I’ve realised I’m a bit fickle when it comes to editing my Instagram.
About two days after I posted the last update about my Instagram theme, I started playing around with my editing apps again…
I started looking at apps outside of VSCO, and re-discovered Snapseed. And slowly, over the space of a couple of weeks, my darker photos have slowly morphed into something else!
The shots I’ve been posting recently are clearer, brighter, sharper and look more natural than anything I’ve ever posted before, and it’s all because of these three little Snapseed tricks:
1. TUNE IMAGE
Snapseed’s general editing tools are EXCELLENT.
All my photos get the Brightness and Contrast lifted, and the Saturation lowered. I usually also have to lower the Warmth slightly. And I might play with the Shadows and Highlights as well, depending on the shot.
My final edit in this section, is the Ambience setting. This acts almost like a filter of sorts. If you lift it, the photo turns lighter, brighter, and the colors are more saturated.
And if you lower the Ambience, you’ll get a much darker and moodier shot, with more contrast.
2. BRUSH TOOL
This is my FAVOURITE of all three Snapseed tricks: the Brush tool.
Similar to the Selective Editing tool, with the Brush you can selectively edit the exposure, temperature and saturation of a photo. However, I think the Brush is easier to use than Selective, as you have more control over where you use the edits.
Just use your finger as a paint brush, and “paint” over the bits you want to change!
I find this especially helpful for editing photos that have really dark and really light areas. So for example, say you’re taking an outfit photo. The background is perfectly exposed but your subject’s face is in shadow. If you edit it with the general brightness setting, you’ll risk overexposing the background and losing a lot of detail in your shot.
So instead, use the Exposure Brush, to quickly lift the brightness just where you need it.
I also frequently use the Saturation Brush, to make my whites brighter. Simply slide it into a negative number, and brush over any whites that don’t look quite right. It will desaturate those areas so the colors look perfect!
3. HEALING TOOL
Photoshop schmotoshop. This is where the real magic happens.
Snapseed’s Healing tool is similar to the Patch tool on Facetune, but I find this so much easier and quicker to use. With it, you can patch up any annoying little things that are ruining your perfect photo.
For example, say you look at your outfit photo and notice a giant stain down your top? Fix it with Healing. Ugly yellow alarm system ruining your perfect shot of a front door? Fix it with Healing.
You literally just have to tap on whatever it is, and Healing will cover it.
It has limitations obviously. It works best on tiny things like the ones mentioned above. Little niggles that stop your shot from being PERFECT. Anything too big, and it will be a) super obvious, and b) super messy.
The patches are also created automatically, so you do need to zoom in sometimes to get the right fit. Otherwise you risk trying to cover the coffee patch on your shirt with a patch made out of your nose or something…
And here’s what the final shot looks like after passing through the three editing stages!
Looking for more posts about Instagram? Check out my previous HOW I EDIT MY INSTAGRAM post, as well as HOW TO CREATE YOUR PERFECT INSTAGRAM THEME.
