Are your Photos Insta-worthy?
Are your Photos Insta-worthy?
So you snapped an amazing image, you love it, everyone on Facebook said it was great and you actually feel proud of it. You may have gone to a lot of effort to set it up, or to travel/hike to get there and the final image was so worth the effort. You put it on your Instagram account and….crickets, nada, nothing.
Instagram is a hard task master, it’s a harsh room to entertain if you are not following the ‘rules’. There are a few basic things to help your images along. I am NO expert and still learning the intricacies of IG (Instagram) myself, but here are some of the things I have learnt…
Correct positioning images
I find there is nothing more off putting than an image which has not been sized or positioned correctly when added into IG, take care when loading images, people with heads cut off or the image is too big and gets chopped off (I used to do this ALL the time). When adding an image make sure it is sized correctly for IG, which used to be 1:1 Square crop but you can now also use 8:10 crop, you just need to use the positioning tool when you first add the image.
Do you Hashtag?
IG is ALL about the Hashtag, if you add Hashtags to your images it is more likely people will see it and perhaps follow you. You can actually follow Hashtags themselves on IG. Not sure what Hashtags to use? Well that can be a bit tricky, if you really like landscapes you might like to check out what a few well followed photographers use and make up a list of the relevant Hashtags to you, start with Country, State and Area the photo was taken as well. Into Flowers? Anything floral, again, check out a few Togs with a large following to see what they use.
Still Life? Here are just a few ideas…
#stilllife #flowers #darkandmoody #macromagic #lovethelook #loveyourlife #stilllifestudy #photography #backlight #flowers #macro #inspiredbypetals #inspiredbynature #everydaymagic #postitfortheasthetic #floralstyling #seeksimplicity #momentslikethese #floraandfauna #everydayelegance #flatlayforever #livemoremagic #seekmoments
I store my Hashtags in OneNote pages on PC and Mobile and then copy and paste for ease of use. I have different Hashtag folders, Still Life, Macro, Digital Art, Travel, Food Photography etc.
TIP: You can currently only use 30 Hashtags at once on IG
TIP: Did you know you can also post direct into Facebook from IG? However keep in mind your Hashtags will appear, instead try placing your hashtags in the comments of your post rather than directly in your post. I hear that it is less distracting and the SEO Autobots still pick up your Hashtags. I used to do this and have begun doing it again with my posts.
Now don’t get me wrong I do not have 10k or followers, I am still a small fry in a rather large pond, but everyday, little by little I am gaining traction.
Got some more tips and tricks you an share with us? Jump on my Facebook page and tell us all about them, or email me direct (little envelope icon at the bottom of the page).
