If you don’t know what Instagram is then you must not be from around here… and from around here I mean Earth. Kidding… Just trying to make a point how popular Instagram is right now. Basically, Instagram is a lot like twitter. You follow people, you gain followers, you can flood the public timeline with your content but instead of words, you post photos. “I already have Instagram so stop blabbering” yeah… okay but is your Instagram feed pretty? I know some people really don’t care but having a pretty Instagram feed really makes an impression to people who stalk you (heh) and it’s a nice way of expressing yourself too.
So this post is dedicated to prettifying that feed of yours. I know there are a lot of other “how tos” online but this is based on my personal experience. Also, Please do remember that “better” and “pretty” are very subjective ideas. ;)
1. USE A GOOD CAMERA
This is pretty common sense but some people don’t have that so.. (another joke please don’t take me seriously haha). No matter how much you edit your photo. No matter what filter, what light leak or whatever you apply if the raw photo is crappy then your photo will be crappy and in turn your feed will be crappy. Crisp, clear photos are the best. iPhones (4-5s) usually take great photos most especially when there’s natural sunlight. Not entirely sure with Samsung but pretty sure the latest models take great photos too. Some people even use their DSLRs just to take awesome photos for their feed. I know… effort right?
2. GET ENOUGH LIGHTING
Like I said iPhones take suuuuuper better photos when there’s enough lighting. This pretty much applies to any camera, actually. Yes, you can digitally brighten up a dark photo but go ahead, try it. It’ll be super grainy. Personally, natural light is always better than artificial light but if you have no choice, sure, go use that flash.
3. EXPERIMENT WITH THE POV
Go high, go low, go extremely high, or extremely low. Each point of view gives a photo a certain feel. This is why the “from where I stand” and “outfit grid” kinds photos are so popular now because it’s a different viewing experience. Imagine an outfit grid shot from eye level instead of top down… looks so boring right.
4. DON’T MACHINE GUN YOUR PHOTOS INTO THE FEED
A.k.a. don’t post consecutive photos with only a minute interval in between. Not only is this annoying but it’ll leave your photos with less likes. I’ve personally observed this. Probably because people will tend to scroll past your posts because you’ve annoyed the heck out of them. Oh and yeah, you’ll risk being unfollowed too.
5. DON’T POST SIMILAR PHOTOS CONSECUTIVELY
In relation to #4, try not to post two very similar looking photos one after the other. I don’t care if there is a one day interval between them. This is Instagram not a Facebook album. A feed with variety is a feed that has beauty.
6. PUT APPROPRIATE AND RELATIVE TAGS
Please. 3 inch thick tags are so annoying and I’ve read somewhere that putting irrelevant tags can actually prevent you from making it to the popular page. You don’t want that, do you?
7. KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN FOR INTERESTING THINGS TO CAPTURE
I follow a lot of people who have awesome feeds and sometimes, they post these super mundane things that are strangely still beautiful. Like half their faces streaked with sunlight and shadows of blinds. Or their tea in the morning against white washed wooden tables. It’s simple and very mundane but still very very pretty. So keep an eye out for those simple moments!
8. DON’T POST A CRAPPY PHOTO
I knoooow I’ve said this a lot of times but this statement basically sums everything up. I know we’ve all felt that itch where we just want to post this photo even though it’s crappy but please fight that feeling and tell yourself, “quality over quantity”. There’s still tomorrow go take a better looking picture.
9. TAKE IT EASY ON THE EDITING
For me, less is more. Subtle looking filters are way better than the default filters in Instagram. There are lots of apps out there that offer these so called subtle filters (I’ll do a post about them soon). Also, lately I tend to move away from light leaks and all that leaky stuff. Oh and over-edting actually destroys a photo’s quality.
10. UNIFORMITY
I really don’t do this to my feed but I’ve noticed others who do and it does look kind of nice. Some people actually use the same filter for all their photos. This’ll make your feed really nice and clean. As for me, I post all square photos. I can’t stand the one filter thing ‘cause for me each photo has it’s own filter that enhances it. You just gotta try each one.
That’s pretty much what I can share to you guys. I know I’ve slightly gone off track with some of the things I listed up there, that’s just some bonus points on how to improve your Instagram experience and how not to annoy your followers (haha). I hope you liked it!
What about you guys? What are some of the things you do to make your feed pretty? Share it with us in the comments below! :)