We all love seeing fabulous, interesting pictures in our social media feeds but it can be hard to capture the moment so here are a few tricks that may help you elevate your pictures to the next level.
- In Instagram and Facebook profile pictures, you have to think about the square – despite the fact that both now allow rectangular images, the signature square is still most common. A few things to try:
- Center your subject – whether it is a juicy hamburger, your dog running or a family portrait putting the focal point of your picture smack dab in the center works very well for the square format.
- Angles – Try different angles to see what works best for your subject matter. Sometimes shooting from above is great and other times you may want to be at eye level or looking up.
@vegukate
- Close-ups rule – with a limited space and many people viewing photos in a small format on their phone, you want to zoom in a bit to capture the detail of your subject.
- Don’t always shoot in the app – the camera on your phone is usually better than the in-app capabilities (Instagram). You can zoom and edit your photo before you post but using your phone’s camera will likely give you better material to work with.
- You can also check out some of the photo editing apps – here are a few that we like: Picsart, VSCO Cam, Adobe Photoshop Express.
- Pay attention to the background – make sure it is not distracting from your subject but compliments it. You can also use the background…or foreground to frame your photo or help draw the eye to your subject.
- Be creative, try something new. You might stumble upon a style you love.
- Planning – like everything in life, planning usually improves results. While you may sometimes stumble across a great shot, staging, props and lighting will help you garner the best results.
@surfysurfy
- Snap, Snap, Snap and Snap some more – take a lot of pictures and you are sure to capture some great ones.
- Follow and take tips from others…here are a few Instagram accounts that we think do a great job: @SurfySurfy, @JellySkateboard, @MargoandMe @HungryinChicago, @JoytheBaker.
Social Media is a lot of fun, so our number one tip is to have fun and experiment.