Instagram currently has more than 500 million monthly active users on Instagram, making it more important than ever to establish a solid Instagram feed. Your feed should clearly reflect your own personality and interests, but there are several tips for enhancing the overall quality of each photo and your Instagram feed as a whole. With these minor improvements, you too can have a professional blogger vibe on your feed.
After all, if you didn’t Instagram it, did it even happen?
Negative space
Negative space is extremely important because without it pictures can appear cluttered. Studies have shown that people are more likely to look at—and like—a photo with a clear focal point as opposed to an image with multiple things to look at. The recent trend of colored walls as backgrounds is a great way to add visually interesting negative space.
The bluer, the better
According to a Curalate case study, blue-toned photos receive 24 percent more likes than photos with heavy red and orange hues. Blue is often seen as calm, peaceful and relaxing. So go ahead and post those ocean and sky pictures, which will help your feed appear less cluttered and more tranquil.
Use outside photo editing apps
While Instagram has come a long way in terms of filters, outside photo editing apps still offer much more creative and aesthetically pleasing filter options. Some great options include VSCOcam, Afterlight, Camera+ and Lightly.
Tone down the filters
That being said, always consider turning down the strength of the filter after applying. Photos with minimally used filters appear much more realistic and interesting than heavily edited photos. No one wants to look at an overly edited photo that seems more like a cartoon than photography.
Stick with a filter theme
If you do feel inclined to use a filter on a photo, try and stick with a couple that go together so your feed doesn’t become disjointed. For example, Kim Kardashian posts all different kinds of photos to Instagram but uses a slight Aden filter on every photo to give them all the same blueish-purple tone. This way the photos are somehow connected to one another. While it’s not completely necessary to limit yourself to only one filter, it is helpful to choose a few that have similar undertones.
Natural lighting
If you can, always, always avoid flash. Natural lighting is much brighter and more organic and therefore makes photos look more authentic. But if you do feel the need for flash, never ever use flash photography for food.
Captions are key
Captions should be interesting, complement your photos and reflect your individual personality. Avoid using too many hashtags as they are often seen as a desperate attempt at likes.