#100 happy days

I’ve been gradually building out my community on Instagram, trying to connect with people who are doing good work, and to post better photos myself.   The site requires different aspect ratios than my camera frame and limited photo editing, so it’s tricky to load raw pictures.  But if I load my A5100’s raw files to my PC, fiddle a little in Photo Gallery, then upload with InstaPic, my gallery really improves (like this shot along the M3 over the weekend).

I’ve been using Instagram’s Search People function to find new photographers to follow.  Much like Match.com’s Pick Six, I’m given samples from a couple of dozen candidates that I can Follow or Hide.  Selection seems based on what I already Follow or Favorite: if I add a food site, I’ll get days of foodie lover’s albums to sort through.

There is a lot of chaff, people that basically post selfies or glamor poses, monoculture series of cars or pets, celebrity sites, and overprocessed candy-colored scenes and still-lifes.

  

 

But I’ve got a good selection now that gives a manageable number of pictures with a high ratio of interesting things. It gives me lots of ideas for my own composition as well as a smile when I thumb through the new shots (gallery of recent Favorite’s, right)

 

I’ve registered for the 100 Happy Days challenge, and began yesterday.  The trick will be to keep variety along with happiness, as well as to make time each day.  At the end of the exercise, late summer after travel and sailing, I’m looking forward to having a mosaic of 100 greatest hits to use as a screensaver or wall poster.