Nokia Lumia Instagramer of the Week: Rob Mulally

The average time people spend on Instagram every month is 257 minutes. Talking to people like Rob Mulally, our latest Lumia Instagramer of the Week, you begin to understand why.

From Sydney, Australia, Rob takes truly breathtaking pictures of sunrises and sunsets, and Australian nature at its most astonishing. But it’s not just the photos that keep us – and him – coming back. It’s the encouraging and inspiring Instagramers community… as Rob puts it, “I keep trying to learn from the amazingly talented and supportive new friends I’ve met through Instagram.”

We’re awed by Rob’s pictures, in which he’s constantly discovering new technical and creative ways to make the most of his Lumia 1020. Read on to find out how he does it, and what he loves best about his Lumia life.

Which Nokia Lumia do you have and what do you like most about it?

I fell in love with the Windows Phone interface while playing with a Nokia Lumia 800 and bought the Lumia 920 before a trip around Europe. Now I have a Lumia 1020.

In terms of the hardware, I like the phone’s quality. It looks great and feels comfortable yet solid in my hand. The focus on the camera as a primary element of the phones is something I think sets the Lumia family of smartphones apart.

The amazingly high resolution sensor in the Lumia 1020, the PureView floating lens for clear shots when moving and the fantastic manual controls available including 4s of shutter, variable ISO and focus are all often mentioned as special. But one thing that I think is often overlooked is the dedicated camera button. Not only does it show a commitment to the camera experience on the phone It’s also very practical and something that I use daily.

I press and hold the camera button as I’m removing my phone from my pocket and can have my camera out and ready to shoot mid-run, chasing animals, aircraft and even friends in those candid moments where seconds count.

Where do you shoot most of your photos and what sort of photos do you like to take best?

I’ll shoot anywhere, from holidays to dedicated photo adventures totally inspired by Instagram. Since joining Instagram I’ve really tried to keep shooting on the edge of my comfort zone, trying to balance the technical and creative elements of what you can do with a phone. Everything from portraits to steel wool long exposure shots putting filters in front of the phone. I also keep trying to learn from the amazingly talented and supportive new friends I’ve met through Instagram.

So, what do I like best? Well, I really enjoy taking shots of nature, sunrises and sunsets near water. It’s always a spiritual experience for me. Throw in some sunrays piercing through the clouds and some waves breaking against the shore and I’ll take more photos than I know what to do with!

What are your top tips for taking Instagram photos on your Nokia Lumia?

1. Framing Grid set to square – so you know what you are taking a photo of will fit once cropped for Instagram!

2. Capture Mode – JPEG (5 MP + 34 MP) – Take advantage of the Lumia Zoom, always crop using the Nokia Camera App! Once you understand the power of the LumiaZoom it will really add flexibility on how / when where you setup the composition of your shots.

3. Editing – Don’t be afraid to edit your images, this is where you can really add your own style. I personally use fantasia painter , fhotoroom and LumiPX. I often tweet with the latter two encouraging them to include features that are needed.

4. Community – Engage with others, have fun, learn, encourage others and challenge yourself. Always try to become a better photographer; it’s a never ending lesson!

I hope to share more tips in the future. In the meantime, feel free to ask in the comments of my Instagram images, on Google+ or Twitter as I love to share and especially learn about photography and technology.

Which five Nokia Lumia instagramers do you recommend everyone to follow?

This is such a tough list to write as there are so many amazing Lumia galleries:

@mattglastonbury – beautiful nature photography, a key influencer for me joining Instagram.

@mortenordstrom – lives in one of my favourite cities, his gallery is extremely high quality, and I respect his commitment to ‘getting the shot’ and his editing style.

@pingpings39 – First class travel and adventure style gallery, shooting 16:9 ratio and taking his Lumia1020 out and about, inspires me to keep using Instagram as an excuse for adventure.

@pavingapril – engaging and friendly, has a unique style to his shots adding mood and emotion, I look for IGers like him to challenge myself to be better, he is also interested in helping others which I highly respect.

@albanxhakaj – relatively new in post count, but this is one account that I’m excited about. He’s enthusiastic, has some amazing images already and is creative and diverse with his ideas.

What are your top 10 favourite Lumia Instagram pics?

– Taken on a small road trip, a totally Instagram inspired adventure, this image captures a lot of things I love shooting, landscape, water, and demonstrates things I’ve learnt from other Instagrammers.

Taken on another Instagram adventure, shows the teamwork, beautiful spot with some creative steel wool spinning. Really love how the ND Filter allowed for long shutter during the afternoon!

Practicing portraits, I really like the movement achieved by modifying the shutter. It created the effect I was looking for and I was very happy with this.

– I love how this shot turned out, the colours, the bokeh effect from the close focus and I waited for the couple to come into frame, its one of my favourites i even printed this one out.

– Taken recently, we found this shaft of light inside, and took advantage! I feel this shot really has mood and emotion..

I had to include a splash shot, this shot is one of my favourites and is associated with a special memory.

Another Instagram event, a random idea turned out to be one of my favourite shots, a reminder to always experiment and take the time to try new things.

Experimenting with slow shutter and ND filter in front of the phone to get this beautiful effect on the water!

I put my phone in a water tight bag for this and got in the water, a fun afternoon with a friend trying to capture these waves. A fantastic holiday memory and I can’t wait to try more of these. Love the sharpness of the water with a little tweaking.

I love this shot because I was surrounded by lots of photographers, and I was getting some strange looks, I like this for two reasons, It shows nature taking primary focus over iconic landmarks and also because I was trying to find unique shots with other photographers around me something I always try and remember to do.

We love those Rob’s attitude, “shooting on the edge of his comfort zone.”For more of Rob’s work, make sure you follow him on Instagram. And if you’re a Nokia Lumia Instagramer who’d like to see their pics showcased here,  follow us on Instagram or share your best pics with #Lumia, or both. In the meantime, we’d love to know which of Rob’s photos you enjoyed most in the comments below.