Photo Styling Tips Everyone Can Use

Person or brand, we’re all trying to get more likes on Instagram. We’ve mastered the art of using the right hashtags + figured out what times garner the best engagement. It’s now time to think about the styling of our photos. Statistically speaking, photos with people in them get better engagement but you want to fill your Instagram with more than just selfies. Here are a few things to keep in mind when styling people-free images.

1. Composition- Think of things like the rule of thirds when taking photos. Not every photo has to be centered. Also, remember that white space is not bad space. You want to make sure that your photo is balanced + not too busy that it takes away focus from what you’re trying to showcase.
2. Alignment- There’s no right or wrong way to arrange objects. All angles don’t have to be 90 degrees + things don’t have to line up. If sharing images of multiple objects, try to balance both sides of the picture.  Move things around a few different ways to see what you like best.
3. Light- With any photo, you want as much light as you can get. Natural light is best, but in the event that you can’t get one, use lamps, additional iPhone lights, and any other resources you have. Flash should be your last result as it can make images too shiny.
4. Color- Studies show that having similar color compositions in a photo will help you get more likes. My favorite color composition to use is pink (??). Although studies say blue images do better than red ones. The same is true for tones. I prefer light + bright. High tones trump low tones.
5. Background- Don’t neglect what’s in the back of an image. Photos with a high amount of background get 29% more likes than those with none. If you don’t have a good surface in your house, a foam board is a nice alternative that you can use over + over again. My excited to use my new coffee table as my background.

Hopefully, these tips will help make your Instagram look a little more styled. Shout out to one of Austin’s best photographers, Chelsea Laine Francis for giving me her photo styling insights. What’s your best tip for stylish photos?