One of the best and most visited social media sites for photography is Instagram. We tend to use our time scrolling, appreciating, and liking photos and videos posted by the people we choose to follow in the app. In return, our posts are being appreciated too by the people who care to follow us back.
Posting photos on our Instagram feed is one of our ways of expressing ourselves. Everything that we produced out of our self-expression is called art. Thus, our photos—captured, enhanced through editing, and posted on our social media feed—are considered our self-vent art.
Of course, before posting our captured photos, we enhance and improve their aesthetics through photography editing. Any photo editing tool is composed of essential editing elements adjusted to find the desired coloring or visage. These basic photo editing elements include but are not limited to the following:
The element of light exposes the theme and subject in every photograph. Without light, all we can see both in reality and photographs is only a dark blank space, the way you see when you close your eyes. There is no subject to represent. And thus, there will be no photograph.
Adjusting the light of a photo would either accentuate its features or the other way around, depending on your desired outcome. In every photo editing tool, there is always a tab that attunes for light. You may adjust the exposure, the highlights, the contrast, the shadows, and the presence of black and white by swiping to the left or the right.
To select the best editing tools for light, you may check some reviews on websites like Shotkit to determine which photo editing app is the best to use for your photo.
Except for grayscale photographs, your captured photo would look off and dull-looking if you do not know how to adjust and mix its white balance such as hues and temperature. This element can set the mood and theme of your photo. That is why this is most crucial, among others. The essential components of this element are the following:
Color temperature can adjust the color of a photo into a warmer tone or cooler tone. When you adjust the color temperature of your photo to a cooler tone, your image’s color would slowly turn into blue. And when you adjust it to a warmer tone, on the other hand, your image will have a tinge of yellow.
The color tint is used to manipulate the tone of the color of your photo. Before proceeding to adjust the tint of your photo, you must first study the color spectrum so that you know what color you’re heading to or what color you’re getting after adjusting.
Color vibrance can accentuate the colors on your photo that are not that colorful. It enhances every dull and muted color in your captured image. But it doesn’t affect the already high-saturated colors in the photo.
Color saturation can manipulate the intensity of all the colors in your photo, including the already bright ones and the muted tones. Using color saturation, you can adjust your image into either looking vibrant and colorful or looking pale and subdued.
Color composition and combination in photography are essential in making your photo look presentable and Instagram-worthy. The purpose of the color mix in photo editing is to allow you to adjust the colors individually to get the perfect hue, saturation, and luminance of each color suited for the desired visual outcome of your photo.
Applying effects such as filters, film grain, vignette, blur effects, etc. is an excellent way to attract and stir your audience’s emotions. Effects can wholly enhance the features and colors of your photo, setting its mood. It can also automatically change and adjust the white balance and improve your photo’s aesthetic value, making it Instagram-worthy.
There are numerous photo effects that you can choose, depending on the editing tool that you use. The most popular and mostly utilized by photograph-enthusiast people are the photo filters and presets. If you want to maintain the color consistency of your Instagram feed, using the same photo filters and presets on your several photos can help you achieve that.
Photo editing is a challenging and a little bit complicated task. You have to be very keen on your photo’s details and colors to achieve a satisfactory and Instagram-worthy upshot. You also have to study and get used to the features and elements of the photo editing tools to have a smooth and efficient flow of photo editing.
The elements that are mentioned above are just the basics. Take time to explore them, create presets out of them, and at the same time, enjoy the process of achieving a harmonious and wow-deserving Instagram feed.