The reality of a blogger: Behind the scenes of an Instagram photo

I love looking through Instagram feeds and being inspired by all these clever, stylish people with amazing, professional looking images. I dream of a life like that. It looks so easy and photogenic.

BUT…then I think about everything that goes on behind my scenes and I have to assume plenty goes on behind these other stunning feeds too.

Behind the scenes of an Instagram photo

1. I don’t take selfies or outfit photos with my iPhone. I think the angle you need to hold the iPhone to take a photo are unflattering to me, and if I’m trying to snap an outfit in the mirror I look like my legs are 5 inches long. I’d rather an angle that adds an extra 5 inches on.
2. I use a DSLR and a remote and then transfer the photos to my iPhone. This gives me crisper images from a much better angle
3. I have learnt over the last few years what poses work best for me but I still take about 50 photos to get just one decent photo. The rest are crap. So crap, that if my cloud was hacked and the photos released, I’d be more embarrassed than a movie star with naked photos.
4. Before before sending images to my phone. I always add a little yellow tone because I think it makes the image seem less cool, which I think makes me seem more approachable. I also do a quick adjustment for shadows or light. I am tempted to erase wrinkles, pimples, etc but you need to stay true to yourself and people will eventually meet you in person. Plus I know and everyone else knows that I am 41 years old. Let’s be real, I’m not going to look 20 or even 30 and I don’t want to.
5. I rarely use use Instagram filters or apps to edit the images. I sometimes feel some images are too filtery and unreal and I like to feel the image more. It’s a personal thing. I like flaws and imperfections (usually I like them more on other people though).
6. I also don’t share images on days I feel yucky. If I am dagging around or feel gross. I don’t want to try to pretend to look happy and I’m also not going to share “look how sad I am” photos.
7. Most of my photos are ruined by my face. I’m either blinking or looking the wrong way or my face looks odd. So I pretty much wear sunglasses most of the time. This means I don’t have to worry about makeup either. Yes, I’m that lazy!

So, you really are seeing an edited, better version of me. It’s still me but this version doesn’t miss her mouth and spill coffee down her new white dress, she doesn’t step in dog shit when trying to take a selfie and she doesn’t overcook pasta three times in a row…she is just cooler.

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