Instagram 101: Tips and Tricks to taking the perfect pic!

On average, we are spending more than 3 hours a day on social media. That doesn’t come as much of a surprise to me, as I probably contribute quite a few hours of my own time scrolling through various newsfeeds and gluing my eyes to my phone. My favourite social media is Instagram, hands down! I have always loved photography, art and being creative, so Instagram is the perfect platform for me to express my life through photos and visuals. If you’re anything like me, you will constantly explore the world of Instagram in search for beautiful and creative profiles, which are more like a work of art on a canvas than anything else.

So, today I thought I would share with you my own tips and tricks for taking the perfect photo, and building a creative and artistic Instagram profile. Before we get started, I should mention that the above photo is a snapshot of my own profile (you can follow me at @jemrosee), and the photos below are some snapshots of my favourite accounts for you to draw inspiration from!

 The key to a beautiful Instagram profile is how you choose to layout your photos. Your layout is how everyone will first view your photos, in small (or square) form. Personally, I prefer photos that take up the whole screen so you are left with no white borders and gaps. If you prefer to leave your pics cropped (by using apps such as Whitagram), make sure you make every picture the same in width and height, so you get a clean-looking profile. The most important thing with your layout is consistency; so whatever you decide to do, make sure you stick with it! Check out @justanothermannequin’s profile below, I love the use of white borders on all of her photos!

 Invest in a good photo editing app. You don’t literally have to invest; there are a ton of good apps for free! You can take a photo that you think might be quite plain and bland, but with a few small alterations it can really come to life. The apps I use the most are VSCO Cam, Perfect Photo and Insta Collage. Once you play around with all of the settings and different features, it’s not hard to understand how to best enhance your photos. Just remember, that less is more. You don’t want people to look at your photos and see obvious editing and over the top enhancements.

 Following on from editing, I think the most important tool is the saturation tool. If you don’t know what this is, it’s the tool that makes the colours in your photo more vibrant. Every basic editing program or app will have a saturation tool, and all you have to do is turn it up! Personally, I love the look of bright and colourful photos, so I always turn the saturation up on my photos. Again, just remember to not go overboard, as you still want your photos to look natural.

 Nothing ruins a good photo like 500 random hashtags. If you want your Instagram account to grow, and reach more people, then go ahead and use hashtags in your captions! However, don’t hashtag dozens of irrelevant words on every photo as it can look tacky, and quite frankly it can be annoying. Keep your captions simple and fun, and hashtag a few relevant words so your pic can be categorised with others.

As I mentioned before, I love photography! A lot of people need to realise that ANYTHING can make a beautiful photo … It’s just in the approach that the photographer has that can make it beautiful and interesting. For me, it’s all in the detail. Sure, you can take a standard landscape photo of the beach, but why not try and get down on the sand and explore all of the different angles and close ups you can take. I love posting photos of scenery and the world around me, and find so much beauty in the places I visit. If you want an interesting and creative profile, try and stay away from posting dozens of selfies, and steer towards capturing your life in a different way.

 Try and create your own theme. You’ll notice in every screenshot in this post, every user has there own theme to their profile. Whether it be fashion, nature, food, yoga, health … The options are endless and completely up to you. I believe that your Instagram profile is more of a way to express yourself and tell your story of who you are. I love posting my adventures and travel photos, as well as shots of the beach and other scenery that I find so so beautiful!

I hope you found this somewhat interesting and helpful, and please leave your favourite Instagram accounts in the comments for me to have a look at x

How to be a Successful Blogger

Good morning everyone! This week’s post is a little bit different, as you can probably tell from the title! I’ve had this blog now for almost ten months, and have loved every minute of it, and thought it was about time I shared some of my tips and tricks with all of you. I’ve had quite a few questions asking about blogging, so I thought why not make a post about it! Blogging has become such a huge phenomenon in the last few years, and it seems as though everyone is hopping on the bandwagon. Just a little side note: I don’t think my blog is better than anyone else’s, these are just a few tips I have learnt along my journey … Enjoy!

1. Layouts: Less is More

Obviously the first thing that your reader is going to notice is the layout of your page, and how it first looks. There is nothing worse than going on a website and being flooded with images, text, moving images, and tabs. When creating your blog, try to pick a simple theme that looks polished and easy to navigate. Try not to have too much ‘clutter’ on your page, as it distracts your reader.

2. Know Your Words

Blogging involves creating a relationship with your readers through words. Therefore, I think it is SUPER important that you have some sense of how to write well, and how to use grammar and punctuation correctly. There is nothing worse than trying to read through a blog that doesn’t make sense. If you’re not very confident with this, simply just write your post in an application that has spell check, and get a friend or someone to read over your post to ensure it makes sense. Another important thing about blogging is getting your site out there and making it easily accessible. To do this, make sure you use titles that are describing exactly what your post is, and will most likely show up in a search engine. For example, if you are writing a post on DIY ripped jeans, use a title like ‘How to Make Your Own Ripped Jeans’, instead of something like ‘My Day of DIY’. Do this with the captions of your pictures too.

3. Add Some Personality

In the majority of cases, your readers follow you and keep coming back because they are interested in YOU! Yes, they are also interested in the subject matter, but ultimately they enjoy your personal twist. When you’re writing a post, try and be conversational, as if you are talking to your friend. Make sure that your voice can be heard throughout your blog, otherwise it can become a bit generic and boring. Also, have fun with it! Add photos of yourself, and tell people what has been going on in your life … Readers want to get to know you! This also includes commenting, liking, and sharing other people’s work, and getting your name out there.

4. Consistency is Key

There is no point in starting a blog or website, if you are only going to post once every few months. I would recommend posting at LEAST once a week, if not more. Keep in mind that your posts don’t have to be mini essays or include your whole life story. If you post content on a regular basis, you will get a steady flow of readers and followers, and people will know to visit your blog every week.

5. Content

I have had a lot of people ask me, “How do you come up with ideas for blog posts so often?” I think this is probably the hardest thing to wrap your head around when starting out as a blogger. After the first few posts, many people get stuck and can’t think of any good ideas. To me, there is no such thing as a ‘good topic’. ANYTHING can be worthy of a blog post, as long as you make it interesting and well written. Remember, it’s not what you write about; it’s how you write it. Also, there are so many places and people you can draw inspiration from. For example, if you are a fashion blogger, go and check out Vogue and see what they are writing about this month, and put your own spin on a story!

I could probably ramble on for ages, but I’ll leave it here with my five best tips. Make sure you let me know in the comments if you have any tips or tricks to share!

How to Make Your Own Ripped Jeans

Let’s face it, if there is a trend going around that can be quite pricey, you’re always going to want to take the cheap way around it! In this case, we are talking extremely cheap! I have been seeing so many pairs of ripped jeans lately, with the bigger the rips the better. The boyfriend jean has made it’s way back into our hearts, and the more distressed you can find them, the more on trend you will be.

Whenever an item is on trend, the prices will always start to soar. I couldn’t really justify spending over $50 for a pair of jeans that are basically so cut up that all you have left is half the denim you started with … So, on the weekend, my friend and I decided to make our own! I will admit that some DIY projects tend to look a little bit dodgy, and will usually look cheap. However, if you follow this guide for ripped jeans, you will have a stylish pair of jeans with people asking where you bought them!

Firstly, you want to buy the perfect pair of jeans. If you already have an old pair of jeans that you never really wear, and are prepared to rip and tear them, then you can start with those. If not, just head down to your local op shop or thrift store. This is what I did, and after looking through a few shops, I found the perfect pair for … wait for it … $4.00! I would suggest looking for a pair that are baggy around the bottom, so you can fold the cuffs and create big loose rips. You won’t be able to get the big, baggy cut outs if you are working with skinny jeans. Another tip is to broaden your horizons when searching through the aisles; you could even find the perfect loose-fitting jeans in the male section!

Once you have found your perfect denim match, it’s time to try them on in front of a mirror and mark out where you want the rips and cut outs to be. This is easiest if you have a picture to work from (just google ‘ripped boyfriend jeans’).

Now it’s time for the fun part – slicing and dicing that denim! For the bigger holes (usually around the knee), simply cut out a straight horizontal line with scissors, and on either side of that cut, make a small vertical cut down the denim, so you are left with a gaping effect. You then want to get something with rough edges (sandpaper works great), and rough up the edges for a distressed look. For a more natural look, I started with a small cut, and ripped the rest with my hands so I didn’t have such a straight line.

For the ‘laddered’ effect, or the loose threads, you will need a pair of tweezers. You will see blue threads and white threads in your jeans, the “ladder” part is basically just white thread with no blue thread going vertically across it. This is what you’re aiming for. All you need to do is grab hold of the small white threads with the tweezers, and pull them so they are hanging out.

You can continue to use these steps to get however many holes and ladders you like. Be careful not to make any big holes or rips too far above the knee, otherwise it will show off too much skin. Fold the cuffs up once or twice for that ‘boyfriend jean’ look, and rough them up a little bit with the sandpaper.

YOU’RE DONE! It’s as easy as that. It took me about an hour to finish my jeans, as pulling out the threads does require a bit of patience. Also, a big thanks to my beautiful friend Liz for helping me out and featuring in this post. For the best ways to wear your new jeans, check out my post on How to Wear Boyfriend Jeans.

How to Wear Boyfriend Jeans

I’m sure you have seen them practically everywhere lately, whether it be on the mannequin at your favourite shop or on a dozen fashionable girls on Instagram, the boyfriend jean is a trend that seems to be sticking around for a while. I personally love the look of distressed denim, and think the boyfriend jean is the ultimate fashion statement with its roomy silhouette and laid-back attitude. To me, the most flattering boyfriend jeans are the ones that slouch through the thigh and knee, getting slimmer from the knee to the leg opening.I hear so many people say “I love those jeans but I just couldn’t pull them off”, or “I just don’t think I would have anything to wear them with”. Well, throw those thoughts out the window because it is super easy to style the boyfriend jean if you stick to these two rules! I’ll also let you know my favourite picks of the trend and link you to where you can buy them.

1. Smart business on top > Casual on bottom

     

To me, this is the BEST way to rock the boyfriend jeans. It gives the perfect amount of edge and casualness to a smart/business look, whilst also adding style and poise to a more laid back look. I honestly don’t think you can go wrong with this combo; it is the definition of how to dress down, as well as how to dress up, a complete outfit. This winning combo works so well because it plays on opposites and contrasts (smart and casual), but also mixes two similar fashion ideologies (boyfriend jeans and male-dominated business jackets/blazers) into one, creating a whole new sophisticated and feminine style. By also adding a simple pair of heels, black or nude works best, you will elongate your legs and eliminate the notion that boyfriend jeans drown your legs and height.

        

2. Minimal from head to toe

This is the perfect outfit for that ‘so effortless’ look. All girls know how hard it actually is to recreate an effortless look, that gives the illusion that we randomly just chucked a few pieces on, finger combed our hair and quickly put on any pair of shoes.This combination of boyfriend jeans and a plain loose top actually DOES achieve the ‘so effortless’ look, and comes across as fashionable and stylish! I absolutely love tucking a loose shirt messily into a pair of jeans, and allowing the shirt to sit naturally. In this outfit the boyfriend jeans are obviously the statement piece, so you can go as crazy as you want with the amount of distress and wear and tear in the jeans. Try to stick to a solid block colour in the shirt, and avoid anything too tight. Again, you can dress the look up with a pair of strappy heels, or keep the casual flowing with a pair of Converse.

       

Make sure you check out my favourite picks of the season with the links below, and be sure to give this trend a go! Let me know your favourite way to wear the boyfriend jean in the comments below.

Pepe Jeans Jamee Boyfriend Jeans With Holes – ASOS: Available here

Sunday Jeans ‘White’ – Peppermayo: Available here

Boyfriend Jeans ‘Black’ – SaboSkirt: Available here

River Island Distressed Ashley Boyfriend Jean – ASOS: Available here

ASOS Brady Low Rise Slim Boyfriend Jeans in Bleach Wash with Extreme Rips: Available here