If you’re following me on Instagram you know that I like to keep my photo feed very white and bright. A lot of people ask me how I’ve been able to edit my photos to make Instagram photos brighter without Photoshop. Here’s my tutorial on how I do just that!
I personally have tried Photoshop for about 5 minutes before I put my hands in the air and said eff this! That program is crazy! Lucky for us though is that there are a TON of amazing apps out there right now that can help you to take not so amazing photos to “Wow! That looks badass!” right at our fingertips! Aren’t smartphones amazing? (sigh)
This tutorial is how I make my Instagram photos lighter and brighter right within the Instagram app! No additional apps necessary! If you’d rather watch my tutorial video you can check that out below.
Taking A Screen Shot
When you’re a solo entrepreneur for the most part it can be really difficult to get that amazing shot of your self without having to take a shameless selfie. I MUCH prefer this method versus posting endless selfies where you can see how I haven’t shaved my pits in a few days. Take a screen shot of a video. WHAT?! Did I blow your mind a little bit right there?
Yes! Screen shots from videos! It makes it SO easy for you to get a great photo of just you, or you and your kiddos, or you and your fur babies. So what I do is I set up my camera on video making sure I have everything centered as well as I can into the video. I let the video run for 30 seconds up to about 2 minutes. Then I thumb through that handy slider at the bottom of the video to find some great screen shots.
Just in case you don’t know how to take a screen shot on an iPhone, you simply press the home button and the single side button (not sure the technical term for this one) at the same time. Your screen will flash for a second and you’ll hear the camera sound.
I’ll typically take 3-5 screen shots then pick out my favorite from the bunch.
Use The Right Filter
I think it’s incredibly important for your branding to make sure you use the same filter for all of your photos! You want to build that recognizable brand and one of the easiest ways to create consistency in your images is through your filters.
My personal favorite filter and the only one I ever use is the Clarendon filter. I love it because it typically cools down warmer photos, makes whites whiter, makes the photo brighter and boosts the contrast making the darks darker. Usually though I don’t like the filter to be applied 100% so I will take down the opacity of the filter until it looks right.
Edit The Picture
Next I’ll go into the edit feature on Instagram. Here I can edit my Instagram photo to make it brighter and whiter even if the original photo is dark.
First I’ll adjust the brightness.
Then I’ll usually increase the contrast & saturation since I like really bright photos however that can sometimes wash out the photo.
I’ll also often adjust the warmth of the photo. I don’t like my photos to look too warm (more red & yellow). Typically I prefer them to be more on the cool side so I will usually take the warmth down a few notches.
Once I feel I’ve got the photo just right I’ll post it. Very often however I will immediately check my Instagram feed and see that the photo just doesn’t quite mesh well with all of the others. Maybe it’s too warm or not bright enough. So I always make sure I copy all of the text within the caption of the photo before I delete the post and try it again. Yes, I delete the post immediately and simply post it again after I’ve adjusted it to better fit into my white theme Instagram theme.
I hope these tips help you to better create your own personal brand and to help you make your photos look more appealing.
I would love to hear any suggestions about your favorite photography tips or favorite editing apps in the comments below!
