One of the questions I get asked most is “who takes your pictures?” When i say its my boyfriend (who doesn’t even have an instagram of his own), people are shocked! So many people think that in order to be successful on Instagram you need professional photos, but thats just not true!
If you’re first starting out and have no idea where to start, don’t stress because I was there…we were there! I started taking content creation more seriously about 6 months after Jon and I started dating so we learned this whole thing together. Of course this has had its ups and downs. For starters, we really had no effing clue what we were doing … Neither of us knew what the best angles were, we didn’t know a thing about good lighting, and neither of us had ever even used a digital camera. Our shoots could take hours. Many times we left frustrated and without anything usable, and kinda just pissed at one another.
On the other hand its been fun to learn and grow with one another! We’ve figured this all out together and I think its made us a stronger couple! Its taught us how to work well together under pressure and how to communicate better. Our photoshoots have improved so much since we first started! Shooting content doesn’t feel stressful anymore, it doesn’t take us hours to shoot one Instagram photo (usually), and it doesn’t always lead to a fight!
It’s taken a while for Jon and I to really get in a rhythm for our shoots though. There were plenty of times that we went out to shoot content and had an absolutely miserable time! We’d go out to shoot, the photos wouldn’t turn out the way I wanted, I’d get frustrated with him, he’d get frustrated with me, and it would just go down hill from there. If that sounds familiar keep reading to hear how we took our photoshoots from frustrating and disappointing to successful and exciting!
Table of Contents
1. Get Them Fully On Board
First of all, your photographer needs to take his/her job seriously. None of these other tips even matter if your photographer isn’t really on board with any of this. Keep in mind though, learning to be the perfect IG husband isn’t gonna be easy and it probably (definitely) won’t always be fun for him. He may need some convincing, and that’s totally okay! Explain to him why this is even important to you in the first place. Share your vision and what it can do for you both! Map it out, create a powerpoint, buy dinner on shoot days, whatever you need to do to get him fully on board!
2. Come prepared
Now that you have your instagram hubbie on board, make sure to prepare for your shoots so that they go as smoothly as possible! Do your research before hand so that you don’t show up to your shoot unsure of what you want. Find spots you want to shoot at, figure out what poses you’re going to try, what angels are best, etc. Take a look on Instagram and Pinterest for inspiration and see what you like and don’t like!
Come prepared with props and an outfit that you can play around with! Nothing is worse than getting in front of the camera and not knowing what to do. Bringing a purse, flowers, old camera, etc. This can make posing easier (and less awkward) for you and getting a good shot easier for your photographer! Another favorite posing tip of mine is to wear a fun dress or flowy skirt that you can play with in your shots. Again, the less awkward you feel in your shots the easier this will be for both of you! Not sure what props to use? Check out my list of 35 Easy Photo Prop Ideas For Your Next Photo Shoot.
3. Be VERY clear on what you want.
Communication is key here! It’s one thing if YOU know what you want, but does your partner know exactly what you want? Since you already did your research, a la tip number 1 you should have some examples to show your newbie photographer. Go over the example photos and explain what all you want to show (or not show) in the background of your photo. Talk about the angles you want and how far away you want the shot from. Sometimes I also like to take the photo first so that I can instruct Jon on how to get it just so, and this saves a ton of time and effort later on!
4. Review as you go
Make sure you are reviewing your photos as you go. This allows you to make little adjustments as you guys are shooting as opposed to getting to the end and realizing none of the photos actually fit your vision. Its much easier to ask your IG husband to take a couple steps back, get a little lower, try a different angle, etc. in the moment than it is to try and go back and restart the process.
One thing to remember is that just because you came with example photos doesn’t mean your photo will look exactly the same (nor should it)! Your examples should be just that, examples! You always want to add your own flare to photos!
It’s really easy to get frustrated if you’re trying to get a photo to look exactly like another especially because you don’t know what equipment they used. Your camera may shoot the exact same location completely differently than someone else’s or they may have used a special lens that you didn’t. Don’t get stuck trying to make your Instagram photos look exactly like anyone else’s. Instead, try out different angles, poses, etc. and see what you like best! Don’t be afraid to try a bunch of different things! See whats working and whats not as you shoot your content and adjust your plan as you go!
5. Be Honest & Let Them Do The Same
Always be honest with your photographer! Be nice (remember they’re doing you a favor) but give them honest feedback! Let bae know what is and isn’t working and ask them to do the same for you! By this point Jon knows when i’m not gonna like something so he’ll tell me if my pose looks weird, my hair looks bad, or if i’m just not gonna like how the photo looks. The more honest you can be with each other the better your photos will work out and the quicker you’ll become a well working team!
6. More is always better
The more photos you shoot the more likely you are to get content that you actually like! The best thing I ever did was set my camera to continuous shoot mode (or burst mode if you are using an Iphone). This allows Jon to basically just point and click and get a ton of shots while I move around a try different poses!
7. Be patient
I’ll admit this one is hard for me. I’m probably one of the least patient people that you’ll ever meet and I’m also a perfectionist and well, perfection takes time… But heres the thing, patience not only goes a long way with him during shoots but you need to be patient with yourself. Your energy will rub off on your IG husband so if you’re grumpy and frustrated and feel like giving up, don’t expect him/her to feel much different. Try and be patient. Not everything you shoot is going to be perfect right away so give yourself time to get there!
Side note: don’t go into your shoots hungry! A hangry model or photographer does not lead to patience or a good photo!
8. Have a backup plan
This tip is KEY! Like I said above not everything will go as planned and sometimes almost nothing will go as planned. Especially if you’re just starting you’re gonna have shots that you need to practice in order to get. Sometimes I show up to a location and have an idea in mind and as soon as we start shooting I just know it’s not gonna work. Sometimes the location looks different than it did in examples photos, sometimes the outfit you brought doesn’t really work, sometimes the lighting just isn’t right… In those situations its good to have a back up plan whether thats a different pose, location, or outfit so you don’t leave empty handed!
9. Have fun
Let’s face it, most guys didn’t sign up to be your Instagram husband. Instead he was more or less thrown into this when 6 months into dating you decided you were gonna be an influencer. He had probably never picked up a camera before and then all of a sudden he was getting yelled at for not getting your angles right (sorry Jon).
The best thing you can do in this situation, especially if you’re both just getting started, is to have fun with it! Don’t put too much pressure on yourself or him to make the picture perfect. Make taking photos a fun part of your relationship not a grueling, all day event that only takes away from his sports time.
So, there you go! Those are my top tips on how to teach your significant other to be the best the Instagram Husband (or wife) that they can be! If you have any other tips and tricks that have worked for you, let me know in the comments!!
Want so see what our photos used to look like versus now? Click here!
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