What catches your eye when scrolling through Instagram and Facebook?  For almost everyone, its beautiful, light and airy photographs.

Did you know you can achieve this with your own iPhone? The cameras on phones these days have come a long way, they now can produce high quality images right in the palm of your hand.  Check out below some tips and tricks for getting the best images for social media for your business!

Use Natural lighting if possible

Natural lighting makes us look our best.  Position by a window (window casting light on the face, don't stand with a window behind you!)  Diffused light gives a soft, even glow.  Harsh lighting like direct sun can wash out your subject or create shadows.  

Create layers using Portrait Mode

New phones have this great feature called Portrait Mode.  With this, you can put the focus on your subject, and blur the background.  This can really draw the eye to your subject.

Keep thinking of your brand

One cool way to do this is to position your subject in front of something that has your logo on it, or incorporates your logo color into it.  Do you happen to have a wall in your office painted your brand color?  Even better if it also includes your logo. You can have vinyl wall decals created with your logo online, they are easy to install and do not damage the wall!  This would make a great background for social media posts! Think of it like a red carpet background for your social media posts.

Use the Rule of Thirds

Think of your frame as divided by 3 vertical lines and 3 horizontal lines and place your subject at the intersection of these lines.  This helps draw the eye around the image and makes it much more interesting than your subject directly in the middle of the photo.

Make sure your background is CLEAN

Too much stuff in the background of your image creates a distraction.  Look at the images that catch your eye online, most of the time the background is simple and clean so you can focus on the subject.  When taking a photo for social media, look around your subject, is there distractions, photos, knick knacks, and other stuff distracting? Clean it up, or move your subject to a new location.

And there you have it, some tips and tricks to help your photos stand out on social media!