Do you feel pressured to post perfect photos on Instagram?
Yesterday I made an instagram post ( photo below) that was quite unplanned, a shot that usually would end up with the Oslo filter on my insta stories, instead found itself on my feed. There is nothing extraordinary about it, other than for me it is an irregularity. Unlike my usual content ,this one is neither styled, neither if fact edited. It is however shot with my DSLR camera which produces very beautiful photos under correct light and adjusted settings, and everything in the photo is arguably quite photogenic on its own. Let me put aside any questions of if this unstaged moment was staged, it wasn’t. Through everyday actions it turned out as you see it , I was taking photos and testing settings when I turned the camera to the table and took a series of this shot, mostly to put on my instagram stories. Of course I framed it , one of them was too bright, turned down ISO, another was blurry, but this one was ok. I am not sure what made me decide to put it instead on my feed, it looks ok but by no means is it perfect, it is also unedited. I have felt lately however my inspiration draining, I wrote some time ago that one of the hardest things is to be creative on demand for continuous periods of time. For a long time I have tried to be more kind to myself and post things I don’t necessarily think are perfect, after all I love when others share candid moments! I am sure I am not the only one feeling this pressure, even though I love unstaged moments, I find it hard not to “correct” something when I shoot even my everyday moments. Lets call things by their name, for example, all the “flatlays” you see on so many instagram accounts of course they are all staged, some look more natural, some look hilariously bad, either way, all of them are not what you would call, real life. And of course we want to put forward our best days, our best selves, of course we want to put forward what we know people will like ,comment on. The pressure is not hurting me, but it is affecting my creativity. I am not sure how I am going to tackle this but, for now, I can promise you that 1: I will be posting more of candid moments not just on stories but on my feed as well, and 2 : I will be posting more photos of what I love or find beautiful , even when I know most people will not like or won’t comment on ( like the all dark one above). Hopefully this will make for a better experience for me when it comes to my posting, but also it will mean that I will get back to healthier levels of creativeness. Food for thought.
// Photography and Styling by Katerina Dima
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hey this is amazing! such moments captured are equally beautiful, because such is life! imperfection is so interesting and captivating in its own special way. and too I find this inspiring because in some respects this is more achievable and realistic for followers to interpret and be inspired to make their own home if you know what I mean. creativity has to flow and I'm glad you're going to explore some interesting ideas like this, love it! and as long as your doing what you love and what inspires you then we have reason to be happy, and your content is always beautiful! – Dan E.
Hey Dan!Thank you for the support, I really appreciate it! I think that if people that follow me now are only interested in things that dont make me feel comfortable then with new content more like minded people will come along to join the community so I I know this is the right way to go! Feels good to have it reinforced though, thank you again!Katerina
Hear, hear! This is so true what your wrote about. Your picture is very good, no need to feel bad about it 🙂
Hello Sirpa,Thank you! I always feel I need to put the most perfect photo forward, but I need to take it slower and allow myself to show some emotion, and hopefully this will connect me more with everyone, so yes, lets do this! 🙂 Katerina
A really thought-provoking post Katerina, and I'm sure your dilemma is one that so many of us creatives will be familiar with – I definitely am!
So many times I would post twice a day even because I have so many photos that I believe don't make the cut, either because they are not good enough, or I know people won't interact so much with them. Same with the blog, and I really should be kinder to myself, we all should. We cant provide with our 100 best work every single day, we are human after all! So lets not be as hard to ourselves, and creativity will follow along! 🙂 Big hugs Abi!
Love hearing about your real thoughts and seeing real moments even if they’re not picture perfect. Perfect has been my enemy in so many projects, and it’s really a tragedy when I think about it.I have been reading your blog for years and if you can’t share your feelings with your readers than we’re not doing a good job being your community! ☺️Looking forward to seeing more and witnessing the ongoing change.
Hey Christine,I always find that what is driving me most is becoming better through my mistakes, and while that works great being able to see your faults and correcting them, it also means for me that when I see them I cannot unsee them and then I dont want to post some of my projects. I m so hard on myself and what I really need to learn is to just share even when I see whats wrong with something! It will take some time but I think I m on a good path now!Thank you for your encouraging words! xxKaterina
That dark picture (above) is one of my favorites, that I’ve ever seen of yours. And I agree. I’m posting whatever is more real life. Good for you.
It is becoming one of my favorites as well! Its edited of course, but its so dark , most of the people that follow me really dont like it haha
I think that the whole interior branch needs to clean up and redefine creativity. I must admit that I like “clean” interiors but I’m also tired of all that styling.. let’s be ourselves ‘cause we are perfect as we are!