Who doesn’t want to be an Instagram Influencer? Seriously, come on! You get to travel all over the world for free, get brands to send you free stuff, and even get paid thousands of dollars just to post one picture on your Instagram account. Seems like a pretty easy magical life.
While Instagram Influencers are here to stay there are very few that can command this type of treatment, gifts, and rates. It takes a long time and a lot of hard work to build up an Instagram account to this level. Regardless of where your account currently is on its journey, all influencer accounts start by taking amazing photos. Without the amazing, carefully crafted images that really stand out and pop that stop people from scrolling to actually take a moment to look at the image, these accounts wouldn’t be worth anything. So how do you take amazing Instagram photos that will help grow your followers? Here are some tips that everyone can implement that can bring a simple normal photo to a “wow”-scroll-stopping photo:
Don’t Take Photos Using The Instagram App
The camera on your phone is way better and has a lot more settings and features. You might think they are the same thing since they are both on your phone, but your regular camera phone allows you to do a lot more when taking a photo like zooming and setting exposures.
Think About Your Composition
Influencers don’t take just one perfect photo magically. You only see the one amazing photo, but you’re not seeing the hundreds that were discarded. Think about how to frame the photo before you take it. What could make this picture look more interesting? Try using unique angles or putting objects in the foreground to create some depth to your image. You want users to feel like they are in the photo with you, so you want the composition to make it easy for them to fit into your world. Make it feel personal.
Hire a Photographer
Selfie sticks are annoying and it’s always obvious that you were using a selfie stick when looking at the photo. Some of the best influencer photos show the person in an aspirational setting – away from the camera. So you either need to get really good about using the self timer and a makeshift tripod (which will get very tedious when constantly taking photos) or you need to hire a private photographer to follow you around. A private photographer will discreetly take photos of you in the location of your choosing to make it look like you’re effortlessly having a great time. This is a really good way to enhance your Instagram portfolio.
Edit Your Photos
Nothing that you see on Instagram is really real (sorry to burst your bubble). Especially on an influencer’s account every photo has been carefully edited to make it the best it can be. That could mean simple things like color correction or filters, or even just making the person in the photo look better. As with every other type of media we see every day, Instagram images are also edited to give the appearance and illusion of a perfect and aspirational life that others would want to strive for.
