Saturday, August 13, 2016

my instagram aesthetic put me in a creative rut

Howdy y'all! The last few months, I've read so much about how important it is for bloggers to have an Instagram "aesthetic". Specifically that every single one of your images should have certain colors in it, a specific filter on it, or just a consistent look. I tried it out for a few months, and let me tell you something - I hate it.


In March, I decided I was going to try an Instagram aesthetic using specific colors. I decided the best colors to represent my brand were warm tones - reds, pinks, yellows - in part because a lot of the photos I was already taking were those shades. The first couple weeks were great! I felt inspired, and was very very happy with the way my feed was looking. And then it got harder. 

I can honestly tell you, my Instagram aesthetic was the worst decision I've ever made for my creative growth. 

I had these beautiful photos that I was proud of and wanted to share on my Instagram, but I couldn't because it would ruin all the branding I had worked so hard for. I saw picture opportunities, but decided not to bother, because it wouldn't match the colors I had chosen. I noticed myself taking less and less photos - often times the ones I did take were forced and made me unhappy. 

For the last 5 months, I've been in an awful creative rut in terms of photography. For someone who's working on launching a photography business, this is kind of the worst place to be. In terms of portrait sessions, I've been doing fairly well, but I feel like I've lost my touch with basic inspiration. I want to curate beautiful images and I don't feel like I'm ever doing a good job of that. 

I see bloggers genuinely stressing on a day-to-day basis about how their feed looks. Don't do that - just create. I promise you that if you are taking authentic images that you really love, people will respect your brand. 

If the aesthetic thing works for you, great! I'm proud of you. But you should never, ever have to force creativity. Your brand isn't going to fail because you can't confine your creativity to a few colors. 

What are your thoughts on Instagram aesthetics? Let me know in the comments!

Have a great day!
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Contact me at:
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*Disclaimer: This post was not sponsored or endorsed in any way and all opinions expressed are my own.*

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