Instagram Photoshop Actions

I-Phoneography has exploded with Instagram. It’s one of those phenomena that is both cool and scary at the same time. It’s cool because you can take a quasi-good photo with a handheld device that fits in your pocket, and then use an app to make that quasi-good photo look amazing. All with the touch of a button. So simple, even a monkey could do it. It’s really cool to browse the Instagram photos and see all the neat and beautiful photos people and monkeys are creating with this new tool.

What’s scary about it, is that as a photographer, I sometimes wonder what use will people have for me if they can make these awesome photos themselves? I’m sure this same question was asked with the advent of digital cameras in place of film cameras, which I, being of a digital generation, have grown up with. So, I am also going to embrace the iPhone and its easy apps, mainly because I enjoy the resulting images, but also because there is no sense in resisting the inevitable. And even though most photographers no longer use film as part of their core professional gear, there are a lot of photographers that still use film on a regular basis, because there really is something about film that you just can’t create with a digital camera. And I’m one of them.

So, I believe that photographers are safe, and that there is a certain amount of strength in the acceptance of and curiosity about i-Phoneography. Plus it really doesn’t matter how much I or any other photographer resist it. It’s here to stay. And something cooler and better is most certainly soon to follow. That’s just how the human race and technology work.

My hours and hours spent bent over a computer in Photoshop will not be in vain! In fact, I recently discovered some great Photoshop actions, created by Daniel Box, that you can use to make ANY photo Instagram-my. These Instagram Actions will transform your crappy photos into works of art, just like the iPhone!! See below for example of crappy photo turned cool. I used a webcam on my computer to snap this silly photo. My favorite action is Nashville. What’s yours?