How To Take Professional Looking Photographs For Social Media

The need for high-quality photos on various social media platforms is at an all-time high. With almost 3.5 billion people using these platforms, around 74% of consumers make their decisions based on what they see on social media. Influencers and businesses alike are looking for ways to engage their audience using social media and high-quality images as a way to lure in potential clients.

Images that catch the eye and generate followers help in building a brand. Moreover, working to produce creative posts is a fun activity for this tech-savvy generation. Besides, the growth in technology enables us to shoot great pictures within a few clicks and we have never looked back.   

 

Step-by-step guide on how to take professional-looking photos for social media posts

Taking good photos for social media requires understanding some basic principles of composition and lighting, and being confident in your instincts as a photographer. There are only a few simple rules to follow and experiment with.

 

Step 1: Utilize natural light

  

Good lighting is the foundation of a quality photo. Understand how to use light as your first lesson. Try avoiding artificial flash when there is natural light available, this way you can get photos that are richer and brighter.

 

Step 2: Balance the camera

 

While trying to capture photos at various angles, your hands may shake and result in blurred or foggy pictures. Resolve this by making use of a tripod stand in all possible scenarios.

 

Step 3: Focus and frame the subject

An unfocused image is a common mistake all amateur photographers make. If you are shooting on a smartphone, tap on the screen to focus the image and if you are making use of other cameras, the auto-focus feature is going to be of help.

Leave space around your subject so that the image looks framed and the viewer's eyes are drawn to it.

 

Step 4: Shoot at the right moment

 

In order for the perfect shot, it is always recommended to click continuously. This is especially true for moving subjects unless you are looking for long exposures.

 

Step 5: Avoid shooting under direct sunlight

 

Direct sunlight in pictures makes the image look washed out. Underexposed images can be edited to look better but there is not much that can be done with overexposed ones.   

 

So get creative and start clicking!  

 

There are a few accessories that can enhance the quality of your photography. Regardless of the smartphone or camera you use, they can come in handy. Firstly, add-on lenses are all that when it comes to professional-looking photos. You can get a set of these and see the dramatic change in your photographs. Another thing to look out for is additional storage. You may have sufficient space on your device but adding SD cards to the mix is a game-changer. You can shoot multiple high-quality images and hold them all until needed. Lastly, since good lighting is important, investing in a ring light can never go wrong.    

 

Tips for taking better photos for social media

 

 

1. Keep an eye on the lens. Whether you are using a professional camera or a smartphone to capture photos, remember to clean the lens before shooting. This is crucial in the case of smartphones because we tend to manhandle them all day long and end with foggy pictures due to smudges on the lens.
2. Let there be light. Before clicking away, make sure that your subject is well-lit. It can be natural light during the daytime or street lights during the night, just ensure that there is enough light. At the same time, shooting directly under the sun can bring harsh light into the frame. Keep in mind that overexposed images have very little use.
3. Look for symmetry.  Nothing soothes people's minds like a well-balanced and symmetrical picture. If you are trying out something different, look for balanced asymmetry. Not only is it all the rage currently, but it also gives way to creative photography for social media.
4. Hold it steady. Steady hands are rare blessings but that does not mean that the rest of us have to settle for blurred and shaky photos. Invest in a tripod holder to avoid the hassle of shaking hands. Otherwise, balance the camera or the smartphone on a steady surface before shooting.
5. Hail the rule of thirds. While photography may involve complex theories about lights, shadows, and composition, the rule of thirds is easy for any amateur to follow. Simply enable the gridlines on the device and obtain balanced frames each time.
6. Play with angles. It is quite normal for people to pull out their cameras and hold them at eye level before shooting. Next time, crouch, extend your arms, or at least bend a little to find a fresh perspective.
7. Get candid. It is undeniable that pre-planned and well-thought-out photoshoots yield premium-quality photographs. At the same time, unplanned shots hit home harder and there is no reason why you shouldn't try it.
8. Don't go overboard with the editing. Touching up the photos before they go up on your feed is nothing wrong but the editing-made-easy apps tempt people. Most photos only need a light brush up and sticking to it gives the photos a more natural look.        

 

Dimensions for photographs across major social media platforms 

Your social media engagement may die a tragic death due to awkwardly cropped and pixelated images. Using the ideal image size for each platform is crucial but it is tricky to figure out, considering how many different image options each social media platform offers. Sharing attention-grabbing photos that display well is the only way to prevent people from scrolling right past your content.

 

Instagram

1,080 pixels is the standard width of all Instagram posts. This is the size of your phone screen. Images less than 320 pixels are enlarged by Instagram, making them look pixelated.

Since Instagram Stories also form an integral part of your social media tools, it is important to keep them creative and peppy.

They take up the full phone screen and the ideal size is 1,080 pixels wide x 1,920 pixels tall, which is an aspect ratio of 9:16. In addition, remember to keep the 250 pixels of the top and bottom of the image free of text and logos while designing Instagram Stories. That is where your profile photo and Instagram buttons will show up after posting.

 

For quick reference:

Square images: 1,080 x 1,080 pixels

Horizontal images: 1,080 x 566 pixels

Vertical images: 1,080 x 1,350 pixels

Stories: 1,080 x 1,920 pixels

 

Facebook

The good news with Facebook is that you can set aside your worries about image size when sharing images. Whether it is a landscape, portrait, or square image, Facebook resizes it to 500 pixels wide and scales the height accordingly. Because Facebook still requires an aspect ratio between 9:16 to 16:9, all the images are bound to come well on the feed.

 

With a recommended image size for sharing images links with it, a size of 1,200 x 628 pixels is what Facebook accepts. In the case of a carousel post, each image is cropped to fit a 300 x 300-pixel square. Like Instagram Stories, the rules for Facebook Stories go for images of 1,080 x 1,920 pixels. 

 

For quick reference:

Landscape images: 1,200 x 628 pixels

Portrait images: 1,080 x 1,350 pixels

Image along with link: 1,200 x 628 pixels

Stories:  1,080 x 1,920 pixels

 

LinkedIn

In the steps of Facebook, LinkedIn crops and centers photos that go beyond the recommended dimensions automatically. The recommended size is an aspect ratio between 3:1 and 2:3 and images with at least 552 x 368 pixels to avoid cropping. However, it is always safe to double the dimensions to 1,104 x 736 pixels so that pixelated images can be avoided on larger screens because the platform is vague about how they crop images.

 

Additionally, as long as the text is centered, many different image sizes tend to display well in the LinkedIn feed. Sharing an image alongside a link means that the recommended image size climbs up to 1,200 x 628 pixels.

 

For quick reference:

Horizontal images on the company page or personal profile: 1,104 x 736 pixels

Image with links on a company page or personal profile: 1,200 x 628 pixels

 

Popular tool apps used for creating better photographs

 

●      Lightroom is Adobe's mobile app that makes editing on the go almost as perfect as any desktop app. With a basic understanding of photo editing, you can have a cohesive editing process. It is free for both Android and iOS users and paid upgrades are available.

●      Facetune has a unique whitening tool that makes photos pop on feeds. Even though it has a bad rep because it can be used to distort images beyond recognition, it is especially nice if you are trying to make text, a logo, or any small detail pop. Get it on for free on your Android or at $3.99 on iOS phones.

 

●      Snapseed can stylize your photos even with its most basic filter. This Google-owned app can straighten, sharpen and color-correct photos easily. Snapseed is free for both iOS and Android.

●      A Color Story is a powerful app that does more than just add filters. It is extremely popular among internet marketers and bloggers. Here, you can tweak the curves, shadows, and hues, and get most of the functionality of higher-end editing programs for free. Get it for Android and iOS devices.

●      VSCO is a photo editing app that gained popularity as soon as Instagram found its fame. With easy-to-use features and the ability to copy-paste filters onto photos, it dominates the mobile photo-editing app industry. It is free for both Android and iOS users, only with additional costs for some filters. 

 

Conclusion

Social media grants you only a second to grab people’s attention and cropped or pixelated images have no place in people’s feeds. Creating eye-catching images can be effortless and so much fun. Images in proper size showing great creativity and quality for each social media network can make all the difference.