What’s Behind the Perfect Photos of Instagram Models, and How to Take the Same Photos Yourself

The main secret of popular Instagram bloggers is about how they edit their photos. They can do it so well that they make us want to look at them again and again. Some people keep their tricks secret, but some bloggers are happy to share their editing lessons with their subscribers and tell, in detail, how to create certain effects.

We at Bright Side learned some tricks from famous Instagram bloggers that can make your photos far more appealing and interesting in just a matter of minutes.

1. Profile design

The golden rule of every Instagram blogger is that all the profile photos should look harmonious with one another. It is not that all that hard to take photos in the same general style. In order to achieve this, you need to share photos with different topics and angles so that there are no similar photos together.

Also, it is important to have the same color scheme. The app Adobe Capture can analyze the photos on your Instagram page and tell you which color combination you should choose for your next posts.

For that, you need to upload a screenshot of your profile to the app and see the color scheme. In order to check whether the next photo matches it, upload it and see if the color scheme is the same. The more matching colors there are, the better.

2. A drawn avatar

Of course, some bloggers ask professional artists to draw their avatars. But you can get a similar one even if you can’t draw. In the app Zmoji (iOS / Android), you can get your portrait in just a few minutes.

The constructor offers several options for hairstyles, facial shapes, eyes, lips, eyebrows, and so on. If you take a representative photo of yourself and use it as a guide, rather than your memory, you can get a face that looks like you. You can also create animated stickers with your face and send them to your friends instead of emojis.

3. Correcting the body’s shape

Many bloggers like Facetune2: it is much easier to use than many of the alternatives and it is easy to work with, even if you are a total beginner at photo editing. One of the most interesting functions it has is the ability to change the shape of objects on photos, even if this object is a big belly, after a big dinner.

You can use the tool “Shape” to increase or decrease the size of any object in the photo. For example, in this photo the girl made her belly flat and her butt a bit bigger. The most important thing is to watch the objects in the background — they might change shape too. So, it’s better to avoid any straight line in the background if you want to do this type of edit to your photo.

4. Amazing hair volume

You can use 2 apps to create the perfect hairstyle. For starters, use the “Shape” tool in Facetune2 to make your hair more voluminous. It is important to make sure the face and the background look normal. This is why you should draw the hair from the middle, not from the edges. Even if some distortions appear, you can fix them in the next step.

Use the app Snapseed (iOS / Android) to open the original photo. In “Tools” choose “Double exposure” and put the edited photo from Facetune2 here. Adjust the transparency to the maximum level and go to the next step. Go to the tab “Two layers” and press “See changes,” “Double exposure,” and “Edit.” Use the brush to correct the hair and the face to remove all the distortions.

You can add more shine to the hair in the same app. Choose “Brush,” “Dodge & Burn +5,” and apply this to the hair as needed.

5. Perfect skin and a shiny white smile

Don’t cancel a photoshoot if you have a pimple. Any skin problem can be hidden with the right editing. Here, for example, Angelina Jolie’s problem skin was turned into perfect skin with 4 apps.

Use Snapseed (iOS / Android) and choose the tool “U Point,” to cover all the skin problems and overly-lit areas. Use the tool “Portrait” to even out the skin and eye colors. You can adjust the brightness, contrast, and light balance whatever way you like.

Next, go to Facetune2 and choose the tool “Softness” to edit the entire face, except for the eyes. Use the tool “Bleach” to make the eyes and the teeth brighter.

Use VSCO to set the grain parameter to +2, and to about +6 for any filter you like.

You can use YouCam Makeup (iOS / Android) to change the eyebrows, highlight the eyelashes, make the eyes bigger, or change the facial contour.

6. Getting a tattoo

PicsArt offers a lot of options to edit photos. For example, you can surprise your subscribers with an unusual tattoo.

Go to the “Stickers” tab and write “Tattoo” in the search bar. You can choose any tattoo that you like and just put it on the body part you want. Use the “Eraser” to remove the parts of the tattoo you don’t like and you are good to go!

The most interesting pictures are accessible in the premium version of the app that you can use for free for 3 days. Just don’t forget to cancel the subscription in time.

7. Adding something unusual to the photo

If you didn’t find the right sticker in the PicsArt gallery, you can make your own. For this, press the tab “Photo” and add the object you like to the picture. Use the tool “Cut” to remove the background from the object, and choose the right size and position. If you do a good job, your picture will look like a real photo.

8. Recovering a dark photo

Not every dark photo can be recovered to make it look better than the original. However, you can try, and the app you should use is called Lightroom. The parameters should be set individually for each photo. Pay attention to tabs like “Light,” “Detail,” and “Color.” At the end of the editing, you can enable distortion correction. In order to make the effect more obvious and you can experiment with VSCO filters.

9. Blur the background

If you like yourself in a photo but the background is not good enough, you can use the Facetune2 app. Upload your photo and choose the tool “Bleach” (the same one you used to whiten the teeth) and apply it to the light areas of the background.

Then, choose “Defocus” and apply the tool to the parts of the photo you want to be blurred. If you make a mistake, use the “Eraser” tool to correct it.

10.Turquoise water

The color of water in a photo can ruin the entire look and make the picture grey and dull. You can use the PicsArt app to make the water look more beautiful and bright. First, set the brightness, contrast, and saturation. If needed, correct the line of the horizon and lighten the shadows.

Next, find a photo of the sea where you like the water color and put it on top of your photo. The main secret is to mix the original photo with a new one. You need to adjust the transparency of the brush: the closer to the shore, the more transparent. Then, choose a drawing brush and choose the right color for the water. The brush should be semi-transparent, paint the water until the color you want is achieved.

11. Beautiful coffee photo

In order to make a beautiful photo of a cup of cappuccino, you don’t need to have a coffee maker at home. Just take a photo of a cup and edit the photo in Snapseed (iOS / Android).

Open the photo and go to “Tools” to choose “Double exposure.” Upload a second photo of a cappuccino (you can find one online) and put it on top of your cup. Choose the maximum level of transparency and save your changes.

Go the tab “Recent changes” and choose “Double exposure” — “Edit.” Draw on the cappuccino with a 100-brush, if you go outside the contour, remove it with a 0-brush.

There you go — your beautiful coffee photo is done!

Bonus: If you have creative people around you, you are not going to need to do any post-editing.

Tell us in the comments what photos you like more: the real and natural ones with flaws or the perfectly edited ones?