3. Up your filter game

Image: Jett Farrell-Vega (@mykingdomforamouse Instagram)

One of the biggest things that sets the best Disneygram accounts apart is proper use of filters. Unless you are one brilliant photographer, you are going to want to apply some filters and retouch your photos using Instagram’s tools. The problem is many people understandably don’t know how to use filters properly. You don’t want to just slap Clarendon or Mayfair on everything and call it a day. I was a professional photo retoucher, so here’s a few tips that apply as well to Instagram as they do to pro software like Photoshop.

One key for using Instagram filters is to experiment. Not every photo looks good with every filter. With every photo, first take a moment to see if you want to adjust its position or cropping. Not all Instagram photos have to be perfectly square. Just click the little frame icon at the bottom left of your photo to see different orientation options for your picture. Instagram also offers some nice plug-ins for collages, though I personally don’t use these often.

Next, whenever I post a new Instagram photo, I seriously check how it looks with almost all the filters available. If I am in a rush, I have a few favorites such as Lo-Fi and Clarendon, but when possible I check them all and see what stands out. It’s a similar process to the way an eye doctor checks your eyesight by asking which looks better—A or B. Narrow down the list to a few filters you like, then compare them and see what looks best. If you like vintage frames, some of the older filters have an option where you can click the filter name to open up intensity settings, then click a frame button to add cool edges to your picture. These aren’t as popular among younger users, but I personally like the look of some of these since they add character.

Before and after Instagram filters and editing
Image: Jett Farrell-Vega (@mykingdomforamouse Instagram)

Don’t skip the advanced editing settings! I recommend going through each of the settings and playing with the sliders. Slide them all the way to the left and all the way to the right to see what they do to your pic. For example, Saturation intensifies the colors or deintensifies them. Highlights and Shadows adjust how light and dark areas of your picture stand out. One at a time, pay attention to how the extremes for each setting looks different, then find a spot in the middle you like (or at the end if its an all-or-nothing setting like Fade or Vignette). Tilt Shift is an especially fun setting as it adds depth to pictures by changing what areas are in focus (you can adjust this by placing two fingers on the picture and moving them around to see the area of focus). The idea is to see how your photograph looks when adjusted to the extreme, then see how those differences can be incorporated with a light touch.

For example, the recent photo above that I took of a fountain at the Morocco pavilion was originally washed out and dull. By adjusting the sliders to the extremes, I realized that a vibrant range of blues and golds were hidden in the photo. I tweaked each setting accordingly until I ended up with a picture that looks dramatically different from the original. Have fun with it!

4. Use hashtags wisely

Image: Jett Farrell-Vega (@mykingdomforamouse Instagram)

Unless you are making a private Instagram page for friends and family (which is totally fine!), you probably want people to see your beautiful Disney photos. However, unless you’re a celebrity, it’s not easy to get random Instagram users to follow you without some help. The trick to gaining new followers is to wisely use hashtags.

Many Instagram users don’t just follow individual accounts they like—they follow hashtags like #disneyworld, #disneygrammers, #epcot, or even #vacation. For ideas on what hashtags are popular, use a site like Hashtagify . While there is an extensive cloud of general Disney World related hashtags, don’t forget to include some specifics that help visitors find your photo. Have a picture from Pandora? You could use #animalkingdom, #disneyanimalkingdom, #pandora, #visitpandora, and #avatar to all help guests find your pic. The more details you can describe, the better.

Post your hashtags as a cloud a couple lines underneath the caption for your photo. Try not to go too crazy—Instagram does cap how many hashtags you can put in a post at a pretty generous 30 tags. You can also put your tag cloud in the comments, but don’t feel like you have to do this. Hashtag clouds are socially acceptable on Instagram, so as long as you keep your hashtags relevant, you should be fine. Speaking of keeping your tags relevant, feel free to highlight non-Disney details of your hashtags (#purpleflowers or #fountains would be good examples) so long as they are related to your pic. Never, ever hijack a popular hashtag that has nothing to do with your photo just because it is trending.

Don’t want to have to rewrite that giant list of hashtags every time? Save a copy of your hashtag cloud to an app like Evernote. Copy it to each of your posts and adjust the details accordingly. This saves a huge amount of time!