Instagram Trends: How to Create a Beautiful Instagram

Instagram trends come and go and so does what is socially acceptable. There was a time when using light leaks and white borders was a trend that people achieved through the app Retrica. 

Then the ideal Instagram feed looked so cohesive that all the posts were the same color. 

Now many are attempting a return to casual posting. However, the use of #makeinstacasualagain is sometimes sarcastic because feeds still tend to look curated. Even “camera roll dumps” are still the highlights. Now how can you achieve this careless yet aesthetically pleasing look? 

NATURAL LIGHTING 

Try to shoot the picture during golden hour, or when it is overcast. For most portrait shots you want to avoid taking pictures at midday because it can create shadows that are hard to work with. If you’re shooting pictures indoors, avoid taking pictures in rooms that have yellow lighting tones. If you’re super dedicated to your Instagram or blog photography, simply replace your lightbulbs. It will make a huge difference to your photos

FP user Una Omeragic already covered this topic in the post here. Lusine also has tips here. 

USE FEWER FILTERS 

What's the point of good lighting if you're going to mess it up with a bad filter 

I recommend Tezza or VSCO because they are more intuitive. Yes, there was a time when the entire internet made fun of “VSCO girls” for their uniform-like style, which was even visible by the fact that they all used C1 and enhanced the saturation by way too much, but there are definitely ways to make it look nice. My number one tip is to keep it natural! Never make the level of the filter more than 50% and don’t increase any of the other options by more than 3 levels. I think this youtube video is a really good tutorial 

Here 

My personal favorite is Tezza 

I edit most of my pictures the following way

Filter INSPR: 3 

Brightness: 11 

Contrast: -7 

Shadows: -14

Highlights: 2

Saturation: 4

Temperature: 19

For the HSL, I edit the blue option so that the 

Hue: 0

Saturation: -10 

Luminance: -8

Depending on the photo, I will change the volume of each component by a few levels but not more than 5 units 

USE A FEED PLANNER 

• If you’re willing to invest in your social media presence, I totally recommend UNUM. This app used to be a great free option because of all the features, but now, many of the features I loved are a premium option only. One of the best parts besides being able to plan your feed is that you can even schedule post s

• If you’re looking for a free option, Preview is great. Like UNUM, you upload multiple pictures at once and reorganize them to your liking. You can even plan what your feed would look like by archiving existing posts 

Some of these tips are even useful for bloggers. Remember the phrase “a picture is worth a thousand words”. I know when I read blogs or scroll through Instagram I am more likely to engage with an account if images are good quality, trending, and original. 

CONTENT CREATION IDEAS

Here are some ideas of photography styles that are trending on social media. Use these as inspirations and add your own twist to them! 

B-ROLL CONTENT 

- Breakfast Flatlay 

- Aesthetic Interiors: This could be from your personal home or a nice coffee shop you visited during the week

- Close up of outfit or accessories of the day 

- Outdoors or City Views 

This type of b-roll is what helps your Instagram look cohesive when new people first look at your profile 

CANDID PHOTOS 

Many Instagram users seem to be reverting to using the social media platform more casually and tend to post candid-like shots. Next time you take a picture for your Instagram, instead of looking straight at the camera and smiling, try the following poses 

-Look at something in the distance 

- Pretend to fix your outfit 

-Walk-in place towards the camera or diagonally from the camera but always looking away 

For more ideas or inspiration, I recommend creating a Pinterest board where you can collect photo ideas that match your style the most. The great thing about Pinterest is that the more you use it, the content that shows up in your feed is more curated to your taste.

Another great tool has been joining the Women Club at Fashion Potluck. The access to webinars has definitely helped me improve my content and meet many cool women with similar interests. 

Link to Registration here! https://fashionpotluck.com/women-club-registration