85 - ... on Instagram

Things I have learned... On Instagram

I fell out of love with Instagram for a while, around about the time the news of THAT impending algorithm change broke. Now it has happened, I find it is kind of freeing. I'm less bothered now about posting time, likes, popularity or the whole numbers game (tho I'm sure they are still important factors in reach and engagement figures etc. which ultimately lead to a better user experience - if you're talking it's nice if there's someone listening, yes?) and more interested in pulling back to my key ethos, telling a story and telling it well.

I've sought out knowledge and researched how to up my game. Which is what I do when I set something as a goal - research it incessantly... I wanted to improve mostly out of respect for the platform rather than playing the numbers game (but I did find out a few things that would help with that too). I like that it is for sharing great photography and want to stay true to that (+ I always have twitter for pictures of my kids pretending to be rock stars...). Here is what I've found...

1) More visibility across the community (liking and commenting on others posts) means more visibility for you. Likewise, hashtags let people find you by subject matter, don't forget them.

2) The golden section applies. I attended an iPhoneography / styling class with Sara Tasker of Me and Orla last weekend and one of the things she said was that rule of thirds is key for taking great photos, she didn't know why in particular but it seemed to work. It occurred to me, I do know why, albeit by a different name and slightly different principle in practical use. I feel super silly for having forgotten it in the first place, one of the key things I learnt as a designer was about the golden section/ratio. It is fascinating, mesmerising and quite honestly mind blowing - I've gathered a few sources for this (relating more to photography than purely principle based) and theres a whole rule of thirds vs golden section conversation happening which is also quite intriguing - links below...

3) People are fickle. They follow, they unfollow. Minds change, trends come and go. The likes and followers can be somewhat like a tide but as long as I'm telling my story in a way that I'm happy with, the rest is redundant really.

4) Light is everything. More than that, it is magical. On my walk home from taking the littles to school this morning I stood and watched a flower blowing in the wind and was captivated by the light casting over it and changing how it looked at any given moment and how that in turn altered my perception of what I was seeing. Light can help you tell your story and make images appear "on-brand" - use it wisely.

5) I appreciate there's a lot of skill that goes in to crafting the perfect image quite often. Personally, I'm not happy styling and posing images for the sake of having content, and I've finally learnt - that's ok. I might not get so many followers (refusing to be a crowd pleaser for the sake of popularity), but that's ok too (see no. 3).

6) It is a platform to tell my story. Share the things that I see, share why I see them that way. To give other people a look at the world from my perspective. It's my adventures, my work, my story, through my eyes, shared with you.

I'm sure there are numerous other shimmer shiny gems of advice, but those are the things that have stood out for me. If you have any other bits of advice you think I should hear, please do comment, I'd love to hear them!

EDIT:
I had a bit of inspiration whilst working after writing this post so thought I'd add this last thought...

7) It has been said that a cohesive feed is most attractive and will bring greater Instagram happiness (that or higher engagement figures / more followers) and you should plan your feed and how images fit together. Using the VCSO grid seems to be a fairly popular way to do this but I stumbled upon an idea this afternoon that seems too simple for words - set up a "ghost" account, set to private where you can post everything before posting it to your actual feed. Simple huh?

Links:
http://www.picturecorrect.com/tips/the-golden-ratio-vs-the-rule-of-thirds-which-is-best/
https://designshack.net/articles/layouts/looking-at-images-phi-grid-vs-rule-of-thirds/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_ratio

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84 - Botanical Style

In my last post I mentioned all sorts of exciting things that have been happening, May saw me fulfil a very specific one of my work goals, to have my work featured in a book.



You probably already know that I have a deep love for plants and all things botanical, one look at my product line and Instagram feed will tell you that. When I was approached by Selina Lake about the use of some of my cards and prints in her latest book "Botanical Style" I was overjoyed, and eager to see how the whole thing would look finished up. It's always fascinating to see how people take my work and style it up in their own way, I love seeing how stockists style things up with their existing ranges and how clients integrate goods into their homes.

After months of waiting, it arrived. I sat with a cup of tea and anxiously opened the package that I knew contained the book. What if she hadn't used my cards or prints at all? What if they made a Mike Wazowski appearance and were covered by something? I intended to leaf through quickly to see if and where my work appeared but found myself getting caught by this page, and that page, and ooh-ing and ah-ing and then reaching for the post-it notes to mark the pages I wanted to use an idea from. Which turned out to be many.

Vintage, boho, industrial, natural and tropical botanicals all take their share of the limelight with their own sections. All equally inspiring with enchantingly styled and beautifully photographed scenes full of plenty ideas that will translate easily to your space. I've appropriated a few ideas for the shop already and will be sneaking some in to our home too.

See if you can spot my botanical cards amongst all of the beauty...







There is plenty more inspiration where that came from - Botanical Style by Selina Lake, published by Ryland Peters & Small, photography by Rachel Whiting © Ryland Peters & Small is out now.

Disclosure
I was kindly given a copy of the book to review. No monies changed hands for this post and all views are my own.

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83 - Two Months Off

As I fire up Blogger to write my first post in a while I'm horrified to see that it has in fact been two months since I last posted.

I'm being quite serious when I ask that age old question of "where did the time go?".

I notice written posts that have never seen the light of a screen and find myself a little panicky about things not posted and having missed talking about some really exciting things (Blue Dot festival for a start...). The thing is, rather than talking about exciting things, I've been doing them. Lots of them.

In the past two months we've had many outdoor (and glass house) adventures, our boy turned seven (S.E.V.E.N!), we've swam in the sea, hiked hills, walked in the woods, eaten the first of our crops for the year (rhubarb crumble - yum!), seen dinosaurs at the zoo (!) had fun in the last snowfall before winter (May - you certainly were an odd weather month...) and a whole host of other adventures. I've worked on some utterly fabulous projects, one of which I've just mailed today, as well as collaborated with other like minded bods on writing and making - which has been awesome. Oh and I'm writing this post from my new shop...

I'll endeavour to catch up on things missed and preview some utterly brilliant stuff coming up... Blue Dot, Tramlines, The Good Life Experience to name but a few. As always you can keep up with goings on over on Instagram and lately I've been giving Twitter a bit of a go too...

First catch up post coming soon...

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82 - An open letter to A.L.F

Dearest A.L.F,

This year you would be eight (you are eight? I still struggle knowing what to do with that). I don't think about you every day any longer, but you are always in my heart and in everything I do.

I hope that I am doing you proud with Alfie's Studio - today I saw photos of work being featured in a book, I cried a little. When we used to visit you in the early days I would bring new plants and tell you about them, do you remember? The book is about flowers (sort of). I'm sorry we haven't visited for some time, I stopped needing to so much because I realised you were in my heart rather than at that place and it just made me too sad. It doesn't mean we don't care, it means we care too much.

The sight of daffodils doesn't seem to make me as sad as it used to (I took a picture the other day of some at your grandma's house and thought of you). I have yet to see the first lamb of the season so can't comment on them yet. I still don't like April Fools very much, April 1st is not and probably never will be my friend.

Your brother and sister know of you. I don't think they quite understand or can really comprehend, but they will, one day. They will know that you were courageous and funny, taught me how to love fiercely, how to protect them. You taught me resilience and strength, to never give up hope and to enjoy every little thing and moment, for it really is true that you don't know how many more you will have (the saddest and hardest lesson I've learnt so far).

I still can't quite stand it when they call me "mummy" instead of "mama" (they think it's funny to see me cross at them about it). I am and always will be your mummy and no one else's.

I'm not sure on religion but I often wonder if there is a heaven and you are there. If there is, what is it like? Do you have school? Are the schools taught by walruses in waistcoats and lions in bow ties? Have you met your great nana and great granddad? Great doesn't quite cover them, they were AWESOME and I miss them very much too. Is he Top Ten Angler in the Angling Times up there? Is she still cross about the varnishing of the dining table while she was in hospital? That would never have happened in her heaven...

Another year further from you, my sweet thing. Perhaps another year closer to finally getting to play on the beach with you or chase you through the woods?

I will love you, always.

Mummy x

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81 - Social Media and Connectivity

Lately as I fall down the rabbit hole of Twitter and becoming active on Instagram after a bit of a winter lul I have pondered "social media" and what it all actually means to me.

I honestly get the feeling that it has turned quite anti-social and fosters disconnectedness in a lot of cases. I have a friend who in fact quit Facebook for the very reason that he found himself not staying in touch with friends, he'd seen their snippets of news online, why did he need to pick up a phone or write a letter? Consequently I actually hear from him a lot more these days...

It seems that we are increasingly being forced down corridors chosen for us, allowed to peep into the rooms deemed as interesting to us, a funfair curated based on past joys. But here's the thing, I'm human, and what I like, changes frequently. There is no robot or algorithm built that can truly know what I would think important because my mood changes, recent personal events impact, ambience and surroundings - the weather even. On dreary days I need plants and foreign places in my IG feed and so I search for new people to bring me those, other times I want to connect with some new like-minded creatives. How can all of this possibly be factored into an algorithm and more to the point, why would I want it to?

Part of the joys of sharing platforms (like Instagram) are not only in new discovery but the re-kindling of forgotten relationships too. Someone who might not have posted for a while, or posts something so out of the ordinary that it would no doubt never be picked up by an algorithm. I feel that the threatened change on Instagram takes away the unexpected beauty of it all and will dull the very best aspect of it - human interaction and randomness.

A quick google search on "Instagram" to check for news on the impending changes somehow brought up a link to a piece by Hossein Derakhshan on The Guardian website which seemed to sum all of it up wonderfully -

"Maybe this is all a natural evolution of a technology. But I can’t close my eyes to what’s happening: a loss of intellectual power and diversity. In the past, the web was powerful and serious enough to land me in jail. Today it feels like little more than entertainment. So much that even Iran doesn’t take some – Instagram, for instance – serious enough to block.

I miss when people took time to be exposed to opinions other than their own, and bothered to read more than a paragraph or 140 characters. I miss the days when I could write something on my own blog, publish on my own domain, without taking an equal time to promote it on numerous social networks; when nobody cared about likes and reshares, and best time to post."

I shall nervously await the verdict on the Instagram changes. In the meantime, grab yourself a cup of tea and read the whole post. If you are an Instagram user and hate the proposed changes go sign the petition against them and let your feelings be known...

I'd be interested in your thoughts, leave a comment on the recent proposed Instagram changes, social media, the death of the web, miscellaneous musings...

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