Disney fans have quite an active community on Instagram.
As a thirty-something, I will admit surprise at how well Instagram fared as a social media engine. For an app that once held limited appeal to hipsters and amateur photographers, Instagram has become an important part of social media and is easily one of the best ways for Disney fans to share their passion with the world. Even a cursory search for hashtags such as #disneyworld or #disneygrammers can yield mountains of beautiful photos of the Most Magical Place on Earth.
Have an eye for photography and want to get in on the fun? Here are six tips to up your Disney Instagram game.
1. Pay attention to details
Image: Jett Farrell-Vega (@mykingdomforamouse Instagram)
The most crucial step to becoming a Disneygrammer is simple—take tons of photos on your next Walt Disney World vacation! You’re going to want plenty of shots to play with, so start snapping photos with abandon.
The best advice I can give aspiring Disneygrammers is pay attention to the details. Some of the most beautiful WDW Instagram photos are simple, well-composed pictures of details throughout the resort. Whereas the average tourist might limit their photographs to family pictures, character encounters, and key Disney landmarks, Instagram is an outstanding engine for taking simple photos of minor details and making them shine. If you have a professional camera and lenses, by all means use them, but don’t fret if all you have is a smartphone with a decent camera. Have fun with unique angles and close ups of details others might miss throughout the parks. Show the world your special perspective on the Most Magical Place on Earth.
2. Pick a theme for your page
Image: Jett Farrell-Vega (@mykingdomforamouse Instagram)
Like Walt Disney World itself has displayed time and time again, there is incredible power in picking a theme for your Disneygrammer’s page. Some of the most appealing Disney Instagrams are those that choose a theme. What are you passionate about when you visit Walt Disney World? Pin trading? Food? Hidden Mickeys? Characters? The possibilities are endless.
Your theme will set your Disneygram page apart from others and really make it shine. My page, @mykingdomforamouse, follows a general theme of emphasizing beautiful details throughout Walt Disney World with vibrant, high-contrast photos. I also throw in some content pointing visitors to my articles here at ThemeParkTourist.com, but by and large, I usually do this through photos fitting the theme.
Are you a Disneybounder? Highlight your designs and the fashion of others you meet during your visits. Love flowers? You can’t go wrong displaying the beautiful flora throughout Walt Disney World. Have a dry sense of humor and want to take a series of pictures of your stone-faced friend standing in front of Disney monuments staring unnervingly at the camera? Go for it! Let your personality shine. Don’t forget Instagram also allows videos up to one minute if you’re a budding filmmaker.
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!
5. Invest in smartphone lenses (no selfie sticks!)
Image: Jett Farrell-Vega (@mykingdomforamouse Instagram)
Do you really enjoy smartphone photography but hate the limits of the lenses? We’ve talked about smartphone lens kits before at Theme Park Tourist. No matter what phone you have, there are tons of choices for amazing smartphone lenses. Photojojo offers an extremely cool set of magnetic smartphone lenses that are compatible with almost any phone. Just pre-install a magnetic ring around your camera then snap on any of their gorgeous lenses. Want something less permanent? Try these clip on lenses from Amazon or this 3-in-1 kit from DOFLY. With a proper smartphone lens, you can expand your photo range to include distant details like the towers of Cinderella Castle or extreme close ups like that ladybug that landed on your leg during Kilamanjaro Safari.
Oh, and don’t forget that selfie sticks are banned at Walt Disney World. Don’t be that guy.
6. Post often!
Image: Jett Farrell-Vega (@mykingdomforamouse Instagram)
Remember how I mentioned taking tons of photos? Disneygramming is an extremely competitive niche of the Instagram community. If you want to gain a strong following, you will need to post regularly—daily if possible.
This isn’t a make-or-break issue for aspiring Disneygrammers, particularly if you are just doing it for fun. I will admit to some long seasons where my own account has fallen temporarily dormant. However, if you want to build a following, your viewers will be more likely to pay attention if you post often. While reposts are acceptable every so often, the best way to ensure a solid Instagram following is to have enough resources to post daily.
This is easier for frequent visitors and Florida residents, but it isn’t impossible for the average Walt Disney World tourist to accomplish. The beauty of the digital age is that guests can take thousands of pictures without even denting the storage capacity of their smartphone. Don’t be gun-shy about taking tons of photos on your trip. If some are terrible, you can always delete them while waiting in line for a ride or during your travel time. The key is to make sure you have plenty of material to sustain a steady Instagram page. Even some of the most mundane photos can become beautiful pieces of art if you use Instagram’s tools wisely.
What are your favorite tips for upping your Walt Disney World Instagram game?
