I have a theory.
Everyone who uploads photos to instagram with some sort of special effect* should be tied to a chair in front of a 10 foot searingly bright screen showing their original photo while a voice speaks over a large PA saying “the photo you took was crap, why do you think making it look like a dog-eared 70s polaroid improves it?” over and over again until their eyes start bulging, their ears bleed, and they just about manage to stutter an apology and promise never to do it again.
It’s just a theory. But I think we should definitely experiment.
* Some of which are worse than the lens flare effect that every home-made poster got when Photoshop 3 came out. Well, those posters that didn’t have motion blur and mezzotint.
2 Responses
Joel Hughes
11|Mar|2011 1I think you’re being a little bit *grumpy* ;)
It’s true that a filter cannot improve a crap photo…but it is also true that, in the hands of someone who understands composition/light/shadow/texture/framing etc, the results can be powerful. I’m not saying that’s me (by a long shot) but, at the end of the day, it’s just a too and only as capable as the user.
Also I think we miss an important point by dismissing Instagram; the true beauty is bugger all to do with effects (you can just as easily upload your photo sans effect). The beauty is the one-click-sharing across multiple social networks – no other iPhone camera app does it anywhere near as fluidly.
@Joel_Hughes
Oliver
11|Mar|2011 2My point, though, is that the *vast* majority of users
a) upload crap/boring photos
b) apply effects to said photos that they think make them look really cool.
Equally, if someone takes a nice shot of something (a landscape, a landmark, etc) then shares it but with a ridiculous “film” effect, I just think bah, I’d actually quite liked to have seen WHAT WAS THERE, not what was there shoved through a hue filter to make everything red.