How to: Edit Photos & Create An Instagram Theme

I always enjoy watching videos and reading posts about editing photos because I think with the amount of social media used today, it's something all of us do. I wanted to show you the way I like to edit my photos and possible Instagram "Themes".

Apps

Firstly, these are my photography apps. I have Rookie which I use a lot for blogging photos because it allows me to both edit the colour and add text if needed in one app. Then VSCO Cam is the editing app I think pretty much everybody uses, I use this for my Instagram photos. I use Facetune for some editing because it's great for whitening out backgrounds and adjusting details and things like that. Squaregram is what I use for borders. Layout is a collage app and Instazz is another way of getting a border. 

Editing

Going into VSCO Cam, once you have imported your chosen photo into your library, you can begin to edit it. I am using this one I took of a palm tree in Sarasota as an example. Firstly I didn't actually select a filter, I just chose to edit it myself. 

I began by changing the exposure to +3 which just lightened the whole photo, adding a light wash over it all. I then upped the saturation to +4, this is my favourite part because I love my instagram to be very bright and this makes all colours in the photo instantly pop.

I then sharpened it to +5 and increased the contrast to +3 which just kind of adds dimension to the photo. 

Finally, I altered the highlights by +9. 

An alternative way you could alter the photo if you want a darker, evening vibe is to then lower the exposure to -3 which will just do this to the picture:

Moving onto the next photo I'm going to edit, this one I took at sunset which I loved because of the colours of the sky but with a bit of editing, you can really get amazing sky photos.

Firstly I chose the C1/Vibrant filter and added it to +6. I often use this filter at this level because it works well with the photos I like. 

I then adjusted the exposure by -3 and added the contrast to +3. Already the colours are beginning to get brighter and stand out more. 

Next I upped the saturation to +4 and sharpened it to +7 so I didn't lose the quality of the photo. 

I increased the highlights to +7 and lowered the temperature because I wanted the blues and purples to pop more. I lowered it to -3 which did the job great. 

By playing around with it, you can get great photos but every picture is different, you just have to play around. 

Themes

Onto themes, my instagram are now all square photos with a border around them and I love the way it looks but there are so many different ways you can go with themes. 

Here I used Squaregram and just altered it by clicking on the little box along the bottom twice. 

Some people like there to be no white and just completely filling the instagram square that it allows for the photo everytime. If you have an image like the one above that just can't fit into a square but still want no white border, Instazz is an app that allows the background/border to be the photo but blurred. 

You can adjust the 'blurriness' of the photo to your liking. 

Below I have done some examples. Some people like a full box like the first two rows. Then the next row is a white border but square photo. The next are all the same size strips. and then the next two are portrait strips all the same size. 

The the final two rows are with a blurred image background using Instazz. 

I hope you enjoyed this post! Leave your instagrams below and I'll check those out. 

xoxo