Of all the photo-centric platforms, Instagram rightly gained fame (or infamy) for its influencer crowd, especially in the realm of travel.  There’s something about that feed and grid of perfectly curated photos of exotic destinations which people love.  Hashtags also add discoverability.  It’s no wonder that reality seemingly became distorted.  So today, I want to talk a bit about Instagram vs. reality.  I’ll show you some examples from my experience to help illustrate what I’m talking about.  So, let’s dive into it.

The Instagram Grid

Instagram features a 3-wide grid of photos, reels, and carousels on each user’s profile.  The example I included here is from my own business Instagram grid.  As you can see from it, I’ve carefully curated what you will see.  There are gorgeous landscape photos which I’ve taken.  There’s also behind-the-scenes video clips and images.

You can probably tell from this snapshot that I take time to carefully curate what you see on my Instagram account.  I do so for a reason: I’m a landscape photographer hoping to sell you prints of my photos.

I deliberately include photos like these into my Instagram feed and grid for a reason.

Instagram influencers have similar goals.  They often want to sell you something.  Perhaps it’s the appearance of their lifestyle or maybe they want to sell you merch or even ask you to use an affiliate link.  Without a carefully curated grid, that won’t happen.  You won’t buy.  Thus they curate their feeds and grids.

Instagram vs. Reality

There is a definite problem with how Instagram appears vs. how reality is.  The careful curation of photos, angles, locations, times, etc. results in a warped and distorted sense of reality for those who only view these travel locations on Instagram.  Travelers who plan their vacations based upon Instagram photos often learn that the beautiful photo they saw came at a price.  Consider these examples.

Old Faithful

Old Faithful is perhaps the best known geyser in the world.  It’s one of the top features of Yellowstone National Park.  With its regular eruptions, you can easily plan your trip around seeing one in person.  Here are a couple photos I took of this famous geyser.

The Instagram Take

Reality

Now, these angles look amazing and pristine.  Nature looks untouched.  However, that’s far from the case here.  What you don’t see in these pictures is that Old Faithful also features a huge paved observation area with several rows of benches just out of frame.  I’m sitting on 1 for the color photo.  Those benches fill up quickly.  During extra popular eruption windows, you might find standing room only.  Locating an unobstructed view might be more difficult that you think.

During my first visit to Yellowstone, I managed to find a bit of space.  However, you can see from my BTS photo here that things were a bit tight for me.  The crowd was huge.  This is due to the popularity and notoriety of Old Faithful as a tourist attraction.

What you don’t see in the pristine images above is just how long I was standing there waiting.  If I recall correctly, it was a good 20 minutes or more.  I thought I had enough lead time.  Sadly, I was wrong and was literally left standing in hopes of a good photo.  I also needed to crowd in towards the front.  Perhaps you notice just how close my neighbors are in the BTS photo included here.

If you do not show up extra early, or bring your own chair, then you probably cannot guarantee yourself a seat to wait for the eruption.  Old Faithful isn’t quite as faithful anymore.  Rangers can no longer predict its eruptions down to the minute.  Now you can expect it to happen in a 45 or so minute window.  That’s a long time to stand for a 2-3 minute show for some people.

Everyone wants that pristine photo of the geyser erupting.  The reality of capturing that photo isn’t as easy, quick, or comfortable as it seems.  Also, you’re now competing with everyone else who wants that same view and photo too.

Mesa Arch

Mesa Arch is, perhaps, the second most famous arch in the Moab area.  It’s certainly the most famous landmark in Canyonlands National Park.  It features a view straight into some of the canyons and into another arch.  At sunrise, you can capture that beautiful sunburst or sun star off the edge of the arch or the horizon.

The Instagram Take

Reality

For these shots, you probably wouldn’t believe what I needed to do in order to capture them.  For starters, I needed to wake up extra early in the morning and drive out about 26 miles in the dark from Moab just to arrive at the parking lot.  Next, I needed to hike about a mile in the dark on a trail I’d never hiked before just to reach the arch.  The trail wasn’t always obvious and the dark hid many of the trail cairns.  Because this was a wintertime shoot, I also bundled up because of cold and wind.

I wasn’t the only person there for the sunrise.  I wasn’t even the only serious photographer there.  Several other people came for the glorious sunrise.  But you wouldn’t know it from these photos above.  Take a good look at this different angle taken that same morning.

As you can now see, there were lots of people there at Mesa Arch that cold winter morning.  This was an off-season morning too.  I’ve heard about regular season mornings where the landscape photographers fill the area up.  There’s barely any room to move around.  Finding an unobstructed view can be difficult.  The viewing area in front of the arch isn’t very big so several photographers with their gear can quickly take up all the space.

More Examples Where Instagram and Reality Don’t Match

I have several more examples of where Instagram and reality don’t match.  I won’t lay out all the details as I did with the previous 2 examples.  However, they say that a picture is worth a 100o words.  Perhaps these pictures will do all the talking for me.  For each of these examples, the first or left photo would be the “Instagram” version.  The second or right photos will show you what reality was that day.

Each of these portfolio photos came at a price because of how popular the locations are.  I didn’t have the place to myself, as you can see for yourself.  Instead, I needed to work around all the people there and even remove them in post-processing as necessary.

Beautiful secluded-looking locations like these aren’t often secluded anymore.  Clever angle selection, tons of patience, and post-processing can make these often overrun destinations appear otherwise.

Some Results of the Instagram vs. Reality Problem

As a result of tons of people now wanting to visit these and many more amazing tourist destinations, several popular locations across the world are overrun.  These areas cannot handle the volumes of influx.  So, local officials have taken action to curb the problem of too many people visiting.  There are now restrictions in place at many popular tourist destinations.  Here are some examples.

• Arches National Park instituted a timed entry permit system to the park during the regular tourist season.
• Angel’s Landing at Zion National Park now requires a permit.
• “The Wave” requires a permit to access and has very limited slots.  Obtaining a permit is highly competitive.
• Access to Yosemite National Park requires a special permit for the “fire falls” event.
• Antelope canyons push tourists through too quickly for proper enjoyment.
• Kanarraville instituted a daily permit system for their famous waterfall with limited slots.
• Iceland actively campaigns against photographers coming.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Instagram and reality don’t often match up, especially in the realm of travel.  Many of the most beautiful and secluded-looking locations aren’t so secluded.  You will find such places crawling with other tourists.  If you want that beautiful photo for Instagram or your photography portfolio, then you will often compete against everyone else for a small space and a few seconds of opportunity.

The Instagram vs. reality problem will continue as long as we focus too much on image over substance.  Instead of focusing so much on capturing that perfect photo for social media, how about trying to stop and enjoy the scene and the experience?

Now I turn things over to you, reader.  Have you experienced the contrast between Instagram and reality?  What Instagram vs. reality experiences came crashing down on you?  What places are so overrun that they’re not worth visiting now?  Please leave your thoughts and experiences in the comments section below.