As we’ve all seen my Instagram, we must all be aware that I’ve been spending an embarrassing amount of time taking selfies (in my defense, there’s really not a lot of other reasons to put make-up on, and I like wearing make-up from time to time).

Anyway, this probably makes me a pro on the ‘home photoshoot’ front, so it’s only natural that I would choose to impart my wisdom upon my dear readers.

You will need:

• A camera, or a phone with a decent camera (make sure it has the ability to self time)
• Good lighting (natural or unnatural, you choose)
• An interesting/pretty background (not essential, but will make for nicer photos)
• Make-up (if you want)
• Some pets (optional)
• Non-judgmental family members (who won’t question what you’re doing)

Step 1:

Get ready! Listen, you’re bored, you’ve got nowhere to go, and you’ve got no reason to look good. Well this blog post serves to solve two of those problems. I’ll leave it to you to work out which ones.

Anyway, change out of those dirty joggers and that baggy hoodie and slap some make-up on your face, because while we may be stuck indoors with nothing to do, our Instagrams do not have to suffer too.

Yeah, I think too much about Instagram.

Step 2:

Choose where you’re going to be taking photos. Right now, being stuck in your house, it’s hard to find those Insta-worthy locations, but, listen, we’re just gonna have to fake it. The weather’s not so bad, so those of you lucky enough to be blessed with a garden, or a balcony, take advantage. If not I’m sure you can find some decent(ish) area of your house that can be digitally manipulated to look somewhat decent.

When you’ve settled on a location, spend some time making sure you’ve cleared any clutter. You know, sweep your clothes off the floor, make your bed, take those empty mugs down to the kitchen. That sort of thing.

A top tip (ooooh, get me) would be to set up your camera and take a few pictures, to see what will and won’t be in shot. Adjust it to get the perfect positioning before you begin taking actual photos.

Step 3:

Gather props/pets if you fancy. Or not.

Make sure the lighting works or just find somewhere else with better lighting (back to step 2 for you).

Step 4:

Shoot! Just take some pics, and take some more. If you’re lucky you’ll get one nice picture for about every hundred odd that you take. So, basically, I’m saying you should take photos until you run out of storage space and just hope for the best.

Step 5:

Review the photos, delete any that are blurry or just a bit rubbish.
Then review the photos again, and delete any that you just don’t like.

Keep doing this until you’ve narrowed it down to a couple you do like.

(If you end up with none – hey, it happens. Then you’re back to step four, or go further back to step two and find somewhere else to shoot.)

Step 6:

Editing time. This will vary depending on what apps you have, and whether or not you can actually be bothered.

I go through extreeeeme editing phases and phases where I can’t be bothered to do anything much except whack a basic Instagram filter on, or maybe just adjust the highlights and shadows.

Some apps that have served me well through the years are:

PS Express, MOLDIV, Photoshop Fix, PicsArt, VSCO (all of them are free because imagine paying – ew)

Step 7:

Post away, mes amis.