If you have paid any attention to social media lately, you’ll notice that many posts in Instagram are part of a loop. A group of artists or like minded people join together to create a circle of posts. One artist linking to the next with the last linking back to the first so you complete a circle. Many do it to beat the algorithms set up by the social media giants to get their posts in front of more people. It works. Well, it works until they change the algorithms.
I do it for fun and community. I’m met so many fun, talented photographers whose work and styles I admire and some whose styles I grow to admire the more I’m exposed to their work. The theme for one of my loops this month is “before and after.'“ So the photographer will post the original image with no edits and then final image! I love trying to figure out what they did to it. Sometimes it’s simple a crop, an exposure adjustment but sometimes they’ve added magic. I love it when someone takes an image, I probably would have passed over, and makes magic happen.
Most of my macro work is created with a Lensbaby. I use many of their lenses. Since there is already an artist element involved most of my edits are fairly simple. A slight crop, maybe some brightening in areas, a matte finish. I never feel these images need much. They are, more often than not, beautiful straight outta the camera!
This image was created with a Lensbaby Velvet 56 and an extension tube.
The SOOC (straight out of camera)
The edit. You decide. Did it make a difference?