Social media photography tips for businesses only using a smartphone
Have you ever wondered how other businesses keep up with Instagram’s demand for high-quality, aesthetic images? What if I told you it may be a little more simpler and a lot less time consuming than you thought? This is your sign to give photography a go!
If there’s one thing that I learned while studying photography, everyone can do it. It’s not about how expensive your equipment is. In fact, you can use just about anything and as long as you use it correctly you can still capture a worthwhile image.
Here are five photography tips that will change your photography game to make your personal or business Instagram account stand out:
1. Framing
Framing is simply drawing attention to a certain part of the photo frame. Pick one aspect and set up the image in a way that makes it the center of attention – even if it’s not in the center. Framing is especially important to keep in mind with busy images.
There are many different framing techniques that are simple to learn and are appealing to the eyes. Here are some of the most common ones and my favorites:
Leading Lines: Using certain lines and shapes in an image to direct someone’s eyes to key elements in the image.
Symmetry: creates an overall sense of balance and harmony in an image. It does not actually need to be completely symmetrical. If you’re using symmetry, make sure it’s still interesting.
Rule of Thirds: Imagine a three-by-three grid over your image. Line your subject up, so it meets at one of the intersections. Your subject will be lined in frame off-center. This approach can be used if you want your image to be balanced but not centered.
2. Color Theory
Another way you can use photography to help your social media stand out from the rest is using color theory.
A color wheel is a great thing to reference to find opposite colors that work together. You can use the color wheel to spice up your photography by keeping in mind two opposing colors on the wheel and pairing them together. You can also use two colors to create an overall theme throughout your entire social media feed. Feel free to reference our Instagram as reference @hellosocialco.
3. Layout
Another good visual to keep in mind on Instagram and other photo sharing websites is to create and use images that work together and do not look cluttered. There are many ways to do this. My suggestion: rotate between different types of images. For example, post a portrait or a photo with people and then maybe break that up with some objects, nature or even a graphic. You still want variety within the types of images you are posting.
4. Depth of Field
Another photography tip is to keep in mind depth of field. Depth of field controls how much of an image is in focus. Having a shallow depth of field means that only objects you focus on in the front of the frame will be in focus. By throwing other areas of the image out of focus, you are blurring them and losing detail. This makes objects in focus stand out. Using a shallow depth of field is best for portraits and close ups.
Using a larger depth of field keeps everything within the frame in focus. Although this can be challenging to make a single object stand out, it is amazing for capturing landscapes, nature and patterns. By utilizing depth of field correctly, it can help your images be unique.
5. Lighting
Lighting is the number one thing that can make or break a photo – an overexposed image losses all detail and an underexposed image ends up too dark and muddy. Finding the right lighting balance makes all the difference, so make sure to check the lighting before shooting 100 photos. When in doubt, always take multiples of the same image in different lighting levels and have a bit of extra light on hand when shooting indoors or out of direct sunlight. This way you can go back and review the images later. My favorite lighting to shoot in is natural lighting called “Golden Hour.” This is usually the hour or two before sunset.
Don’t be afraid to mess around with the exposure after the fact either. There are plenty of great editing software out there. My favorite: Lightroom — even the free version has a lot of the basics to offer.
These photography tips will help anyone shoot amazing photos on any device with no expensive equipment needed; and will help you up your social media photography game in no time. Give them a try — what’s the worst that can happen!
For more photography tips read more here.
Tags: business, digital media, images, Instagram, Social Media, social media for business, social media management, social media photography