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Instacanvas - the marketplace for Instagram prints

The stream of Instagram periphery apps continues unabated.

Say hello to Instacanvas.

Instacanvas is a marketplace for instagrammers to buy and sell their instagram images.

The site has recently come out of beta and has already over 30,000 galleries open. The Instagram sale to Facebook has put rocket fuel into its user acquisition activity with demand exceeding server space.

It took a while to get my gallery opened - I had to take this photo to plead for it to be opened - but it was worth the wait. I can now see all my images in glorious detail and secretly hope someone out there might want to buy one...one day...

Prints start at $39.95 for a 12" x 12' frames and up to $79 for 20" x 20" canvases. Instacanvas make 20% of the sale of each item sold.

I'll post back if I sell one!

Facebook Camera App Review: an Instagram for the masses?

Have Facebook gone mad?

Only a month after they bought Instagram and days after their chaotic IPO they have launched their own camera app. Producing some disbelief and puzzled commentators along the way.

So have they gone mad?

Not quite. This is part post IPO pipeline strategy and part of the beginning of their ongoing improvement to their mobile strategy. Recognising that photos really are the currency of the social web the camera app goes some way to delivering on their promise of a better mobile user experience.

Aesthetically the app has a lovely minimalistic feel to it. The app designers have really thought through some nifty usability areas like quick easy access to photos on your camera roll and browsing through a photo only friend feed. It feels and smells like Facebook, but is a much slicker experience than their core app. 

Functionally, it is ok, but clearly targetted to a less demanding mobile photography user. Uploading functions are good, including a feature for large multiple image uploads.

The ability to see photos within your stream from other photo apps, like Camera+, Foodspotting is a good development. Facebook clearly want to celebrate everything image based with this app.  

However, there are some significant and serious downsides.

The filter options are very poor. Almost all are just white balance variations with really uninspired names like 'chocolate'. And there are very limited creative options to edit images, which is disappointing given how long this app has been in development.

This is definitely not an Instagram killer or a replacement app, but it is a dramatic improvement on their nascent mobile strategy.

The launch is definitely in keeping with their done is better than perfect mantra. And its clear that the Instagram team had nothing to do with its final development.

This app will certainly accelerate the growth of social mobile photography everywhere. By reaching out to a large non instagrammer audience base, Facebook are signalling that social mobile photography is the main competitive theatre of operations on the social web.

Final Verdict: Getting better, but certainly not great. Nice usability and some slick design in areas. But strangely the sharing options are limited and creative editing options are very basic. Expect to see some quick improvements to this release very soon. And where is the integration with Instagram?

G+ Photographers Conference: building your brand on Google+ by Guy Kawasaki

 

At the Google+ Photographers Conference today Guy Kawasaki gives tips on how you can build your brand on Google+.

The Google+ Photographers Conference has 15 of the biggest photographers, instructors, and social media magnates on Google+ host two jam-packed days of photo walks, live shoots, portfolio reviews, panel discussions and teaching workshops. All designed to help photographers refine their photography skills, grow their on-line brand, and get the most out of Google+.

Check out the Google+ Photographers Conference app for the latest on the conference.

Review of Statigram - Your Instagram metrics dashboard

What geek wouldn't like to know how well their instagram account is performing?

Say hello to Statigram.

Statigram is a web service that provides detailed metrics for your Instagram account. It reports on your most liked and followed photos, your most used and favourite filters, tagged images and who your most engaged fans are. It even reports on what days and times you prefer to share images.

One nice touch is seeing your very first instagram shot. You can go back in time and see every shot you ever published which was an unexpected delight.

Data is refreshed every time you log in using your instagram user name. The graphical dashboard is split with a monthly overview where you can scroll to different months to view activity.

You can also email a summary of your stats to friends, but is not nearly as good as the dashboard user experience. There is no mobile site yet, but I expect that is in the pipeline very soon.

Final Verdict: It's very rich in detail and has a decent UI. Statigram is free and would be very useful for any poweruser who needs to understand how their account is performing. Potential to be the leading analytics provider for Instagram perhaps?

My quick guide to photography on the social web

I admit it. I am a photography nerd.

I fell in love with photography in 2001 when I got my first digital camera. A few years later I started photo-blogging and then joined Flickr when it first launched.

Since then I have been amazed by how photography has grown online and is now a hobbyists dream world. But its hard to keep up with what's going on.

So here is my quick guide to photography on the social web.

By no means an expert comprehensive survey, but a personal glimpse into the pockets of photographic nerdom on the web.

Enjoy.

 

Photoblogs

A photoblog is a place where a photoblogger posts an image everyday(ish) on any topic from their life. There is rarely any other commentary or text other than just a personal image posted. It all started with L Brandon Stone who spawned photoblogs.org in the 2002 and helped inspire people likeChromasia to leave their job and become a full time photographer. Some photoblogs are the homes of amateurs and others are the sideline of pros who have got hooked on publishing their daily trivial fix. Here are a few photoblogs I like: 

Little Time Machine - est in 2004 its one of the original photoblogs.  

The Sartorialist - the original style street photographer. Consistent and high quality.

Chromasia - this guy took photo-blogging to a whole another level. An inspiration to many.

Smudo - one of my favourite photobloggers, always a treat to visit. 

Observations - one of the first photobloggers and one of the best.  

Mute - consistently good work published. An example of how photoblogging has no grand aims.

Jimbus - beautiful observations on the ephemera of life.

Tutorial: adding grunge to images

 

Great short tutorial by LofiMode on how to add grunge to your images.

Gallery Review #1: Fish Bar in Dalston

I found a lovely little photograhy gallery in Dalston today.

Fish Bar is an ex fish and chips shop renovated into a photographty space by Philipp Ebeling and Olivia Arthur. 

They are currently showing two exhibitions. 'Jeddah Diary' by Olivia Arthur, her personal tour of Saudi Arabia. And 'Unknown Quantitites', an exhibition by Peter Van Agtmael, Olivia Arthur, Dominic Nahr and Moises Saman covering Saudia Arabia and the Arab Spring.

It's a great space. Go visit!

_{(Photo credit: Fish Bar)}