Tips for taking killer travel shots for your Instagram

5 tips for taking amazing travel photos for your Instagram

Looking to up your insta-game on your next trip around the world? It’s easy to take photos while travelling, but all it needs is just a little bit of extra time and effort to make those shots unique, high quality, and of course, ‘instagrammable’.

We’re going to share some basic (but very important) tips to start creating some killer content for your Instagram feed.

1. Choose an Instagram photo niche
If you’re really serious about creating a unique feed that has its own look and feel, start by choosing or creating your own niche. What kinds of travel photos do you like to create? Think about whether you want to focus on nature, underwater, adventure, hotels, outfit of the day, or couple shots. Sticking to a niche can make your feed look more cohesive and put together.

2. Do some research
It helps to get some inspiration from other travellers. Start searching on Pinterest and Instagram and save the shots you like the look of to serve as your ‘inspo’ board. Try not to copy them, but instead, put a new take on it and create something a little more unique and creative.

3. Invest in some equipment
Don’t worry, you don’t need an expensive and bulky camera to get those awesome travel shots. Your phone (as long as it’s good quality) can do just fine! Instead, you can invest in some other equipment such as a tripod to help in shooting time lapses, and getting shots from different angles, or even a GoPro depending on what kind of content you’re wanting to create.

4. Take your shots early in the morning
Best way to avoid crowds of people in your shots? Getting up early. That way you won’t have to deal with a sea of tourists ruining your photos. A lot of the time, the lighting is also better in the morning. It’s best to avoid midday, as the sun is at its highest and will make it harder for your shots not to be overexposed.

5. The rule of thirds
One of the most important rules of composition is ‘the rule of thirds’. It’s a 9-square grid that is placed over the image you are shooting. The goal when taking photos is to place the key elements into of the of those thirds for a good composition.

You can easily enable the ‘grid setting’ on your camera or phone to help you position your shots correctly.

6. Edit your Instagram photos
Once you’ve got all your shots, start editing them. You could just use an Instagram filter, however, if you really want to win the Insta-game, it’s better to edit them yourself. You can use easy apps like Polar Photo Editor and VSCO, or Adobe’s Lightroom to achieve your desired look. Try to match all your photos with the same kind of colours to make your feed look consistent. Some photo editing apps have ready-made filters that look great as they are, saving you some editing time!

Now that you’ve got these tips under your belt, it’s time to start sharing them on your Instagram feed. Share your travel photos with us by adding the hashtag #simcornertravel to your photos.