Over the past couple of months, my Instagram has grown tremendously. I almost tripled my following in a matter of months by posting Instagram Reels, which has seemed to grab lots of attention. The questions I get the most are “What app do you use to edit? How did you get that font? What camera did you use?” If you are reading this, then you probably know that I love a moody and minimal aesthetic which you will see throughout all of my content.

 

Aesthetics

 

Also, my aesthetic is my lifestyle. My closet is mostly tans, beiges, and neutral tones. My home decor is neutral tones. as well. This makes it easy for me to shoot content because I am not trying to create an aesthetic. The aesthetic is already there. When I am shooting outside or in public places, I choose a background that fits my feed. Neutral backgrounds or aesthetic backgrounds. Also most of my photos are shot in natural sunlight during golden hour. This helps to create that warm tone on my feed.

Presets

When it comes to presets, sometimes I use them and sometimes I don’t. Presets can be tricky especially when it comes to skin tones. A preset that may look good on lighter skin tones may not look the same on those with a darker skin tone. My favorite preset are those by @micahgianelli. I love the warm tones in her photos. I do have the adjust them to match my skin tone but so far they have been the most natural to me. Also Adobe Lightroom Pro has presets that are based on skin tone, Light, Medium, and Dark. Those have been great for natural editing.

 

Tools

 

My Primary Lens is the 35mm Sigma Art Lens. I use this for most of my Reels and photos. For up close shots, I use the Canon 50mm lens. It is reasonably price and captures great up close shots with a blurred background. One thing about using the Canon M50 is is uses lenses with a EF-M mount to use other lens you would have to purchase a lens adapter. The adapter used with another lens can make the camera feel a bit heavy, so it’s important to get a sturdy tripod. I purchased from this one from Amazon. It is heavy and stretches up to 67”.

 

Shop My Tools

 

Using Your iPhone

iPhone Settings

When using your camera to record video, your camera should be at 4k at 60fps. Settings > Camera > Record Video > Select 4k at 60fps. So your settings should look something like this…..

 

  

Editing Reels/TikTok

Most of my video content includes minivlogs and editorial style reels if I’m trying to showcase a product. My minivlogs are typically aesthetically pleasing and moody. One of the questions I get is how to make them dark and moody. It’s easy, you simply lower the exposure before or after recording. To do that, you simply tap the focus on the screen. There should be a yellow sun that you should be able to move up and down. Move it down to your desired exposure, which should look like this…

 

  

When editing minivlogs for Reels/TikTok, there are no special transitions used. The clips are usually between 0.3-0.7 seconds so they frames change so quickly that a transition isn’t really needed. Capture what’s important and move on to the next clips.

 

Editing Apps

My primary editing apps are Videoshop and InShot. I use VideoShop for Transitions as they have several to choose from. My minivlogs are all clips that I have recorded on my iPhone, then uploaded and trimmed into smaller clips on Videoshop. InShot has several features but I love the text on InShot, which what you see at the beginning of my minivlogs.

 

Using Canva

The possibilities are endless when it comes to using Canva to create content. You can use it to create Instagram Stories, Instagram posts, add text to videos, create blog posts, and much much more. I use Canva when creating aesthetic stories or if I simply want to use a funky text for a Reel. The Pro version definitely gives you much more variety. It’s an app that I encourage all creators to have to explore your creativity.

 

  

When creating content, it’s important to find an aesthetic that resonates with you and create content you are passionate about. No matter how pretty an aesthetic looks or how much you love another person’s content, trying re-create something that doesn’t fit your lifestyle, will more than likely cause you to give up creating easily. When you create things you love, it pushes you to keep going!

I want to add that I do not offer 1:1 sessions, nor do I offer content creation services for other creators. I simply love to create things I’m passionate about and for right now, I don’t have a passion to teach others. I am however, willing to share what I know and the tools I use to produce my own content. Thank you all for continuing to support me and show your love! I appreciate everyone!

-Yasmine