Instagram is all about engagement, however a pretty feed is a great way to build your following to then get that engagement. It definitely shouldn’t be your end-all plan to success, but it is important to put a little time into it.  These are the steps I take with (almost) every photo to achieve a unified look.

Download the app Snapseed and go to Tune Image

1. Brighten the image

2. Add contrast

3. Increase the saturation

4. Increase the highlights

5. Decrease the shadows

6. Cool down the image just a tiny bit (more if you didn’t have natural light for the photo)

7. THE SELECTIVE TOOL! Click on the white portion of your picture that you want to make brighter and increase the brightness.  Make those white backgrounds pop!

8. Go to the brush feature.  I use the dodge and burn brush and paint it over the walls to make it look more unified and brighter.  If I have a lot of green in the picture I will use the desaturate brush over the grass or trees about -5.

9. Bring the photo into VSCO and apply your filter to make your pictures look all the same.  I use A6 with a strength at about 4 for most of my pictures.

Now it is your turn to go from this…

To this…