Behind The Gram Part 2

Sometimes, you see a perfect picture on Instagram, but there's no way of knowing what the story is behind the picture: how the picture was taken, small secrets within the picture, that kind of thing. Many people don't realize what crazy lengths people will go to in order to achieve the perfect picture, but 2016 has been the year of being real about Instagram and the "perfection" behind it. Today, I'm sharing a sequel to one of my most popular posts, #behindthegram, so I hope you enjoy hearing some more stories behind my Instagram posts!

It's always a safe bet to assume that if there's a picture where I'm holding something up and you can see my thumb, my thumbnail will be freshly painted but it is the only nail painted. This picture is no exception - I painted this nail just for the picture and was too lazy to go back and paint the rest. I also changed shirts so my sleeve would match my tumbler. And there were also stains from brownie batter that had gotten on the tumbler when I was baking earlier that day. They dried and I was in a hurry to take the picture, so I didn't wipe them off and merely held the cup at an angle where you couldn't see the brownie batter. (But don't worry, the batter has been wiped off since then.)

This picture was taken at a time when I could not, for the life of me, get any storage space on my iPhone. Typically, I take about 100 or so pictures of the same thing so I can choose from the best one, but I could only take about five because of the lack of storage. The five I took weren't great, but I had to work with them, so I did - but the shadow on the left side of the picture is driving me crazy.

This is actually my sister in the picture. I wanted her to take a picture of me, but she just couldn't get the angles and lighting right, so I took one of her instead. We took this on a Sunday morning right before we left for church, and my mom got really mad that we ended up being late, especially since we were teaching that week. But, you know, #doitforthegram. (Just kidding. God comes before everything.) I actually only posted it because I was hoping that Lauren James would repost it, but that didn't happen... so yay me.

This was taken when my family and I went to Colorado for Spring Break (read my recap here!) and I dragged my sister out into the freezing cold - it was literally freezing - and made her take pictures of me. She ended up taking one, and I hate the way the light hit my face, but sometimes you just have to roll with it.

I spent a good twenty minutes arranging these stickers to get them the way I wanted them. I didn't want any white showing, but I wanted every sticker to be visible. And of course, I only displayed the stickers that were bright colors with a pretty logo so it would go along with the Instagram theme that I am currently attempting - but failing - to implement. I also had to post this because I am a rep for a few companies tagged in the picture, and I felt really bad about not posting any promotional pictures for them in a long time - since I am supposed to be promoting their brand, after all.

Related: How To Get Free Preppy Stickers

This was actually a really fun photoshoot. For once, my sister was agreeable to taking pictures, and I actually had storage on my phone. I had been wanting to take pictures of this dress for a while since it was so twirly and fun, and I really love how these pictures turned out because they reflect a side of me that I don't normally show in my pictures. Since I was moving around a lot, the majority of the pictures turned out blurry, but my sister still captured a few great ones. Expect to see a few more pictures in this dress soon!

As you can tell from this post, taking pictures for Instagram involves a ton of improvisation, at least for me. I never know when a picture is going to turn out beautifully when I don't think it will be good, or vice versa. I've learned, however, that not every picture will be perfect and sometimes I just have to go with the best one. I've also learned that in most cases, the best pictures have the best stories behind them!

Make sure to follow me on Instagram for more preppy pictures!

What are your Instagram secrets and stories? How do you deal with flawed pictures?

Be not afraid, only believe. - Mark 5:36