Are you looking to showcase your farm or food products with beautiful pictures on Instagram? Social media for farmers is all about quality content that represents your brand, tells your story, and features your offerings. Stunning farm photos can help increase sales, while lackluster images can be detrimental to your business.
In this guide, we'll share 7 tips to level up your farm photography skills. From choosing a theme for your farm pics to mastering composition techniques for eye-catching shots, you'll learn how to take better photos that capture the essence of your farm. We'll also cover best practices for lighting, filters, and showcasing your products in an appetizing way.
Whether you're using a smartphone or a professional camera, these farm photography tips will help you create a stunning Instagram feed that engages your audience and drives sales. So grab your camera, head out to the fields, and let's jump into our guide to creating the perfect farm photoshoot!
Your Instagram profile is a grid of all your content. When first visiting your page, users will see a collection of your last 6-9 pictures. It is important when you are taking and posting photos to your profile, you are considering what the collection of photos will look like together. It’s great to have a mix of farm and staff photos, with some product photos. You want to share your story and day-to-day, however still show what you are selling.
A theme or general idea of what type of content you are posting, will reduce the likelihood of having a cluttered or unsynchronized feed and help you determine what photos you need to take. This also helps with branding purposes.
Composition is a skill that photographers take a career to master. The difference between a beautiful and an average farm photo is how the elements of the photos are placed within the frame.
For beginners, make sure you are focusing on one element (such as an animal for example), and always have something in the foreground or front of the frame and something in the background. This will give your photo depth and make it appear more professional.
Also, consider taking the photo from different perspectives and switching the angle. Don’t be afraid to get down on the ground if that’s what it takes.
Your Instagram page starts with your camera. At the end of the day you can’t change the quality of a photo after it’s been taken. You can clearly tell the difference from a high-quality photograph taken by a DSLR camera versus a photo taken by an older digital camera or outdated mobile device. Make sure you are using the best device available to you.
Don’t have access to a standalone camera? The hardware on newer models of smartphones like the iPhone and Google Pixel are changing the game for photography and can produce high-quality sharable photos.
Note: If a photo looks blurry or grainy, it’s not the best quality. The higher the quality, the more professional the photos appear.
In order to take a beautiful photograph – you need to have good lighting. Be sure to always use natural light. Flash photography and artificial lighting can be very hard to work with and often don’t look that great.
Also, if you’re taking photos outside, make use of “golden hour”.
Golden hour is a term used in photography that represents the short period of time right after sunrise and right before sunset. During this time, daylight appears redder and softer due to the sun being higher in the sky. This is the best natural lighting to work with.
Filters can work wonders for an image (if done correctly). Filters have allowed the average joe to create beautiful, bright photos without lighting in their favor. Consider playing around with different filters to enhance the natural beauty of your photos.
Note: Often pre-made “free” Instagram filters or those from free apps can appear over-saturated and reduce the quality of a photo. We recommend using Lightroom or Snapseed, as well as the default photo editing settings in your phone's photo app, which allow you to adjust parameters such as saturation, brightness, highlights, and shadows manually. This allows you to “create your own filters” that work perfectly for that specific image. This step may take some extra time versus a pre-made filter, however can make a world of difference.
If you’re using a smartphone for your photography, refrain from using the zoom function. The lenses in our phones don’t have the same capacity as a removable, adjustable lens on a higher quality camera. Poor zoom can quickly reduce the quality and give you a blurry/grainy photo.
Instagram is a powerful marketing tool, so it's important to showcase your farm's products in the best light. Eye-catching product photographs are an essential element of your page. Therefore, learning how to take product photos is so important for your farm's success on Instagram.
When capturing pics of your farm offerings, make sure the food looks fresh, vibrant, and appetizing. Lackluster product photos can discourage potential customers from making a purchase. Mastering product photography will help you create irresistible images that entice your audience to try your farm-fresh goods.
Select produce that is bright in color and has the least amount of blemishes. While there's nothing wrong with fruit that has a few bumps and bruises, for marketing purposes, always choose your best-looking products.
Take photos with natural scenery. Small-scale farming practices emphasize good, natural, and ethical food production. Photographing your final product with natural scenery in the background helps connect the product with its origin. If that’s not possible, use natural fabrics, textures, and tones as the background to evoke a handmade and natural production feel.
When taking photos from above, shadows can dominate the image. Adjust the angle of shooting to minimize shadows and create a more visually appealing picture.
Focus on the texture and details of the food. Close-up shots can capture the intricacies of produce, making the images more appealing and engaging.
Use props to enhance your food photos. Items like cutting boards, rustic plates, or fresh herbs can add context and depth to your pictures, making them more interesting and visually appealing.
Presentation matters. Arrange food neatly and attractively on plates or in bowls. A well-plated dish can make a significant difference in the overall look of the photo.
To ensure steady and sharp images, use a tripod. This is especially useful in low-light conditions where a steady hand might not suffice.
Try different angles to find the most flattering perspective for your food. Sometimes, a shot from the side or at an angle can be more dynamic than a traditional top-down photo.
Finally, use your photos to tell a story about your farm and products. Share the history behind your farm name and how it represents your values and mission. Show the journey from farm to table, capturing the process and the people behind the scenes. Incorporating elements of your farm's unique story in your photos adds depth and interest to your content, making it more engaging for your audience. They'll feel a stronger connection to your brand and be more likely to support your business.
Now that you've how to take better Instagram photos, it's time to put your skills to work and share your farm's story with the world. But don't stop there – make sure your social media content translates into sales by using Local Line's powerful farm e-commerce platform.
Local Line helps farms like yours showcase their products, process orders, and manage customer relationships all in one place. By integrating your Instagram content with your Local Line store, you can create a seamless journey from inspiration to purchase for your customers.
Imagine a customer discovering your farm on Instagram, falling in love with your beautiful farm images, and then easily purchasing your products directly from your Local Line store with easy online payment methods through our farm PoS software.
So what are you waiting for?
