If you are creating photos, it is important to make them more attractive, especially if you are creating them for social media as there is a ton of competition. We are in the creator economy and everyone is creating photos and videos that drown out the feed. If your photos look better you will generate more engagement from your visual social media campaigns and on other media like magazines, brochures, and blog posts.

So, here are some tips to make your photos more attractive…

Use a good camera

It all starts with the camera. If you can use a better camera you will naturally get better photos to work with. This is why instead of taking photos with your cell phone, get a professional camera with a tripod. Try to invest as much as you can afford in a good camera. It may set you back hundreds of dollars, but it is definitely worth it.

Cartoonize photos

A simple way anyone can create standout photos is to cartoonize them. Cartoonizing photos required a lot of work in the past as only Illustrators who knew how to use sophisticated tools could do this. It took up a lot of time. But now it is so easy. You can cartoonize a photo with free online tools. You just simply upload the photo and the tool will cartoonize it in seconds.

The photo you use could be a complete setting or just a headshot (as a lot of people like to use it as the avatar). Cartoon photos can help you stand out as not everybody takes advantage of this technique.

Spend more time editing than taking photographs

The top photographers spend more time editing photographs than taking them. Even if they take the best photograph every, they go back and edit them using techniques like cropping, and blurring.

This is why you should take note of them and spend more time editing your photos. Make sure you invest in powerful photo editing software to help carry out this task. If you aren’t good with editing, you can hire a photo editor to give you a hand. This will also save you time. You can continue taking photographs while the editor does the boring editing work. Another shortcut is to buy presets made by experienced editors.

Add overlays

A popular technique people use to make their photos more attractive is adding overlays. You can get free or premium patterns and place them over an image and adjust the opacity. This will give your image a unique look. For example, if you use a dust pattern your image will have a more vintage look, while if you use plastic it will shine a bit and attract more attention. You could also add other overlays like logos and clipart to brand your photos.

You can find these elements on sites where you can buy design assets or hire a designer to create them for you.

Ask for feedback

One way to get better at creating better photos is to ask the advice of the best photographers. So, after you take a photo and edit it, post it on forums, Facebook groups, and Slack communities and find out what experienced photographers and photo editors think about them. If they leave a comment ask them for advice on how to get better. If you have the money and time you can also hire them to coach you. You could also work for them if you don’t have money for coaching. This will help you get better.

Now make better photos

These are the different ways to create more attractive photos. Implement them to see a little improvement instantly. As time goes by, you will get better at it and create even better photos.