When browsing your friends’ photo albums on Facebook or Pinterest, you may have noticed pictures with uniquely striking colors or features. Perhaps the picture gives off a glowing aura, or a real-life photo resembles a cartoon.
These modifications are usually the products of filtered photos, a photo editing feature popularized and made easy by Instagram, the popular mobile photo-sharing and video-sharing app. One should be weary of over-filtering good photos, but – when done right – tactful filtering can produce a more striking image than ever imagined.
For bloggers, the filtered effect can be especially useful for drawing in visitors to their blog, which can be enhanced by using filtered photos in the following ways:
Use Consistent Filter Effects for a Cohesive Layout
Instagram, and other photo filtering tools like Paint.NET and PhotoFiltre offer many default effects that allow you to filter any photo with one click. Some Instagram filter setting examples include Willow, a black and white filter; Lo-Fi, a hazy and orange-friendly effect; Earlybird, filter that brightens the photo; 1977, an old-fashioned looking effect; and Amaro, which gives the photo and crisp and cool look. Utilizing the same or similar effects on photos throughout your blog can create a very cohesive feel, drawing in new visitors as well as swaying previous visitors to return.
When applying a filtered effect to an Instagram photo on your phone, the edited photo saves automatically to your phone’s camera roll when completed. From there, you can send the photo to your e-mail, where you can upload it to your blog. You can also use programs like Paint.NET and PhotoFiltre to edit and upload filtered photos without a mobile device. You can even use filtered photos in your blog’s logo or overall design.
Reflect a Post’s Tone with Proper Filter Effects
While cohesive filter effects are useful for a blog with consistent posts, blogs with a wider variety of authors and tones should consider using filters on a case-by-case basis. If your post references nostalgia or the past, using a filter effect like Instragram’s old-fashioned 1977 would prove effective. The black-and-white Willow and Inkwell would work, as well, either for nostalgia or tongue-in-cheek references to the mundane – tactful if you’re at your office space on a Monday. For a post with animated action-forward descriptions, a fresh and fleet option like X-Pro II may work best.
Play Around with Various Filtered Photo Apps
As filtered photos rise in prominence on social media and blogs, there is an increasing number of apps being developed with filtered photos in mind. One of the most useful is Pressgram, an iOS app that enables users to filter photos and publish them directly on WordPress, the most popular blogging interface. EyeEm is another popular filtered photo app with plenty of fun presets, as is Snapseed, which is available on iOS and Android.
Browsing the Photo & Video section on iTunes’ App Store will turn up a variety of fun photo filtering tools to play around with. Since many of them are free, feel encouraged to try out a bunch of them. You may be seeking a particular filter preset that isn’t default on Instagram, or you may not yet know what you’re looking for. In either case, there are many photo filter apps that will help in aligning photos with the tone of your blog.
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