How to take good photos for Instagram on your own

Taking good photos for Instagram seems like an easy thing to do. You pick up the phone, open the front camera to click a few times and you’re ready. You download it to the Instagram photo editor, put a filter on top of it, and wait for likes to arrive. And most of the time they don’t come. Then you wonder what’s wrong with your picture. The answer might hurt you, your picture might not be that cool.

So the thing before you go out shooting anything is to think about how you’re going to make this picture, and how you want it to appear. Today there are a multitude of good photos on Instagram can bring not only more likes, but more job opportunities, for example.

Currently, employers tend to look at employee social media profiles and, if their photos aren’t unique or at least beautiful, that’s a warning sign. But let’s assume you’re an attention-hungry girl. Or maybe a kid who wants to attract some nice girls. Because, to be honest, young people use Instagram primarily for this purpose.

How to take pictures for Instagram alone?

For this you will need planning, practice and some equipment. Passing things like lighting and backgrounds will be a sin you don’t want to commit when we talk about photos for Instagram.

If you’re tired of harassing your friends or family to be your personal photographer for a few hours, hoping you’ll look perfect in the photo, you’ve come to the right place. Now, let’s cut to the chase!

Necessary equipment for good photos for Instagram

Preferably a camera. Most people say you don’t need a camera or a good phone camera to get photos appropriate for Instagram, but in reality you need something with quality.

If you don’t have a decent camera it’s much harder to take beautiful photos. If you just your phone you need to activate the timer, which is almost always 5 to 10 seconds, then rush back to your place to do a pose and take a picture. To be honest, this method can sometimes work just fine, but most of the time you don’t get what you want.

If you have a DSLR or a mirrorless camera this problem begins to subside. Many of them have a function called an intervalometer, where you can take pictures at spaced time intervals without the need to press the shutter button more than once.  

So you can take as many photos as you want and as many poses as you need without having to touch your camera or run away every time you take a picture. Even slightly older cameras rely on this feature, and are more than enough for photos for Instagram. 

If you’re happy you can even get a camera that has WIFI and apps to control everything you want, so just put your camera on a tripod choose the composition and use the app to shoot the camera after you have checked the composition on your phone screen .

Have at least one tripod 

Even if you don’t have a super modern camera with a trillion megapixels, which is actually not necessary when we talk about taking pictures for Instagram, why IG compresses so much photos that a time comes that you don’t even see such a difference in a photo with many megapixels compared to a photos with less mp.

One of the most underrated tools in the world of photography is a tripod, and I don’t understand why it is such a useful tool after all. Having a good tripod is a minimum requirement for those who want to shoot on their own.

No matter if you’re using a camera or a smartphone, having a tripod will help a lot when making photos to Instagram on your own. With it you can define exactly how and where you will stay during the photos and do not have to worry about angle or focus changes, as long as everything stays in place. 

Fortunately tripods don’t cost a fortune. Even a cheap tripod of $20 or less will do the job. But in case you have a giant DSLR beware of very cheap tripods. 

How to take good Instagram photos on your own, tips and tricks

Good lighting

It’s not supposed to be news to anyone, but having good lighting when it comes to taking a photo is essential. No matter if you are using natural light or artificial lighting having a reliable source of light during the time of the photo shoot is a mega help.

For this you can use the light that passes through a window, or the light that bounces in a light building to help you build your natural lighting. Of course, to take good photos for Instagram alone you will need to always keep an eye on the lighting around you to find the best time. There’s no point in a super beautiful, dimly lit place.

If so you can also use artificial lighting to create all the mood you want in your photos. One of the coolest things I’ve seen lately is called LumaCube and it doesn’t do any work to load and is super useful when it comes to lighting something, and can be used with cell phone, photo camera, video, etc.

Background

Maybe here’s one of the main mistakes we all make from time to time, not paying attention to what’s in the background of our photos. Whenever we shoot we have to look for a way to clean what is in the background of the photos, to avoid distractions or even unwanted things in the photos. It’s not cool when you have a branch sticking out of the middle of your head.

You can choose the place you will shoot and in this way avoid virtually all distractions and thus have a cleaner photo and with a clearer message; In addition we can choose a background that has context with what you are shooting and that completes the message you want to pass, after all one of the functions of a good photo and pass a message.

If you have a camera with a fast lens you can use the aperture of this slow to blur the background of the images and thus draw more attention to the main plane of your photo. But be careful not to overdo it as this may cause your photos not to have such a clear focus.

Movement

When we talk about movement, we don’t think about running around. It’s the subtle movement that adds meaning to your photo. Something that gives your image much more context and action to your photos. Something very simple to do when you have a camera, but not always so simple to do with a mobile phone for example is to use a slower shutter speed during your photos. 

This will surely bring another layer of creativity to your photos. And if you work right you will have a beautiful photo album that not everyone has the patience to learn how to do.

Here your imagination is who commands, there are not many limits to this type of technique as long as you can get the message you would like is all right.

Use the thirds rule 

It may seem like the world’s most beat tip, but for those who don’t have much experience with photography this is one of the most valuable tips. Using the rule of thirds brings a very good strength and balance to your photos, and ends up generating something much more dynamic than always shooting something very centered on the screen.

So think about your photos in more ways than one, even if Instagram favors photos with the subject of the centered photo, try to break this create something that has more sauce and is more artistic

Shoot in public

Even if you have a certain shame of riding your tripod and doing certain poses in the crowd it is important that you have a certain dynamic in your photos, so that everything looks even more alive.

Try to use other people with background or even blurry foreground, so you’ll be able to create more than one layer of interest in your photos and show that you’re part of a whole lot more than you, leaving aside all the egocentrism of the Instagram.

Of course in this type of situation if you are shooting alone it is interesting to pay close attention to where you will make these photos, as not all places will be friendly to what you are trying to do.

Use a drone

Changing perspective always helps to create better images, and there’s nothing better to make this happen fast than using a drone. Even if it’s not one of the cheapest outfits to have in a backpack, they’re usually worth every penny invested because they’re able to create breathtaking images.

Think of a drone as a normal camera, even if it has the ability to fly. So try to use all the previous tips even if you’re using a drone. 

You will see how addictive all the photos are with crazy angles and insane perspectives you will get. Do not forget that in some places it is illegal to fly with drone, so before going around putting your camera to fly try to find out if you are allowed to do this without hurting any law. 

Organize your Instagram profile

And the most valuable tip of all and put your Instagram up to date. Organize your photos so that they all make sense, no posting thing that doesn’t have so much to do with the previous photo. You can choose to organize your profile by themes, or even by seasons, but the important thing is to organize to create a sense that you really take it seriously.

Try to create something that has felt as a whole, no use posting dog photo in day and then post something that has absolutely nothing to do with the photos of the little doguinho.

If you’re sure photos you don’t want on your timeline anymore, try archiving them to make only the content that best represents you visible.

To give you an inspired take a look at these Instagram accounts to get an idea of what I’m talking about.

There are a lot of apps that can help you when organizing your Instagram profile, so just jump into your smartphone store and search, particularly use one called Garny that is super easy to use and still help when scheduling posts.

Now that you’ve come this far just missing one thing, take good photos for Instagram putting all this into practice and create an Instagram feed that you’re proud of, not only in how it’s organized but also in the quality of the photos you’ll post. If yo
u paint any questions you can call here in the comments there on Twitter or on the Face page.