by George Heymann |@techeadlines
http://technology-headlines.com
This story was featured in the Business section of the Pueblo Chieftain
Instagram is a free, easy to use photo-sharing service.
Using Instagram, photos snapped with cameras, smartphones, tablets or other devices can be quickly edited and posted to Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare or Tumblr.
(A Flickr version is expected soon.) What has garnered Instagram so much attention is that its creators have found a way to let users take advantage of photo filters and borders, keeping the program simple and functional.
The first step is to download and install the app, which is available as free downloads from the Apple App Store @ http://itunes.com/apps/ instagram/ or the Google Play market @ http://goo.gl/ZDZfk. The Instagram application is compatible with the iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch running iOS 3.1.2 or above or any Android device running Android 2.2 or above.
Once the app is installed, sharing a photo on Instagram is just as easy.
Snap the photo and crop it with the provided tools by dragging the on-screen borders. You can then choose a filter and or border from the many presented in the onscreen menu.You don’t have to be familiar with what these filters do ahead of time. You can tap the effects button and see a real-time preview of the screen effect.
Again, there is nothing you need to remember as all of the sharing options are menu driven.
At the bottom of the screen are five large navigation buttons.
- The home button, which brings you back to the opening screen from anywhere within the application.
- The star button, which takes you to the Instagram popular page with the most popular daily photos as voted by the Instagram-user community.
- The camera button, which lets you take new photos or select a previously taken photo from your phone’s photo gallery.
- The news button, which shows your latest activity as well as the activity of those you follow.
- The status button, which shows your profile page, shows the number of photos you’ve taken with Instagram, your followers and the people you are following. It also lets you choose between a grid or list view of the Instagram photos you have taken.
Even if you’re not a shutterbug and are not interested in sharing photos online, you might enjoy looking through the many photos posted daily.
Many are surprisingly good, well-composed with interesting subject matter.
In essence, that for me is what makes Instagram fun, I don’t share a lot of photos online, but I enjoy looking at what others find interesting and worth sharing.
