The process for picking the right photo to post on Instagram can be tedious, time consuming and above all, stressful. In the past, you could only post one photo to define your whole day or night; for photographers, it would take, like, a week to post a 10-shot series without overloading your follower’s feeds. Some have even gone as far as to place images on a vertical template, using the app’s “Story” feature to present a series.
But with Instagram’s latest update, you can now include up to 10 photos and videos in one post. This is surely a game-changer for photographers.
Operating the feature is simple: just upload content as your normally would and select “choose multiple” on the upload screen. You are then able to choose up to 10 photos or videos from your camera roll, similarly to the process of sending multiple photos in one text message, which can be edited/reordered before the post is published. On the viewing side, just swipe through the post to begin siphoning through content. It is also important to note that one caption and location tag is used for each post—not separate ones for each photo or video.
For photographers using Instagram to showcase and promote their work, this changes everything. Not only can you feature a much wider range of your portfolio, but you have the ability to post a consecutive series, rather than spreading it our through multiple posts. Plus, that this is an excellent opportunity to stand out creatively among the highly saturated platform; oh, and if you want to fully utilize the feature, this also means you’ll be required to shoot more, too.
This “surprise” update, as Instagram calls it, is extremely refreshing compared to other recent new features such as, “Story,” which got a ton of flack for copying Snapchat, or “Live,” which is available on nearly every other popular social platform today. Clearly, Instagram has evolved since it launched as a simplistic photo sharing app six years ago, and this move reinforces its dedication—or struggle?—to stay relevant in a time where social platforms are appearing and dying regularly.
As an app, it’s important to give your users what they want, and it seems that Instagram has opted for everything. But is that always a good thing? Let us know what you think in the comments.
