Are behind-the-scenes photos helping or hurting?
The delicate balance between inspiring and spoiling the magic for others
For many photographers, posting a behind-the-scenes (BTS) photo or video is automatically a good thing. But what if it’s not?
Consider this comment I saw as a response to artists sharing their processes on social media:
I get what they’re saying. This person isn’t there for the “content”, they just want to enjoy the art.
I’ve felt the same way seeing a lot of photography on Instagram. When a carousel post shows up in my feed, I tend not to swipe: sometimes it’s a narrative series or extra detail shots which I love to see, but most times it’s a BTS image.
You just never know what you’re going to get until you swipe. And it could be inspiring or deflating stuff, depending on what you’re on Instagram for.
Beginner photographers are motivated by BTS so having the content immediately accompany the art helps them understand the process. But for others like thangkaproject, a BTS cheapens the experience.
As someone who likes to teach and share tips, adding a BTS to my posts became a dilemma for me. I wanted the educational stuff to be easy for everyone to find—and easy for me to post—but I also knew a BTS in an Instagram carousel might not be the best time and place. And maybe a bit performative.
I wrestled with this and decided some time ago not to show BTS images alongside my photos as often anymore. Once in a while might be fine to pique interest and change things up, but I stopped making a regular practice of it because not everyone is into it.
However, I didn’t want to completely cut off the tiny part of my audience who wanted these insights—instead, I put my educational content somewhere else instead of the next swipe.
YouTube and my blog are the homes for my BTS and explainers now. They’re much more in-depth and helpful than what I would normally put on an Instagram post anyway.
But not everyone has the time, energy, and resources to create long-form content for those platforms.
Recently, Instagram introduced broadcast channels, an adjacent surface on the app itself that are intended to be easy, casual spaces for BTS, sneak peeks, and heads-ups. I share announcements and opportunities for LEGO photographers in my LEGO Photo Club channel as well as quick insights, videos, or articles related to recent posts there.
Of the over 24,000 followers I have on Instagram, under 600 people joined my channel. That number is a good indicator of how many people were getting value out of the BTS I used to include alongside my photos. 600 is not a lot.
Assuming half of my followers are inactive accounts (because my account is old), that works out to a mere 5% who opted in to see photo education content.
That means the vast majority of my Instagram followers might not welcome a BTS, so it’s probably best not to include one in my post.
Even other photographers aren't that into it. Here's one lamenting Flickr on a popular subreddit:
In short, I realized that I have two deeply uneven and distinct audiences with different intentions on Instagram, so it makes sense for me to separate their experiences.
I just serve the BTS on the side now. The ingredients don’t touch so it’s palatable for all.
Phone Photography Gear and Tips
ICYMI, I published a review of the Apexel 100mm macro phone lens and a post full of great phone photography tips from amazing LEGO photographers.
Outstanding LEGO Contest Photos
Here are some of the best photos that were submitted to the Medieval March contest I hosted last month on Jay’s Brick Blog and Stud Shooters, my new LEGO photography community on Reddit.
LEGO fans were challenged to make a market stall and take a photo of it outdoors—not something you see a lot of in the community, and that was the point.
While the panel had to weigh in factors like fun ideas, creative building, and fitness for the town of Felsa to arrive at the winners, this selection is purely about photography.
For the winning photos, check out the official announcement and remarks by all the judges here, and my thoughts here.
I'm near daily user of Instagram for years and I didn't know what broadcast channels were until I read this post. I just open the app and scroll the feed :) That's actually how I found that you wrote a new article, from IG, since I open it way more than substack. Very good read. I love BTS on YouTube and blogs much more than on IG because long-form content is much better for learning. I usually skip BTS on IG unless it's a very specific artist or shot I'm interested in, for example, a May the 4th shot that used forced perspective was cool to see the setup on IG.
I'm personally a huge fan of behind the scenes content, both for Mocs and photography. I ale want to see how stuff was done so I can apply similar techniques to my own work and keep improving.
I also love seeing some great images from the medieval march contest, I personally was disappointed and uninspired by the building and photography quality of the first place cart and second place Minifigure, so it's nice to see some higher quality entries.