Lockdown has been hard on all of us, we've all been wishing we could have our freedom back, go out to restaurants, see friends and family, go on holiday, get together with friends and have photoshoots.
There's a lot we've sacrificed over this last 10 months, but our Instagram content shouldn't be one!
Home Content
I got into creating Instagram content at home when lockdown first came around and I had some loungewear to document. I wasn't too sure where to begin with creating Instagram content at home so I made sure to read blog posts and watch IGTV's to get an understanding.
In the beginning I used my camera on self timer because I hadn't yet upgraded my phone. This worked well for a while, but having to transfer the photos to my laptop to edit them to then send them to myself to upload to Instagram was a bit much!
So, in November I treated myself to the Huawei Pro 30Lite with the intention of being able to create better content by myself.
Learning The Ropes
So, once I'd got my new phone and was familiar with how to use it with my tripod, I set about capturing some content! The aim of the game with photography is always to have fun, so that's exactly what I did.
To begin with, I started where I was most comfortable and with a photo which was representative of what most people would be doing, given that we're on lockdown 3 here in the UK - watching Netflix!
I'd recently finished watching 'The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina' so I set it up on my TV, wore my t-shirt and my new red tartan jacket, which just so happened to go really well with the colours in the show!
I'd previously just shared a post about 6 shows to watch on Netflix so it was a fitting photo to be posting on Instagram, and one I felt comfortable posting; because after all, that's the most important aspect of creating content!
I love how this photo turned out and it seemed to go down well on my feed to boot!
Using Lightroom
Alongside needing to create content at home and having a new phone, I started to use Lightroom more and place presets over my photos. A lot of content creators use them all the time to give their feed a more cohesive look, but prior to January I hadn't really used them, much preferring to use Instagram's own filters.
I'd previously been gifted some presets by Nicky Presets (on Instagram) which I'd used on a few photos but not consistently, so when she got in contact again with her second lot, I didn't hesitate to say yes! I only have a few uploaded into Lightroom at the moment but hoping that will change very soon!
One preset which I have been using regularly is the 'Everyday' preset from the 'Essentials' preset pack by Hannah Rose (postcardsbyhannah on Instagram).
I'm still learning how to use presets properly and upload them into the app, but so far I've had lots of fun choosing which ones to use for my photos.
Lightroom is free on mobile which makes it so easy to be able to upgrade your photos. The more you use it the better it is and the better you become at adjusting each photo until it looks like you want it to.
Even as a relative newbie I picked up quite easily and there are loads of tutorials available to you should you need them.
Planning Content
OK, so this can be the hardest part sometimes! Especially if you've a particular niche (fashion, food, travel etc) and are needing to produce content which fits around it.
Most Instagrammers/content creators do bulk shooting days, where they'll set aside one day a week to shoot or create a whole bunch of content.
Lockdown has seen most get creative with shooting inside/in their gardens or on their own when previously they'd have regular shoots with a professional photographer, or even with fellow Instagrammers/content creators.
I definitely was in the latter category, much preferring to let someone else capture content for me. At that time I hadn't upgraded my phone so it wasn't any good for taking pictures with really! Plus, professional photos always look better on Instagram and for blog posts!
(In my opinion, although since starting to capture my own content, there's no reason why I can't showcase it on my blog!)
That being said, lockdown has brought new challenges, with us all being told to stay at home for extended periods of time, we've all had to adapt and come up with new ways to shoot content and think a bit harder about how exactly to replicate our previous feeds!
All it takes really is a bit of creative thinking, changing locations and making them work for you rather than against you. If all you're doing is spending time on the sofa watching Netflix (and who isn't right now?!) then make a post out of it!
Most of all though, it should be fun! Yes we may all be in the same storm but we're not necessarily all in the same boat.
So, if capturing content yourself at home isn't your bag, then you definitely shouldn't feel pressured to do so. Do what is comfortable for you & just enjoy seeing how others are doing it.
But, if like me you're venturing into the world of creating content at home, then perhaps take this advice into consideration and enjoy your photo shoot!
Let me know how you get on and feel free to share your photos with me on Instagram!
Sarah xoxoxo
