Ever wondered how some feeds are so gorgeous and appealing to look at on Instagram? Having a good eye for a great shot is part of the magic of that appeal, but there are specific strategies you can leverage to ensure your pix get likes & your ‘gram following grows. Follow these tips I shared with DMC Designers Guide from Dallas Market Center for their January issue.

Tip 1:

Use an app like Snapseed (free) or VSCO to edit your images before posting.  Its really important that you find a look that you love to apply to all of your images, and these apps are the best.  Every image, iphone or not, will need some editing.  I like to brighten my images, add a little contrast and saturation(be careful not to go crazy here!), and straighten my shots.  

Tip 2: 

Cropping for Instagram.  Keep in mind the best crop for Instagram is a 4x5 proportion.  Crop images before posting, and stay consistent in this area as well.  Maybe you want all verticals, or square, or mix in horizontal shots, but when viewing your grid it should have a meaningful pattern. 

Tip 3: 

Details are best.  Tight cropped images of details get better results, because people can see them better.  If you post a huge room shot as a horizontal shot you will not get much impact, but it may work well on your website(horizontals always work better on websites).  Think vertical, and tight. 

Tip 4: 

Down shots of details to tell a story.  Think mood board, or swatches for a project, or a coffee table....  Again, stay level, tight and vertical.

Tip 5: 

Color!  Try to group images in your grid with a color element.  Think in groups of 9, or multiples of 9.  If you can, keep objects in mind to place in shots to pull in that color, just 'do it for the gram!'  

Bonus tips...   

When shooting detail shots, try to shoot them straight on, and from a lower position than shooting standing up.  Get low, and level!  In Snapseed there is a tool for automatically straightening your images, learn how to use it! 

Now, go out there & get snappin’!