Simple Yet Useful Tips on Curating Photos
July 14, 2018
September 9, 2016--- How would I forget this date? This marked my first day as one of the Make It Blissful Instagram photo curators also known as #makeitblissful_mods. As a follower of Make It Blissful for years due to the positivity and joy that it brings to my life, being one of the few who was selected was such a wonderful blessing and privilege for me.
Make It Blissful is one of the most popular lifestyle websites in the country, created, owned, and edited by blogging coach and award-winning blogger, Miss Martine de Luna. It's all about finding beauty and happiness in everything that has made me really motivated to be part of it. The idea of spreading bliss fueled me and made me look forward to doing the task every single week.
The love for looking at beautiful photos and putting them all together to form a story gave me a feeling of contentment and bliss. What made the endeavor more exciting was the fact that I was able to communicate with other "blissmakers" who generously shared their amazing photos using the hashtags #makeitblissful. Asking permission from photo owners may be too taxing but I didn't find it difficult at all. The challenging part was how to be able to connect the photographs together to form a theme or story plus the idea of being rejected by those who weren't ready for their photos to be shared in the account itself.
There were plenty of individuals who were willing to participate. That was a relief, actually! That indeed was the beauty of Make It Blissful community, everyone has an inspirational story to share with the world.
In Make It Blissful, we respected the owners of the photos. We asked permission from them one by one and we wouldn't share their photographs without their go signal. The joy of posting the curated collage or photos becomes more enjoyable when comments and likes come in.
It has been a year since Make It Blissful changed its direction but still it delivers what it's intended to do--- to inspire others to live happily focusing on health and wellness, goal-setting, career fulfillment, success in any endeavor, and more than just by focusing on all things adorable and nice. Make It Blissful is adding more spice and substance to its purpose and that's what we should watch out for.
These are my simple yet useful tips on curating photos:
1. Browse on the photos with a particular hashtag that you want. You may have an idea in mind before browsing or you may come up with one while looking at the photos.
 |
| Simple Yet Useful Tips on Curating Photos (Photo Credit: Pixabay) |
2. Ask yourself the following questions: "What story do I want to convey? What elements do I want to focus on? Is it color, scenery, food, mood, etc.?"
3. After choosing the right photos, ask permission from the owners via comment, email, or private message. Always have backup choices just in case some photo owners won't give you their consent.
4. After the photo owners gave you the go signal to use their photos, make a photo collage. There is a rule in positioning the photos within the photo collage. I learned from a workshop in UP NISMED that when the main subject of the photo is positioned on the right side of the frame or when it's like going towards the left side, place the photo on the right side of the photo collage. You do the opposite when the main subject is positioned on the left side or going towards the right side. It's also the case in portrait placement. When the person on the photo is facing or looking on the left side, place the photo on the right side of the photo collage or vice versa. When the main subject is in the center, place the photo in the center of the photo collage. You could see how I did it on my sample photo collages below.
5. Upload the photo collage and compose a catchy caption. They should tell a captivating story.
6. Never forget to thank and tag the photo owners for acknowledgment and use appropriate hashtags. By doing it, your collage can reach more people and encourage them to join your community.
Remember that you may use only one photo instead of a photo collage to tell a story.
Remember that you may use only one photo instead of a photo collage to tell a story.
The following are the sample photos that I curated for Make It Blissful:
To inspire...
A post shared by Make it Blissful (@makeitblissful) on
To motivate...
A post shared by Make it Blissful (@makeitblissful) on
To delight...
A post shared by Make it Blissful (@makeitblissful) on
To cheer...
A post shared by Make it Blissful (@makeitblissful) on
To spread positivity...
A post shared by Make it Blissful (@makeitblissful) on
To create good vibes...
A post shared by Make it Blissful (@makeitblissful) on
To entice...
A post shared by Make it Blissful (@makeitblissful) on
To live purposefully...
To celebrate life and seasons...
A post shared by Make it Blissful (@makeitblissful) on
and more...
Basically, you can create an impact when you know how to tell your story via the photos that you curate.
