So here goes, we’re setting out on a new adventure Sienna!
I get so excited thinking about creating new things. I’m one of those people who loves to change her living room decor around at least 312 times a year! I get excited walking into a shop to find a one of a kind little treasure, that I know will transform my book shelves (I’ll not tell you how many times a year I change those around).
When it comes to photography I love the whole creative process, thinking of ideas, sourcing props, styling, editing and of course sharing on my instagram.
I’m regularly asked about how I edit, what apps I use and so many questions about growth and how to engage followers. So I’ve decided to start this blog as it’s an ideal place to share my tips with you, and an ideal excuse for me to procrastinate a little more over Instagram (rather than tackling my mammoth laundry pile). So hopefully I’ll provide you with a lovely place to procrastinate with me!
One question I’m asked on a daily basis is about how I’ve been editing my recent photos and most importantly what apps I use. So as the title suggests my first post is about adding a flash of magic to your posts. Here’s how I do it…
1. Styling
Before I even think about what extra touches I might add later with clever apps, I think about whether the content is aesthetically pleasing. There’s no point editing a photo that doesn’t look very good and trying to dress it up with lights (mutton dressed as lamb springs to mind).Whether you photograph your children, flatlays or lifestyle shots, you need to make sure that what your seeing before any edits is pretty.
We all know the devil is in the detail. So before you shoot, pause and look at what your photographing, can you make it more pleasing to the eye? Take a few shots with your props in different positions and decide which looks the best. Faff with your flowers (i’m forever faffing) until they look just right. If your using books, have the book open. Consider if you have enough white space in your photo. Ask yourself are the tones singing harmoniously? Is there a sense of whimsy? Are you adhering to the rule of thirds?
Top Tip: if you have food or drink in your photo make sure it’s facing the way the viewer would pick it up (it’s proven to be more visually pleasing that way).
2. Get creative with seasonal props
Props help to create a mood or a moment. We all know that Instagram loves the seasons, so I always try to keep my posts relevant by having seasonal props. Although I do have my insta-staples, such as a cup of tea/coffee, books and of course blooms! Although I keep my blooms seasonal, so you won’t see any tulips in my feed again until at least spring time.
I keep a box filled with lots of different props in my room. My favourite autumn props are leaves, autumn blooms such as roses, socks (preferably twinning ones with Sienna), LED lights, candles, cosy knits and blankets. I find having these to hand when I photograph and having them all in one place, helps with my creative process.
3. Add some sparkle
My favourite editing technique at the moment is Bokeh, which is essentially blurred or out of focus light. After I saw a post by the incredible @sarah_louise_ferg using Bokeh, I just had to try it.
I use Bokeh Cam FX. This app adds Bokeh lighting allowing you to adjust the colour, size and opacity of the lights. I tend to use the white or warmer tones, staying away from the blues and greens, as I want to create a cosy feel. Also as a general rule, the larger the Bokeh size the lower opacity setting I use.
My advice to you is to play around with all the settings until you find what works for you and mix it up for each photo, that way you can discover your own unique style.
4. Bring your posts to life
Animating your photos bring yours posts to life. Lately I’ve noticed more videos on the explore page and they’re bigger, this means you have more chance of someone looking at your video than your regular posts. As fewer people post videos, this could mean more exposure for you! So why not give it a go?
You can make a Cinemagraph which essentially masks parts of your video leaving only one part of it moving, or you can make a Plotagraph which animates a still image. The end result is very similar, although the quality of your image is compromised with a Plotagraph.
Animating your photos is a fantastic way to make your posts more creative and to add a touch of whimsy. These days it isn’t enough to just post a beautiful photo, as everyone is posting beautiful photos, you need to make your post stand out.
I like to animate things that would naturally flow in the wind such as hair or clothing. I also like to animate the words on books pages. What you decide to animate is up to you. You can exercise your creative genius, the options are limitless!
5. Make magic happen
My last tip is to add step 4 and 5 together. Once you’ve finished editing and adding your Bokeh, turn it into a Plotagraph. to add a whole new dimension to your posts.
Such a good post! Thank you for sharing your tips! I’m a bit of a newby to Instagram and only just getting the hang of my photo transitions and making my feed flow! Yours photos always look beautiful! 💕
I’m so glad you liked it Vixtoria! I know exactly how you feel. I have so many posts I want to write about, things that I wish I had known when I first started out.
Hopefully you’ll find them useful.
These are such helpful tips. Loved reading your first post. Also in love with your web design, it looks great!!! xxx
Aw thank you so much Kerry! Big thank you to you for your help!
I can’t wait to do ‘fave IG accounts/bloggers’ blog post you’ll be at the top! 😘
Loved reading this! Good for you and can’t wait to hear more 🙌
Lucy, I’m so pleased you liked it! I was very nervous about posting, but it’s lovely to know people have enjoyed reading it!
Woop Yey to the blog and the insta tips! Your pics always looks magically gorgeous will be giving the apps a try to add a bit of sparkle 🌟
Thanks for the detailed blog! Love your tips & tricks! ❤️
-@its.kaywa xo
Thank YOU Kay for stopping by. I hope to do many more Instagram posts, sharing what I’ve learnt over this past year. Hopefully you’ll lokenthose too.
I bet you get tons of people asking questions on how you edit your photos, including me! So glad you were able to explain in detail. I may have to try these techniques one day!
I have so many questions asking about the apps I use. So I thought why not right a blog post about it.
Thank you so much for stopping by.
Super post, Danielle 🖤You know I love you guys! Keep sharing and being wonderfully inspiring! Xx
Hi Claire,
You’re so kind! Thank you so much for your support 😊🙌
Sorry claire from lj.and.the.hendersons xx should have said 👆🏻🖤
Now I know who you are, Thank you Claire 😘
You are so amazing Danielle! Definitely going to use these tips and tricks!
Thank you Selynn, I’m glad you found it useful. ☺️
I love these tips and suggestions!! You are so incredibly talented and your daughter is gorgeous. I’d love to see into your box of trinkets. I can’t wait to read more posts from you. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you so much Nadia! What a lovely description, a box of trinkets ☺️. I’ll have some regular posts on Instagram tips, so hopefully they’ll be useful too. 💛🙏🏼
HI this is great! How do you make your Instafeed flow nicely? All your pics seem to have a similar vibe.
Hi Vanessa,
I use an app called Mosaico to help with the flow of my feed. It’s linked to my Instagram and shows all your feed, so you can see what your next post will look like in your feed, before you post. It’s a must app, although there are a few different apps that do this.
Thank you 😘
I’m so excited you’re sharing Danielle! I’ve been watchijng your feed for inspiration (totally blind in direction) for quite some time!!! I can’t wait to try the techniques!!!
This is so cool, I am going to try it for sure! Thanks for the great tips!!
So glad you liked it Vicky! I hope you enjoy my other posts too. Yes you must have a go, have some fun with it.
Thank you Danielle for sharing these amazing tips. You are super creative!!! xx
You’re more than welcome! Thank you for reading my first blog, it means so much ☺️
Aw thank you so much lovely 😘
Thank you so much for sharing your secrets! Your photos are so magical!
Thank you for stopping by lovely! I’m glad your enjoyed reading it.
Congratulations on your blog! And this post is great, really comprehensive and easy to follow. Well done mama bear ♥️
Thank you Rabya! It was so scary thinking of pressing the ‘publish’ button.
Now the first one is out of the way, hopefully I’ll not over think the next one. 😘
Love all these tips! I’ve been wanting to download plotagraph and play around with it! 😍
I’m glad you liked these tips! I love the app because you can have so much fu Keith it! Than kyo udor stopping by 😘
– Brilliant tips! Thank you!
I use a camera all day at work, so when it’s my personal camera time, I tend to get lazy. Reading articles like these are just what I need to get inspired! X
Are you a photographer? I’m so pleased it’s helped you feel inspired! Thank you so much for your words of encouragement ☺️
Oooooh!!! My new favorite blog! Thank you for sharing your tips! Can you take it one step back and tell me how you get your photos so bright and crisp? Mine are always super grainy. Do you use special app that you take your pictures with for that? Are you using your phone or a camera?
Oh, that’s so super of you to say! Yes I use VSCO ans Lightroom. I’ll do a post on those soon too.
If you’re not using them download and have a play around. You might need to up the exposure and sharpen your pictures. 😘
Your pictures always look so beautiful, these are some great tips, thank you for sharing. I’d love to know what camera you use?
Oh I’m pleased you found them useful! Thank yov for your lovely comments! I use a cannon M10 which is the most basic canon you can get (approx £300). Before that I was using my IPhone. I can really see a quality difference using the canon, also the colours are better. I hope you’ll enjoy my next post too 💛
Your pictures are always so gorgeous!! Its always such a pleasure browsing through 🙂 Thank you for the lovely tips! Keep the magic going ***
Oh, that’s such a lovely comment! Thank you so much for taking the time to read my blog and letting me know what you though of it.
I can’t wait to share more ☺️💛
Wow, such a beautiful comment Sumedha. Thank you so much ✨✨
Love your pictures. Gutted I can’t get these apps on android.
Aw do they not work for android? Doh! You need and iPhone 🤣🙌🙌
Thank you for sharing those tips! Can’t wait to try!
You’re very welcome Shany ☺️
Hi! How do you make the lights fade in and out though via Platograph? Are you drawing a box with the animate tool around each little Boken and anchoring around each dot? My sparkles are just swirling around! Ha! Is there a fade in and out function I’m missing?
Hi Brie, if you mean like the photo of the flashing heart, I didn’t use Plotagraph for that one, I just took several images and then put them ttogether.
Can you make a videoblog how you did it?)) it would be nice to watch, it is as an idea for you)) as I also don’t understand how you did it the heart and the lights)) but is is so nice
Hello, it would be lovely to makE a video.
The heart one is made in a different way. I came up with that way after the blog. It’s lots of images played together on a loop. 💕💕
I am sorry could you be so kind to tell how you did that heart in slideshow, as I uderstood. Thanks💕
I take several photos, that are very similar. I then Put them together in a slide show app, I use slideshowmaker. This essential means the photos will appear one after the other, in quick succession. So with the heart photo is looked like the lights were flashing on and off.
Thank you thank you thank you for sharing. Your feed and this blog is everything that’s been missing from my life. Insta inspo and fantastic tips, I can’t wait to get creative on those apps. A huge thank you for sharing, it’s so refreshing to come across such a beautiful and creative page and then the cherry on top is your honesty in sharing your techniques. New favourite place to come.
Oh and baby is absolutely adorable.
So glad I found you. Instagram is a wonderful place at times.
Emma
Aww, thank you so much for your lovely kind words! I hope you have as much fun making them as I do! Have a lovely week ☺️
Hi! I have been using Plotagraph the last month and I have noticed the it does ruin the quality! Any tips on making it look a little better? I’ve tried sharpening a lot before downloading to Plotagraph .. I wish it didn’t change the quality!
Hi, I feel you pain! It’s such a downside to the app. Do you shoot with camera or phone? 🌟
Thank you for sharing your magic I see some amazing posts and wonder how they did it. I can’t wait to give it a go.
X
Thank you for sharing your magic I see some amazing posts and wonder how they did it. I can’t wait to give it a go.
X
I’m glad you’ve found it useful, Carla. Yes give it a go and let me know how it goes 😘
Thank you Dannielle for sharing these amazing tops and tricks. I have one question though… which app do u use for book pages that is scattered everything and how do you make mini version of sienna?? And how do u combine all of these together???
I mean *tips and tricks and scattered *everywhere 😄
Hi Mala,
You’re welcome. For the book pages I use the an eraser app called magic ink and then I put them all together with a collage app. ✨
Love love your photos. And loved this blog. May I ask a quick question though? I am having a lot of trouble with the BokehCamFX app. It will only open one photo, will not allow me to upgrade to access all effects and completely freezes and is unusable after one edit. Any ideas? I am based in Australia using an iPhone.
xx
A few people have said that they’re having similar issues. Have you tried deleting and re-downloading? Also thank you so much for your lovely comment 😆❤️❤️
Stumbled across your page last night and I think it’s truly inspiring and magical. I just love everything about it …. from the styling to the creative effects..
Laura xx
Your ouctures are so gorgeous! ❤️ Do you know of any tutorials to latch to learn how to use Plotagraph? 🙂
Hello My lovely! I don’t unfortunately. What I do is masks everything and slowly unmask what I want to move and then just play around with it.
Pictures * watch * sorry for the missplellings 🙈
Thank you for sharing your tips, i’ve Just stumbled across your Instagram and blog and now i’m hooked! Would love to know how you do your arial shots of you two on the bed etc. They are just too cute! Keep going and sharing!
Hello, Thank you so much! I’m very new to blogging, so this year I plan to extend it further making it more professional and hopefully I’m time offer some courses on Instagram. I simply tape and empty cereal box to my ceiling with a hole it (just big enough for the camera to see through). I then pop my phone or camera and and use a self timer setting. I hope this helps.
LOVE your insta feed (incredible!) and these tips ❤️ Thanks for sharing! I wish Android had better apps! Bummer. Ha!
XO – http://natinlove.com
Thank you, Nat! you’re so kind. I hear this a lot from android users. Fingers crossed you’ll find some similar apps.
I am a recent discoverer of your charming and heartwarming work. What a splendid imagination! I can’t wait to try the cinematic effects of the Plotograph for my jewelry posts. Thank you for sharing your magical worlds.
Hi Melissa,
I’m so glad you’ve found them useful. I would suggest lots of play and practice. I find the more I experiment, the better I become at using them more effectively.
Danielle, you’re an inspiration! Watching your Instagram account grow over the last year or so has been an absolute treat. You’re killing it! Thank you for sharing your tips, they are incredible. I’m always on the hunt for new things to try and different ways to do things so I thoroughly enjoyed your blog. I hope to see more photography/Instagram tips from you in the future! The creative process of taking photos is so much fun and I love being inspired and motivated by your magical pictures. Lauren xx
Aww thank you so so much Lauren! Its lovely having your support. Hopefully i’ll be able to bring you some inspiration this year too xx
Amazing post!! I’m still not able to use the Bokeh app! It works for a bit and then freezes! I even paid for the upgrade but it only worked 2min and then I lost it 🙁 anyways, managed to mix real Bokeh with some home made fireflies in photoshop to compensate my frustration 😁 thanks for sharing your tips! @karenbhphotos
Hello Karen,
Thank you so much for your kind words. Up until now Bokeh Xam GX has worked great for me, but since I updated my phone it crashes all the time. I need to find a better replacement.
Oh my goodness! a tremendous article dude. Thank you Nonetheless I am experiencing problem with ur rss . Don’t know why Unable to subscribe to it. Is there anybody getting equivalent rss problem? Anyone who knows kindly respond. Thnkx
Hello, thank you so much! Are you having trouble subscribing to my newsletter?
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Thank you for your comment.
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Hello Kira, thank you so much . I have just planned out my blog content for the rest 2018, I will be sharing weekly content from now on, woohoo! hopefully you’ll read along.
Thank you Kira, my aim is to a destination for IG, creativity and editing tips and tricks.
I really can’t believe how great this site is. Keep up the good work. I’m going to tell all my friends about this place.
Thank you. Are you a keen Instagrammer? If so I have just planned out my blog schedule for the year and its full of content on creativity, Instagram and editing. Hopwfully lots of content to keep you interested.
This site looks better and better every time I visit it. What have you done with this place to make it so amazing?!
Thank you so much for your kind words Glynda. Mu blog is on the top of my to-do list this year. So lots of lovely content for you to enjoy. Thank you Danielle
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Hello Brianna,
So glad you found my blog. I’ll be rolling lots of regular blog posts, covering editing tips, photography and all things Instagram. Thank you Danielle
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Thank you so much, such a lovely comment! Bonus on getting a free breakfast! I have plans to do a weekly Instagram/photography blog post each week. See keep your eyes peeled! Thank you!
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Thank you so much for your lovely comment. Hopefully lots of lovely content coming your way soon.
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Thank you so much ,its lovely to have you following along!
Hi! I want to start off by saying, THANK YOU for this amazing blog post!!! Also, I saw that you mentioned to someone else that replied about how you do the scattered book pages. I tried to find the ‘magic ink’ app that you use but I haven’t been able to find it. Is that the name of it or does it go by something else? I would love to try and do that kind of effect on a phtoo!
Hello! thank you so much. I wrote it wrong I should have typed magic eraser and then Pic Mix app. However I now use photoshop mix its a much better app that does everything that those other two apps did. have a lovely week!
Neat blog! Is your theme custom made or did you download it from somewhere?
A theme like yours with a few simple adjustements would really make my blog jump out.
Please let me know where you got your theme.
Kudos
Thank you Sal, its by Solopine! I’m just about to re-jib my blog though, as I want one that’s easier to manage.
I really like your blog.. very nice colors & theme.
Did you create this website yourself or did you hire someone to do it
for you? Plz respond as I’m looking to create my own blog and would
like to know where u got this from. thanks a lot
Thank you, that’s so kind of you to say. I used a Solopine theme. If you google it, you should be able to find a website where you can buy the theme. Have a lovely week.
I have been surfing online more than three hours
today, yet I never found any interesting article like yours.
It is pretty worth enough for me. Personally, if all
website owners and bloggers made good content as
you did, the internet will be a lot more useful than ever before.
Thank you so much Tayor, thats such a lovely comment! how did you find my website? I often wonder if its via my Instagram or Pinterest, Google etc. I am currently working on creating more content expecally around Instagram and mobile phone editing. so watch this space. Thank you Danielle
Very good blog! Do you have any suggestions for aspiring writers?
I’m planning to start my own website soon but I’m a little lost on everything.
Would you recommend starting with a free platform like WordPress
or go for a paid option? There are so many options out there
that I’m totally overwhelmed .. Any recommendations?
Cheers!
Hello Margot, It can be so overwhelming. I use 1and1 for my hosting and domain and wordpress to actually write by blog. Yes, I definitely recommend starting with wordpress, you can even use one of their free themes. I paid for a theme and i’m currently moving onto a new theme (so my website may look a little messy right now, as its being built).
Then once you’ve found your feet you can look to paying for a theme etc.
Good luck and my best tip is to you tube for advice, there’s so much out their for free advice. Thank you
Heya this is kind of of off topic but I was wanting
to know if blogs use WYSIWYG editors or if you have
to manually code with HTML. I’m starting a blog soon but have no coding knowledge so
I wanted to get advice from someone with experience.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Hi lovely! I just bought a theme from solopines so I had a nice aesthetic. I haven’t done any manual coding. I’m still navigating my way around my blog, as the mechanics of it can be so confusing. I advise watching youtube tutorials, that’s where I get I information. I hope that helps, Darrin.