If you want to up your Instagram game, here’s how to better showcase your Instagram photos.
Instagram, one of the most popular photo apps in the world, allows iPhone and Android users to take photos with their devices and post them on the image-based social network, and even apply different effects and filters to their images.
In fact, this is one of the biggest features of Instagram. The ability to easily edit your photos and apply different filters and effects gives Instagram a unique flavor, and perhaps that’s what makes it one of the most popular apps in the App Store right now.
What’s more, with smartphone cameras getting better every year and allowing for better Instagram photos that users can take, what if you want your Instagram photos to look even better? There’s a lot of competition out there and your photos need to look good to get as many likes as possible.
To do this, you need to apply a good mix of photo composition and photo editing to get a really good Instagram photo. Here’s how to make your Instagram photos look better than ever before.
Follow the Basics of Photography
So these are not “rules” so to speak, but general tips and tricks to follow if you want to take a good photo.
We have a guide on how to take better photos with your iPhone, detailing a few tips that are good to follow, but a big tip is that composition is key. Photo composition is defined as the strategic placement of objects and elements in a painting.
The rule of thirds is a common composition tip to have in your arsenal, so instead of framing your subject right in the middle of your photo, you can balance it out and provide a beautiful composition your audience will enjoy.
There are loads of other tips for photo composition and this guide explains a few that may be useful to you.
Avoid Filters
Perhaps Instagram’s greatest feature is a handful of filters that can instantly enhance your photos and make them look better, and there are all sorts of filters that can be applied depending on the type of look you’re aiming for.
However, if you want the most control over how your photo looks when editing, it’s best to avoid filters and use manual editing features instead.
By tapping the wrench icon on the right after taking a photo, you’ll have access to a number of different editing features, including adjusting brightness, contrast, saturation, and even applying a tilt-shift effect to change focus. and give the photo a shallower depth of field.
By using the manual editing features, you have more control over how your photos look, so if you’re not happy with the included filters, maybe it’s more helpful to use other editing features.
However, if the effect is too much, you can apply a filter and then manually edit it. So if you like a particular filter but want some tweaking, this is the way to do it.
Pay Attention to Details
If you usually only take pictures during important life events like a family gathering or the ballpark, you may be missing out on some great Instagram photos.
Some of the best Instagram photos you can take are ordinary objects that might seem boring, but with the right composition and editing, a photo of that “boring” object can suddenly make it look interesting.
The one thing I love about Instagram is that it lets me post all the photos I take with my iPhone that I wouldn’t normally post on Facebook or Twitter. Before there was Instagram, I would take a picture of something and eventually delete it because I wouldn’t post it anywhere. But Instagram was made to share all photos, no matter how big or small their importance.