Everyone is always scrolling their Instagram feed wondering, “How did they get their picture like that?” or, “What filter did they use?” We live in an era in which we focus all of our time and effort into our social media personas.
We are constantly thinking of what to post, when to post, and where to post, but can we ever get it absolutely perfect?
Karlee Sell, a junior communication student with a photography minor, said, “The ability to be creative is one of the beauties of Instagram. When I’m looking for the perfect photo for Instagram, I always chose something that I feel is truly an expression of my own creativity.”
This is a great tip for people who want their social media accounts to truly represent themselves.
Sell continued, “This can come from the lighting, the edits, the content of the image, etc. There are no set rules for expressing yourself, and that’s something that I love to explore via Instagram.”
You can capture your picture, you can create your own feed, and you can show the people who you are, which is the amazing thing about Instagram.
You can really be creative and make anything look how you want it to.
Many people say the main way to perfect your Instagram picture is by having a filter. There are already preset filters on the app itself, but if you’re a professional you don’t use those.
Everyone uses third party apps to filter their Instagram pictures, in which the two main apps people are using are Afterlight and VSCO.
These apps help can help get you that perfect filter, they can make the picture look brighter or make yourself look tanner by using a saturation effect.
Another great tip to get that great Instagram photo is understanding how to compose the picture itself.
It’s important to realize how and when you are taking the picture in order to get a good result. A key component of a perfect Instagram picture is natural light so you must take the picture at the right time of day.
The natural light makes the picture pretty on its own, if you are able to snap a picture at the perfect time of day you won’t even need to try to filter it because it’s already perfect. Have you ever heard of “golden hour”? Well, it is the time of day when the sun rising or setting offers a natural and unique lighting.
This is all key to a perfect picture is the way you take it. We all have that friend who you take 100 perfect pictures for and then when it comes to your turn they take 4 blurry ones, we cannot have that anymore.
Alexa Russell, a senior communication student who has a side photography job, said, “The quality before you start editing the picture is key. If the photo itself is blurry, the quality will go down even more, once it’s put on Instagram.”
It’s all about that quality, even if you love the idea of the picture you took. If it is blurry and you try to edit it, it’s just going to look too pixelated and mess up your feed; it’s not worth it.
Some professionals even take photos where the background is blurred and the center object is at focus, but maybe start with the simple pictures rather than trying to do this.
People often think they can’t get the perfect picture because they don’t have a professional camera, but these people are doubting the potential of an iPhone.
The iPhone has some of the best camera quality we have seen on mobile devices.
There are also many ways to use it to help perfect your photo. Many people often use the “grid” option on the camera, which helps you to align the image to be straight.
Another tip for perfecting your Instagram photos is to look online for inspiration. Pinterest or photography accounts can act as inspiration for you to try new poses or backgrounds.
Taking photos isn’t too hard; we all do it, all the time. Take your Snapchat story or Instagram to a new level and make your photos great.
So what are you waiting for? Go grab some friends and go on an adventure to test your new knowledge of photography.
PHOTO TAKEN by Cassandra Capozzi-Smith
PHOTO TAKEN by Nicole Riddle
