How to take & edit aesthetic Instagram photos of your artwork

1. Welcome to our class!: Hi, everyone. My name is Jenny. I'm a watercolor and calligraphy artist based in the Philippines. Today I'm going to share with you how to take and edit an aesthetic Instagram photo. For today, I will be sharing all the materials that I am using when taking Instagram photos, all the apps that I'm using in order to edit and glam up my Instagram photos. Also, I'm going to share with you the reasons why you should consider taking your Instagram photo into the next level. What are we waiting for? Let's go. 2. Why it's important to post aesthetic photos?: Now, the number 1 question that my students ask me is, how do we really take good photos of our creation for Instagram purposes? Taking good photos is not as complicated as people thought it is. Sometimes we, the creators are the ones that make it a little bit complicated. I don't know why we do that, but it's easy, it's simple, and we should not complicate things. Now, before we dive into how, I'll discuss the why and the what for this. Why is it important to have a good photo on Instagram? Number 1, because people on Instagram are very visual. The first thing that people will really see and the first thing that will really catch their attention is not the number of likes or the number of comments or who posted it, the first thing is always the photo. The second reason is it's your bait. Like Clickbait, it's your bait for people to check on your profile. Now, I'll discuss more about that later. Number 3, your photo is your hook for people to stop and read your caption. When people read your caption, it's a chance for an engagement and a chance for people to follow your call to action. Basically your photo is actually the king of your Instagram account. It's the starting point of everything. That's the reason why it's very important. 3. What are the tools needed / suggested?: What are the things that we need to take good photos? Before that, please note that all links related to the materials that I will suggest on this part, will be available under description of this class. You don't have to ask me because everything is under description. Now first is camera. You need your camera or phone camera to take good photos of course. For a camera, I am using the Sony ZV-1, and it's I think the newest vlogging camera from Sony. I got it last month, but it was released last 2020. I love this camera. It's very reliable and it's very handy. It's so lightweight and it produces high-quality photos and videos, but I usually use it for videos. In fact, it's one of the best vlogging cams released in 2020. But again, I usually use my phone camera, so for phone, I use my iPhone 11. It's very reliable, and it's so easy to carry and so easy to use. I personally prefer a phone camera because it's handy, and I don't have to transfer my photos to my laptop or another place where I can edit it. I love my phone because it's my one-stop tool for everything. Next thing you need is light. Of course, natural light is the best, but if natural light is unavailable you can use studio lights. For studio lights, you can use lightbox but lightbox are too bulky, so what I'm using is a LED light from Godox. Again, the link on this item or this product is on the description. It's more expensive than lightbox, but it's a space saver. It's very thin, and what they love about this is I can adjust the brightness and the warmth. I can adjust whether I want it on the warm side or on the cool side. That's what I love about that. Again, when natural light isn't available, studio lights are the option. But I want to warn you that it won't reduce the same beauty, it won't reduce the same light as the sun because it's artificial and it's smaller. If natural light is available, always choose natural light. Even if it's a bit dim, I still love natural light, and I still prefer it over artificial lights. Next thing you need is backdrop. For backdrops, if you've chosen the minimalists team, this won't be a challenge for you. You just need to pick one or two types of backdrop and you're good. But for those who chose mixed or detailed theme, this will be a little bit challenging because you have to give your audience a little bit more variety. You have to pick additional backdrops. For backdrops, you can choose the plain white. This is the safest and easiest. For plain white, it could be a plain white cloth. It could also be a plain background specially made for photography. You can buy these on Amazon or Lazada or Shopee. I will also link this one. You can also use a big sheet of watercolor paper or berkely board. What I always use is the watercolor paper. I think 90% of my photos on Instagram are taken with a backdrop of watercolor paper. I really love it because it's matte, so the light doesn't bounce back, and it's easy to carry anywhere. It's lightweight, it's thin, I can roll it. I love watercolor paper for my backdrop. Another option is textured backdrops. You don't always have to buy backgrounds. You just have to be extra resourceful. For textured backgrounds, you may use your couch, your carpet, or anything textured that would fit your feed's theme and color. I usually use our carpet and our couch for my textured backgrounds. I am lucky because our house got items that really fit the colors of my Instagram account, and so it's not hard for me to find texture backgrounds like our couch, like our carpet. But if you don't have these items, you can use your dress or big cloths, your towel. When you use this as backgrounds, it won't be obvious and it will actually give beauty to your account. Be resourceful. Next is black background. It's the same as white background, you can use a black cloth, a black background specially made for photography, or an illustration board. For Nico Ng, who made this one, I think he uses illustration boards for his backdrop. Next is wooden. Wooden backgrounds are not really hard to find. It's the same as textured backgrounds, you just have to be resourceful. For me, I usually take photos on our floor because it's a wooden feels tiles. I use that, and they also use my table. You just have to be extra resourceful. Remember on wooden backgrounds and wooden backdrops, it should be matte so the light won't bounce back. Number 2, the more textured it is the better. Number 3 colored backgrounds. For a colored background, you just have to buy this from Amazon or Lazada, and you can also use catalina or colored paper if you don't want to buy clothes or backdrops especially need for photography. Remember matte and always matte. If you are looking for a backdrop for your artwork or your creation, always choose a matte backdrop, because you don't want the light to bounce back from your backdrop. This would give a very nice effect on your art work or your photography if the light is striking on your backdrop. Always pick matte background. Now for behind the scenes or self portrait photos. As much as you can try to make your backgrounds minimal, so that you the artist, or whatever you want to say, or whatever you want to show will be shown even more. You will not be eaten by the background. Always just minimal background, and you should try to make the background connected to your niche. Example, better to use your office space or your studio as background for your self portrait than your kitchen. Of course you're an artist. The fourth thing you need is props. For props you don't need so much of it if you pick the minimalist theme. But if you pick the mixed or detail, there's only one rule. Make sure the props are relevant to your niche. Gone are the days that when you want to take a flatly, you will just get anything that is related or that has the same color as your artwork. As for me here, I've pick this Winnie-the-Pooh stuffed toy, because my calligraphy says, honey. You don't do that anymore. Don't do that. Don't make the same mistakes that I did in the past. Make sure you only put props that are relevant or related to your work. But of course, there's always an exception to the rule. Exception is you're allowed to add non-related props if this props is from a brand partnership. Like here on my posts, as you can see, I used my watch as my props and that is because this is a paid partnerships, so that's one exception to our rule. Another exception is if your theme permanently includes that props. Like here on theme [inaudible], she always use dried flowers for her flatly, and so that's okay even if it's not totally related to her painting. Because that's already part of her branding. Remember those two and remember not to include non-related props on your Instagram photo. 4. How to take an aesthetic Instagram photo?: So much for the other topics. We are now going to the how, so how do we really take good Instagram photos? In taking Instagram photos, always remember these items. Number 1, it should be well lit. Number 2, always play with the shadows. Number 3, don't overexpose. Number 4, turn on the grid. Number 5, shoot in different angles. Number 6, play with props. Now I'm going to demo how to really take good Instagram photos. Before we proceed with a photography class, I just wanted to share with you the two areas where I usually take photos. Like most people, I don't have unlimited access to sunlight, so I really make a way to catch it. I only take photos on this portable table near our window and here by the door. It's not really glamorous as you can see. I use this table and our floor or wooden floor as my background, and I also use this watercolor paper from Bao Home. This is a full sheet watercolor paper, which is 100 percent cotton. As you can see, it's really big and it covers a lot of space. Now let's try using it as my backdrop. Let's try shooting this artwork on my [inaudible]. First thing you need to remember is the light. Make sure that the place is well lit. Now, I'm going to add some props and set up the flat lay area. one of the common issues when doing flat lays are rolling props and here's my solution for that. Stick it back. You can buy this on any bookstore and you can always reuse it after. Just stick it at the back of your prop, like this and then stick it on your backdrop. What I love about this is it doesn't really damage anything at all. But of course it serves its purpose very well. Now let's try taking some shots. Reminder number 2 is turn on the grid. I think on every phone, whether you're using iPhone or Android phones, there's a grid on your camera, so make sure to turn that on. That will be your guide in taking photos to ensure that your subject is aligned. I got few shots in different angles and just with one artwork, I was able to secure five photos. That's five days of content already. Now let's try and shooting this planner. Since it's a lifestyle product, I can use any lifestyle item as my props. Let's try shooting it when my pen first. So here are the shots I was able to take with my pen and now let's try shooting it with some other props like my laptop and my AirPods. Tip number 3 is lowered exposure. You can do this on phone by tapping the screen and pulling down the sun icon. The reason why you have to lower the exposure is for your subject to be more noticeable. Sometimes the light is too much that your subject isn't visible enough. Also, you can edit your photos easier if it's not overexposed. Here are the shots that I was able to take. Now let's try taking photos of minimalist theme. All you have to do is pick an artwork and pick one prop that you like. It could be a brush or a paint, or you can remove all the props actually. Tip number 4, make sure to make use of the shadows. So as you can see here, there are a lot of real shadows on my area and they give a nice effect on my photos. If your place doesn't have shadows, that's okay because you have fixed art. Later I'll discuss that. Here are the photos that I was able to take and here are the edited version. Now on taking needed flatness, remember to use different but relevant props. Use props with different textures, different colors, but make sure they look nice when gathered together. Here's a sample of another flatly. But in here, you can use, I'm going to use my mess as an artist. Yes, you can use your mess as an artist. If you're a florist, you can use the petals. If you're a baker, you can use the flower and any prettiness that your creation can make. I am using my old swatches here. Again, just make sure that your mess looks pretty. If it doesn't, don't use it anymore. It'll just ruin your work. Let's take photos and another tip, if you're creating a big flat lay space like this, you can take photos of different areas. It will give you more content options in the future. Here are the photos I was able to take. Another idea on taking photo is by making it appear as if it's a work in progress. You can include your hand in the process like this. If you're like me whose hands are not too gorgeous, don't feel sad because I got a solution for you and I'll discuss it later. Here are the photos I was able to take. Now another way is by doing art on art photo. All you have to do is gather your artworks or your creations and take a photo of them. Just make sure one of them will stand out and can be the subject. Last, if you're taking photos of your supplies, just be carefree, create beautiful mess. Before I end this, here's the recap of the reminders. Number 1, it should be well lit. Number 2, always play with the shadows. Number 3, don't overexpose. Number 4, turn on the grid, and number 5, shoot on different angles. It could be aerial view, to left or right area view, details, and last reminder is play with your props. Now let's go to editing photos. But before that, here's another tip for you. If you want your photos to look classy, remember to ditch the usual props and backdrops. What are those? Number 1, the furry background. Number 2 the super green thick grass, and some other backdrops that are not really classy and doesn't really give your artwork or your photography some special look. If you're struggling, stay minimal. Minimal is classy yet easy. If you don't know what background to use, stick to minimal background. Now let's go to editing your photos. 5. How to edit an aesthetic Instagram photo?: Now let's go on editing. How do you edit your Instagram photos? I will also share with you the apps that I use for editing. In editing, I only use three apps. Number 1, Snapseed from Google, Number 2, Adobe Lightroom, Number 3, PicsArt. But I rarely use PicsArt. I only use Snapseed and Lightroom. Now, here's how I use these three apps. Let's first discuss Snapseed. Actually, Snapseed is a one-stop pool already, but personally, I only use it for editing specific area, because this feature is a big feature for Lightroom. Thank goodness, it's free on Snapseed. What are we talking about here? Okay pals, open your Snapseed app and select the photo that you want to edit. For me, it's this photo with my hand. Then click the tools and click 'Selective", and then this this letter B will show on your screen, and you can adjust the brightness of that specific area. You can add another one if you want. You can also do it on other areas of your photo, like here. Once you're done, you can hard press in the screen and you will see the before and after of your photo. If you're already satisfied, save it. Here's another one, selective and then select the area. Then you can add another one. If you want to add the whole photo altogether, we can also select the tools, select "Tools" and then "Tune image", and then select brightness. You can also add warmth. Just do the same thing, tools, tune image and then warmth. As you can see, Snapseed doesn't edit your photo too much, it's just minimally. When you're done, save it. Save, and then modify. Its on your camera roll already. The next app that we're going to discuss, is Lightroom. Actually, Lightroom is the app that I usually use for all the editing stuff. Here's actually how I use it. Of course, we're going to open the app, and then select the photo that you want to edit. I'm going to select this one, and then first is the crop part. In here, you're going to select the areas that you want for your photo, so you can remove all of the other things that you don't want to be in your photo in here. But I always use square or one-by-one just so it will fit my Instagram. Next is light. The first thing is exposure. In exposure it is actually the brightness of your photo. You can actually adjust it based on your preference. Then the next is contrast. Contrast, actually gives the strength on your photo. It can actually make your photo look fade or vibrant. It's up to you and it's a clear theme, what do you want for your photo. Next, on contrast is highlights. On the next part, I don't actually adjust more on these. For the highlight shadows, white and black. I don't move it that much. I just check if it is nice to adjust them, but I don't usually use these tools. Now next is color. For the color, the first part is the temp or the temperature. In here. it is actually the warmth of your photo. You can adjust it if you want your photos to be a little more on the yellow side or on the bluish side. It's up to you and it's up to your theme. Now, after editing the temperature, sometimes you have to readjust your exposure. You have to go back and adjust a little of your exposure and contrast, but not too much because of course you're already safe. After that, go back to your color, and if you want to adjust the temp, what makes your photo a bit pinkish or greenish, it's up to you if you want to adjust it, but I don't personally adjust it anymore. After that, go to mix. Mix is actually what adjusts your photo on a per color level. If you want to adjust just the red on your photo, you can actually do that. If you want to adjust just the orange, you can actually do that. I usually do this if I accidentally created an artwork with a very bright green. I select grains and turn it down. Let's try it here on orange. If you're not sure what your photo will look like, you just have to move it. As you can see here, on this part, for example, the hue, if you pull it on the left side, it will be darker, and if you pull it on the right side, it will lighted. Same with saturation, if you put on the left, it will be grayish, and if you pull it on the right, it will be too orange. On the luminance, if you put it on the right, it will be too light, and if you pull it on the left, it will be too dark. Just minimal adjustment is okay. Now, if you are done with that, the next thing is effects. I don't actually adjust effects except for the grain because I wanted to have this vintage effect on my photo. It's up to you if you want to just that because some people don't like that. For me, I love to have some grains on my photo, so I adjust the grain and adjust the size of the grain. If you're done with those parts, you can now save your photo. This is the before and after. If you're done, you can save, export to camera roll and you're good. Now, here's the best part. If you're happy with the effect that you have created, you can actually create a Preset for that. Here I'm going to name it portrait. For every portrait that I will create, I'm just going to use this Preset. Let's try it on my other photo. In here. Instead of editing and going to a lot of process, I am just going to go to Preset and click the portrait preset that I created, and of course, I still have to adjust the crop if I want to, but if I don't, I'm good to go. Okay, so that's it. Save it to camera roll and done. The next app that we're going to discuss is PicsArt. For PicsArt, I only use it to add shadows on my photos. Here is how I do it. For this, of course, you got to open the app and then click the plus button, and select the photo that you want to edit. From there, go to add photos and then select the Proceed button, and then select the shadow that you want to add. This one is from Pinterest. Put it on your photo, crop it or do whatever you want. Just put it on your photo and then adjust the opacity. After you adjust the opacity, go to blend and then select overlay. You can further adjust it from the overlay. But if you're fine with it already, you can save it already. You're good to go. So that is it on editing your Instagram photos. 6. Final Thoughts + Class Project: Thank you so much for attending my Skillshare class. I hope you guys learned and enjoyed as much as I did. For our final project, I want you guys to take a photo of your artwork and edit it using either Snapseed, Lightroom or Pixar. Then upload the before and after of your work on the project section of this class. Thank you so much guys, and I'll see you on our next class. Bye.