How I Edit My Instagram Pictures

Lately, I've been trying to really improve my Instagram. My feed is kind of a mess right now (follow me here) but I'm trying to start a fall theme. However, I've been focusing on improving upon the quality of my Instagram pictures. Right before I took my trip to Palm Beach, I switched up the apps I use to edit my pictures, and I noticed an improvement in quality almost immediately. Clearly, some of my y'all did too; I've had numerous requests to do a blog post on how I edit my pictures, and several questions on what apps I use to edit my pictures. Today, I thought I'd fulfill those requests by showing y'all my photo editing process!

First, I take the picture, obviously. (This picture was one of the pictures featured in my Back To School Outfit Ideas post - read it here.) After that, I open it up in VSCO Cam, my favorite editing app by far. I first apply a filter. This varies from photo to photo, but for my Instagram, I always use a filter from the C Series. I used C1 for the longest time, but I recently purchased the entire pack, which gives me more variety. I rarely use the C2 filter, but I love the way C3 looks on a picture with a lot of skin tones in it.

After applying the filter, I begin to actually edit the picture. I'm not one of those people that does the exact same thing to every picture (the exact same exposure level, contrast, saturation, etc. every time). I edit my pictures very similarly, but since each picture varies somewhat based on the colors of the photo, the lighting in which the photo was taken, and the actual content of the photo, I put different levels of exposure, contrast, and saturation on each picture.

I will usually up the exposure one or two, and up the contrast one or two as well. This adds a bright, crisp feel to the pictures, which I love.

Since I like colorful pictures, I always up the saturation. For this picture, I only upped it one, but I usually put the saturation on two or three. Finally, I tone the temperature down a little bit to balance the saturation.

Lastly, when I'm in the Instagram app, I will make sure the picture is perfectly straight, and I will often up the brightness and the saturation the slightest bit. After that, I post it on Instagram, and voila! My editing process is complete.

Here's the process again, but this time with a photo that was taken in darker light, and has different colors to it.

I know I said I usually turn the temperature down, and I almost always do, but for this picture I thought it looked better with warmer tones.

I recently downloaded the app Face Tune, which I use occasionally if I want to even out the tones in a picture or whiten up a wall. I don't use it a ton, and I rarely use it to edit actual faces, but it's a good app to have and it definitely comes in handy now and then. I didn't use it in either one of these pictures, but I still wanted to tell y'all about the app because it's a great app.

While this may seem like a lot to do for each photo, trust me: it's really not that time-consuming; it takes me about three minutes to edit a picture. Editing pictures is a lot of fun, and I'm really excited to work on my fall theme! I'm not sure if I should keep my bright and colorful theme going, or if I should switch it up with some fall colors and such. Let me know by leaving a comment!

How do you edit your Instagram pictures? What are your favorite editing apps? Let me know in the comments!