I deleted my personal Facebook profile years a go, I suck at Twitter, I’m too busy to Snap all the time (but you can follow me: Paula13t ;) ) but when it comes to Instagram and Pinterest, I am obsessed. For the record, I am the type of person who can’t stand it when people overuse the word “obsessed” so if I’m saying I’m obsessed- I mean it. I think it has to do with the fact that both of those outlets are so visual, which is something that a photographer and blogger in me loves.
In today’s post, I’ll tell you all about how I take my Instagram photos and a couple of things that are very important for me- like a clean background and good lighting.
FIND THE LIGHT
Bright pictures always look better so take your photos by the window or another place where there’s a lot of natural light. If you have a blog and most pictures in your feed are blog-related, always take your pictures during the day (especially if using your phone). The lights in your home can leave an ugly, yellow cast in your photos and colors will not look true to what they are. If you can’t find a spot bright enough to take your pictures, use a reflector to brighten it up and minimize shadows.
DON’T OVER-FILTER YOUR IMAGES
I never use filters on my photos anymore since I noticed that pictures that are filter-free, bright, shot on clean surfaces get a lot more interaction/likes. If you take your picture in a bright place and use a steady hand, your colors and textures will already work for you, and you won’t feel the need to use a filter. If you do like using filters, you can use the scale to tone it down a little, making sure that they don’t look too intense.
EDIT
This one is a must for me. I usually use my camera to take my IG shots, and even when using good settings, bright light and awesome set up, I always edit my pictures. Now, I’m going to share a little secret with you guys. Usually I just edit my photos in Photoshop, but when I share pictures that don’t come from my blog (like motds, etc) I edit them using a beauty app- an app you’d use to edit your selfies that smoothes and brightens your skin. It’s very easy to overdo it with these apps, because they make your images look overly smooth and give it that “photoshopped” loo, so you have to be careful when doing this. The app that I use is called Beauty Cam and usually I just auto adjust it on the lowest level. Here’s a before and after (these are from my phone, so they’re not the best quality, but you’ll get the point):
CLEAN BACKGROUND
This is also important, especially when taking “flatlays”- clean, uniform background won’t be distracting and pull focus away from your subject. I love simple, neutral backgrounds- they seem to work the best for me. Another thing to keep in mind when “styling” your shots, is not to put your subjects too close together- unless you work with perfect lighting. Otherwise it can create shadows- especially when working on simple and clean backgrounds. Having a reflector helps out a lot here too.
Are you guys as obsessed with Instagram as I am? Link your accounts down below so we can check them out!