Let's have fun on Instagram!
I don't know about you, but I noticed not so long ago that I was more and more on Instagram and less and less on Facebook... I tried to understand why and I came to the conclusion that, as a very visual person, I preferred to be introduced to content via photos and videos. Also, Facebook tends to show you more and more advertised content.
So yes, I'm turning more to Instagram lately, taking pleasure in being attracted by beautiful pictures which will tell me stories.
And I also like taking pictures on my own, working them to make them tell a story and adding some more information in the text part.
And also Instagram is a great way to discover new artists, new talents, new designers, interesting personalities with whom you can communicate more easily than on Facebook.
Did you know that, according to Brandwatch, over 95 million photos are uploaded each day on Instagram?
And I guess you already know that you can share multiple photos in one Instagram post, videos and that you can share instant moments via Stories.
What is very interesting with Instagram, apart from the Selfie mania it gave birth to, is that you can really post stunning contents. And, for that, you don't really need to be a pro photographer or videographer... You just need to have the right apps to retouch your visual content and to make your artistic side speaking to make it striking so that your followers want to know more.
And as one of my passions is to test new things, from a new platform to a new app, I tried several apps and here is my top 9 list of apps I am using to create and retouch my content for Instagram.
But, before we start, I want to precise one point. I retouch my pictures as a way to express my "artisticness" and sense of creativity. It's a way for me to show the world as I can see it but, in the same time, to let my imagination speak and to interprete what I see. And, as a fervent believer in visual communications, this practice is also a way for me to convey messages other than with words.
MY TOP 9 APPS FOR INSTAGRAM
As an Apple user, I added for every app the link to the Apple Store to download them. I also tried to find out which apps were also available on Google Play for Android and mentioned it when applicable.
Free - IOS
In terms of photo, I am very found of everything a bit vintage: black and white, 70s aspect, analog effects... Anything that can give some depth to a picture. I like the feel of it, the way it can tell a story just by playing with some light, colors and scenery.
What I like with Instants is that you can make your pictures looking like a Polaroid one, as if it was an old photo you found in your parents' attic, something paperly, a dear memory.
Instants enables you to choose from different templates free of charge, to choose the effects you want to add, and to add a small text. Exactly as an instant Polaroid to which you will write a personal note.
Here is an example of what an "instanted" picture can look like (from a trip in Ephesus in the Izmir region this year end of April):
App #2: Vintage Lab
Free - IOS
To stay in the vintage theme, Vintage Lab is a library of lovely filters making your pictures look like an old photo.
Usually I like to combine an effect from Vintage Lab with a frame from Instants.
An example of what you can do with Vintage Lab (from a trip in Bodrum this year end of March):
Free - IOS. Also available for Android
Again vintage but this time for videos. Camcorder enables you to record videos as if you were using an old came scope. The app will add the date and hour when the video has been recorded and will add a VHS effect. I just love it!
You can after keep the video just like that or to add another effect depending on which kind of story or emotions you want to convey with this video.
Free - ISO. Also available for Android
If you are an amateur of old style photos developed in a dark room, Darkr is the app you need to try asap!
Choose directly from the app the style of camera you want to shoot with (just one in the free version). Shoot directly from it and then develop your picture in the dark room.
The result picture will be a beautiful black and white one for which you can choose the level of darkness and greys.
A picture of my cat, Deniz, my loyal companion and model, retouched with Darkr :)
Free - ISO. Also available for Android
Prisma started to be very popular 2 years ago. Thanks to this app you will have the impression to be a real artist. It enables you to transform any kind of pictures to a real artwork with some completely stunning effects.
A great app to let your creativity and inner world express themselves and to turn your shoots into paintings.
One of the numerous filters Prisma offers you to work with (a picture of the Blue Mosque in Sultanahmet during the snow last winter):
Free - IOS. Also available for Android
Unfold is the newest app I have been testing and I am completely in love with it!
I have heard of it but never saw what it could do. And then, one day, I noticed some really interesting compositions in the Stories of one Russian photographer I am following. I wrote this person who told me she was using Unfold. And from there everything started...
Unfold is an app enabling you to create stunning Stories for Instagram. You can choose a layout, mixing photos and videos, adding texts, adding several pages to your Stories. And the results are just beautiful.
Unfold is really the app you need to tell beautiful stories to you followers in Instagram Stories.
Free - IOS
Labelbox is a cute app with which you can add label like texts to your pictures. Another great way to tell stories and to give a personality to your photos.
Free - IOS. Also available for Android
You have a series of pictures from which you would want to create an original slideshow with video effects?
Animoto is right for you! Choose the photos you want to include in your montage, add effects, texts and transition and tada! Your slideshow is ready and you just have to share it on Instagram!
Free - IOS. Also available for Android
The best of the best apps! The must have!
Canva is your designer assistant. It knows everything, from how to create a brochure to the right sizes for social media posts and banners.
For Instagram, Canva has a series of templates for you to pick from with which you can create photo montages, changing frames and adding call to action texts.
If you don't use Canva yet, start NOW!
Bonus app: Color Pop
Free - IOS. Also available for Android.
And a last app for your, Color Pop. Color Pop converts your pictures in greyscale and enables you to highlight some parts of them with color touches. In other way, you “erase” the greyscale and make the underneath colors pop up again. It’s another way to create original pictures and having the focus on one particular part of a photo.
I really like this kind of arty effect that I usually can do on Photoshop. I am still in the process of testing different apps which can give more or less the same final result. So far, Color Pop is the more convincing I could find especially thanks to the size and opacity of the brush with which you can play.
And here it is! My short list of apps for Instagram for you to test too while relaxing on the beach this summer.
Let me know what you think of them. Did you like it? Or maybe not? What are your top apps without which you can’t live?
Let’s share!
See you soon!
Cath@MyMarketingToolbox
Follow me on Instagram for an insight in my journey toward being an entrepreneur and results pictures from apps I tested :)
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