Bad Photo Tip: Use Presets to Make Your Photos Less Unique
Fact: people like the same thing and similar variations of it over and over again. They can’t get enough of it. It’s why so many fast food options have similar menus. It’s a great reason why every Bollywood movie follows iterations of the same plot. But it’s also crept into other parts of life. With the way app algorithms work, it’s also made us like so many similar images. They’ve got similar looks and content. And so, you should genuinely just give up hope on being creative. Instead, deliver just what the clients want: which is more of the same. That’s why presets are great!
Bad Photo Tips is a satirical series that provides the best photography tips on the web. You won’t find these tips anywhere else on the internet, not even YouTube.
And, of course, we’re not talking about using the Instagram presets. Those are gone and done with. Instead, use other ones from companies like these. Some are said to look like actual film. But the truth is that they don’t; everyone thinks they look like actual film even though they haven’t seen what real film looks like. If you want to get more likes, you’ve got to feed into the misinformation. Apply that preset, and say somewhere in the post that it’s real film.
Then there are all those cool, crazy colors. Orange and teal is a big one. Why not just apply that profile preset to all your photos? It’s bound to get you more likes (and then more clients). In fact, when you shoot, just build that profile into your camera and don’t even edit. There’s no point, especially if they’re not paying well.
The key here is to adapt them to how you shoot and to shoot for the edit. Try underexposing the photo because you know that you can get a better edit later on. Then take a preset you like, edit it the way you want it, and save it as a custom profile. Maybe push the exposure a complete stop while nerfing the highlights and crushing the blacks. It’s a popular thing that YouTubers do. And it’s even better because from the way they edit, you can never tell which cameras or lenses they’re using. Indeed, it’s something unique to them and it satisfies the algorithm. That’s all art is these days.
If you really want to step it up, export your images as NFTs. Here’s a truth; no one understands the market. It makes no sense. Why not try to sell something that doesn’t make sense on a market that makes even less sense? Truly, because you’re manipulating the preset to the way you shoot, you’re creating something unique. No one else can make it until you’re ready to sell your own presets. But since they all look the same, you need to make yours stand out even more. So here are some more ideas:
- Lower the clarity all the way. It will eventually become a vibe once another creator copies you and your ideas.
- Add streaks
- Add all the colors and fake image noise that we saw in early digital cameras. Folks are all about that look now.
- Better yet, just go buy a vintage digital camera with a CCD and get the profiles for those cameras.
Bad Photo Tips is a satirical series that provides the best photography tips on the web. You won’t find these tips anywhere else on the internet, not even YouTube.