If you love Instagram, raise your hand! *two hands up high*
If you aren’t on Instagram yet or just “don’t get it”, the best way we can describe it is that it’s like your own personal photobook that you share with the world (or just your followers if you want it to be private). It’s kind of fun to look through and see snapshots of your life and see what your friends are up to. Pictures are so much more fun than just reading status updates. Besides, who has time to read these days?! (note: we hope you have time to read or we are out of a job)
If you want to jump on the boat, you can download Instagram here. We would love to be your first friend- @TheNashvilleMom!
We really love Instagram around here, but getting that perfect post can sometimes be tricky. Here’s our really extensive and definitely not necessary process for crafting the perfect Instagram post.
Step 1: Take a picture, actually take a few pictures so you make sure to get a good one. But DON’T take the picture using Instagram. Use the camera app on your phone- it will be higher quality.
Step 2: Pick an app, any app. We really suggest editing your photos in a different app than Instagram. Instagram is great for a quick filter, but if you use an editing app, you will be able to tweak your pictures to look just how you want them. And you don’t have to be an expert to do it.
Here are our favorites:
Afterlight– This gets the most by us. Probably just because it’s the one that we’ve mastered. Simply load the picture, adjust the brightness, apply the filter you want. Personally, I almost always use the Captain filter because I like my pictures very bright. They have a lot great ones. You can also crop it right in the app to fit Instagram and upload it.
PicTapGo– This is a new one, but we’re loving it. Load your picture, then you can layer different filters to get the look you want. Once you have it right, you can save the combination for your ‘signature look’. When you’re done, you can upload directly to any social media account.
Step 3 (optional): What if you want to add in some cute embellishments? We recommend Rhonna Designs. You can add in text or pre-made embellishments. You can change the size and color of each as well. Plus, they are super cute.
Step 4 (optional): But what if your picture isn’t square? Well, that’s where InstaSize comes in. InstaSize allows you to put your picture on a background so you can fit it into the square.
Step 5: Yay! Now you can open up Instagram! Since you already edited your photo, you don’t need to use filters. Go ahead in add in your caption. We want to know what this picture is all about.
Step 6: Hashtags! You may not be into hashtags, but they are a great way to get your pictures found. You can even use them for personal use to quickly find certain types of photos. Like, #WhatMaddieWore for outfit posts of my little girl or #WildManMason for crazy pictures of my boy. Now, I can just search that and see everything I’ve posted on the topic.
Here are some mommy hashtag ideas:
#momlife
#nashvillemom
#ootd
#toddler
#fitmom
#location (where you are when you take it, i.e. park, store, restaurant)
One word of advice- #don’t #hashtag #every #word
Step 7: Tag your friends! You can tag directly on the picture. If your friends get a lot of notifications, they may miss a “@tag” in the caption, so actually tagging on the picture is a way to make sure they see it.
Step 8: Post it! Watch those likes and comments roll in. :)
Step 9: Make sure to follow your friends (and us!) and like their pictures as well.
Do you love Instagram as much as we do? What are your favorite accounts to follow? Would you do 9 steps to post a picture or are we absolutely crazy? :)