Followers of our Instagram know that we take beautiful shots of the capital pretty damn seriously. And sure why wouldn’t we? She’s a beaut.
Dublin boasts equal parts ancient and modern, with quirky little hideouts dotted all over the city, a photographer’s dream. Not to mention the acres upon acres of gorgeous greenery the city has to offer, it’s safe to say that Instagrammers of The Pale are never too far from a whopper picture.
Although, the ‘gram can be a fickle mistress. We caught up with some of the Instalegends of the world to share with us some top tips on how to catch a flawless photograph of our fair city.
1. Don’t use the app itself to take photos
Your normal phone camera has much greater capability than the Instagram option, such as zooming and the ever-useful grid feature that the iPhone camera boasts.
There are also other deadly photography apps, which bloggers swear by, such as VSCO Cam and Rookie. These offer advanced functions, such as shutter speed and white balance controls, which keep colours accurate and your photos true to form.
2. Composition, composition, composition
While symmetrical images are aesthetically pleasing, they’re not the be all and the end all. There’s no need to put the subject you’re shooting in the dead centre of the photograph, in fact, sometimes it looks a little forced. And we know you’re just not about that life.
Instead, how about trying out the rule of thirds – placing the subject of your image along the intersecting lines of the grid on your screen.
For iPhone, to turn the grid on your camera on, head to Settings, locate Photos and Camera, scroll down to Grid and switch it on there. These gridlines are also available when you upload an older photo into the app, so switch them on and get busy.
3. Keep a straight face
Now you’ve got your shot, you’ve got to keep it real and make sure it’s straight up. Nothing irks Instasharks more than a crooked photo.
Having the aforementioned grid on also helps to see if your image is straight, basically the grid is your new best friend. Use your NBF to line up the natural lines in your images, such as the horizon line, or a wall. Bloggers go-to editing app for this is Snapseed, and a great little gem in there is the Transform tool.
4. Filters
The realest Insta-celebs generally avoid the ready made filters which come with the app, opting for other apps such as the VSCOcam. All the big dogs use it every chance they get. It enhances the intricate details and character of the photograph without making it look compressed and oversaturated.
If you do feel, however, that Instagram filters this time have got your back with regards to the perfect filter, use the sliders by tapping into the filter once already selected, to decrease the strength of it and take off the intensity – ensuring your photo is the best that it can be.
5. Lighting
We’re lucky in Ireland in that we have whopper lighting to work with always. Whether it’s long, bright, sunshine-y days during the summer, or crisp, intense winter sun during the colder months – we have loads to play around with in terms of photography.
Bear in mind what sort of shot you’re after – long shadowy photos look great in black and white, and warmer lighting can make up an uplifting post.
Now if only we could edit the rain out of our shots…
6. And finally, here’s what you need to rake in the likes
Curalate, an image analytics company specialising in consumer behaviour, studied the features of 8 million images to find out what is it exactly that brings in the likes.
Some of their findings go on to say that lighter images work better than darker ones, blue gets more hearts than red, a single dominant hue is your man, and photos with lots of texture will dish out likes for days.
For more inspo, check out the #LovinDublin hashtag for whopper pictures that will make you fall in love with the capital again and again. We choose and regram our favourite picture every day to share with you guys, because we think you guys are just deadly.
Feature photo courtesy of @barracrof.
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