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How to Get Good Pictures for Instagram, Facebook, OKCupid, Etc.
If you've spent even 5 minutes on Instagram or other social media websites, you'll notice that some people seem to always have the best pictures. You might assume they're using professional photographers, experienced models, and special equipment. The good news is that none of those things are necessary to get kick-ass photos of you and your friends!
Whether you want to look your foxiest on your dating profile, make old classmates jealous on Facebook, or just have better pictures of yourself, these four handy little tips will help you get the perfect photos with just a friend in tow and a smartphone.
Rule #1: Location, Location, Location
Think about where you'd like to take the photos. Do you want a nature aesthetic or something more urban? Does your city have a downtown area with a lot of cool street art and interesting architecture? When thinking about location, consider the mood you want to set in the photos and also keep lighting in mind. A dark, dive bar might be your favorite hang out, but if the lighting isn't great it's going to be a lot harder to get amazing looking shots.
The easiest places to take great shots are outdoor locations on clear, sunny days. You get loads of natural light and a photo-ready setting -- whether you choose a local park or rooftop patio. You can get great indoor shots, but you want to be mindful of lighting. Choose places with big windows that get lots of natural light and shoot during the day. We've had lots of luck shooting in places like coffee shops, book stores and bars -- just as long as we shoot during the day and the location is getting great natural light.
This photo was taken outdoors on a clear sunny day with some local street art as the back drop. The resulting image is colorful and crisp.
Rule #2: Minimize the post-work
You can fix a lot of things in Photoshop after a shoot, but the less work the better. Make sure whoever is modeling is wearing a flattering outfit. Clean hands and nails are also a must, since details like that can show up in photos. If you're a woman, make sure you've done your hair and put on some make up.
Make sure you're shooting in a direction that works well with the lighting so your model isn't in shadows and the pictures don't come out looking too dark or grainy (unless, of course, that's the look you're going for). Use the HDR setting on your smartphone's camera to ensure that you're getting high quality images.
This outfit makes a casual t-shirt part of a put-together look by dressing it up with a crisp white skirt, a stylish handbag and some jewelry.
Rule #3: Take A LOT of pictures
This is one of the most important rules of getting great photos. Getting good shots is a numbers game. Even the plainest looking person can look much better in a photo if you get the right angles and light. Conversely, even professional models don't look great in every single shot. When we shoot lifestyle pictures for Boredwalk, we take at least 500 photos per shoot. If we're lucky, around 10% of those photos will be usable. Whoever is holding the camera should pretty much always be shooting. The more shots you take the better your chances of ending up with some shots you like.
This playful looking shot was one of several dozen playing with the dog. There were lots of shots that came out blurry or unflattering, but we just kept shooting the whole time the model was playing with the dog and managed to capture this still.
Rule #4: The best way to look natural is to BE natural
The easiest way to get candid natural-looking photos is to take candid photos. The reason most people look stiff and awkward in photos is because that's what they're doing when the photo is taken. They're standing still, they're forcing a smile, they're looking at the camera -- none of this makes for a great shot.
The best way to get a good photo of a person is to make them forget you're taking their picture. Make the photo shoot a social occasion, have props to interact with, have a conversation so the model's mind is on anything but the fact that you're taking pictures. If you have an especially hard time looking natural in front of the camera, sunglasses are a great tool for both looking cool and hiding the fact that your model might be looking at the camera too much.
You can't fake a smile this natural looking. The reason the smile looks great is because the model is mid-conversation and actually laughing. He's distracted by lunch with friends and not thinking about what the camera is doing.
Awesome New TShirts and Tanks for April
We've just released a bunch of fun new designs for your spring wardrobe! Check em all out below:
Happy Saint Patrick's Day!
We love these looks for St. Patrick's Day! For her, we love this cute helvetica beer tshirt that we've styled with jeans, sneakers and a hoodie. The yellow adds a fun pop of color, and the casual look is perfect for an evening at the pub, whether on St. Patty's or any other day!
For him, this athletic styled Team Whiskey tshirt also makes for a fun casual look on St. Paddy's day or year round!
As much as we love a good novelty tshirt for a special occasion, these two tees are great because they can be work all year long!
Boredwalk's Deconstructed Avocado Toast Salad
We love our junk food here at Boredwalk HQ, but we also never met a salad we didn't want to get down with.
The great thing about salads is that they're kind of like soups — you can more or less just chop up whatever you've got in the crisper (within reason), toss it in a bowl, and season it with a complimentary dressing for a quick, healthy meal.
One of our fave go-to's is avocado toast. It can come in lots of different incarnations — so long as there's toasted bread and avocado involved, you can stay simple with just a slice and a schmear, or Dagwood it up to your heart's content.
Last weekend we decided to try our hand at deconstructing our favorite open-faced sandwich into a salad comprised of its component parts. Strap in; this ride is about to get delicious!
First, we headed over to our favorite local supermarket and gathered our fresh ingredients:
• (1) extra-large Haas avocado (or two smaller ones)
• (1) pkg grape or cherry tomatoes (we went with grape)
• (1) bunch fresh basil (Italian is best for this application, but we won't kick you out of bed for substituting Thai)
• (1) sourdough demi baguette (if you can't find a demi, get a full baguette and just wrap half of it in plastic & foil and stick it in the freezer until the next time you need to make some croutons or crostini)
As always, take care to select ripe veggies! As heavenly as it is when perfectly ripe, there are few things in life as disappointing as biting into hard, bland avocado.
To Make Salad:
- Preheat oven to 400º F. Slice baguette into 1" rounds and then slice rounds into 1" cubes. Place cubes onto foil-lined baking sheet, and bake until fragrant and just beginning to develop brown edges. Remove from oven and let cool.
- Cut avocado into a healthy dice (about 1/2" cubes) and add to salad bowl.
- Wash & slice tomatoes width-wise into halves or thirds (depending on size); add to bowl.
- Wash & chiffonade basil; add to bowl. As you can tell from our photos, it doesn't have to be a true chiffonade with super-fine ribbons — ours were about 1/4" wide. It just makes for a nicer presentation than a rough chop does.
- Toss everything (including your sourdough croutons) to mix well. Hand-tossing is preferable so as not to demolish the avocado cubes, but by no means required.
- Divvy up into smaller bowls or on salad plates.
If your sous chef is helping you out in the kitchen, don't leave them hanging — they've worked up an appetite, too!
To Dress:
Now you'll want to retrieve some stuff from your pantry:
We wanted to keep things simple to let the natural flavors and textures of our ingredients be the stars that they are. It's best to dress each serving individually to avoid over-saturating the basil and making your croutons soggy.
No real measuring needed here — we sure didn't! Just start with light drizzles of olive oil & balsamic vinegar and light sprinklings of sea salt and cracked or ground black pepper and add a bit more to suit your taste.
And voilà!
