At the beginning of the school year, I printed out some Instagram photos (remember when they were ALL squares?) and put them up on my dorm wall. My roommate said, "I wish I could take nice photos like that. But I don't have a good camera like yours." For a bit, I was puzzled: the photos I printed were all taken by my iPhone, and we had the exact same phone model.
I'm no photo expert, and I definitely don't post consistently on Instagram, and there is still definitely a bit of discord within my photos. Yet people always ask me how to get good photos using just my phone. So after thinking about what I tend to do when I post photos on social media, I decided to compile a short list of tips on how to up your Instagram game, based solely on what I learned through my own experience. It's perfect for those summertime vacation snaps where we try to prove how un-boring we are.
1) COMPOSITION + BALANCE
This depends on your personal preference, but I prefer a clean, minimalist look to my photos. I know others who like a strong, grainy photo with a lot of things going on. This is pretty subjective, depending on what you want your audience to focus on or what mood you're trying to achieve. Composition is everything. It doesn't matter if you're using VSCO's HB1 filter or Instagram's Valencia. If your photo has unwanted, distracting items in the back, it'll detract from the viewer's focus and make your snap look messy.I've experimented a bunch on my Instagram, and while trying to find my own style, I didn't like the chaotic look that my old photos gave off. The cleaner, brighter look suits my image more (despite my secret affinity for sitting in my dark room in front of a computer screen). But occasionally I switch it up and combine an ultra-simple/minimalist to something with pattern or things in the background.
It helps when I try to visualize what I want in the photo first, before even taking it. And when the snap doesn't have exactly what I want, I know how I can edit it to make it look like what I envisioned in my head. In this tip, my best move is to crop.
2) CONSISTENCY + FILTERS
Choosing a filter could be stressful, but sometimes if the lighting and colors are pretty consistent throughout your photos, choosing the same filter could be helpful in maintaining order within your feed. When I started posting back on Instagram, all the filters looked so tempting. The borders, the collages, and the colors fluctuating from muted cool colors to saturated reds were all so enticing.But I quickly (and just recently) learned that along with the cleaner look, I liked them bright with a pinkish tinge. I don't use a particular filter to achieve this look, rather it just happens that I gravitate towards the brighter colors around me and the way my photos end up looking are just products of the soft colors that I like. Voila, consistency!
Personally, a few of my favorite VSCO Cam filters are HB1, HB2, F2, M5, and KK2.
3) COLORS + LIGHT
Like composition, colors and light are important! Thankfully, they're a lot easier to correct than #1. I love soft colors and bright backgrounds, but this isn't always possible, especially in cloudy Seattle. Or I'll see something one way, yet my phone camera decides to capture it in a totally different lighting. These are fixable with adjustable brightness, an added filter or changing up the lights and shadows of the pictures. You can even add a tint to photos to add a little pizazz or to keep everything pinkish or bluish or yellowish or any other color for your theme. That way, the light and the colors of your photos could appear consistently or in a pattern, edited to your needs.
4) BE YOURSELF
Unless you're taking photos for a business or any other specific purpose, your personal Instagram should be a reflection of yourself! I know we're all trying very hard to make it seem like our lives are interesting 24/7, but regardless of when/why you post, I think that staying true to yourself is as important as all the other tips. I'd say most of my photos are taken in my bedroom on my bedside table, so I'd say that's a pretty accurate representation of my life...
