15 Tips For Better Photos

If you are thinking - where do I start? The good news is that well designed visual content that has an impact on social media tends to have certain things in common – things you can use to improve your own photos.  
Best of all, it doesn’t take a lot of effort to quickly improve the quality of your social media images.

Tell a Story
Every picture tells a story. It can be a smile, a laugh, an experience, excitement, or even a moment of calm. Simple is better. Your images should not take more than three seconds to digest. Fancy equipment is not required to evoke an emotional reaction. Some essential photography skills and inspiration will suffice.

Have a Consistent Look and Feel
If you’re just starting,  it’s only fair that you experiment a bit. Over time, though, the goal is to develop consistency. Once you find your style, stick with it.
This way, your audience will identify your posts and will be more likely to pause and take a look.
Find a filter that you can apply across your images for consistency - especially on Instagram, where it’s a good idea to have a consistent “look” to your feed.

Creating Balance Using Grid Lines
An image where the subject is in the center is a thing of the past. Subjects that are off-center are much more interesting. The grid consists of two vertical and two horizontal lines, spaced evenly apart. You need to position your subject along these lines. This technique enables you to create balanced, appealing images with enough space to breathe. Any phone camera should provide a grid to help you balance your image so that your focal point touches one of these line intersections.

Don’t Zoom In
A mistake we often see is using the zoom feature. The photo becomes grainy, blurry, or pixelated. Instead, try to get closer to your subject. This will help you retain a good quality image and it is always easier to play around or optimize a larger image. If that’s not feasible, don’t worry. Just take the photo from where you’re standing, and you can later crop the photo to your liking.

Display a More Personal Side of Your School
Leverage your values and mission through your photography to make your school more approachable than ever before. Any photos that you post on social media offer a great chance to enhance the personality of your school. Show something a little less formal and a little more authentic to humanize your school as well as the personalities of the people who work and study there.

Achieve Symmetry
Symmetry is another visual element we are naturally drawn towards. If you have the opportunity to capture symmetry in an image, you should definitely do so. Capturing the symmetry elevates the image and makes it stand out, drawing your followers’ attention.

Visuals You Can’t Ignore
Use attractive color combinations that get people's attention as they are scrolling through the news feed. Maximizing the reach and impact of your content on Facebook equals being able to communicate visually, and to do so quickly. Facebook posts grab your attention with bright, complementary, or contrasting colors. Besides, colorful visuals are more easily remembered and they’re far more likely to be shared.

Use Images of Happy Faces
Posts with faces receive far more engagement. People seem to relate and connect right away to photos that include people’s faces.  In fact, photos with faces get 38% more likes than photos without them.

Take Candids
People are great subjects for your social media, but they don’t always need to be posed. Candid shots add a human element to your brand. They show people in natural action instead of posing for the camera.
The biggest mistake that people make with candid shots is overcrowding and a lack of focus on one moment, person, or action. Try to get close enough to the subject to minimize extra details.

Get Face-to-Face
In order to take great photos of children, you will need to get on their level and engage in what they’re doing, so you can capture expressions that show concentration. If kids are working together on the floor, sit down alongside them. That’s the only way to give your viewers the feeling of being right there with them.

Frame It
Get closer to people so that they take up more of the photo, and crop out anything that distracts or is not a part of the story you want to tell.

Wait For the Right Moment
This one is really easy, but it takes a bit longer. You will need to be patient and watch for the right moment that really tells a story.

Going Mobile
Snap pictures focusing on one single subject.
Try to keep it as simple and uncluttered as you can. Simpler images work great on Instagram.

Use Empty Space
By including empty space around your subject, you can make it stand out further and evoke a stronger reaction from your viewer.

Find the Right Angle
Finding the perfect angle is what will make a nice picture great, memorable, and engaging.

There is a true art to capturing a unique photo…

With so many great school stories to tell, we simply must get better at taking photos.

Good luck!