Why do People Like Certain Images?

D-B-J

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I've found that, on Instagram, I often get shares on images that are nowhere near my strongest. I've also found that Instagram is a great place to see what the public likes, and it allows me to tailor my work to them (because of course I want to appeal to the masses on Instagram).

Case in point--I shot this photo recently, and it's been shared four times, for a total of 2325 likes. But why? In comparison to my stronger images, I'd rate this a 6 or 7.


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Just an interesting commentary on what people like and why.

Why do YOU like art? What helps you decide the winners from the non winners?


Jake



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Something I haven't seen much of before captures my eye.
Nice colors which appeal to ME.
Something happening within the frame.

That's what gets me to hit the like button!
 
I've found that, on Instagram, I often get shares on images that are nowhere near my strongest.

Why do YOU like art? What helps you decide the winners from the non winners?
Maybe the folks on Instagram are not well educated about photography.

If a photograph makes my heart sing, then I like it.
 
I dunno, why do people like dogs playing poker? on black velvet? lol Why does something go viral then you never see or hear of it again? Plenty of fads and trends can be popular but come and go relatively fast. So, they liked your picture when it crossed their path for a few seconds - is that all that meaningful? I suppose if it's something different or unique it might be more likely to catch someone's attention.

I appreciate when friends tell me they like my pictures. I value the opinion of someone with some expertise. Somewhere along the way you've got to figure out yourself if your work is good, at some point I just knew.

When I get something accepted into a juried exhibit that confirms to me that my work is good and I'm on the right track. Instagram's Terms were a deal breaker for me anyway; they need lots of photos and site users, I don't need them. But I don't know how valuable any feedback there would be.
 
Sometimes it has nothing to do with the photo at all. But it was shared by someone who has a lot of contacts/friends and thus got WAY more exposure than the rest (esp since most people are lazy; they won't go through a whole profile - they'll view the one linked photo - go like and move on). Or it got shared on that website by someone or in a blog that - again - ends up generating a lot more link-backs
 
A good photo creates an emotional response in the viewer. Now how to get that is the $64,000 question. However, I don't think you should do surveys as to what people like. Take poictures that you like and others will like them too, maybe just not everyone. But that's OK. Trying to copy someone else's emotions seems to me to be very unenjoyable long term. You got to do what you like otherwise photography won't be satisfying.
 
Lots of good responses [emoji3]


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Hmm, what the general public likes, let's see: bright colors, high contrast, cute girls, babies, kittens, people doing funny things, pretty flowers. I'm sure I missed some.
 
Context also plays a part

A person who has an emotional attachment to the subject will often be more lenient in the quality of photo that they "adore" and like. Similarly if its something they hate they can have an increased adverse reaction.


Similarly put sometimes major events, famous people, rare sightings -all these things can make a photo more appreciated in ignorance of its artistic or creative aspects.


Photography is many parts and whilst often we tend to focus on the artistic angle we can't ignore the fact that for the greater part its just one segment of what we can weigh our photography against.
 
I don't know but you pose an interesting question. I think if you are going to pursuit a career in photography it's worth finding out. Like my music teacher told me if I want to make a living in music I must spend at least the same amount of effort studying my audience than studying my music.
 
keep in mind that probably 90% of the Instagram community doesn't know jack about photography other than their iPhones (not that that's necessarily a bad thing). Often times I put up a photo that was a triumph in processing and technique (doesn't mean the best photo ever, but had a high degree of difficulty) and it'll do really poorly- but I can put up literally my worst Milky Way photo and get a few hundred likes.

I tend to center my hashtags around the subject matter, rather than mostly tagging accounts that regularly feature people. That way the photo has a greater chance of connecting with people who come across it (other than people who already follow me).

I've also been focusing a lot lately on processing and shooting in ways that really guide the viewer to parts of the image that I want them to focus on, and it seems like my photos have been doing really well lately. I think even if some of my viewers don't understand why they are drawn to the photo, they still like it. A lot of the technical stuff we put into the images are lost on the viewer, which I don't feel is entirely a bad thing
 
It also depends on the platform. The general IG community has different tastes than 500px, which has different tastes than Flickr, which has different tastes than 1x, etc....

It's not a science or anything (at least I don't think it is), but certain types of images flourish more on certain platforms, and that basically reinforces the drive to create work like that.

The general rule of thumb, I've found, is that the simpler the image, both visually and conceptually, the better it will do unless you already have a following.

Bright colors, recognizable subject matter, if the photo isn't particularly strong add a little anecdotes that ties your personal experience to the photo.

It also helps if you're sexy or know enough sexy people to have a variety of sexy sexy PG-13 pics on your IG.
 
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