. Dont care for it at all.
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  • rooster
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    rooster mod
    instagram has become pretty much mainstream. It's now hipster to say you use a real non-smartphone camera. ha!

    ps- I don't use it but I do find the colours and contrast are straight up more interesting than if the filter hadn't been applied. If someone's not into photography but wants to make their random iphone snaps look nicer, what's the problem
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  • Kwramm
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    Kwramm interpolator
    if you like it, use it. If not, then not.

    Sometimes it feels like another lens flare effect, but on other photos it works. It's just a tool, that's all. Don't overuse it.
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  • Ace-Angel
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    Ace-Angel polycounter lvl 12
    Unless it's a polarized photo taken with an on-site filter, I don't care for them since I can easily replicate as I wish via PP.

    So yeah, as Kwramm said, if it makes a picture pop out more, why not do it later?
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  • Wahlgren
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    Wahlgren polycounter lvl 17
    Kwramm wrote: »
    if you like it, use it. If not, then not.

    Sometimes it feels like another lens flare effect, but on other photos it works. It's just a tool, that's all. Don't overuse it.

    What's this sense you're speaking. :o
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  • Skillmister
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    Skillmister polycounter lvl 11
    Sometimes it looks awesome. Most of the time it doesn't.
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  • WarrenM
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    WarrenM
    It's not about art or creativity, it's about sharing little snippets of life easily with your friends. You guys are looking at it the wrong way. :) I love Instagram...
    So yeah, as Kwramm said, if it makes a picture pop out more, why not do it later?
    Because the whole point is instant sharing. Snap a picture, apply a 1 click filter if you want to, upload to Facebook/Instagram feed. Whole thing takes about 5 seconds. Doing it later defeats the purpose. :)
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  • Xendance
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    Xendance polycounter lvl 7
    It looks weird and distracting and hides details in the pics. Dislike :\
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  • leleuxart
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    leleuxart polycounter lvl 10
    Kwramm wrote: »
    if you like it, use it. If not, then not.

    Sometimes it feels like another lens flare effect, but on other photos it works. It's just a tool, that's all. Don't overuse it.

    I agree. I don't understand what the problem is. If you don't like it, don't use it. I'm sure there are other things people dislike, but I never hear them talking about it. I use it and I like some of the filters, that doesn't mean I try to be a professional photographer.
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  • Wells
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    Wells polycounter lvl 18
    I've never used it, but I like that it exists because it makes everyone's shitty pictures look better.

    Of course people with decent cameras who know how to take nice pictures could do better and sneer at this - it's not for you. It's for people with smart-phones who don't know how to take a decent picture and don't have editing software or the knowledge to fix curves, etc.

    and lawl @ hipster filter. Oh the irony in that statement.
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  • Ace-Angel
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    Ace-Angel polycounter lvl 12
    WarrenMarshall wrote: »
    It's not about art or creativity, it's about sharing little snippets of life easily with your friends. You guys are looking at it the wrong way. :) I love Instagram...


    Because the whole point is instant sharing. Snap a picture, apply a 1 click filter if you want to, upload to Facebook/Instagram feed. Whole thing takes about 5 seconds. Doing it later defeats the purpose. :)

    But aren't you essentially 'taking' out the moment from the image if it's a one click filter? Oh, look at me with a fiancee on a boat, with the sun and fountain on the side without it blinding us, let us cover this moment by applying a filter which Abberates the colors, stretches the light source, and level crushed, I'm sure everyone will love it vs. an original image which EVERYONE, including my aging old parent will be able to see properly.
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  • uncle
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    uncle
    If you want to share a moment properly make a HDR photo ;).
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  • WarrenM
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    WarrenM
    Also note : the filters are optional. You can just post a pure picture if you want to!

    The attraction is the instantaneous nature of it, not how amazing the quality of the photograph is. If you cared about that, you wouldn't be using a smart phone to take the picture.
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  • Justin Meisse
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    Justin Meisse polycounter lvl 18
    I hate to tell you guys, but I talked to a doctor AND a scientist and they said being angry about something that's popular are the first symptoms of being a hipster.
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  • uncle
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    uncle
    There's nothing wrong in being individual while refraining from walking in ray-bans. Not that I am angry or what.
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  • equil
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    equil
    it's the most effective way to keep photoshop piracy down.
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  • Andreas
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    Andreas polycounter lvl 11
    Not a big fan of the app, but hell, I know people bang that filter on everything, but doesn't it come down to it just looking nice at the end of the day. Do people do it because it makes snaps look old, or because the colours are genuinely nice and interesting?
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  • Sean VanGorder
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    Sean VanGorder admin
    I personally like the way filters look. If you don't, then okay. Isn't much more to it than that.

    *shrugs*
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  • ErichWK
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    ErichWK polycounter lvl 12
    I don't mind the filters for hipstergram, they can look cool. I just hate the fake Polaroid borders they put on the photos.
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  • Will Faucher
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    Will Faucher polycounter lvl 12
    Only thing that bugs me, is when people take a picture with their iPhone, instagram it, and then proceed with pretending they're some pro photographer, by adding "John Smith Photography"(Name fictional) onto it afterwards. (Yes, I'm serious, I see this all the time on facebook)
    Not to mention some of those effects are just really messing with my eyes. The blur filters especially.

    But otherwise, whatever. Take it or leave it.
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  • whats_true
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    whats_true polycounter lvl 15
    I like the colors but mannn, soo many photos with violate and orange in it. Its crappy photos pretending to be good with gobs of colors in it.
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  • WarrenM
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    WarrenM
    It's just a bit of fun that people have with their smart phone pictures. Don't take it so seriously, guys. :)
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  • Tigerfeet
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    Tigerfeet
    I really like it because my smartphone's camera is pretty crap. I don't fancy myself any kind of professional photographer though (people seriously do that?), I just use instagram to share pictures I take throughout the day. I do like the filters and the borders, I think they're fun :) I actually wish I could select borders independent of the filter. Maybe I can and I don't know it, that interface is opaque as hell. :/
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  • Selaznog
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    Selaznog polycounter lvl 8
    tumblr_m4pjsmrw9v1qh1r9ho2_400.jpg
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  • Autocon
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    Autocon polycounter lvl 15
    It makes boring photos of your food look more artistic
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  • PhattyEwok
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    PhattyEwok polycounter lvl 9
    I like it and use it often but I've seen quite a few friends go over board with it slapping on filters for the hell of it. Usually I like to use it to quickly color correct my photos but that's about it.
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  • WarrenM
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    WarrenM
    I think you nay sayers need to subscribe to the Suicide Girls instagram feed. Then you can be happy a few times each day...
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  • Selaznog
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    Selaznog polycounter lvl 8
    Ugh suicide girls.
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  • Justin Meisse
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    Justin Meisse polycounter lvl 18
    oh crap! I just got handed a report: Ostentatious indifference to something is also a hallmark of Hipsterism. If you have said "meh" in the last 24 hours, see a doctor immediately!
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  • Two Listen
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    Two Listen polycount sponsor
    I hadn't heard of or seen sign of this prior to this thread.

    I now have no idea whether or not I'm a hipster. What in the hell am I supposed to do if I can't even figure out what labels apply to me!

    God damnit!
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  • Selaznog
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    Selaznog polycounter lvl 8
    I don't know, Instagrammed photos to me are like that first time you discover the smudge tool, or the bevel and emboss effect in Photoshop. Remember the first time you learned the extrude tool in a 3d package? Man, I thought I was the shit, makin' robots with a bajillion extrusions. But it's just a phase you sort of pass... I find instagrammed photos just look cheesy, especially when people put those "best friends 4ever" life quotes on them.

    But hey, that's just my opinion :P
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  • Jesse Moody
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    Jesse Moody polycounter lvl 17
    I don't use instagram on my iphone really but camera+ and I think it's awesome. I am def not a photographer but I have a whole album on my facebook that is dedicated to these photos and I really think they make crap pics look 100x better.

    I mainly use it on my kids playing, out and about, or some city stuff I shot in Chicago that looks cool with some DOF and some color correction.

    Examples:

    310827_10150343617413024_746383023_8148011_1977081698_n.jpg
    312859_10150340706178024_746383023_8132895_2076672099_n.jpg#2336603_10150323809133024_1520006227_o.jpg#3521610_10150748887928024_746383023_226918871_249099046_n.jpg#5
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  • Talbot
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    Talbot
    I love instagram. I would rather look at a stream of photos people have taken than a wall of text like twitter. I still like twitter I guess.

    Also I love where I live, and I go to some cool places to bike. Tweeting: "I'm in the santa monica mountains" just doesn't compare to sharing this:

    d1719a46a15c11e180c9123138016265_7.jpg

    Anyway a couple weeks ago I made a tumblr to sort of showcase my instagram.

    http://gotscott.tumblr.com/

    On another note though, I do agree that the borders are ugly. Thankfully you can turn them off. :)
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  • dfacto
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    dfacto polycounter lvl 18
    Instagram is an easy way to make a shitty picture presentable, so be happy that people are using it and spicing up their attempts at photography instead of just boring you.
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  • Talbot
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    Talbot
    dfacto wrote: »
    Instagram is an easy way to make a shitty picture presentable

    CALL THE COPS! Someone smart made something easier!
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  • Mark Dygert
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    Mark Dygert mod
    I never use it, in some cases it works and looks ok, but it gets used way too often, a little goes a long way.
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