Hello there! I’m Kristen and I blog over at Treats and Travels. Today, I’ll be sharing my list of unwritten rules to Instagram and my favorite photo editing apps!
3 UNWRITTEN RULES TO INSTAGRAM
For starters, there are NO written rules to Instagram. I publish the content that I want and also the content that I feel my followers would enjoy looking at. However, I do feel that there are a set of unwritten rules, or Insta-etiquette, that I tend to follow when determining what content to post and share through the app. With that being said, below are my 3 unwritten rules to Instagram: 1 // IF YOU WOULDN’T “LIKE” IT, THEN DON’T SHARE IT. Before posting an image, I usually ask myself if the image I am about to post is something I would enjoy looking at on my own IG feed. If the answer is yes, then I post it. If the answer is no, then I typically choose not to share it. This might sound harsh, but its a good way to weed out any images that really don’t need to be shared. Examples of these types of images for me include images that are too dark or pixelated. 2 // SWITCH IT UP. I try not to post too many of the same types of images consecutively. Over-doing is noticeable and can take away from the original post that was truly loved in the first place! 3 // BE AUTHENTIC. Try to stay as authentic as possible with your images. Trust me, this tip will go a long way as your followers will always be able to see through a phony Instagram account. Discover your style, find your voice and be yourself. Again, there are no actual rules to Instagram (…or at least not that I am aware of) and these rules of thumb which I follow are simply the ones I have found to work best for me and my account.
TOP PHOTO EDITING APPS
Here are a few of my favorite photo editing apps for creating attractive, Insta– ready images:
1. VSCOcam
VSCOcam is my number 1 favorite photo editing app to use on my iPhone. Below is the original image with the iPhone camera before editing with VSCOcam: 
The image is dark and not very exciting. It certainly does not do my mason jar with colorful pink straw any justice (and the fact that my jar is half empty just makes it look pretty disgusting in itself). Below is the same image edited using VSCOcam: 
The colors are brighter and create a much more appealing image than the darkened one above it.
1. Picfx
Picfx has a large variety of filters and effects to choose from for editing your photos. It allows you to crop and zoom in on an image, and contains similar filters to VSCOcam and, similar effects in Piclab. Below is a before and after shot of a photo I took of myself walking to my apartment last week (you may remember this photo from the day I held the blog baton): 
To the left is the original photo taken, unedited. To the right, is the edited image I uploaded to Instagram after adding an Picfx filter. You can also add fun effects to your photos, such as Bokeh shapes, when using the Picfx photo app. Adding Bokeh shapes to images has become a very popular trend in the blogging world of picture editing (and for good reason – I think when used appropriately, they add a fun element of flair to any photograph): 
3. Pic Stitch Pic Stitch is a great application for creating collages on-the-go with your photos. Below is a quick collage I put together in less than five minutes using Pic Stitch: 
Other features Pic Stitch has to offer include a variety of filters, stickers, frames, cropping and text overlays. Another photo editing app I frequently use is Pic Lab, which is similar to all three of the above photo editing apps but contains more options for use of text in photos.
Follow me on Instagram // @kristenproscia
