For all you photographers whose workflows involve moving photos from Lightroom to Instagram, I have found a tip that might improve the quality of the final photos. For a while now, I have been frustrated that the photo I had worked on in Lightroom looked so different after I uploaded it to Instagram. In particular, lots of the fine detail was missing. So, after a bit of research, I’ve settled upon some basic Lightroom to Instagram Settings.
The tip is basically a step in the Export process. What you’ll want to do is create an Export preset that will:
Resize the long edge of the photo to be 1080 x 1080 pixels
Set the resolution to 72dpi
Limit the file size to 320K.
What seems to be happening is that Instagram resizes and recompresses larger photos, often losing a lot of detail in the process. But by exporting your photo at the size Instagram already “wants”, it won’t have to muck with much, if anything.
I hope this helps you!
All credit goes to Chris Romano who did the research and experimentation – Chris Romano Photography. Good stuff!
This is why I prefer to shoot in RAW. You can really do a lot with the RAW information in Lightroom! Sure, you can do a lot with JPEG too, but RAW just lets you do more, and rescue some photos that might be lost causes. I highly recommend shooting in RAW, then watching the hundreds of useful Lightroom tutorials on YouTube. I particularly like Serge Ramelli’s videos.
I recently bought a Patagonia MiniMass messenger bag. I have a couple of bags already, so why do I need a new one? I don’t need one, but it is nice to have a new one that fills a specific purpose.
Multiple Bags
The other day I listened to a relatively new photography podcast called “Your Itinerary” whose focus is travel photography. In that particular episode, the host interviews a VP of a camera bag manufacturer. During the conversation, the thought that no one camera bag is perfect for all situations kept coming up. I agree with this thought, and am happy that I can now feel less guilty about satisfying my love of messenger bags and backpacks.
The Current Lineup
Before I bought my new bag, I had two main bags. The first is my REI Messenger bag, with a padded insert for carrying camera gear. The second is a North Face Router backpack, also with a padded insert. Both are good for carrying my dSLR and lenses, the messenger bag being more nimble since I can get the camera out of the bag quickly. The Router holds a lot more and since it’s a backpack, the heavy load is distributed between both shoulders. If I get really tired, there is also a waist strap so I can use it as a pseudo backpacking pack.
The Missing Link
The problem with both of these is that thye are large. Lots of times I don’t want to carry them. I mistakenly thought that I could carry either of these wherever I went and have access to my beloved dSLR (actually SLT, for you purists). But now I realize that a smaller bag would be better for an “everyday carry” and since I have my Fujifilm XF1, I don’t need to carry the dSLR for general walkabout photos. The XF1 and RAW can produce some great photos.
The New Bag
I did some research online, watched video reviews, and then went to REI to check out the bags they had in person, specifically looking for a small messenger bag. The Patagonia MiniMass stood out as the best one, and REI had it on clearance! What great timing! Unfortunately, they didn’t have the color I wanted in stock, but I ordered it online and had it shipped to the store. After a week, I had the bag in my possession.
Patagonia MiniMass
So, how is the bag? In a word: Great! It’s small, but not too small, comfortable, the pockets and storage are for the most part well-thought out. I can fit everything I need into it, and in fact if I wanted to squeeze the dSLR and an extra lens in there, it could do it.
As you can see from the list, there’s a lot that I carry! But in reality, it does not weigh that much. It’s a nice little kit and I can even shoot RAW, edit on my Dell Venue 8 Pro tablet, and post to Instagram all while on the go. One useful feature of this bag is that the two cover-straps also double as compression straps, so you can expand or slim down the width of the bottom of the bag. I wish I had this on my larger messenger bag and backpack!
My Daily Carry
Of course with any bag, there are a couple of things that I’d change. Well, just one in fact! There is only a single outside pocket for a water bottle. This pocket is perfect for carrying the Fujifilm XF1 compact camera, but I wish there was another pocket on the other side so I could carry my 12oz. Liberty water bottle. Since that bottle has a handle, there may be some way to attach it.
All-in-all I love the Patagonia MiniMass messenger bag. It fits into my life perfectly!
Photo info: SONY SLT-A77V, 35mm, f/2.4, 1/350 sec, ISO100 My Bag Collection
I always try to name our home computers, not only because it’s easier to identify in the router software, but because I think it is kind of fun! In fact, Bay named his laptop/tablet as well! Anyways, here’s a listing of the names. Most are from mythology as you can see:
Photo info: SONY SLT-A77V, 35mm, f/2.8, 1/30 sec, ISO400
I was thinking about getting a Fujifilm Instax camera and was doing some research on it. I’ve always liked instant photos (having owned a couple Polaroids before) for the fun factor. I was chatting with a friend about his Fujifilm Instax camera when my friend asked, ” Do you ever use your Dell Wasabi printer?” I told him that I forgot I even had it! I bought it through some special promotion for only about $30 (normally $100+) but I put it on the shelf and it was sort of an out-of-sight, out-of-mind type of thing.
For those who don’t know about the Dell Wasabi ZINK printer (which would be just about everyone), let me quickly describe it. It’s portable, about 1 inch tall, 4 inches wide, and 6 inches in length. Power is supplied by a rechargeable battery, or the power adapter. The 2×3 inch sheets of “ZINK” (zero-ink) paper goes under the cover, and it can hold maybe a dozen sheets at a time. There is no ink in the traditional sense; the paper actually has ink crystals embedded inside, and it is heat-activated. When the photo is made, it is already “dry”. The Wasabi is no longer sold, but you can buy a Polaroid Pogo printer, which is pretty much the same thing.
Now that my memory had been jogged, I plugged in the printer (amazingly I had labeled the power cord so it was easy to find) and then set out to learn how to print from it. The printer has two ways to connect to a device: 1) By plugging a PICT bridge camera in via USB cable , or 2) via Bluetooth. The Bluetooth option was what I went with, and it was so easy! I just paired it with my Galaxy S3 and was ready to print! I even paired the printer with my Windows tablet and then its as simple as right-clicking a photo and choosing “send to Bluetooth device”, then choosing the printer from the list. Like magic, the printer starts blinking and in about half a minute, a 2×3 inch photo is created. Its pretty great.
The photos themselves aren’t the best quality, but I think they look about the same as a typical Polaroid or Instax photos. Unlike the instant film, there are not white borders on them, so you the only blank space to write anything on it is on the back. But, a cool thing about the Zink paper is that you can peel the back off and the photo is now a sticker. Its really neat! Realizing this, I immediately set upon covering my tablet case with stickers. Since there isn’t a while lot of room to put tons of stickers on, I decided to divide up the photo into six one-inch photos. I think it turned out pretty good! The printer actually crops a little off each edge, so I created a simple Photoshop template with guides so I know pretty much exactly where it will cut off the photo. In the second photo, you can see I sized the photos differently to get different proportions. My tablet cover is well on it’s way to being covered with stickers!
Photo info: SONY SLT-A77V, 35mm, f/1.8, 1/125 sec, ISO400
I think I am going to give up on then Instax and just print from the Wasabi printer. I ordered more paper for it, and the idea of creating custom stickers is a lot more interesting than just getting an instant photo from the camera. Plus, one Zink photo costs about 28 cents compared to an Instax photo which is around 75 cents. The only downside is that the rechargeable battery is dead so I have to use the power adapter. I could get another battery for about $12 but do I really need it? I suppose for printing on-the-go it would be good (sort of like the mobility of the Instax). But I’m not so sure I would use it like that.
The Instax still holds some allure for me. Being able to write on the photos and having a completely self-contained unit is attractive. Plus the camera looks so cool. We’ll just wait and see if I still want one in a few months’ time.
