Tips for stepping up your Instagram game

Do you love scrolling through your Instagram feed looking for awesome travel inspirations, but are too embarrassed by your lack of photo skills to post your own vacation shots? If so, then this guide to stepping up your Instagram game is for you. Here are 8 simple tips to use next time you are traveling or just doing anything Instagram worthy.

ALSO: 11 travel Instagrammers you’d be crazy not to follow

A photo posted by Hannah & Adam 🌎Getting Stamped (@gettingstamped) on Oct 29, 2016 at 6:21am PDT

Take them there

The most important thing when it comes to great travel-inspired Instagram images is to take your followers to exactly where you are. One of the best ways to make people feel like they are right there with you is the Instagram classic over-the-shoulder shot. Staring back at the camera says, “I’m here,” but a shot of a great view with you looking out over the scene says, “we’re here” and comes off as much more inspirational. Instagrammers love an epic piece of travel inspiration like that. Having a person in the frame in this fashionhelps people envision themselves right there with you. Shoot to inspire and you’ll get a lot more hearts than just an epic landscape, and infinitely more than a selfie.

A photo posted by Hannah & Adam 🌎Getting Stamped (@gettingstamped) on Jul 29, 2016 at 7:00am PDT

Keep it Symmetrical

Instagram was born of square cropped photos and square just looks better when the scene is equal on both sides. Even if your scene isn’t perfectly the same side to side, try and put your subject directly in the middle of your shot. Now this breaks all of the traditional photography rules, but that’s okay—rules were meant to be broken.

If you are taking photosoutside of the IG app or on another camera, it can be hard to imagine what the photo would look like square. To solve this many cameras now have a square photo function; if yours doesn’t, try holding the camera both in a landscape and a portrait orientation to see if what you want in your image fits in both. If it does then your photo will likely crop to a square well.

A photo posted by Matt • Expert Vagabond (@expertvagabond) on Apr 2, 2016 at 6:36pm PDT

Balance it

If you frame up your shot and really don’t like the way it looks with the main subject directly in the center, instead you can move it to the side, but it’s got to be balanced. Look for other elements in the scene to add some interest to theother side of the photo. Photos with too much on one side and not the other tend to look wrong and just aren’t as successful.

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A photo posted by Dave & DebThePlanetD (@theplanetd) on Sep 14, 2016 at 4:01am PDT

Frame it

Another great tool for your Instagram arsenal is the concept of framing. A frame can be anything from a doorway to an opening in a tree’s leaves. A frame is anything that can surround your subject directing your eyes right to the main focal point of your shot.

A photo posted by Alyssa Ramos ✈️ Travel Blogger (@mylifesatravelmovie) on Nov 7, 2016 at 6:52am PST

Filter it

The filters on Instagram can make or break a photo. The best way to use filters is to help convey the way the scene felt or looked to you in the moment, not just to make you look tan. For happy scenes try to use filters that warm the photo with yellows and oranges, like “Rise.” If you are trying to highlight the moodiness of a scene, try a filter that brings out the cooler blues, like “Hudson.” When there are people in the frame try to avoid filters that add a lot of contrast like “Clarendon,” and instead optfor filters that soften skin tones like “Gingham”or “Reyes.” Oh, and if you hashtag #nofilter make sure you mean it!

A photo posted by Stephanie Be | TravelBreak (@stephbetravel) on Aug 21, 2016 at 8:06pm PDT

Look for a reflection

With everyone walking around with a phone in their pocket it seems just about everything has been photographed, but what people love is seeing something familiar in a different way. Still pools of water or even puddles are perfect for that. Reflections let us look at something we may have seen hundreds of times, but in a new and unique way. Plus two of something awesome is always better than one.

A photo posted by Kiersten • The Blonde Abroad (@theblondeabroad) on Nov 6, 2016 at 4:08am PST

Put your phone down

Many people think of Instagram as an app to share photos you have shot with your phone. However, most of the truly amazing accounts you follow are probably using something other than an iPhone. If your aim is to truly impress, try something other than your camera phone for real control over your photos, or if you just want to upload something you took on another camera. Simply email it to yourself from a computer or transfer it to your phone and you can the add it to Instagram and even use the built-in filters.

A photo posted by Anna ✈ AnnaEverywhere (@anna.everywhere) on Jun 11, 2016 at 7:30am PDT

Pop of color

Add a pop of color to your photo for it to really shine. This gorgeous ocean photo really pops with the hot pink doughnut. Just throwing in a small pop of color will draw more attention to your photo.

A photo posted by Hannah & Adam 🌎Getting Stamped (@gettingstamped) on Aug 29, 2016 at 3:53am PDT

Everyone loves a foot shot

Lastly, one of the most popular shots on IG is the foot shot, with your two lowest appendages hanging over an epic view. Similar to the over the shoulder shot, it helps people viewing the photo on Instagram to pretend just for a moment, that these are their feet. Master the foot shot and you’ll bring people into the amazing view with you.

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Tagged: Photo essay