12 STAGES OF POSTING ON INSTAGRAM

Is an Instagram really ever instant anymore? You know that whatever you are seeing was carefully chosen and selected from a larger body of pictures taken trying to get the perfect angle. So why do you go through all of this? 

Since I have been taking part in Helene In Between's July Instagram challenge, I have spent quite a bit of time thinking about my Instagram strategy this month. It has been so much fun finding new bloggers through Instagram and seeing how creative everyone can get! But boy is it a lot of work to get a good Insta. And then once you post it, you get all self-conscious. Will this one be popular? Why did I get so many likes on this one and barely any on this one? 

Here's what we do when we "do it for the Insta": 

Stage 1. Take anywhere between 5 and 50 shots until you get it right.

Stage 2. Crop appropriately to leave out any imperfections. 

Stage 3. Likely adjust in some other app first (VSCOcam, Afterlight, etc.)

Stage 4. Alter until it is just how you want it, and then scroll through the filters to see if it could look any better. Is the vignette too much? 

Stage 5. To add a photo map or not? Real location or spice it up? 

Stage 6. Does anyone need to be tagged? Should I post it to other social media? 

Stage 7. WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO CAPTION THIS? *Think about caption for a ridiculous amount of time.* Maybe I should text someone to get their opinion on this...

Stage 8. I don't think I'm going to post it.

Stage 9. It probably wouldn't even get that many likes anyway.

Stage 10. Should I have chosen a different shot?

Stage 11. Oh what the heck, I'm just going to post it. I have already spent an embarrassing amount of time on this.

Stage 12. Wait for the likes to roll in.

What do you do for the Insta? Did I miss aything?

P.S. You can find the July Instagram challenge with the #31PhotosInBetween! Come join the madness before it's too late!

JULY GOALS

Where is the summer going? I can't decide if I feel like I have done a lot or nothing at all. There is still so much that I want to do. At the beginning of summer it feels like you have time to do everything. But before you know it is winding down and people start using words like syllabus and welcome week again. Ew. 

So this month, I have decided to make some concrete goals, and maybe if I share them I will be more likely to accomplish them. Who knows? It's worth a try. 

//ONE// Blog 2-3 times a week. I haven't been great at this lately. During the school year it was nearly impossible to find the time to sit down and actually blog. Most of my posts were re-posts from my Her Campus articles, and I felt awful about it. I wanted to create more posts just for the blog, but I definitely over-committed myself last semester. 

//TWO// Actually open the case to my guitar. I have wanted to learn the guitar for ten years now, and I have yet to put in the effort to actually learn, even though I have a guitar. So my goal for this month is to actually take it out of the case and put some work into learning how to play it. 

//THREE// Learn more about HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. I love coding websites. As nerdy as it sounds, it's true. I probably won't try to learn anything more complicated than JavaScript. I know some HTML/CSS, but I keep telling myself I am going to learn Java. There's no time like the present, right?

//FOUR// Read for 30 minutes a day. This is something I have wanted to do forever. I read a lot--but mostly from a screen. My goal is to finally make it through some of my books. I just got Aziz Ansari's book, Modern Romance, and it is already helping with this goal. It's so good. 

//FIVE// Keep my curls at least 3 days of the week. Taming my curls is nearly impossible. I find it hard to wear my hair naturally usually, because I just can't get the curls I want. Especially with the humidity, my hair gets large and frizzy, and sometimes I can't help but straighten it. 

//SIX// Exercise 3-4 times a week. Admittedly, I haven't been working out as much as I want to this summer. I was so good about it at the end of the school year, but I definitely need to get back into making it a part of my routine. 

//SEVEN// Try something new every week. I think summer is the perfect time to try out new things. One of the things I really want to try out it kayaking. Hopefully I can make that happen this month. 

//EIGHT// Take more pictures. As I have been trying to find more images for the blog, I realized that I haven't been taking that many pictures lately. I plan to take my camera with me more often so that I will force myself to take more pictures. 

//NINE// Eat more veggies. I love fruit. I could eat berries all day long, because they taste like candy. The thing is they are like nature's candy, because they are sugary. So I have been trying to be conscious about incorporate more veggies into my diet, too. Any suggestions about how you do this? 

//TEN// Comment on other blogs more often. One of the ways that I love to get inspiration is by reading other blogs. There is so much to learn from other bloggers, but I want to focus on commenting more. I know how much it means to me to receive comments, and I want to return the favor!

What are your goals for July?

SOMETIMES WE TAKE PICTURES

One of my favorite parts about break is coming back to spend time with friends. I love that no matter how much time passes since we have seen each other it feels like we were hanging out the other day. In August I wrote a DIY Pinterest-worthy photo post, describing how my friends and I always want to take pictures like the ones we see on Pinterest. Our most recent get-together was no exception.

I have to say we had our moments: we got some cute hugging pictures and pretty backgrounds.

We took pictures in pairs, and even managed to get a few where everyone's eyes were open.

 These two admitted this was their first successful roomie pic of the year.

Luckily, we captured some silly moments.

We decided to get a few single shots, and I realized how much admiration I have for fashion bloggers, because I have no idea how to stand in a photo by myself. Where do I put my hands? Am I standing up normal? This feels weird.

This last one is definitely my favorite shot of the day. She couldn't resist photo-bombing, and I'm glad she couldn't, because I think it turned out great.

This holiday season I am definitely thankful for all of my wonderful friends--both the ones from home and from college. I'm lucky enough to have friends who never fail to make me laugh, and I look forward to all of the adventures we still have ahead of us. 

#Foodgrams

A couple of weeks ago I posted "10 Must See Instagrams". I enjoyed creating the post, because I love finding creative photos, and I always want to share them. So today I decided to create a food-themed instagram post. Some people gag at the sight of a foodgram, because it is terribly "cliche" and "amateur". But instagram is for the amateurs. It is "insta", because it is an app created to share special moments insta-ntly. These photos are not supposed to be professional quaily (they are usually taken with smartphones, after all)--yet some take professional-looking photos, and I envy these people. So check out some of my favorite Instagrams, featuring food, from the last few months.

Warning: these photos might stimulate hunger.