Are you on Instagram? According to a recent readership survey conducted by Whalebone, 91% of you are and check the popular social media platform at least once daily. We’d be allowing a disservice to walk by if we didn’t bring in a ringer and ask them to share a few tips to improve your Insta game and ensure your casual addiction to your phone is done with a little style and grace. If you’re going to do something — do it well.
We teamed up with @amy_stone aka Amy Stone. She #sorta #knows her stuff about social media. When not helping to lead the global marketing and social media department at GAP, Amy is a frequent visitor to the East End and carries an appreciation for the heritage and history of the community. This appreciation is evident in her photography and social media post. Having 125K+ Instagram followers doesn’t hurt her street cred either.
1. Develop a Signature Aesthetic. Put thought into your overall stylistic strategy. Is your angle coastal blues and surfer vibes in Montauk? Black and white minimalism in Manhattan? Decide what your visual story is and strive to create photos that are consistent with that vision.
Grid via @amy_stone.
2. Consider the Grid. Instagram was founded on sharing in-the-moment snapshots, but these single images don’t stand alone — they’re part of the bigger picture, your grid. I keep in mind the layout, flow and color palette of my current images to ensure my next post fits seamlessly.
3. Edit like a Pro. The trick to editing is to make it appear that you’ve barely touched the image. Subtle but deliberate tweaks and tuning go far. Consistency is key, but you never want someone to look at your images and be able to tell that they’ve all been coated in the same filter. Always desaturate whites to remove yellow shadows, too. I prefer VSCO Cam for presets and Snapseed to fine tune — both are free to download.
4. Capture Things in a Way That Never Existed Before. Aim to create moments and photos that will cause someone to stop scrolling aimlessly through his or her feed, stop and look closer. There’s a level of effort and creativity that goes into producing this type of content, but to me, it’s worth it. Photos are much more interesting with a human or motion element!
In the end, we’ll most likely say this Instagram thing was a pretty great/terribly addictive way to develop a visual time capsule of our lives. #kevincostner
All photos courtesy of Amy Stone. Check out her website for an endless amount of inspiration.
