We are often asked who takes our photos for our Instagram feed and the answer is that we do unless otherwise credited with a photographer! While we would love to be able to share professional photos each and every time {because let’s face it ~ they are just BETTER!!}, so many things cross Laura’s desk every day that we want to be able to share, even without professional pics.
Here are some basic tips {from our experience only ~ there are many other apps and tools to use, but these are just the ones we prefer}:
- We always edit our photos completely outside of Instagram and do not use any filters offered directly in the Instagram App.
- Try to take your photos in natural lighting. This means without the lights on or direct sunlight hitting your area. This can be outside {we get good pics in the backyard covered patio} or inside{ in front of large open windows}. Try a few different areas to see what works best for you.
- You don’t have to have a professional grade camera. We use an iPhone for all of our own photos & videos, too. Having a newer version of the iPhone really helps {need to upgrade? Business expense! This is not legal tax advice, but definitely something to consider…}
- Once we have our original photo, we edit it directly in the photo edit on the iPhone ~ no special apps yet. Go to the lighting setting then adjust for brightness & contrast separately. See our original photo below.
- Our next step takes place in the Aviary app ~ this is a photo editing app available on your phone. Here we adjust for lighting & sharpness {this is especially helpful when you are showing calligraphy with fine hairlines}.
- Lastly we use Afterlight if we still want to get a little more brightness for the photo.
Here is the original photo for the one shown at the top of the post. As you can see, these simple steps made for a brighter, sharper photo in under 5 minutes!
As we mentioned above, there are many, many other photo editing apps you can use {or even better you can edit in Photoshop if you’ve got the time/skills!}, but hopefully these tidbits on what we like will help you on your way to a better, brighter Instagram feed.
Let us know your preferred photo editing apps below in the comments!
xo,
Laura + Alyssa
