How I Edit My Instagram

I've done a few posts before on how I edit my Instagram photos, one in 2014 and one in 2015, but after a few requests recently, I figured it would be a good time to update you all on my process! Consider this my 2016 guide to how I edit my Instagram :)

I usually feel like, in general, my photos are a little "over-edited", but I find that going through the same process for every photo really helps make my feed look cohesive and consistent. I guess there are pros and cons to over-editing! I use two different photo-editing apps: Snapseed and VSCO cam. In general, most of my photos are taken using the "square" camera option on my iPhone 6s!

Let's use this photo as an example for how my editing process goes. This is the original picture, which was taken outside in semi-shaded/shadowy light with the square camera option on my iPhone.

The first thing I do is upload my photo to Snapseed, where I go into "Tune Image" and then mess around with all of the options until my photo looks how I want it. Generally this mess raising the brightness and contrast, adjusting highlights/shadows/saturation and occasionally the ambience, and then I typically lower the warmth. One special feature about Snapped that I actually use a ton, but just not for this particular photo, is the "selective adjust" tool which allows you to pick just a small section or area of a photo and adjust the brightness, contrast, and saturation for that area only. That is especially helpful when I post pictures where the background only or just one corner or shadow needs to be fixed, but not the whole photo.

Next, I upload the new photo to VSCO cam. My most used filter is HB2, but sometimes I will use HB1 or maybe even A6 or C1. Then, if necessary, I adjust the photo a little more to work with the filter... the filters can be pretty obvious too so I usually bring them down from 12 to 6 or 7.

Finally, I upload the photo to Instagram! Here I usually brighten the photo just a little more, adjust or rotate the photo if necessary, and usually I'll bring down the warmth just a little bit. Sometimes, too, I really like using the "lux" tool at the top!