6 Ways to Keep Your Content Interesting During Lockdown

It’s fair to say that when lockdown began, I was slightly panicking at the prospect of not being able to go out and take photos in the street like I usually did. This was the only way I had ever done photoshoots, I didn’t know any different, and now that I needed to recreate the same level of content from my living room, I was pretty terrified.

To my surprise and relief, creating content from home has actually been a really enjoyable experience. Without my usual backdrops to play with, I have been more creative than ever before during this period, and in my opinion, my feed actually looks so much better than it did back then! I suppose you could say that for my Instagram, this lockdown has actually been a blessing in disguise. Not only has it given me loads of time to put into my content, but I have been able to create a feed that is more cohesive and aesthetically pleasing than ever before!

However, after what feels like infinite weeks in lockdown, I am starting to discover that there are only so many ways you can take a mirror selfie. I have been intermittently faced with bouts of ‘creative block’ whilst trying to keep my Instagram feed as fun and interesting as possible…without actually leaving the house. When you have limited space to work with, it can be difficult to maintain variation on your feed and fuel your creativity. This is a problem that I have seen lots of my followers post about on their stories recently, so I wanted to make a post about the ways that I am keeping my photos as creative as possible during this time. So if you’ve got a serious case of ‘bloggers block’ then stick around, because this just might help you out of your rut.

USE PROPS

One way to make your photos that little bit more interesting is to use some sort of prop. Given the current situation, this is a big trend right now, with people using anything from flowers to fruit in their photos. These types of pictures are getting more popular and more creative by the day, and I have taken so much inspiration from fellow content creators on Instagram to incorporate objects into my own images!

So far I have shot photos with items such as lollipops, flowers, picnic set-ups, fruits, hats, you name it. The picnic set-up is a particularly popular trend right now for bloggers and whilst it requires a bit more effort than some of the smaller props, it can make for some beautiful photos!

Props are a great way of adding a little something to your photos, and they also really help if you struggle to know how to pose or to position your arms. Giving yourself something to hold can be the difference between an awkward position, and a confidently posed pic, so I highly recommend trying it out!

EXPERIMENT WITH LIFESTYLE / PRODUCT SHOTS

This is a really easy way to keep your feed interesting and varied whilst working with minimal space. Everyone knows that taking outfit photos can be a bit difficult when you’re stuck inside, so now is the optimum time to improve your flatlay skills.

I like to use flatlays and product shots as ‘filler photos’ that balance out my feed and prevent it from being too busy or too repetitive. These are a great way of picking out accent colours in the outfits you post and maintaining a cohesive feed!

You can really go to town on these, experimenting with light, textures, extreme close ups and different angles to get some really creative shots. You don’t need any fancy equipment to do these types of photos, so they are an easy way of maintaining your creativity during lockdown!

TAKE MIRROR SHOTS

This might be one of the most obvious tips in this post, but an important one nonetheless. Now more than ever, we have discovered how essential it is to have a good mirror in your home to take photos in. However, you don’t need to spend hundreds of pounds on a mammoth mirror to get good photos. I have been using an old, medium sized one that I got from Ikea over 5 years ago and it does the trick just fine with some adjusting!

If you only have small mirrors in your house then don’t despair, you can get creative with close up mirror shots that show a detailed reflection of your outfit. These types of shots have been super popular on Instagram recently and are another great way of breaking up your feed and putting a new, creative spin on the traditional mirror photo!

TRY OUT NEW POSES AND ANGLES

Whilst posing in the street is all well and good, and I am happy to take photos in front of other people, there are only a certain amount of poses you can do in public without everyone thinking you are a crazy person. During lockdown, I have been more creative than ever with the posing and positioning of my photos and I am loving the way they are turning out!

The classic Victoria Beckham pose is naturally one of my favourites, and I love to do this one when I’m wearing some super funky trousers. I have also experimented with photos from behind, upside down shots, close ups, ‘chesties’, and much more. This is the ultimate way to add variety to your feed. By taking more than one photo of an outfit, but in two completely different ways, you keep your feed cohesive colour-wise, but it doesn’t look repetitive!

If I am posting more than one photo of an outfit, I always try to ensure that the photos are of a different style. This has challenged me to be more experimental during lockdown but I have loved doing it!

EXPERIMENT WITH LIGHTS AND SHADOWS

If you follow my Instagram then you will know that this is one of my favourite ways to get creative with a photo! Using natural light is such a great way of creating cool pictures with minimal effort. If you track the lighting in your home, you can see where gets the best light and at what times, and use this to your advantage!

I like taking photos that have cool shadows in, and sometimes I take photos of the shadows themselves instead for cool lifestyle shots!

You can find lots of inspiration for these types of photos over on Instagram if you just do a quick hashtag search. These are great for filler photos to break up your feed, and are really fun to create so I recommend trying this out!

TRY SOME VIDEO CONTENT

Sometimes, when you can’t get that perfect photo it can be super frustrating. You wonder why it doesn’t look as good in a snapshot as it does in front of your eyes. In those cases, sometimes it is better to show your audience what you can see, and experiment with some video content. I recently did this when taking a rail shot that just didn’t look good as a photo. So I tried doing a short video and loved how it turned out! You can see it on my Instagram here.

You could also make use of the IGTV feature and try out some different types of content. I created a makeup tutorial IGTV when I worked with Dior and found it so fun to create! If you’re getting sick of taking photos all the time, then this could be a new way to spice up your feed. Video content is more popular than ever right now so it’s a great time to jump on the bandwagon and get your creative juices flowing!

And there you have it, six tried and tested ways to keep your content as creative as possible during lockdown. Like I said before, this time has enabled me to improve my content and start getting closer to where I want to be. It’s a learning curve, and we all get ‘blogger’s block’ now and then, but I hope this post could help anyone out there who is struggling with the gram lately. You got this!

What are your top tips for staying creative? What other tips would you like me to write about? Let me know in the comments below!

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