How To Take a Good Instagram Picture

Photo Credit: Iva Kozeli

By: Andrew Willard

If the age of Instagram has taught us anything, we know you do not need to be a professional photographer to take a good photo, or even have expensive equipment for that matter. If you have a smartphone, you have the power. But what really makes for a good photo? Read ahead for the five steps to taking a blogger worthy Instagram picture.

Resolution

When taking a photo, be sure to tap the area you want the camera to focus on, otherwise the subject may look blurry. Depending on the lighting involved in your photograph, the resolution of the image file size may vary. Well lit settings will result in better quality pictures.

Brightness

Make sure your photos are not overexposed (too bright) or underexposed (too dark). If your camera can’t handle a super low lighting situation, use flash to capture color and shape. If you can, look around where you’re shooting to scope out useful natural light. Natural light usually achieves a better look. When deciding which way to take a photograph from, always check which direction the sun is facing and shining. Taking a shot into harsh, head-on sunlight will reveal a little too much detail, highlighting imperfections. Taking a photo against the sunlight may cause the background of the photo to be overexposed, resulting in a battle of highlight and exposure editing and compensation.

Candid

Attempt to take photos that do not look too rigidly staged or overly posed. Smile, but don’t look like you are in pain. Everyone loves to see a photo that looks realistic and natural.

Interaction

Work to have some connection or relation between the subject and environment. People want to see you interact with your setting, not just standing and posing the same way in front of different backdrops.

Steady

Make sure you hold the camera stable when taking a photograph. It seems simple enough, but still needs to be stated. Be still enough that the only reason your photo would be blurry would be because the subject was moving.

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