How do you feel about the time change? As a blogger, I’m not a fan. Not only am I a blogger, but I am part of the late night blogger’s club. I like to stay up late and write my heart out.
I haven’t been writing near enough, had a lot of lame excuses for it, but I’m back and feeling more creative than ever. Won’t ramble on this forever, just thought you should know.
Anyway – the time change. It’s a bitch. So basically, I stay up until 1AM then sleep until 10AM and the sun is already down by 6. This leaves a lot less time for taking good pics, right? I’ve been doing this whole blogging thing a few years now, so I have some tricks up my sleeve. Let’s talk about them.
Choose One Day to Take Pictures
Raise your hand if you’re a sweatpants, hair tied, chillin’ with no makeup up on kind of girl. (I’m watching young Drake on Degrassi right now, felt it was relevant to mention) Anyway, I do not have the patience to get ready for pictures every day. If you watch my Instagram stories, then you know that I can usually be found in my comfy white robe or my blue sweatshirt on. Don’t worry, I wash my favs often.
- Take 5 outfits with you and make a day of taking pictures at different locations
- Get creative with your pics! Don’t limit yourself to all of the cliche locations. Keep your eye out for anything that looks like it may make an interesting background
This is honestly probably my most important tip, as it really is a time save! And it can be so much fun. My boyfriend is my current photographer, so it’s fun to spend a day taking pics with him.
F*ck the Golden Hours
If you look at my Instagram feed, you’ll find that I take pictures in all sorts of locations during all different times of day. This is FINEEEEE. I used to pressure myself to get pics during those perfect hours, but honestly, I like the variety.
I will say, if it is a super bright day, be careful of weird shadows casting on your face. There’s usually a good angle you can find. Take pictures as you spin in a circle to find your spot. Shadows are also great spots for the brightest hours of the day!
Something I’ve been doing if I want to take a picture in the dark is using the Kuji Cam app to take my pictures. Blurry, grainy + vintagey pics are in right now! So, download Kuji Cam, turn on the flash and snap some pics! Check out this cool wine pic I took outside at like 6PM (DAMN TIME CHANGE)
Don’t Be Afraid to Reuse Pics / Outfits
I used to be such a psycho when planning my Instagram layout. If I wore an outfit once, I would never wear it again in a picture. Andddd why? I’m not a fashion blogger. Even if you are, people like seeing the same outfit over and over again until they’re like “OMG I need this!” You know?
If you space your pictures out, nobody will notice the difference. Even if you don’t, who cares? I don’t pretend like I take pictures for Instagram in the moment. I’m very much a “lategrammer”. And to be real, that’s what Instagram stories are for anyway.
Quality Over Quantity
Gone are the days where you needed to post a ton of content in order to be seen. Now, we want not only quality pictures but quality captions with them. A nice micro-blog in your pics is a great way to suck people in. Be you, be real & let people get to know you!
With that being said, I believe that Instagram stories are almost more important than posting on your feed. Let’s be real, where are you spending your time? 9 times out of 10, I’m binge watching Instagram stories.
People are nosy, we want behind the scenes!
Get a Cheap Ring Light
Someday I’m going to splurge and get the big, fancy professional ring light. But, until then, this one under $20 bucks will do. It has a clip so you can put it basically everywhere, and has different lighting options depending on if you want warm, cool or natural light! I’ve become a big fan of taking pictures indoors. There won’t always be natural lighting, so having some good lighting that mimics natural light is helpful. This way, it doesn’t matter what time of day it is – you are SET! Lighting really is the one thing you cannot fix, so this really comes in handy.
Hope these tips were helpful for you! I’ll probably do another post with general Instagram tips or maybe even one about my favorite editing apps. Idk, let me know what you wanna see!
Also, you may like How to Make Money on Instagram (Even if You Don’t Have 10,000 Followers Yet!)
Want to save this for later? Here’s a Pinterest Graphic For ya!
