I have a confession to make. I'm a little bit obsessed with Instagram. For real. If you follow me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, you'll notice that I usually post a ton of Instagram pictures every day. It is no secret that I love photography. I kind of drive my hubby crazy on a regular basis because I sometimes can't walk two steps without taking a picture of something. Even my daughter knows that as soon as I spot a snail, I will likely take a picture of it. (She even knows to prompt me to take the picture - HA!)

But if my core business is Maternity/Family/Children photography, then you might be wondering why I'm spending so much of my time with Instagram. And my answer to you is this: every artist - even the awesome ones - need to practice. We've all been told that practice makes perfect, and the same applies to photography. Instagram is actually a great way for me to become a better photographer for my core business, because it allows me to:

1. Think about framing. Instagram pictures are square, so when I take pictures with my iPhone, I need to think about how that picture will ultimately look after Instagram crops and filters the image. In the image below, I had to make sure that I got enough height on the original iPhone picture, to still get a good shot of the CN Tower.
   
2. Think about composition. With a DSLR, it's really easy to get bogged down by the fact that you can control EVERYTHING about your image. With the iPhone, however, it's all on auto-pilot. The only thing that I have control over is how I compose my image. So I must think of new and creative ways to make my otherwise-blah iPhone image look cool. In the picture below, I messed around with perspective and focus to get a funky effect.
3. Think and act fast. I take most of my Instagram images during my morning run, which I fit in before my daughter gets up for school. So I have a limited time in which to complete the run. So if I see something cool, I stop long enough to take a picture with which I am happy, so that I can be on my way and make it back in time for breakfast with my husband and daughter. The image below is a prime example. I had to act fast in order to get this great shot.

All of these things come in very handy when you're doing a session, especially when you have a) limited time, and b) children running around. And of course, practicing my craft makes me a better photographer for you!