To find a photographer on Instagram should be as easy as shooting fish in a barrel. After all, Instagram is by far the world’s biggest pool of photography talent.
And that’s part of the problem.
There are so many photographers on Instagram that it can be difficult to separate professional photographers from the mass of people publishing photographs on the platform.
Throw in the challenge of finding a skilled photographer in a specific location, who also specializes in the type of photography you are looking for, and things get even trickier.
Instagram search isn’t designed to market photographers, so there are no custom filters in the app that allow you to quickly and easily filter and browse photography professionals in your area.
So, here are some hacks for learning how to find a photographer on Instagram.
[Spoiler alert: The easiest tool to find Instagram photographers is Cherrydeck. Skip ahead to find out more about Cherrydeck or read on to discover other ways to find Instagram photographers.]
Keyword searches
If you feel like browsing through an almost infinite list of Instagram profiles of varying degrees of relevance to your search for a photographer you can use a broad keyword search.
To perform a keyword search tap the search icon on the Instagram app, then tap the search form that appears at the bottom of the screen. Now you can enter a keyword in the search bar.
Broad keywords like ‘photographer’ will pull up the broadest matches. However, you probably want to know how to find local photographers on Instagram.
So, if you want to get more specific and find a photographer in your actual location, you’ll need to include a location keyword in your search, such as ‘photographer London’.
This will present you with a list of anyone who has called themselves a photographer, amateur or not, located in London.
Using search terms like ‘photographer in London’ is more helpful, as this will filter out amateur photographers by triggering Instagram’s location search results.
To perform a location keyword search, tap the Instagram search icon, then enter ‘photographer in’, followed by the desired location, in the search bar.
This will provide a list of location pins for professional photographers in the area you are searching for.
Tap a pin and you’ll get a map, a button linking to their ‘About’ page and some sample images.
Tap on the button and you’ll get to a page with their contact details, and a link to their Instagram profile, if they have one.
Place searches
The ‘Places’ search function on the Instagram app works the same way as a location keyword search, except that it uses your physical location to find photographers in your area.
Make sure location tracking on the app is turned on, tap the empty search bar and then the ‘Places’ option that appears in the search menu beneath the search bar.
Now run a search for ‘photographer’ and it will pull up a list of ‘local’ photography businesses.
‘Local’ is in inverted commas because, although you’ll get some photographers from your city listed in the results, in other cases ‘local’ can mean that both you and the listed photographer are simply inhabitants of the same planet.
Once Instagram pulls up the list of photographers in your area the drill is the same as for location keyword searches.
Tap a result to view a map and location pin, sample images and a button link to their ‘About’ page. Visit that and you can get their contact details and a link to their Instagram profile, if they have one.
Tag searches
Hashtags provide one of the most effective ways of finding photographers on Instagram.
To run a hashtag search, tap on the search icon and then on the empty search bar. This will bring up the search menu.
Tap ‘Tags’ and enter some words relevant to your search like ‘wedding’ ‘photographer’ and ‘London’.
Instagram will then list relevant hashtags, including the approximate number of posts available for each hashtag.
Tap on one of those and you’ll get a gallery of photographs that have been tagged with that hashtag.
Find a photograph you like, and you should be able to tell from the account name above the photograph whether the account belongs to a professional or amateur photographer.
If the account name does not seem to belong to a professional photographer, don’t give up just yet.
Check the text beneath the image and you may find that the photographer has been credited there, with a link to their Instagram profile.
Cherrydeck
As you can see, it can be difficult to find a photographer on Instagram. Although the search functions do allow you to find photographers, the process is hit-and-miss, and the massive volume of results can be overwhelming.
Certainly, Instagram is not well equipped to quickly provide the type of information you may be looking for. This can include photographer experience levels and areas of specialization.
That’s where Cherrydeck comes into the picture.
With Cherrydeck you can follow a simple two-step process to find a professional photographer that meets your specific requirements.
Step 1: On the Cherrydeck home page you can select the search option on the top left corner of the screen.
Afterwards, you will be able to enter the location of the photographer you are looking, by typing it onto the search bar.
Step 2: You are able to refine your search further. Through adjusting the features that are relevant to you, you can narrow down potential photographers to work with.
Filters include:
- Photography category
- Number of followers (minimum and maximum)
- Level of expertise
- Studio availability
- Availability of post-production services
- Availability of videography services.
Once you’ve selected your filters, hit ‘Show results’ and you’ll get a list of photographers that meet your criteria, along with some sample images.
Press the ‘Profile’ button and you can access the photographer’s full profile, which includes links to their Instagram profile, a bio, contact options, and sample photos and albums.
If you like what you see on a photographer’s profile, but want to check out some other profiles, you can hit the ‘Save’ button on their profile and run another search.
You’ll then be able to find them, along with any other photographers you have saved, under the ‘Saved profiles’ link in the Cherrydeck menu.
It’s that simple.
Let’s sum it up!
There are four different ways to find photographers on Instagram:
Search for Instagram photographers now or take a first look at how you can create custom visual content remotely with Branded Stock™.
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