How to… Stand out from the crowd
I’ve been active as a professional photographer for some time, specializing in travel and the cold, but I’ve been a ‘camera owner’ since the age of 14. Now these camera owners are providing dedicated photographers like us with some competition in the modern arena, thanks to the affordability of really great gear and the accessibility of some seriously photogenic locations.
Combined with the rise of the social media influencer, we often find ourselves struggling to stand out from the crowd.
Instagram is one of the most common platforms for sharing photos, but the way its algorithm works makes it more and more difficult to keep up and generate engagement. Instagram, owned by Meta, generates revenue by showing ads. Our posts serve only one purpose to Meta – to keep people using the platform so they can be exposed to more ads.
For this reason, the algorithm quickly identifies the posts that people are engaging with or spending more time looking at. If our posts generate more engagement, we grow. It satisfies us that people ‘like’ our work, but it also gives us an opportunity to convert the likes into revenue through new clients; and it satisfies Meta because we’re helping it to keep people on the platform.
Dave Williams
Dave Williams is an author, photographer and speaker, specializing in travel. With experience across the photography industry, he captures the world from his perspective with a view to sharing all the tools and techniques he can.
The influencers on Instagram and other platforms who show destinations are having such a profound effect on tourism that people are flocking to the places they show so they can see it for themselves – and so that they can post their own photo of that place.
It’s something I’ve dubbed ‘the Eiffel Tower Effect’. The Eiffel Tower is arguably the most photographed monument on the planet, and that means it’s becoming more difficult to take a unique photo of it. To accomplish the task of creating a photo that stands out, we need to think differently
