Instagram while traveling – my recipe for success

For heaven’s sake, I’m leaning a bit out of the window with this title, but there’s a reason for that. During the last few weeks, I have been asked more and more about my activity on Instagram.

“How did you manage to run your profile so successfully?”
“Where do you even find the time to upload pictures to Instagram?”
“Can you tell us your tips and tricks?”

First of all, I have always avoided telling you my recipes for success for this and that, because I don’t see myself as an expert. Almost exactly two years ago, I uploaded my first picture to Instagram out of sheer curiosity. Since then, 1,419 images have been added and Instagram has become one of my favorite social media platforms because it’s more diverse than some people think. That’s why today I’m going to give you an insight into my “bag of tricks” and tell you which tools I use, how I edit my pictures and which people inspire me.

My very first picture – posted on Instagram almost exactly 2 years ago

Hardware – 99% Handyfotos

From the beginning, I only showed pictures on my Instagram profile that I took with my smartphone. But I’m not a so-called “iphonographer” because I’ve been on the road with a Sony Xperia Z for about 1.5 years. I’m pretty happy with the built-in camera. The camera has two shortcomings. First of all, she tends to have a blue tint, which is sometimes annoying, especially in winter, and she makes miserable night pictures.

When I’m traveling alone, I usually take a picture of the same subject with my normal camera as well as with my mobile phone. It’s a bit cumbersome and people don’t really understand why you shoot the same thing with two cameras, but I have the image directly available on my smartphone. But there is no rule without exception – in very rare cases, for example, when the light is gray in gray, it may happen that I use an edited image from the normal camera.

Timing – when and how often?

I post one to a maximum of three pictures a day on Instagram. Even when I’m on the road, I try not to post more than three pictures throughout the day. Floods of images because you’ve just seen so many great things only overwhelm the stream of the people who follow you.

I usually post one picture in the morning and one later in the evening. As on all other platforms, the right timing also plays a role with Instagram. Unlike Facebook, however, your picture doesn’t suddenly “disappear” from the timeline, but is displayed to all your followers. A picture I post in the morning usually gets likes until the evening.

In total, I “spend” about half an hour per day on Instagram.

Editing – less is often more

My favorite photo editing apps are the VSCO Cam and Instagram’s built-in tools. Somehow I never really warmed up to Snapseed and I’ve never tried Afterlight myself (it’s not yet available for Android).

I always take the pictures with the normal camera app and not directly with the photo editing app. If I have an image that I like, I first import it into the VSCO Cam. There I optimize the brightness, the contrast and correct the color tone if necessary.

Personally, it’s important to me that my pictures come across similarly. When a person looks at my feed, I want them to understand at a glance what to expect on this profile. That’s why I don’t experiment much with new editing styles.

Once the image is optimized with the VSCO Cam, I export it directly to Instagram. There I usually set the “Lux” switch to 50% and use – if suitable – a filter. My favorite filter is “Valencia”.

What such a picture looks like before and after editing, I have illustrated here with an example from last weekend. One more thing I would like to get rid of: the statement “Filter on it and the picture is beautiful” seems wrong to me. As with shooting with a normal camera, my focus is primarily on taking a good picture, sharpening the angle of view, capturing new perspectives. The apps and their built-in filters are just fine tuning.

Unedited raw version directly from the mobile phone camera

And this is what the image looks like
after editing with VSCO Cam and Instagram

Socialize – how do I draw attention to myself?

You take great pictures, but no one notices? Of course, that’s a real shame. My tip: get involved in the community, follow Instagrammers, comment on photos you really like (but avoid leaving a “wow” on every picture in a spammy way) and get to know the people behind the profiles. Thanks to Instagram, I’ve met an incredible number of great people.

Another way to get noticed is to use hashtags. However, use them wisely and don’t maltreat a hashtag by using them in the wrong context. Personally, I have found that I get exactly the same number of likes with a few well-considered hashtags as with an excessive #Hashtagitis.

With the following projects, there is regularly the possibility that you will be featured with a targeted use of hashtags and thus gain new followers:

• Instagram’s Weekend Hashtag Project. Every weekend there’s a new task and Instagram presents the best pictures on the following Monday
• Passionpassport also regularly features pictures and carries out special promotions

Another option is to participate in so-called #instameets, where Instagrammers meet and take pictures together.

It seems important to me that you are aware of what hashtags you are using and that you understand the meaning behind them. Targeted use brings success.

Inspiration – learning
from the best

“But don’t you meet the same people on every platform?” I was asked recently. Or to put it another way: Do I have to be there everywhere? True, almost every blogger today has an Instagram profile, but a very large percentage of them either post a) the exact same camera pictures that they use on their Facebook page, their Google+ profile and in the blog post or b) nothing but junk (yes, that’s right, junk!). Of course, there are also bloggers who have an incredibly creative and refreshing Instagram profile. This includes, among others, Fee.

But the really fascinating thing about Instagram is that it has an incredible amount of creative people that you can only find on this platform and inspire me. By the way, on Instagram you will not only meet talented photographers, but also storytellers who add the story to their picture.

That’s why my recommendation to you: click through the “Explore Page”, discover new people, follow accounts that inspire you and don’t worry primarily about whether this person follows you back. And if you find Instagram simply stupid or don’t find any measurable benefit in it, then better keep your hands off it – but please do it properly. Because I don’t think there’s anything worse than mindlessly filling some platforms with content just “to be there”.

Here’s a selection of Instagrammers I follow because they’ve found their own style and inspire people with it:

What are the benefits of Instagram?

First and foremost, a lot of joy, creative input, exchange among like-minded people, inspiration. Everything else is a side dish.