At INK361.com, we live and breathe Instagram. Often discovering great photography, niche communities, unique ideas and so much more. Some of these gems are found through delightful accidents, so in these upcoming posts, we will share with you some of what we love and know in hopes of encouraging more people to discover and explore to their hearts content.
Our first "Instagram 101″ post is about "Feature" accounts, so what are they exactly? Feature accounts are very simply a gallery dedicated to a specific topic, a community or promote great photography on Instagram. Most of the time, they are curated by passionate individuals that comb through hundreds of photos a day to find you the best of the best. The features are usually selected through submitting your own photos by tagging your post with the account's dedicated hashtag. Even if your photos don't get selected to be featured on the main account, by tagging your photos with those hashtags can still lead to new people discovering your photos and spark new friendships. These accounts foster an awesome sense of community.
However, these feature hashtags should only be used on relevant posts. When people tag photos that have nothing to do with the community, it makes the job for selecting features for the account managers much harder and breaks the integrity of the community you are trying to join.
Now that the basics are covered, here are some of our favourites:
1. @passionpassport - This account features some of the best travel photos from around the globe. They also regularly run photography competitions with prizes such as trips to unique destinations, photo prints and more. Photo by @petewilliams
2. @strideby_shooters - For those who love street photography with a grand sense of scale or strong facades, this feature account is for you! The feature humans "striding by" different locations with beautiful compositions. Photo by @ryanibee
3. @rescuepetsofinstagram - Just like the name explains, this account shows off all the adorable animals that were rescued by humans and became a part of their family. While there are many pet communities on Instagram, we especially love this one because it highlights an important issue and promotes a great cause! Photo by @omgdeedee
4. @monoart - How can we possibly talk about photography without highlighting a black and white feature account? Monoart has been around for a few years now and has continued to be one of our favourites. Photo by @billsmith2315
5. @my_365 - As you may have guessed from the account name, this account is about taking a photo a day for a whole year. This community encourages people to get creative with their daily hashtag topics. It's a fun way to flex your creativity muscles! Photo by @withtheclickofabutton
6. @silhouette_creative - An account fully dedicated to beautiful silhouette photography. This feature account not only selects some of the best photos, it is also run by one of the most friendly teams in the Gramosphere! Photo by @duncanrpowell
7. @the_daily_bite_ - We all secretly (and not-so-secretly) love looking at mouth-watering photos on Instagram, living vicariously through these lucky humans. The Daily Bite makes us hungry every single time they post. Photo by @cheatdayeats
8. @wdywt - This account is perfect for sneaker lovers, showing off what they wear with the trendiest kicks around. The account stands for "What did you wear today?". Photo by @lisatelford89
9. @thepeoplescreatives - A wonderful account featuring simply the creative photos shared by Instagram users. A feature on this feed is one of the most coveted amongst followers. Photo by @remybrand
10. @justgoshoot - The team at Just Go Shoot is dedicated to discovering underrated to those that are surely going to become rising stars. Photo by @avbrot
11. @ink361 - Bonus! We are also dedicated to showcasing interesting content from around the world and with the help from our much loved ambassadors around the globe, we select features from different continents and categories. Photo by @livingitrural
Post contributed by Mandy Cai, VP of Marketing for ink361.com. Connect with her on Instagram, Twitter or Linkedin.