Instagram Update Includes Private Image and Video Sharing

Would you like to share an image or video with just a handful of your Instagram friends? It's now possible with the new update.

Choose your image or video and after you've chosen any desired Instagram filters you will be presented with the choice of sharing with Followers or Direct (see below)

Instagram makes it easy to locate contacts with the alphabetical index on the side. Select the contacts you would like to share the photo with and hit the green Send button on the bottom. It's that simple! The feature is available to Android and iOS users. 

Use Flickstagram to move your Instagrams to Flickr!

Here’s an online service for moving your Instagram images to Flickr…Flickstagram .  I wish I had found Flickstagram while I still had all of my Instagram images uploaded!  The service will transfer your captions from Instagram, any hashtags will be added as Flickr tags and it will import your IG comments!  Of course you’ll need a Flickr Pro account if you have more than 1500 images, but the account is only $25 a year which isn’t a hefty price to pay.

Flickr allows you to create sets and collections so you can categorize your images any way you like.  There are also groups you can join on Flickr to link up with like-minded photographers.  Into Portraits?  There are groups for that.  How about only black and white?  There are groups for that.  There are even groups for black and white and one color only!  One thing you WON’T find on Flickr are the 1000’s of selfies by ghost followers!  That’s something to shout about!

Instagram Parody–For everyone tired of cliché photos!

If you’re a regular user of Instagram, you’ll get a kick out of this video parody. 

***Warning*** if you are offended by explicit language, do not view!

Using Instagram to Edit Without Posting

If you’d ever like to use Instagram purely for an editing app without posting to your gallery it’s easy to do.
Go to Settings and turn your device to Airplane Mode.  Edit using Instagram filters and frames and trying posting the image.  Since you’re not connected to the internet, it will be saved to your Camera Roll!  (Thanks to Geek is the New Chic for this tip)

Online Viewers for Instagram

Until Instagram comes out with their web profiles, you can still save your eyes from straining to look on your tiny phone screen by checking any of these online sites.  Just log in using your Instagram account username and password.

You can also comment and like images from these sites as well.

Statigram

Ink 361

Extragram

Web Profile Will Soon be Available for Instagram

Coming soon – Instagram heard the demand from users to have profiles available on the web and they are coming soon!  You’ll be able to Follow, Comment and Like photos right from your computer.

Below is Nike’s IG profile page – soon yours will be available too!  You can read more about it on the Instagram blog here!

Some Tips on Using Instagram Comments

I used to be the person that always read the manual before I used a new appliance, but lately I find myself skipping that important step only to be frustrated when I can’t figure something out.

That applies to Instagram as well.  I jumped in and was so caught up in the fun of sharing I didn’t bother reading about all the helpful tips and tricks that would make my IG experience easier.

Here’s a link to a great article on some of those tips.  You’ll find everything you need to know about leaving, editing and deleting comments.

What to do with all those Instagram photos?

If you’re an Instagram addict you may want to know what else you can do with all your images besides just storing them on your iPhone or computer.
Here’s a great site where you can have prints, calendars and more made using your Instagram images.  It’s called Printstagram.  Any of their products would make a great gift for the Instagram junkie on your holiday gift list.
You can get 24 Squares or 48 Mini Squares for $12 (plus postage)

or 252 Mini Stickers for $10

How about a Mini Book with 50 photos for $12?

Posters for $25/$35 depending on the size you order

3 Tiny Books for $10!!!

Mini Prints 48 for $12

or a 365 page Calendar for $40

I would love to decorate my office with some of my favorite Instagram prints, so I think I’ll be placing an order soon with Printstagram!

Artwork–5th Place winner in Breast Cancer Awareness Challenge

A few years ago I did this painting based on a photo I saw online. 

An Instagram friend Pernille Scheele asked me if I had anything to contribute to a Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign on Instagram.  I reworked the piece and came up with this. 

I didn’t realize it was a “challenge” and found out that I was a finalist and after the blind vote was awarded Fifth Place.  I’m happy my image helped promote this very important cause.  Let’s continue to push forward for a cure.  We need it YESTERDAY!!!

New to Instagram? These pointers from Fat Mum Slim will help!

Are you new to Instagram and haven’t got a clue how it works or how to maximize your images?  Well, here’s a great and beautifully designed “cheat sheet”.  I stumbled across this informative infographic from Fat Mum Slim and with Chantelle’s permission I’m reposting it here.  Be sure to hop on over to her website – she has a whole iPhoneography category!!!

Apps that help you tag your Instagram Photos

Love Instagram but not sure how to tag your images?  Here are a couple of apps that provide a set of tags you can copy and paste to add to your Instagram gallery photos!

The first is TagsForLikes which is currently FREE for a Limited Time.  You can select from Tag Categories including Popular, Nature, Animals, Art, Urban, Travel, etc.  It’s easy to copy and paste right into your Instagram comments.  It really does help increase your exposure and after all we’re on Instagram to share, right?

 

The other app I use for tagging is Instatag ($0.99).  You can choose from trending tags, popular tags, predefined tagging categories or even create your own tags and add individually.  You can also save tags in groupings to use over and over again! 

 

 

Happy tagging – see you on Instagram @gericentonze!

Ian Garrington–Mobile Artist Extraordinaire!

My husband and I watch a singing competition called the X Factor.  The judges are looking for that certain something that sets one musical artist apart from the others. 
The photographic work of Ian Garrington (Instagram user name @iangarrington) definitely has the X Factor, X as in excellent!  I was drawn to the dramatic moods he portrays in his images all taken with his iPhone.  Ian only started posting on Instagram a few months ago and says, “It’s helped me rediscover my love of photography after letting it slip for a few years.”   The love for his work definitely shines through in his provocative images. 





















Ian’s list of favorite apps include Noir Photo, Pro Filter, ColorSplash, Dramatic Black and White and PictureShow.  He’s currently looking to simply his workflow and says “If I can’t create what I’m looking for using Snapseed then I’m probably over doing it.”
Thank you Ian for allowing me to share your beautiful images.  Please visit Ian’s site on Statigram or Ink361 or follow him on Instagram @iangarrington.

***UPDATED January 8, 2013***

Over at The App Whisperer Dilshad Corleone (@italianbrother) penned an article on his photographic journey and one particular comment on the article caught my eye.  It was posted by my Instagram “brother” Ian Garrington.  I thought that the comment along with a few of his latest images were worth sharing (I also added them to the feature I already posted on Ian). 
Ian says of his own photographic journey:
“My love of photography started back in the mid 90′s when treading the backpacker trail through Africa and Asia. The brand new camera I’d saved for and took with me, perished within the first week during a storm sailing to Zanzibar on a dhow. As with you I then resorted to cheap plastic cameras and disposables for the rest of my year long journey, but just could not stop snapping away at the amazing sights, scenes and people along the way. The results and quality were mixed and mainly still sit in an old box in the garage, but what was for sure was that I had become addicted to capturing images of street life and people.
Late 90′s I ended up in San Francisco where I purchased my first SLR and signed up for a correspondence course with New York Institute of Photography. It was enlightening but I started losing interest when it became more focused on the technicalities of studio lighting and the business of photography. I just wanted to be out on the streets snapping away which I continued to do. SF is an amazing place for capturing weird and wonderful characters who don’t mind having a big SLR pointed in their direction.
Kids then appeared and my time available for wandering the backstreets of the tenderloin and Mission became limited and my photo focus was directed towards cute pics of the little ones. I’ve got 1000′s of pics of them which I love but my photo bug slowly started fading away until 6 months ago when a friend showed me this new iPhone app called Instagram where people post their mobile phone pics. I was highly skeptical even though I’d owned an iPhone for a while, I’d never even considered using the piddly little ‘novelty’ camera that was built in for people who didn’t have or know how to use a ‘proper’ camera. How misguided I was!
What I’ve come to realize is that mobile photography is the enabler for me to capture the type of images I’ve always wanted to and typically been unable to due to the nature of a traditional SLR camera where anonymity is not straight forward if your looking for candid street shots. It allows me to focus on what’s really important which is the image and capturing the moment, rather than the quality of the camera and lens.
I’m now a born-again photography enthusiast thanks to my little phone and the inspiration of mobile artists such as yourself who validate this art form and show the possibilities.”

“...just remember, darling, it is pain that changes our lives.” ― Steve Martin, Shop girl (above)

Queen of all she surveys (above)

"I dressed and went for a walk - determined not to return until I took in what Nature had to offer." - Raymond Carver (above)

"Life is full of misery, loneliness, and suffering - and it's all over much too soon." ~ Woody Allen. (above)

Find Ian:  Instagram

All images in this feature are copyrighted property of Ian Garrington published on iART CHRONiCLES with the consent of the artist.

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Featured Instagrammer Stephen Cooper

This week (on the sidebar), I’ll be featuring the feed of Instagrammer @stevecooper92.  His abstract portraits grabbed my attention.  If any of you followed my previous art blog, you may be aware that I LOVE faces and have been sketching them since I was a teen. 
Steve started posting on Instagram about a year ago and for his first image the only thing he added was one of the apps built-in filters.  Now, Steve packs quite a lot in his “camera bag”.  Some of his favorites include Iris Photo Suite, Image Blender, Decim8, Snapseed, ArtStudio and Picfx.  In his words, “I seem to like filters that will add some kind of distortion to the image!  I tinker around for a bit saving many stepping stones till the final image appears.” 
Below are some of those brilliant final images:

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New Edits and Some FREE Apps!

Here are a few images from my Instagram feed.  If you’re on Instagram and would like to follow me, you can find me @gericentonze.
App Recipes are includes on some of the images.

The more I experiment with abstract art, the more I love it!
App Recipe – Decim8, PhotoArista Oil, Glaze, Vintique, ScratchCam FX

A great old Chevrolet Bel Air I saw on my walk yesterday.

I saw my reflection in our front loading washing machine and thought this would make an interesting photo.
App Recipe – ProCamera, Simply B&W, Sketch Club, Vintique, Snapseed

I snagged this shot of the man next to me at Subway yesterday.

On the boardwalk in Santa Monica.  This was created from two photos.  The image of the blurred background figures was shot in SlowShutter.  The foreground people were shot with ProCamera. I then combined the images in Sketch Club using layers and made the foreground figures slightly transparent to give the feeling of movement.
SlowShutter, ProCamera, Sketch Club, PS Express, Snapseed

And now for one of today’s FREE apps.  Here’s Kyoobik Photo by JixiPix Software.

I didn’t have a lot of time to experiment with this, but I ran the photo of the Bel Air (above) through a couple of the settings – results below.