How to Take Super-shareable Instagram Shots!

Please raise your hand if you’ve ever felt personally victimised by your forward-facing camera!

Ah, we see! You, you & you! You are looking stunning, you’re feeling ready to take on the world. You open up that camera app, you set up the shot and BAM! you’re hit with poor lighting and oh my, do my ankles really look like that?! You take shot after shot, only to dismiss each one. Your beloved other half, offers to take The Shot but now the angles are all wrong and what is that face I’m pulling?! Soon enough they’ve wandered off and left you to battle through to the final frame alone.

But YOU’VE DONE IT! You’ve taken The Shot! You crop it down and load it up into Instagram, tagging every brand you can think of! The Likes roll in, and everyone really loves your look. After all, you put so much effort into this one! You were sure this was The Shot that X Brand would pick up… but so far nothing. Seem familiar?

Well, there’s good news: taking those super-shareable instagram shots doesn’t have to be daunting. Here we’ll give you our top tips for creating shots anyone would want to shout about!

This isn’t a step-by-step though - if everyone looked or posed the same, things would get pretty boring. We’re not going to overload you with a bunch of pics and poses to copy! What we’ll do is walk you through how to show your confident self to the good people of The Gram. When we’re done, you can use these tips to showcase yourself in a way that gets that shoutout or feature you’ve always wanted! Ready? Let’s go!

Getting The Shot

Tip no.1:

Before you start diving into what to do with yourself, you need to get your gear together.

Are you using your phone or a separate camera? Either way, let’s work out where you’re going to put it! Ideally your device is best on a tripod or in someone else’s hands. Why? Because you can free up more space and range of movement for The Shot. So if you’ve got two arms full of B&C bangles - show us! We love to see it!

If you don’t have a spare pair of hands or a tripod in reach, then it’s okay. Just use a nearby desk, tree, stack of cushions as your make-shift tripod BUT bear in my mind that when you position the camera lower than your focus (say your flawless face) it can dramatically alter how your proportions appear. The camera set pointing upwards from your waist height and below has the benefit of making you appear taller though (if that’s your jam!) which leads us to Tip No. 2…

Tip no.2:

Move that body, girl! Remember whatever is closest to the camera appears larger, so if you want to play with your proportions - just use the camera to make some curves! Try leaning your chest forward and arching your deriere way away from the camera to give the illusion of a super tiny waist. If you’re sat down, stretch yourself out a bit. Take up space and show off that look!

Tip no.3:

Now, we know you can rock and you’ve got that rhythm - so get those feet a-moving! Motion in pictures can look fantastic and add real energy. Maybe a little hair flip? Maybe a half-twirl? Play around with your wardrobe, the space around you. Feel good - you deserve it.

If you’d prefer to just hit that pose and hold it, why not try the classic Showgirl Bevel? Popularised by The Rockettes and supermodel of the world RuPaul, it’s a super easy trick to a sleek bodyline. Stand with your supporting foot angled slightly out from the camera, then point your other foot and place it toe-to-toe. Your knee pulls across to give the appearance of two legs becoming one. Sounds weird - but looks great!

The Rockettes show off their perfect bevel

Tip no.4:

Ohh, do we love a good bangle shot! But what to do with those hands? Straight arms and fingers can look a little stiff in pictures, so relax. Think about your favourite Disney Princesses. Their hands are always in soft curves, with space between the fingers. Softening the whole look and creating more space and angles. There’s an old photographer saying that we love: “If it bends - bend it!”

Tip no.5:

So you hit your pose, your outfit looks flawless… what about that gorgeous face of yours? All these tips can be a lot to think about and no-one wants to look uncomfortable or tense.

Drop those shoulders girl, stretch out that luscious neck and relax those lovely lips of yours. If you want to give yourself a gentle pout, just try mouthing the letter P as ’puh’ while the shutter clicks! It’ll give you a full-lipped look without the dreaded “duckface”.

If you’d prefer a soft smile instead, ask the photographer to count to three before taking the picture. Close your eyes and breathe in. Then, just before the shot, breathe out, open your eyes and smile. Your face will look relaxed and your smile will be real and unforced.

Getting The Shot Noticed

First up, using hashtags is one of the main ways to get more people to see with your posts. Here at B&C HQ we regularly check up on #bandcbeauties to see which of your gorgeous bunch are using it!

Then, of course there’s tagging! Tag which ever brand you’re wearing. Best not go too wild with it though. Most of the really big brands won’t share your shot if it’s half full of another brand, so sometimes being specific in each post can really send you viral - for the right reasons!

Have fun getting those shots and remember to check out our weekly Sunday Shoutouts! We can’t wait to see you up there on our feed @bowandcrossbones!

Tx