Instagram. What a beast, am I right? If you’re in the blogging/influencer/small shop/entrepreneur world, you know what a mindf**k Instagram can be. 
The algorithms are right down messy, and basically nowadays you should count your blessings if your content is being seen, if at all. *sigh* 
I’ll save that rant for a different day… because today, I’m here to talk about how I edit my Instagram photos!!!! I’ve always been about simple, yet elegant edits. 80% of my photos are taken on my DSLR, and then about 20% are my iPhone pics! But no matter what, when they are being edited for Instagram, it’s mostly the same process through VSCO. It’s probably my favorite app for editing because it’s super simple to use, and has great presets! It can be pricey for some because it is $19.99/year, but given how much I use Instagram daily, it was a small fee to pay to get outstanding photos for my business. I look at it like another tool for work, like my printer or something that I need in order to run my blog/social media.
I always use the same Preset (A6), and tweak the level of the preset, exposure, contrast, saturation, and white balance. I don’t have one formula fits all because each photo tends to have it’s own challenges with light and such, so they all need to be edited separately.
Here are 10 photos that I edited in VSCO, and there is a recipe below for how each edited photo was done!
DSLR photo of me sitting at the kitchen table
This photo I just wanted to brighten it up a bit and pull it in a little closer to my face because I was planning to use it for my new profile photos across my social platforms. So I decided to cut more of the table out.
- Preset: A6 +7.9
- Exposure: +1.3
- Contrast: +1.2
- Adjust: I cropped it to take more of the table out
- Tone: Shadows = +1.8
- White Balance = Temperature: +0.3 / Tint : +1.1
iPhone photo of our food at a restaurant
This was taken while I just stood up and took an aerial shot of our food. I love crisp and clean photos, so I wanted to brighten up to bring the whites out more in this photo.
- Preset: A6 +8.3
- Exposure: +0.8
- Contrast: +2.6
- Saturation: -0.4
- White Balance = Temperature: -0.4/ Tint : +1.3
iPhone photo of Rish
This was right after he had a haircut, and I wanted to brighten up the photo as well because I wasn’t loving the color of the brick in the background.
- Preset: A6 +10.7
- Exposure: +0.6
- Contrast: +1.1
- White Balance = Temperature: +0.7/ Tint : +1.5
iPhone photo of Aria and Rish at a restaurant eating snow cones
One of my absolutely favorite photos, but I despised how yellow it looked. While the edited one isn’t perfect, I do like it better than the raw, unedited one!
- Preset: A6 +10.1
- Exposure: +0.8
- Contrast: +1.4
- Saturation: -2.0
- White Balance = Temperature: -0.6/ Tint : +1.8
iPhone photo of our apples at the grocery store
I loved how beautiful the fruit looked and snapped a quick picture! But the apples looked so gorg and shiny and somehow I couldn’t get that in the photo, so after editing, they looked that much more bright and delicious. Makes you immediately want to bite into one right?
- Preset: A6 +8.0
- Exposure: -0.7
- Contrast: +1.6
- Saturation: -0.4
- White Balance = Temperature: +0.7/ Tint : +1.1
DSLR photo of the Alamo on our San Antonio trip
This photo is great on its own but I wanted the grass, the white, the light, and the sky to pop just a smidge, so minor tweaks to get those to shine through!
- Preset: A6 +7.8
- Exposure: +0.9
- Contrast: +0.8
- Clarity: +0.7
- Saturation: +0.9
- White Balance = Temperature: -0.1/ Tint : +1.1
DSLR photo of our berries at home
I got a new backdrop for photos, and because we’ve been eating so many berries, I decided to take a couple of styled shots. Again, just wanted the fruit to look crisp and juicy, so a little brightening to get it there!
- Preset: A6 +10.1
- Exposure: +0.9
- Contrast: +1.0
- Saturation: +0.8
- White Balance = Temperature: +0.6/ Tint : +1.3
DSLR photo of me in a sari
Took a few photos of me in a sari outside our home last year before heading out for a religious festival (Durga Puja), and I took it in perfect conditions. It was cloudy and not too many harsh shadows, so I just had to brighten it up a smidge!
- Preset: A6 +8.7
- Exposure: +1.0
- Saturation: +0.5
- White Balance = Temperature: +0.3/ Tint : +0.8
DSLR photo of my charcuterie board during Thanksgiving 2018
I LOVE putting together a good charcuterie board for pretty much anything, and after assembling this one for Thanksgiving last year, I had to snap a pic! And once again, I love the crisp edges and whites in the edited photos, so minimal editing!
- Preset: A6 +7.6
- Exposure: +0.9
- Contrast: +0.6
- White Balance = Temperature: +0.8/ Tint : +0.7
DSLR photo of Aria on her fifth birthday
Taking pictures of my kids is probably my favorite thing…when they cooperate that is! I got this one of Aria while shooting her fifth birthday portraits, and just wanted to brighten it up!
- Preset: A6 +4.9
- Exposure: +0.6
- Contrast: +0.6
- Saturation: +0.5
- White Balance = Tint : +0.3
I really hope this was helpful! If you have any questions, let me know in the comments below! I would love to know your thoughts! And don’t forget to pin it!
