How I Edit Instagram Images

A title image for "How I Edit Instagram Images" with the same picture showing top and bottom with light adjustments. The top image shows the sunrise and the harbour building silhouetted. Whereas teh bottom picture shows the buildings as you would during normal day hours. These are a mix of coulours, including pinks and blues. And also a mix of sizes.

Even before I was a blogger, I know was there ever such a time? I used to love taking photos and posting them on Instagram. Back then, I’d use the preset filters to try and get more of the colouring I wanted. But I would leave it at that. I couldn’t afford any fancy software, and the apps you could get for android did not seem to be as useful 6 years ago as they are now. The more I’ve got into blogging, the more I’ve realised that I love getting the best snaps and sharing them across my platforms. But now I have a strategy of how to edit Instagram images.

What changes I made

The photos on my Instagram have pretty much without fail, been taken on a smartphone and uploaded. Because of that I feel like I’ve missed out on potentially creating a better, more aesthetically pleasing feed. But no more! Wow that feels like some sort of advert… Last year I got my hands on the Samsung S8 and with a pro setting at the go, and increased storage capacity, I knew that I would be able to get the pics that I wanted. Although I am still looking out for that superb quality camera!

I had played around with a couple of apps previously, most notable VSCO and Snapseed but I couldn’t seem to get the hang of it properly. I felt like there was something I was missing to get the images that I wanted. 

Enter Adobe Lightroom…

I’ve seen a few people post about Lightroom on Twitter and Instagram. From the feedback, I thought why not give it a go, especially as there is a free version I could take advantage of. I was sceptical. With my track record, I didn’t think I would understand it. But I found it surprisingly easy to get to grips with. It made me feel like I could finally get the pictures that I wanted. The pictures that I was seeing in my head. And I didn’t need to take a loan out to achieve it!

I find the best way to get the pictures that I want is to use the pro setting on my S8, to enable me to get the clearest picture I can, and then I upload this into lightroom and start to make some minor tweaks. Honestly, the photos don’t always need anything doing to them but when they do I always head to the light section of the app.

Once you’re into the settings of this area you can mess with the light curvature to get the right colouring for your theme or feed. Or to get the light setting that you want. Usually I use this to enhance the white of the pictures as I have no soft boxes. Not always the best when you live in England! However, I do sometimes change the RGB colours to get a more vibrant, lively image. For example:

How did I edit Instagram images from Ischia?

A picture of a September sunrise over Italy, and the Gulf of Naples/ The sky is blue, with an orange and yellow blurred tint illuminating the middle of the picture with Italy covered in black.

This photo was taken recently on my trip to Ischia, we had to cross part of the sea to get to and from the airport. This is a great picture on its own, I love how the sun is rising over Italy, and Vesuvius. But I took this with the blue filter left on my phone, and to me that made it look even better! So I opened up Lightroom and voilà!

This is the finished product! I love how reducing the amount of blue and green has given this picture a more early morning/late evening feel to it. Without having this app I would have been unable to replicate the image I wanted with the ease that I have found myself able to do this with.

This is the image to show how I edit Instagram images. This is the same sunset as previously, however the entire picture has had the blue and green colours reduced a little to give it a more early morning look. The sky is now more purple and the oranges are deeper in colour.
There’s not a lot of difference. But to me, this is the better picture.

As soon as I am able to get my PC build up and running, this is something that I could be tempted to have on there to get my blog photos to the same level. I have never thought of myself as a photographer, more of an idiot with a camera. But despite having no formal training, I can see my landscape and nature shots becoming to a standard that I could never of dreamed of a few years ago. Maybe in a few more years I will be able to move even more away from my novice stage.

Do you have any tips for how to edit Instagram images? Do you use any specific apps that you think need shouting out? I may even give them a go myself!

Hasta la fuego

My Lavender Tinted World Signature written in a purpley-pink colour. The name states Lauren with a smiley face at the end. This is the signature of a sheffield blogger

If you enjoyed this post, you may also enjoy Has Blogging Lost It’s Way, or Blogging Pet Peeves

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.