How to edit your photos for Instagram.

Light is your friend when taking great shots. A well-lit image makes editing photos for Instagram so much easier and faster.

For the best natural lighting conditions, choose the golden hour – the hour after sunrise and hour before sunset. This provides a soft, golden light that can also provide interesting shadows.

Some of the more popular subjects include fun or cute animals, tasty looking food, interesting patterns and colour combos and, of course, people in unique poses.

Look for something unusual within these categories - whether it’s a combinations of colours you love, a friend with an interesting face that would make a great portrait or food you’ve never tried before.

The biggest difference when choosing where to shoot your Instagram images is whether to take photos inside or outside. Inside usually provides more control over lighting and subject arrangement.

But if you venture outside, you can capture some truly amazing images, using nature as your background for great animal or people shots or as your main focus. Autumn colours, bright blue summer seas or stark winter landscapes can all add an extra element to your Instagram feed.

Options like image bursts allow you to choose the best image from a selection taken quickly - great for moving subjects.

Plus, there are all the standard smartphone camera features like adjusting focus, changing exposure levels and turning HDR on and off. Many phones now auto-suggest settings based on what you’re taking photos of. Elsewhere, you can add a bokeh effect if you’re taking portraits or bring up grid lines to make sure your composition is balanced.

A good option to look out for is to shoot in square mode. This provides an image more in line with the dimensions people are used to on Instagram. Some more recent phones also have a special Instagram shooting mode that allows you to shoot, edit and upload in one process.

Alternatively, you can choose to shoot directly through the Instagram app itself. Again this usually allows you to shoot in the dimension most commonly used on Instagram.

Many smartphones will allow you to shoot your images for Instagram with HDR - or high dynamic range. The dynamic range is essentially the difference in brightness between dark and light areas of a single image.

The HDR setting - sometimes also called ‘rich tone’ - is not to everyone’s taste, but used correctly can make colours and details pop. It does this by combining three exposure settings in three images - over-exposed, under-exposed and normal exposure. It then stitches these three photos together into a single image.

HDR is really useful for:

• Taking selfies against bright backgrounds.
• Nature and landscape photography where there’s a mix of shadows and bright sunlight.
• Any low light or backlit shot where the subject come out too dark.

Avoid it when:

• There’s movement, as it can create blurred images while it takes the three photos required.
• You want a high contrast as an artistic choice, as HDR will reduce this.
• There are vivid colours. While HDR can make colours more vibrant, if the subject is already bright it can have the opposite effect and wash them out

Once you’ve taken your Instagram photo, you’ll need to edit it to make sure you’re giving your feed and followers the best possible image. You can edit your Instagram photo using your phone’s own image editor, but the app also provides plenty of fun and functional editing options.

Here’s how to do it:

• Normal/no filter - just the image you shot.
• Clarendon - adding brightness, highlights and darker shadows to make colours really pop.
• Gingham - gives images a vintage, washed out feel, toning down colours.
• Moon - one of the black and white filters, providing high contrast between dark and light.
• Lark - brightens all colours apart from red, making it useful for outdoor shots.
• Reyes - brightens while giving desaturated colours, giving a retro feel.
• Juno - makes reds and yellows pop, adding richness to shots.
• Slumber - adds a slight sepia tone while toning down colours for a real retro look.
• Crema - adds warmth to shots and, as the name suggests, is great for shooting inside cafes.

Using Instagram filters.

How you use your filters can be based on a variety of factors. Some people use the same filter each time to give their feed a unified theme. Others tailor each photo using the right filter for the right job.

Many Instagrammers have a handful of select filters they go to time and again, choosing a specific filter for people, another for food and a third for exterior shots.

Tags and hashtags.

If you want your image to be seen by likeminded people, it’s a good idea to start tagging. You can:

• Tag a person directly in the image. This could be someone who appears in the image or a friend or follower you think would love this picture. Simply click Tag People and find your friends.
• Add a hashtag. For public accounts these allow people with similar interests to find your photos easier. Simply type # and start writing - suggestions with the number of similar tags will pop up. Choose a handful to cover various topics.
• Add location. Make sure everyone knows where your favourite meal was served or where you got that amazing str by adding a location tag to your image.

Enhancing photos in Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom.

An alternative to editing via the Instagram app is to give your photos the sheen and finish they deserve by editing them in Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom.