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Photography Instagram Tips

Instagram is one of the most popular social media channels on the planet, and according to Hubspot¹, there are over 1.3 billion people on Instagram, with over 500 million active users daily. Whilst Ronaldo may have over 500 million followers, the rest of us are happy to grow our following at a slower rate, using Instagram to reach a wider audience, sell our photography services and engage with like-minded people.

If you’re one of the many photographers hoping to boost their business and gain new skills, our photography Instagram tips will help you ride the algorithm, whilst creating a more engaged audience.

You’ve got your camera with the perfect lens, but what comes next? In this short post you’ll discover tips on how to start and grow a photography account, consistently post impressive photos, connect with followers and use the most sought-after hashtags.

How to Improve Instagram Photos

As you scroll through inspiring Instagram photography accounts, it may leave you wondering how to achieve the same quality and improve your Instagram photos, which takes us neatly to the first point. PetaPixel² reports that although 36% of professional photographers they interviewed capture some of their photos with a smartphone, the vast majority of photographers use their primary digital camera for professional work.

As well as using your main camera for your instagram photos, these 10 Instagram photography tips will help to elevate your feed:

1. Nail every exposure according to the subject and style you’re creating
2. Get your lighting right for the mood of the shot, whether photographing a naturally lit portrait, studio shot with artificial lighting or a candle-lit scene
3. Play with depth of field to draw the viewer into your photo and separate the subject from distractions
4. Look for unique angles, especially when shooting honey-pot locations and popular ideas
5. Create your own photographic style, whether through filters or subject choices, then stick with it to create a cohesive feed
6. Use tried-and-tested compositional techniques, such as the rule of thirds to master every photo
7. Try experimenting with different techniques such as star bursts, long exposures using ND filters or night photography
8. Achieve sharp focus on the eye by harnessing your camera’s subject-detection when taking portraits, animal or pet photos
9. Learn to edit your images to complete your creative vision, through cropping and enhancements using photography software such as Photoshop or Capture One, but try not to over-edit
10. After learning manual photography (in just 10 minutes) start to Shoot in RAW vs JPEG and gain complete control over the final result

Once your Instagram feed begins to stand out with consistently high-quality photos you’ll start to enjoy more likes, a rise in followers and increasing engagement, although this is just part of the process.

MINIMALIST BAKER

Food Photography Instagram Tips

Food photography is as popular as ever on Instagram, with Meero³ reporting over 327 million posts on Instagram are tagged #food. US-based MenuDrive⁴ recommend hashtags like #foodie, #instafood and #foodphotography as being amongst the most popular, but you’ll also need to capture appealing food photos in order to be discovered.

Our food photography tips for Instagram will help with everything from how to take better baking photos to how to take the perfect pancake photo:

• Focus on the most important element(s) on the plate
• Move around to find the perfect and most tasty-looking angle or composition
• Fill your frame with the most important subject and remove unwanted distractions from photobombing your shot
• Avoid direct flash, which often creates harsh lighting. You can use a small Collapsible Reflector or other light modifier to discreetly bounce some extra lighting if needed
• If there’s a nice background it’s perfectly fine to leave some space around the plate
• Editing can elevate a good photo to a great photo. Try using selective colour to make a subject pop, experiment with subtle filters and cropping in post, but avoid overcooking your picture!

aww.sam

Tips for Starting a Photography Instagram

Start by choosing a relevant username or handle, which is associated with your photography business name and make sure your account is set to public. Once you’re up and running we recommend connecting with similar accounts, then start posting your carefully curated work, using relevant tags, hashtags and geo information. Our tips below take a deeper dive into each of these beginner steps.

Think of a Relevant Handle (username)

The large majority of photographers use their own name in some way as their photography business name, but make sure your Instagram handle (account name) reflects whatever your business name is. If you already have a website, Facebook account or other established channels, try and get the exact same handle on Instagram for consistency.

If you’re coming up with a new brand name, keep it short, snappy and relevant to your style of photography. For example, if you’re a street photographer, try and come up with a relevant name, with some good examples being @anton_in_nyc and the Urban Teller.

B E N J A M I N

Connect with Similar Accounts

Connecting with similar accounts and being involved in a photography community will contribute to attracting followers and fans. Search for photos which inspire you, and connect with photographers who shoot similar subjects or styles as you do. You can find accounts through search, following hashtags and via photography hubs, which create their own communities.

Daniel Kordan

Consistently Post High-Quality Photos

As we progress our skills it’s natural for our photography to improve, and your Instagram account will reflect your personal journey. However, when starting an Instagram account, there’s a temptation to share every single picture we take, but try and be critical by only posting your best photos, which ensures your stream is a representation of your very best work.

Posting cohesive photos will also help create a unique brand, whether through pictures with similar colours, subject matter, or aesthetic editing style. Your account will naturally gain followers who connect with your brand aesthetic, particularly if you’re connected to similar accounts.

Helen Janneson Bense

Cohesive aesthetic Instagram accounts

We’ve showcased just a handful of inspiring photography accounts demonstrating a cohesive aesthetic, which you can visit and follow with these links:

1. Iswarya venkat
2. B E N J A M I N
3. MINIMALIST BAKER
4. Helen Janneson Bense
5. Daniel Kordan
6. aww.sam

Use Relevant Hashtags

By using relevant hashtags on posts, you can attract new audiences. To discover a hashtag to use, simply enter a search term in the search box and tap on ‘Tags’. If you’re engaged, you’ll start noticing hashtags trends, which are similar to FB and Twitter trends.

Instagram recommends using around 3-5 hashtags per photo, but in reality people use many more, in the hope of being found. Nobody knows precisely how Instagram’s ever-changing algorithms work, but sticking with hyper-relevant tags for each post will give your photo the best chance of being discovered.

Iswarya venkat

Interact with Followers

Engaging with your audience is a good way to influence the popularity of your posts, but more importantly, it’s a great way to build rapport, discover like-minded photographers and enjoy being part of a photography community. Replying to messages, comments and visiting your followers feeds will all help build your brand and create a more engaging experience.

People are on Instagram for all sorts of reasons, but as a business it helps to post consistently high-quality images and engage with your audience to build your brand and community. Use your main camera to capture the best possible image quality and create a cohesive style for an instantly recognisable brand.

Browse for a digital camera to help your work stand out from the crowd and give your Instagram profile a head start from day one and share your photos with us on Instagram here.

Sources:

• ¹ Hubspot
• ² Petapixel
• ³ Meero
• ⁴ MenuDrive

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By Nick Dautlich on 16/01/2023