How to Take Good Instagram Photos (2nd Edition)
Do you guys remember the first edition I wrote on how to take good Instagram photos? While those tips remain the same, I’ve decided to add a few more to the list! These are a lot shorter and easier to remember, so that the next time you take an Instagram photo, you can easily apply these tips.
1. Play with lighting.
The best photos are really the ones taken under natural lighting. Don’t be afraid to play with it! Whenever I’m at home, I always take my photos near the window where the light shines brightest during the day. There are times I would even go outside and use different areas of our house as backdrops—depending on how I want my photo to turn out.
2. Play with angles.
There are so many many ways you can take an Instagram photo aside from top-view or eagle’s eye view. The Cupcake taught me how to angle my camera to really bring out or highlight the subject of the photo, and you know what? It does gives your feed more character!
3. Play with spaces.
I don’t agree that your photos should have a singular theme, especially because my Instagram feed is an extension of my blog, which is a dump of all my favorite things. I post a lot of makeup, food, travel, and random stuff. There are many personal photos, too. But to make an Instagram feed more attractive, play with the spaces. Say if your photo today was taken against a white background and there’s a lot of space left, it’s safe to take a photo tomorrow that’s noisier or has a lot of things going on. Avoid posting consecutive photos that are dark, noisy, or have more than one subject. Also, be creative with your background! I realized that aside from lighting, backgrounds make or break a photo.
Want cheap but effective backdrops? Invest in colored cartolina! When placed in a well-lit room (doesn’t have to be natural lighting), the matte material of the paper absorbs the light really well and it doesn’t leave a glare.
4. Play with color.
Try to study the trends of your photos, and have fun with color! I sometimes do this thing where if my background was a certain color in one photo, the next photo has an element in it that’s the same color or complements that color. But it rarely happens, and most times, I really just try to have fun with the color scheme of my feed.
5. Refrain from using Pic-Stitch.
Although there are rare occasions where I do stitch several photos together in one square, I make sure it’s well-placed on my feed. But as much as possible, stick to posting one photo at a time so that your feed looks clean and consistent.
I hope those tips inspired you or helped you guys even more. At the end of the day, it’s your Instagram account and you should be able to post whatever you want. If you have your own tips and tricks to share, I’d love to hear them!
March 9, 2015 @ 1:02 pm
Awesome tips! Nothing beats natural light, and I’ve had to learn that the hard way. I keep struggling with lamps and flash, but going outside just solves the problem instantly.