I come from a family of professional photographers. My grandfather had his own photography business in the 1970s, and soon enough my mom was helping out at weddings and other events. My dad and sister are also avid photographers – my sister used to be the assistant photographer to the Supreme Court. Suffice to say, I have been surrounded by intimidating Nikons and Canons for as long as I can remember. Do I know how to shoot a striking photo? Not so much.
The other day, after I uploaded photos to my Facebook account, I received comments from a couple of my friends asking if I had really taken a certain artsy picture (thanks for the confidence, guys). Not only had I taken the photo, it was taken on my iPhone thanks to the magic of the popular photo sharing application, Instagram.
So long to the days of dark, fuzzy photos in every Mobile Uploads album on Facebook. Now, anyone can take photos that would impress the most professional of photographers. Did I mention my Supreme Court-photo-taking sister uses Instagram regularly? And no one is the wiser! Instagram, along with a slew of other photo sharing applications, are becoming increasingly popular ways to share our everyday lives with friends and family.
Some of the world’s biggest brands are picking up on the trend, too, as more than one million photos are shared per day. With National Geographic creating an Instagram brand profile almost immediately after the launch of the application, other brands have noticed the success and have been following suit one by one. The popular t-shirt company Threadless was quick to jump on the photo sharing trend with their very own branded profile, where they share behind-the-scenes pictures of their very cool offices and upcoming designs. ABC World News is utilizing the platform to tap their “more pictures please” readers (like myself) who post stunning, high quality photographs depicting events happening all over the world.
It should surprise no one that social media titan Starbucks has an enormous presence on the platform. With over 53,000 followers and tons of photos from the corporate offices in Seattle, the brand gives us coffee junkies a bird’s eye view into the exciting everyday going-ons of Starbucks HQ. Not ones to shy away from the unusual, Red Bull uses the platform to showcase everything from their sponsored sporting events to impressive Red Bull can towers.
While Instagram definitely reigns supreme as the most popular photo sharing application on the market, these applications are great for anyone who loves to capture moments, share news instantly with friends, and highlight their personality in their own photos. You don’t have to own an expensive camera to take great pictures anymore, and it’s now easier than ever to fool your friends into thinking you’re a professional!