Let's face it. We all get a warm spot in our heart when someone likes a photo that we share on social media. And if someone comments, we really get that warm and fuzzy feeling. First off, I'm a writer. Some may call me a journalist. I like the idea of being a storyteller. I don't claim to be a photographer. Far from it. Photography is not my strength. I was my own videographer when I was in television several decades ago, but I have no real experience in still photography. I just snap photos for my blog, and try to tell you a story.
Instagram is forcing me to try to get more creative with my shots and angles. And on occasion, I may snap a photo that everyone loves. That doesn't happen too often, but when it does, I love the interaction and reaction the photo causes.
I guess if you make your living as a photographer then one could call it the "money shot." I snapped the "Little Feet" photo last year on Instagram when I had about three followers during a trip to Topsail Beach, North Carolina. I was going up the stairs and saw my children's feet. I thought it was cute. When I shared it on Facebook, and later on my blog, other people liked it, too. Even those people who are on your friends list who never comment at all, came out of the just "stalking" mode and actually had some interaction. I had a "likeable" photo, and some even went so far as to comment.
"Frame it"
"Great shot!"
"Adorable"
"That's a keeper!"
My editor, Katja Presnal, owner of Skimbaco Lifestyle loved the photo so much that she included it in the Skimbaco "Living Life to the Fullest" video this year.
I have worked hard to try to get creative with kid shots. It's not easy. I am still learning. The best advice I ever received about Instagram also came from Katja (She's authored this book on Instagram). She encouraged me in late Spring to start my own personal account at LeighPHines, and keep my HinesSightBlog account more artistic, and to continue to let it be an extension of my travel and leisure blog posts.
Since I write about luxury family travel, I want my Instagram account to allow my followers to experience a destination when I am there. Showing you photos of my kids smiling at the camera is great for the people who have a true connection to me, and know me well in my personal life, but those photos don't tell you much about the destination. I now keep the majority of my family type shots over at the LeighPHines account, and on my personal Facebook page. That Instagram account looks more like this.
My kids are certainly part of my travels, and are still a big part of this blog so I don't cut my children out of my feed. Instead, I will slip in shots like this one.
This photo, taken this summer in North Myrtle Beach for Instagram, has probably been my most popular photo with children in it. Again, it brought out comments from people who usually never comment. It even caught the attention of North Myrtle Beach, and they tweeted it to their followers.
I do include some family shots in my blog Instagram account on occasion, and I think they are better received because they are more rare than the norm for what I try to do with my blog. This is fireworks night at the beach. My son acted as photographer, which he loves to do. It's a posed photograph, and people gave it a warm welcome in the blog Instagram feed, but it was the first photo they had seen of me in three weeks, and it was 42 shots later from the last time a photo of me appeared in their Instagram feed. Maybe they liked my daughter's sun-kissed cheeks and curly, wild hair. I'm not sure. My husband and I look like we needed a vacation after a vacation.
I am at Topsail Beach again this week for our last family beach vacation before school starts this month. I may have used all of my beach creativity on past Instagram shots. We'll see. Follow one or both of my accounts if you want more of the family-life photos, and see if I am up for the photo challenge.
If you are a blogger, please join us in the Instagram Travel Thursday link-up. Take a look at the link-up rules below before linking, and please link back to a host so others can find everyone's links.
Take a look at the official rules on Skimbaco Lifestyle, but here are some important things to remember when linking your post.
Instagram is forcing me to try to get more creative with my shots and angles. And on occasion, I may snap a photo that everyone loves. That doesn't happen too often, but when it does, I love the interaction and reaction the photo causes.
I guess if you make your living as a photographer then one could call it the "money shot." I snapped the "Little Feet" photo last year on Instagram when I had about three followers during a trip to Topsail Beach, North Carolina. I was going up the stairs and saw my children's feet. I thought it was cute. When I shared it on Facebook, and later on my blog, other people liked it, too. Even those people who are on your friends list who never comment at all, came out of the just "stalking" mode and actually had some interaction. I had a "likeable" photo, and some even went so far as to comment.
"Frame it"
"Great shot!"
"Adorable"
"That's a keeper!"
My editor, Katja Presnal, owner of Skimbaco Lifestyle loved the photo so much that she included it in the Skimbaco "Living Life to the Fullest" video this year.
I have worked hard to try to get creative with kid shots. It's not easy. I am still learning. The best advice I ever received about Instagram also came from Katja (She's authored this book on Instagram). She encouraged me in late Spring to start my own personal account at LeighPHines, and keep my HinesSightBlog account more artistic, and to continue to let it be an extension of my travel and leisure blog posts.
Since I write about luxury family travel, I want my Instagram account to allow my followers to experience a destination when I am there. Showing you photos of my kids smiling at the camera is great for the people who have a true connection to me, and know me well in my personal life, but those photos don't tell you much about the destination. I now keep the majority of my family type shots over at the LeighPHines account, and on my personal Facebook page. That Instagram account looks more like this.
My kids are certainly part of my travels, and are still a big part of this blog so I don't cut my children out of my feed. Instead, I will slip in shots like this one.
This photo, taken this summer in North Myrtle Beach for Instagram, has probably been my most popular photo with children in it. Again, it brought out comments from people who usually never comment. It even caught the attention of North Myrtle Beach, and they tweeted it to their followers.
I do include some family shots in my blog Instagram account on occasion, and I think they are better received because they are more rare than the norm for what I try to do with my blog. This is fireworks night at the beach. My son acted as photographer, which he loves to do. It's a posed photograph, and people gave it a warm welcome in the blog Instagram feed, but it was the first photo they had seen of me in three weeks, and it was 42 shots later from the last time a photo of me appeared in their Instagram feed. Maybe they liked my daughter's sun-kissed cheeks and curly, wild hair. I'm not sure. My husband and I look like we needed a vacation after a vacation.
I am at Topsail Beach again this week for our last family beach vacation before school starts this month. I may have used all of my beach creativity on past Instagram shots. We'll see. Follow one or both of my accounts if you want more of the family-life photos, and see if I am up for the photo challenge.
If you are a blogger, please join us in the Instagram Travel Thursday link-up. Take a look at the link-up rules below before linking, and please link back to a host so others can find everyone's links.
Take a look at the official rules on Skimbaco Lifestyle, but here are some important things to remember when linking your post.
Here are the Linky rules:
Link to a new Instagram travel post and use the permalink of your post, not the homepage URL.
Only new posts from the week of the linky and no giveaways, other linkys or sales pitches.
No links to your Instagram profile, only links to your blog.
Link back to one of the Instagram Travel Thursday hosts.
Visit a few other posts in the linky and show them some love (comment, tweet, Pin etc.).
Links that do not follow the guidelines will be removed.
Link to a new Instagram travel post and use the permalink of your post, not the homepage URL.
Only new posts from the week of the linky and no giveaways, other linkys or sales pitches.
No links to your Instagram profile, only links to your blog.
Link back to one of the Instagram Travel Thursday hosts.
Visit a few other posts in the linky and show them some love (comment, tweet, Pin etc.).
Links that do not follow the guidelines will be removed.
The Instagram Travel Thursday linky is posted on Thursdays at 1AM EST and the linky is open until the following Wednesday.
Be sure to follow me on one or more of my social media platforms. Twitter, Instagram ,Facebook, Pinterest, Google Plus or on Bloglovin, if you just want post updates. When traveling, I'm on Instagram the most. My personal family Instagram account is LeighPHines.
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