For reasons I can neither fully comprehend nor explain in any coherent way, I decided a couple of weeks ago to dive into Instagram. Having had a Tumblr account since the dawn of Vinyl Connection I largely ignored the world’s largest image sharing social app, a choice that says much about my ability to pick the second-place getter in a two-horse race.
Anyway, vinylconnection_aus is now alive and kicking on Insta, and very addictive it is too. A steep learning curve is inevitable for a ten-thumbs technophobe like the writer, but I’m persisting. For now.
Having a consistent ‘style’ for your record photographs seems to offer some advantages when it comes to enhancing brand recognition. (What language am I actually talking, here?) I’ve been experimenting with a few ‘preferred’ arrangements and would value the responses of Vinyl Connection’s core community, here at the blog.
The categories are these:
Amp
Chair
Turntable
Hand
GENESIS “Duke” [1980]
HOODOO GURUS “(Stoneage Romeos)” [1984]
STEELY DAN “Two Against Nature” [2000]
KEITH JARRETT “Facing You” [1972]
*
Which do you prefer? Do some work better than others? Any Insta-secrets to share?
While you are pondering, let’s run through those options one more time:
STEVE HOWE “The Steve Howe Album” [1979]
SHAKTI with JOHN McLAUGHLIN [1976]
JEFF BECK GROUP “Rough And Ready” [1971]
PINK FLOYD “Works” [1983]
vinylconnection.com.au 
Amp then shelf IMO.
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Cheers Graham. Are you on IG?
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I am not on the ‘gram, I don’t have any cool LPs to showcase, just a bunch of CDs and a subscription to Spotify.
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Probably very sensible in every respect. You’ve probably seen that meme, “Get your kids hooked on vinyl and they’ll never have money for drugs”.
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LOL. I feel like a not very good supporter of the music industry sometimes – I’m just too fiscally sensible… First second hand CDs, now Spotify.
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I suspect they’ll survive, G. Some of us seem compelled to throw money at them for often very shaky reasons. 😉
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Bruce! I’m SO FAR BEHIND on your posts, and promise to catch up. But I have to weigh in pronto here. First, I’ll soon be following you on Insta. Good for you for taking the plunge; I hope it garners you many new followers, whether solely on Insta or at Vinyl Connection as well.
As for the album presentations, all four have something to commend, but I think my favorite is the turntable; *importantly*, a shot in which the tone arm is clearly visible (more Two Against Nature than Rough and Ready). I also like the hand views, particularly the Works shot…the way you’re extracting it from your larger collection.
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So nice to hear your “voice”, JDB. I really was hoping you would bring your highly developed visual sense to this post!
You like seeing the tone arm. Got it. And the arm that has a hand at the end. Ta muchly.
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🙂
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Turntable for me; plane table too busy.
Handheld, taken from the rack works for me almost as well. The amp is somehow a distraction from the main game.
Insta?
Maybe it’s too soon for the Laggards to jump in.
Cheers
DD
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It’s a rabbit hole, DD. I only come out to scour for carrots.
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I’m not really au fait with Instagram but I regularly post albums on FB and Twitter using a nice “Now Playing” plinth I got from Etsy. See if this link works… https://scontent-lhr8-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/237433884_10217288313913778_7856650338958291637_n.jpg?_nc_cat=107&ccb=1-5&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=YP2k-GPt5OAAX8KLKuF&_nc_ht=scontent-lhr8-1.xx&oh=69e69f16c41bc058c844dd3670d8a3ed&oe=61941CF3
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Nice. Have seen similar things in the Insta feed. Cheers Paul.
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I would say turntable (agree with JDB it looks better when the tonearm is fully visible) and hand with the record shelf in the background.
Congrats to your Instagram debut. I can barely keep up with Facebook and Twitter, so I guess I’m not quite ready yet to add another platform! 🙂
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Thanks Christian. Luckily (?) I don’t do Twitter and shave transferred my FB affections to Insta (for now!).
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Initially, I went on Twitter for professional reasons, mostly to follow journalists and some other folks. I didn’t use it proactively very often. Then I started mixing it up with music stuff, which probably wasn’t the best decision. Therefore, recently, I established a second Twitter handle that’s entirely dedicated to music. That’s definitely a lot better, and I’ve been using it much more frequently since then. It remains to be seen whether I’ll stick with it.
I also use Facebook quite a bit for music stuff.
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Chair, then turntable. I like the reflection effect with the turntable, but the chair is very rustic and straightforward.
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Cool. (I like the chair too!). Thanks for sharing your thoughts, nanluke81!
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I like the chair, I do however always worry when the record is peeping out, terrified of it sliding out and hitting the floor.
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🤣 No records were harmed in the making of these photographs.
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I can now I feel sleep a bit more securely knowing the correct handling and humane training procedures have been followed during filming.
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When am I going to see that Dodger guy again?
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Hmm.
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I would say turntable gives a feel of familiarity – like oh, it’s about vinyl for sure – no doubts about it, but it is also one of many – nothing unique about it. On the other hand the chair, being least obvious choice has a certain charm and would be recognisable as definitely your post after a few photos, which is probably good for branding purposes 🙂
I haven’t traveled the deep waters of Instagram ocean yet, so good luck on your journey, but please don’t leave the shallow waters of Tumbr pond 😛
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Lovely, iwarti, thank you. I’ve worked out how to forward posts to Tumblr, so a presence there will continue.
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I’m on Instagram, but I rarely use it as. I need to be better at it. I like the turntable shots and the shelf shots.
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Yeah, there is quite a bit to learn, John. But it does rattle along and provide some interesting views.
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Turntable for records, chair for others. Good luck with Insta. I have thus far managed to resist the pull of social media platforms (except our old blog, natch).
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It may, for my part, be a result of lockdown madness. We’ll see. It sure is a fast cycle. The ‘Story’ function is fun, though, Aaron. I’m trying a few rock almanac posts at present. On this day…
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Lockdown brought on many thoughts like that. Maybe I need a YouTube channel. Maybe I need a Facebook. Honestly, I just lay down until those feelings go away. Glad you’re digging it though, good luck!
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Thanks. Though I suspect having a nice rest is a better strategy. 😅
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It usually is! My big thing was I remember when FB started, and everyone was putting their whole lives in there and I just saw a giant antitrust suit coming, ‘cos I wouldn’t trust that guy as far as I could pick him up and throw him (which wouldn’t be far). My reasoning also went like this: if the people from high school cared what I’m doing, they would already know. My wife has a page or whatever, she tells me the main things, that’s good enough!
Your Insta is fun ‘cos you’re just showing off records. I started a second blog a long while back (long deleted) to do the same, but I burned out on it. You’re likely made of sterner stuff and can stick it out.
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It’s called being “bloody stubborn”, Aaron. 🤣
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Ha I must be missing that gene. Look at how many times I’ve tried new approaches on the KMA and they’ve fizzled out. It’s natural, to wanna shake things up, but I always drift lol. As we’ve been doing this so long (2006), though, I suppose there’s at least some effort in, er, keeping it alive.
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You bet. Yours is a long and admirable blogging history.
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Well thank you, I’ll admit it’s long (that’s what she said) but I’d argue the “admirable” is questionable!
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Rubbish. Your love of music radiates and that’s what counts in a miserable world. 💜
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Aw shucks, thanks! I do like me some tunes.
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So, I’ve skimmed the comments and see a lot of “turntable.” I agree it looks cool but — and I say this not being on nor really knowing much about Instagram — aren’t there a ton of “turntable” album photographers out there already. I see them all the time on blogs about “Dad’s Record Collection” and YouTube anyway. So, maybe not as much of a unique brand.
I’d choose “hand in front of stacks.” It shows the album well, but also might keep folks on your post longer as they squint at the background to try and see what else has this VC guy got? Or, it could be chair in front of stacks…. (smile)
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Good point, and you are spot on. Lots of turntabley shots. Maybe I could find a range of decrepit toddler chairs and rotate them… Hm…
Or maybe I could get out more…
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I’m all in with the table. It screams cozy vintage and shows off the covers nicely. – Marty
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Cheers Marty. Enjoying our encounters on the Instathing.
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Don’t do social media Bruce – it’s where all modern evils hail from.
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I suspect you are correct. But I got a fair price for my soul. 😈
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PS. No need to panic, I was only seeking opinions on the photos. 🙂
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“The Steve Howe Album” is one of my favorite Roger Dean covers. The CD edition darkened the image a bit and took out that weird floating body, which was a little disconcerting. Pretty good LP too.
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Ha! I love cover variants so I must check that out. 🙂
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