Top 3 Tips for Instagramming Your Holiday

We all know the feeling. A sun-soaked poolside, a lounger to yourself, an ice-cold cocktail clinking in one hand and that not-so-serious novel you’ve been wanting to read for well over a year in the other – and yet, something’s missing. Whether it’s the classic pool shot (a pair of tanned, glossy knees pointing out toward the crystal water) or something that captures the local colour of a place far from home, documenting our holiday is, these days, almost as important as actually being there in the first place. 

It’s a sign of the times that most of us spend at least a portion of our holidays thinking about how best to frame it for our IG feeds, but there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. It does, however, start to turn into an issue when you get bogged down in the technical demands of becoming an expert photographer somewhere between one airport and another. 

With that in mind, here are our favourite tips for ensuring that what you see through your shades is exactly what makes its way onto your feed. 

Shake it Up

There are a few ‘classics’ of holiday photography. From the evergreen pool shot we mentioned, to the pre-evening meal selfie, the snap from the plane window, and maybe a couple of landscapes of the azure horizon. There’s nothing wrong with any of these shorts – and believe us when we say they are ‘the classics’ for a reason – but there’s also nothing wrong with adding in a little extra creativity and colour. 

Doing a little research on improving your urban photography is a great way to take advantage of a totally new environment, and to document it in a way that truly celebrates its uniqueness. Similarly, read-up on expert guides to taking portrait photography outdoors is a great way to get everyone’s best side, even in spite of any unfavourable conditions like glaring sunshine.  

Besides, when you’re exercising a little extra creativity over your Instagram narrative, any worries you may have about over posting in a short space of time tend to dissipate. 

Don’t Get too Caught Up on the ‘Sharing’ Aspect

Instagram is a great place to share your fondest memories and, again, exercise that creativity for yourself, and for your followers, but overthinking the process and worrying too much over what winds up on your page is a sure-fire way to distract from an otherwise perfect holiday. 

Remember that, while your posts are bound to have an audience (whether that audience is fifty people, or 500) you are the most important viewer of all. 

After all, you’re the person who is going to enjoy scrolling back through your feed more than anyone else. And, when you’ve got a strong enough collection to print your Instagram photos into a holiday memory book, you’re the one who is going to return to these photos time and time again, whenever you feel yourself in need of a little escape from the demands of reality.

Embrace More of Your Holiday

The opportunities to get out of your hotel room or away from the poolside and see more of the country you are visiting have always been there, but one of the great things about cultivating a genuine love for photography is that there’s yet another source of motivation there to encourage you out of your comfort zone. 

From activities like hot air balloon and helicopter rides to good old fashioned sight-seeing opportunities, hikes, cave walks, and heart-in-mouth, once-in-a-lifetime activities like sky dives, there is a near-endless list of things you can do besides take pictures from your sun lounger. 

While there’s a lot more to the world than your social media feed, focussing a little extra attention on the memories you create is a great way to get a little more out of your holiday. It creates a narrative – one that you won’t ever replicate, no matter how many more holidays you book in the future – and one that we wouldn’t give up for the world. 

Keep in mind that there are no ‘rules’ when it comes to making your holiday worthy of Instagram. Sure, beautifully colour-coded and highly aesthetic pictures may be the obvious choice, but there’s nothing more heart-warming than a collection of photos that take you straight back to those walks along the beach, those evening meals overlooking the sunset, those peaceful moments by the water and the experience you will never want to stop revisiting, no matter how many years have passed.