Sophomore finds community, fame in Instagram

For most teens, having more than 1,000 followers on Instagram is a dream. Even 500 would be nice. However, sophomore Luke Salin, whose Instagram handle is _lukesalin, has 4,627 and counting. 

With that many followers, one might expect Salin to use a high-end Nikon or Canon camera costing more than $1,500, but this is not the case. All of his pictures are taken and edited on a camera he always has on him: his iPhone.

“Using my fancy camera takes away from the challenge,” Salin said, whose pictures, despite being produced by a cell phone lens, are both genuine and of great quality. 

Senior Stephanie Ho finds his skills truly amazing.

“It’s seems incredible to me that he is able to get that high of a quality photo from just an iPhone,” Ho said. “The fact that everything on his account is taken from a device that I also have on me nearly all hours of the day is part of what drew me to his Instagram.”

When Instagram started growing in popularity, during the early months of 2012, Salin decided it was worth a shot, and he found that the community really inspired him.

“The more people I followed, the more I wanted to do better, more interesting things,” Salin said.

Salin started researching how to make his pictures obtain a certain effect after others inspired him.

“After you get really involved [with Instagram,] there are people with hundreds of thousands of followers who will support you,” Salin said.

Salin had the chance to make friends and even meet some of the people who have helped him achieve his fame, including Instagram users CURIOUS2119 and WISSLAREN, who have a combined total of over 1 million followers.

“We started following each other and eventually we would take photos [together],” Salin said. “I would be in some of their photos, and that helped me get started.”

Salin says he likes posting daily, but often tries to “tone down [his] artsiness” since some people get tired of it.

Sophomore Felicia Hung, who follows Salin, has only praise for his work.

“His pictures always have the right lighting for the mood of the picture,” Hung said. “The backgrounds of [his] pictures are really defined, and his silhouette pictures are the best.”

According to Ho, the angles that Salin manages to capture are what truly make his photography great.

Through his photography, Salin tries to convey his thoughts and emotions.

“[The photos are] of whatever I feel is interesting or something I want to express at that current moment,” Salin said. “But then again, I want [them] to be just the way the mood I want to express.”

Salin also said that because of Instagram and photography, he “dreams in squares.”

  “I just notice everything now, every detail of life,” Salin said.