A picture, they say, is worth a thousand words.

Photography is fast becoming the default choice for conveying events and ideas, and it comes as no surprise that Instagram, the world’s largest photo and video sharing site has over 300 million users. Whether you are a food photographer shooting for menu design or a corporate photographer shooting head shots. It has become a necessity to showcase your works on Instagram. For any person interested in becoming a professional photographer, it can be quite a herculean task in trying to create a presence for yourself on Instagram in its sea of snapshots. 

Most professional photographers, therefore, turn to other less popular photo sharing media like Facebook, 500px, and Flickr with a much-reduced potential of meeting potential clients who would appreciate their work. There’s no reason to settle for less when you can get much more. In this article, you would get tips on how to make your brand stand out on Instagram.

• IT’S NOT YOUR PORTFOLIO

With an Instagram account, you don’t have to be as restricted and formal as you would otherwise be with your professional portfolio so your clients can get to appreciate the depth of your skill better. Also, with the ease of upload of photos on Instagram, it can serve as a stock for your most recent shots which aren’t yet in your portfolio. Sometimes, if you run out of a business card, giving your client, your Instagram username would suffice. It will be interesting to show some behind the scenes of your professional photoshoot too.

• KEEP YOUR BIO NEAT AND TIDY

Your username and bio are the first things users look to if they visit your page and find it interesting. Therefore, it’s important you craft your profile carefully. The two most important items on your bio are your email address and location so that clients can contact you easily and they can know when you are based. When writing your bio, you should keep it neat, not adding unnecessary hashtags and information.

• USE HASHTAGS EFFECTIVELY

When effectively used, hashtags can be very useful in promoting your brand. When using hashtags, you should avoid common hashtags like #photographer, #photography and #sunset because they are saturated with millions of images, therefore, it won’t last long enough on the hashtag page to be seen by users. So for instance, an individual engaged in food photography should avoid hashtags like #cooking, #food, #delicacies but rather opt for niched hashtags like #cupcakes, #foodart, #yummy and so many more.

Niche focused hashtags would help users looking for particular photographs to locate you. In addition, you should watch out for the number of photos and videos associated with a particular hashtag and hashtags with over 250,000 pictures and videos associated with it should be avoided.

Also, you should use hashtags professionally so, hashtagging every word is a no brainer and hashtags should come up at the end of posts.

• FIND YOUR NICHE

To grow as a professional photographer, it is important you post similar images so as to attract followers and keep them as people that land on your profile are more likely to hit the follow button when they know that your posts aren’t a mess between several genres.

Although you shouldn’t restrict yourself to posting in only one genre, you have to strive to be consistent in the images you post, so persons who are into such images know you are the go-to guy for such images.

• USE A REAL CAMERA

It may be tempting to attempt to go professional with your shiny new smartphone, but that’s tantamount to trying to perform a piano recital on a kid’s electronic keyboard. A professional camera not only gives you far more choices in focal length to work with but gives you an opportunity to manipulate depth of field, resulting in images much better than any smartphone can ever give you. In addition, with a professional camera, you can carry out editing much more quickly. 

• GIVE YOUR EDITING YOUR BEST SHOT EVERY TIME

Great photographs aren’t taken; they are created. Trying to execute your photo editing with cheesy custom Instagram filters won’t give you the kind of image you can be proud of. Editing an image involves several things; manipulating light, shadows and watching for clarity and this is done on a computer with a professional editing program like the Adobe Lightroom.

• SHARE A STORY WITH YOUR IMAGES

Great photography combines with powerful words leave an impression much greater than either can leave. Sharing the story behind the pictures you take helps visitors to your page feel like they are a part of the story, help them understand the motivation behind every picture and make your visitors attach a particular emotion to your page.

• ASK QUESTIONS IN YOUR CAPTIONS

Asking questions in your photos helps create a personal connection between your viewers and you. Open-ended questions create a space for your fans to contribute their perspectives to the story. These questions enable you, and your viewers better understand your individual perspective. These questions can also be used as a form of advertisement for companies and brands interested in corporate photoshoot.