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4 Rules to Capturing the Perfect Instagram Photo

by | May 13, 2019 | cell phone photos, How to take a good photo, iPhone Tips, Social Media

4 Rules to Capturing the Perfect Instagram Photo

 

 

We all know that Instagram reformats our images after we post them. They get edited into a square frame (ugh!). Trust us, we know this can seem frustrating. We can help! We’ve put together a couple of tips in order to help you take the best possible photos for Instagram right from the start.

 

Before we go over advice for creating the perfect composition, lets quickly talk about taking the photo itself. The automatic camera app on your iPhone, as well as any extra camera app you may download, has the ability to directly take a square photo. If you know that you’re going to be posting this picture on Instagram, this is the way to go. When you take the photo in a square mode originally, it keeps you from having to crop it later. Cropping the photo later may result in a lower-quality photo on top of also having to change the original composition you worked so hard to create. 

 

Now let’s talk about capturing the perfect square photo with a composition guaranteed to catch any viewers eye scrolling by. 

 

1. Place Subject in Center. You may have heard in the past that you shouldn’t place your main subject in the direct center. Normally we might agree with this, unless it’s a headshot, particularly a business headshot, but when it comes to square photos, forget it! With square photos, if the main subject is strong and can tell its own story, then it can draw enough attention to be placed in the center of the photo. 

 

2. Fill Entire Frame. Think about taking up the entire frame. Remember, these photos are probably going to be looked at on a small iPhone screen. Keep in mind that this doesn’t mean completely getting rid of blank space. Some blank space is necessary in order to both keep balance and to be aesthetically pleasing. 

 

3. Center Your Grids. We’ve talked before about how iPhones have the ability to show grids across the images you are taking. You can use these grids to either follow the rule of thirds as we’ve discussed before, or you can also use to do create another pleasing look. If you’re doing a larger landscape or a photo with smaller subjects, center those small subjects within the grid squares.  

 

4. Make Your Own Rules. We like to remind people that while photography has plenty of “rules” or guidelines, to follow in order to help create an aesthetically pleasing composition, photography is still art. We like to remind people, make your own rules! Photography is about so much more than simply “taking the perfect photo”. Use your design, your eye, and your vision to take shots nobody else would take. 

 

Need more ideas check out our post 5 ways to take better photos with your cell phone.

 

 

jen worley photographer

Jen Barker Worley Photography
555 Grant Street, Suite 337 Offices at the William Penn Pittsburgh, PA 15219

https://jenworley.com
412-370-4520

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Jen Barker Worley Photography specializes in headshot and personal branding photography in the Pittsburgh area. Downtown Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh Headshots

jenworleyphotography

Some people like the whole “before and after” thing. (And of course I would never do this with a client photo.). But I don’t mind sharing mine, cause “this is me.” I own my age (45).My vision for whoever I use as retoucher is to keep things real but “enhanced.” Every image of every person we see in Vogue, GQ, has had extensive skin retouching done. Beautiful pores. Even texture. We see it so much that we think that all these people have flawless skin… they don’t. That’s where the amazing retoucher’s come in. They get paid good money to do this well and fast.Personally, I like my photo to be a little more gritty realism. But when your Retoucher is your husband, you kinda lose that battle.After he does his skin magic, there’s something I need to do to every single photo of mine. A flaw that is getting more pronounced with age. My left eye (on the right of the photo) has a heavy lid. Which then makes that eye look dead, because the catchlight doesn’t show. I have a super simple fix to bump that eyelid back up a bit and fix that catchlight.And I figured, let’s enhance the Mickey face on the Watch. Because why not. #pittsburghheadshots #retouching @dan_jenworleyphotography

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Sep 22

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Instagram post 17904851072176826 Some people like the whole “before and after” thing. (And of course I would never do this with a client photo.). But I don’t mind sharing mine, cause “this is me.” I own my age (45).My vision for whoever I use as retoucher is to keep things real but “enhanced.” Every image of every person we see in Vogue, GQ, has had extensive skin retouching done. Beautiful pores. Even texture. We see it so much that we think that all these people have flawless skin… they don’t. That’s where the amazing retoucher’s come in. They get paid good money to do this well and fast.Personally, I like my photo to be a little more gritty realism. But when your Retoucher is your husband, you kinda lose that battle.After he does his skin magic, there’s something I need to do to every single photo of mine. A flaw that is getting more pronounced with age. My left eye (on the right of the photo) has a heavy lid. Which then makes that eye look dead, because the catchlight doesn’t show. I have a super simple fix to bump that eyelid back up a bit and fix that catchlight.And I figured, let’s enhance the Mickey face on the Watch. Because why not. #pittsburghheadshots #retouching @dan_jenworleyphotography

Some people like the whole “before and after” thing. (And of course I would never do this with a client photo.). But I don’t mind sharing mine, cause “this is me.” I own my age (45). My vision for whoever I use as retoucher is to keep things real but “enhanced.” Every image of every person we see in Vogue, GQ, has had extensive skin retouching done. Beautiful pores. Even texture. We see it so much that we think that all these people have flawless skin… they don’t. That’s where the amazing retoucher’s come in. They get paid good money to do this well and fast. Personally, I like my photo to be a little more gritty realism. But when your Retoucher is your husband, you kinda lose that battle. After he does his skin magic, there’s something I need to do to every single photo of mine. A flaw that is getting more pronounced with age. My left eye (on the right of the photo) has a heavy lid. Which then makes that eye look dead, because the catchlight doesn’t show. I have a super simple fix to bump that eyelid back up a bit and fix that catchlight. And I figured, let’s enhance the Mickey face on the Watch. Because why not. #pittsburghheadshots #retouching @dan_jenworleyphotography ...

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jenworleyphotography

Working on making gifs for my IG feed, instead of multiple stills. You know, because IG says they are all about videos now.Looking for easy ways to make gifs, convert for IG, and then schedule. Should I make these as reels? Can I post these as reels if I’m importing from GIPHY? Anyone have any input, I’m all ears. There is wisdom in a multitude of counselors.#reels @giphy

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Aug 16

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Instagram post 17979563497402204 Working on making gifs for my IG feed, instead of multiple stills. You know, because IG says they are all about videos now.Looking for easy ways to make gifs, convert for IG, and then schedule. Should I make these as reels? Can I post these as reels if I’m importing from GIPHY? Anyone have any input, I’m all ears. There is wisdom in a multitude of counselors.#reels @giphy

Working on making gifs for my IG feed, instead of multiple stills. You know, because IG says they are all about videos now. Looking for easy ways to make gifs, convert for IG, and then schedule. Should I make these as reels? Can I post these as reels if I’m importing from GIPHY? Anyone have any input, I’m all ears. There is wisdom in a multitude of counselors. #reels @giphy ...

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jenworleyphotography

Marisa Corona, Pittsburgh Business Times' 30 Under 30 honoree, is a social media and digital marketer who has managed and built award-winning digital marketing content strategies for over 30 brands and organizations — from local businesses to nonprofits to health care to B2B and the world’s largest consumer packaged goods brands.

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Jul 2

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Instagram post 18125680600212752 Marisa Corona, Pittsburgh Business Times' 30 Under 30 honoree, is a social media and digital marketer who has managed and built award-winning digital marketing content strategies for over 30 brands and organizations — from local businesses to nonprofits to health care to B2B and the world’s largest consumer packaged goods brands.

Marisa Corona, Pittsburgh Business Times' 30 Under 30 honoree, is a social media and digital marketer who has managed and built award-winning digital marketing content strategies for over 30 brands and organizations — from local businesses to nonprofits to health care to B2B and the world’s largest consumer packaged goods brands. ...

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jenworleyphotography

Had the privilege of taking Mr. Carnegie’s photo this week. But he was a bit difficult.Old heavy ornate frame. He was under glass. In the corner of two small hallways. And I couldn’t control the lighting in the office- some stay on permanently.I thought I came prepared. Brought a large felt backdrop to block the light and the reflections it cast. But it wasn’t solid enough. Couldn’t completely block the light from the doorway on the same plain as the artwork, which then illuminated my tripod and me, as you can see in the glass.So I started playing around with cardboard that was laying around, which served the dual purpose of further blocking the diffused light behind the camera, and stopping the camera, tripod, and me reflecting off the glass.But it wasn’t big enough. And it took forever, as my shutter speed was at 25 seconds. So Abby, who was the project leader doubling as my assistant (thank you Abby!) found a roll of Kraft paper, which we unfurled, both holding an end to cover a larger area… it was barely long enough to cover the width, so perfect!My psd file comprised of five images all layers then masked out to get me what I needed, and then I had to clone out my lens which was still to the left of Andy’s chin.Took about an hour on location, and then maybe 20-30 minutes in post. But still less work (and risk!) than taking it off the wall, and taking it out of glass.#carnegie #carnegieheros #pittsburgh #carnegieherofund

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Jun 10

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Link to display lightbox
Instagram post 17998829323337729 Had the privilege of taking Mr. Carnegie’s photo this week. But he was a bit difficult.Old heavy ornate frame. He was under glass. In the corner of two small hallways. And I couldn’t control the lighting in the office- some stay on permanently.I thought I came prepared. Brought a large felt backdrop to block the light and the reflections it cast. But it wasn’t solid enough. Couldn’t completely block the light from the doorway on the same plain as the artwork, which then illuminated my tripod and me, as you can see in the glass.So I started playing around with cardboard that was laying around, which served the dual purpose of further blocking the diffused light behind the camera, and stopping the camera, tripod, and me reflecting off the glass.But it wasn’t big enough. And it took forever, as my shutter speed was at 25 seconds. So Abby, who was the project leader doubling as my assistant (thank you Abby!) found a roll of Kraft paper, which we unfurled, both holding an end to cover a larger area… it was barely long enough to cover the width, so perfect!My psd file comprised of five images all layers then masked out to get me what I needed, and then I had to clone out my lens which was still to the left of Andy’s chin.Took about an hour on location, and then maybe 20-30 minutes in post. But still less work (and risk!) than taking it off the wall, and taking it out of glass.#carnegie #carnegieheros #pittsburgh #carnegieherofund

Had the privilege of taking Mr. Carnegie’s photo this week. But he was a bit difficult. Old heavy ornate frame. He was under glass. In the corner of two small hallways. And I couldn’t control the lighting in the office- some stay on permanently. I thought I came prepared. Brought a large felt backdrop to block the light and the reflections it cast. But it wasn’t solid enough. Couldn’t completely block the light from the doorway on the same plain as the artwork, which then illuminated my tripod and me, as you can see in the glass. So I started playing around with cardboard that was laying around, which served the dual purpose of further blocking the diffused light behind the camera, and stopping the camera, tripod, and me reflecting off the glass. But it wasn’t big enough. And it took forever, as my shutter speed was at 25 seconds. So Abby, who was the project leader doubling as my assistant (thank you Abby!) found a roll of Kraft paper, which we unfurled, both holding an end to cover a larger area… it was barely long enough to cover the width, so perfect! My psd file comprised of five images all layers then masked out to get me what I needed, and then I had to clone out my lens which was still to the left of Andy’s chin. Took about an hour on location, and then maybe 20-30 minutes in post. But still less work (and risk!) than taking it off the wall, and taking it out of glass. #carnegie #carnegieheros #pittsburgh #carnegieherofund ...

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