Hey mamas! I am back with more photo goodness! I hope my last post on the basics helped you hone those camera phone skills. Today’s lesson delves into Instagram and the tips and tricks I have learned along the way.

Instagram is taking over the world. It certainly has taken over mine lately! It is so fascinating to see the daily lives of our family, friends & celebs through their eyes. Have you read about how Instagram has replaced Facebook for younger generations? Did you see this Instagram inspired hotel? It is definitely the first must-have, free app I urged everyone I know to download!

Tips & Tricks:

Filter fun:

Do you want that cool filter option on every single one of your photos but don’t feel like sharing to the whole world? Go to the Settings on your phone and turn on the Airplane Mode. It allows you to apply filters to your photo, save and not have to delete in hopes no one saw that photo! Also, I am in love with the filter options on videos! No need to film directly from the app. Record on your phone and then edit after!

Hashtag for a purpose:

People use hashtags for various reasons. Do a search for #love and almost 300 MILLION pictures will come up. It can make finding a specific image difficult. Finding unique, yet still descriptive, hashtags can help you post pictures that can be found more easily. This is how I use mine. I love using hashtags to see who else is posting about something similar. Whether it is a restaurant name or a recent one I used, #familyday; it is so much fun to look at what others are doing. Yes, it is a time waster, but the most effective way I have used the hashtag is when I created, #jamesbenji. I post a lot of photos and this helps me ‘organize’ in a way. Try coming up with one that is unique and will not be used by anyone else. #Benji would not have worked in this case because if I wanted to be nostalgic and look at old photos of him on this app, I would be seeing over 96,000 photos with the benji hashtag.

Giveaways galore:

Another fun aspect of this app is how different brands and stores have utilized giveaways. It is so easy to participate. Sometimes all you have to do is tag yourself on a photo or repost an image and you’re entered. My best friend won party supplies from a store in California simply for being their 1,000th follower. I recently entered in a local ‘cakery’ grand opening giveaway.