How to make perfect Instagram photos and why you should stop comparing yourself to them

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

An ordinary person is hiding behind a glossy picture, but in itself this does not make him worse or better than others.

Why social media makes us unhappy

In the early days of Instagram, people filled their accounts with everything that was easy to take on their own, for example, photos of food and feet in the background are more interesting. And even then, users were comparing themselves to others - whose breakfast is more appetizing and whose fingers are straighter.

For 11 years, this social network has changed a lot. Now the ribbons in it are filled with beautiful, fit, successful people who often say: “Anyone can be like me. You just have to buy a checklist from me (online course, leggings, cosmetics). " The illusion is also fueled by the imaginary closeness of a blogger or celebrity: “Here he leads the page, communicates with fans, responds to comments. He is the same as me!"

At the same time, comparing myself with people from social networks has not gone anywhere. A person scrolls through the Instagram feed, where everyone is beautiful, and then accidentally swipes his finger to the right - and the front camera turns on. The image that she conveys is, frankly, specific - the alignment is clearly not in favor of our hero.

Or our hero takes a selfie - one, two, twentieth. And I don't like half of the frames. At such moments, few people think that the celebrity from Instagram also does not get that beautiful photo from the first take.

Such comparisons negatively affect the subjective well-being of people, that is, they worsen mood, lead to a decrease in self-esteem. A fictional social media competition with inevitable failure can even lead to depression.

What helps you get perfect photos

When bloggers say that everyone can be like them, they practically do not dissemble. Only for this you need to buy not their courses, but equipment for filming. With proper preparation, indeed, anyone can take a couple of photos that they will gladly post on Instagram. Here are some factors that help you do this.

Light

Photographers have such a thing as "golden hour". This is the time after sunrise or before sunset when the light is not as bright. It is still enough to avoid using additional lamps. At the same time, it is already soft and emphasizes the appearance favorably. But the midday sun can highlight any irregularities and features that viewers may find unattractive.

However, bloggers often act according to Michurin's behests and do not expect favors from nature, but they themselves set up light sources in order to hide what they do not want to show to the audience.

Posing

Not every action we do is photogenic. For example, if you've ever tried to take a photo after a vigorous run, chances are there was someone looking at you red, sweaty, and not at all like the Instagram phyto babies from the photo. Because the secret is to take selfies before or even instead of training.

And, of course, for an attractive photo, you need to pull in in one place, twist in another, and strain your muscles in the third so that they become more prominent.

Right moment

Random Instagram photos are very often not random at all. Such pictures are taken during full-fledged photo sessions, and then they are posted on the Web at different times, passing off as momentary. For example, athletes often organize several filming immediately after the competition, while they are at their peak.

But even people far from sports have good and bad days. For example, you ate pickles at night and woke up with the face of a not very successful beekeeper. And in women, depending on the day of the cycle, weight and volume can fluctuate within a few kilograms and centimeters, which affects both self-confidence and satisfaction with their photographs.

Treatment

A very illustrative example here is the profiles of beauty bloggers. A person with perfectly smooth skin without pores is looking at you from the screen, but no matter how you apply makeup, no matter how you take a picture, you cannot repeat the same result, and the face still remains without a heavenly glow from the inside. And other parts of the body also look human: they have moles and vellus hair, and the skin of the armpits, elbows and knees is slightly different in color.

Here, inevitably, you begin to doubt whether processing helps to achieve perfection. There is no need to doubt - this is it.

Equipment

The easiest way to make your photos look better is to use a camera that produces a prettier picture. It is not only the number of pixels that matters, but also what filters are built in and what distortions the lens gives. Sometimes two cameras on the same phone give very different results.

Why unsubscribe from perfect Instagram accounts

Recipes for creating great photos can be used to replenish the army of "ideal" bloggers that only exist on Instagram. And you can accept that people are imperfect, but this does not make them less beautiful.

Of course, the idea that life on social media is different from reality is not new. Humanity has already gone through this with glossy magazines, and even earlier - with paintings and antique statues. But things are still there: the standards of beauty that are actively imposed are not just difficult to achieve - sometimes they are completely inaccessible.

And such unattainable ideals distort perception more than it seems. For example, the standards of the porn industry led to the fact that young viewers are surprised: it turns out that hair grows in intimate places of the opposite sex, and the skin tone is different from the rest of the body.

It's pretty easy to forget how different people really are and how they really look. On the Internet, you can see hundreds of "ideal" persons in 10 minutes - more than on a busy day on the street. But misconceptions about appearance are just that rare case when like is treated like. If the contemplation of "perfect" people shifts the norm towards unreal criteria, then the contemplation of ordinary people will help to return it. For example, on a great site, you can list your weight, height, age, pants or skirt size and see what different people fit those parameters.

And you can also remember that you yourself create your feed in social networks. By adding the ideal twin bloggers there, you narrow down the concept of beauty yourself. At some point, you will probably start to think that every person should look like this. And if not, then he is unlikely to be considered attractive.

But, if you add different bloggers to the feed who are not afraid to show themselves from all sides, after a while you will notice that there is much more beauty and it is very diverse, even if it does not fit into the standards.

Which accounts to follow to make it easier to accept reality

Danae Mercer

University of Cambridge graduate journalist Danae Mercer devoted her entire account to demonstrating how Instagram pictures can differ from reality. It was with the help of her photographs that we showed the importance of poses, angles and light. At the same time, Danae is not afraid to look unattractive and makes it clear that it is not the celestials who are hiding behind the ideal shots, but ordinary people.

Rihanna Meyer

She runs a regular blog in which she shows her family, a poodle and generally pretty pictures. But she is one of those who have become famous as the destroyer of the myths about the ideal Instagram life. And from time to time, Rihanna continues to spread the "harsh truth" so that users do not forget - not all photos in a row are included in the account.

Chessie King

She is now expecting a baby, and her posts are mostly related to pregnancy. However, at the same time, Chessie continues to show "imperfect" content and joke about the ideals of Instagram.

Chessie King is known for her experiment: she posted photos and videos, and then retouched them in accordance with the wishes of the haters. They were unhappy with her waist, arms, legs - literally everything.

“If we change our body for every troll, listen to every bully on the Net, we will turn into monsters,” Chessie said. As a result of her experiments, something similar really turned out.

Sarah Puhto

Her blog is about body acceptance in the broadest sense of the word. But there are also more than enough collages "Instagram versus reality" here.

Victoria Spence

In the past, Victoria competed in bodybuilding competitions in the Fitness-Bikini category, and now she enjoys life and advises everyone.

Kim Britt

She focused not only on the mismatch of the appearance on the Internet and in reality. Kim shows what the photos would be like if everything really got on the web.

Celeste Barber

Celeste Barber reshoots popular celebrity stories. With only one amendment - what it would look like in the life of an ordinary person, who is not supported by a team of specialists and who is not ready to spend hours for the perfect shot. And it's usually very funny.