Photos by Free the Bird, Shari + Mike, Nisha Ravji, Carey Nash, and Aaron & Whitney (from left to right)

This month’s Instagram round-up is chock full of advice from some of the best wedding photography Instagrammers around. We’re featuring Free the Bird, Carey Nash, Nisha Ravji, Aaron & Whitney, and Shari + Mike. Hear what they have to say about using Instagram and how the platform has benefited them both creatively and professionally.

Free the Bird – @freethebirdweddings

Photo by Free the Bird

From Jai: Instagram is my favourite social media to use to promote my work and my business. For me, it is easy to share a photo from my phone and write a little caption to get people interested in my work. It is such a powerful tool to have in your marketing toolkit and you don’t need to spend a cent.

I also love to follow photographers and artists and I get a lot of inspiration from my daily insta feed. The great thing about Instagram, you can follow people that inspire you, not just your friends!

Photo by Free the Bird

Nisha Ravji – @nisharavji

Photo by Nisha Ravji

From Nisha: I’m wedding photographer originally from New Zealand, and I am first to admit that I was a little late to the Instagram game. My primary social media channel was Facebook for a long time. However, now it’s easy to see that Instagram is where it’s at especially for photographers. I love Instagram because it cuts out the noise for you and it’s incredibly smart algorithm means you are constantly supplied with a curated channel of inspiration and new accounts to follow. As I mentioned – I consider myself a latecomer to Instagram having only really decided to make a solid effort in February of 2015, as a result I now have a small but very loyal and quickly growing following.

My tips to other photographers or wedding professionals out there who might just be starting out or are looking to grow their following is to not be intimidated by the numbers. A loyal small following of great people can be just as rewarding and beneficial. If you are wanting to step up – you’re going to have to invest the time, follow accounts you love and like, comment and give the love back! On your own account make an effort to post daily or at least once every couple of days so that your followers know you can be counted on for consistent inspiration. Don’t go too crazy on the hashtags and think about the time of day you’re posting – is your audience asleep? Are they at work? Are they on their commute home and likely to be scrolling Instagram?

Photo by Nisha Ravji

Aaron & Whitney Photography – @aarondurall

Photo by Aaron & Whitney

From Aaron and Whitney: For us, Instagram has been a great tool to connect with the photographic community and reach potential couples. With the recent implementation of Instagram Stories, our couples and peers in the industry are getting the opportunity to really get firsthand insight into our lives with this business and outside of it. Not only that, but we now get to see into the lives of others as well. It’s so awesome!

We use the Stories portion to detail our daily lives while also providing helpful tips for things like editing all the way down to answering questions about the gear we use, how we shoot, and more. For our feed, that’s where we like to display what we create with our couples and sometimes we even share our work outside of couples and weddings, too.

It’s really cool that, for us, IG has moved beyond just a place for us to showcase our work. Instead of a singular platform for displaying what we shoot, we can now show exactly who we are while turning it into a platform for learning and teaching as well. We truly love it!

Photo by Aaron & Whitney

Carey Nash – @careynash

Photo by Carey Nash

From Carey: Instagram has truly changed many things about my business over the past few years. I have seen bookings directly from it as people are either sharing images or searching for venue locations and my images come up. As well I personally use it to pre-scout in far off locations ahead of me being there either for work reasons or in fact just to see places I want to visit when planning a trip/vacation. I love it! I have learned to tag vendors, venues, and clients appropriately as giving credit whenever you can can help to get the images in people’s feeds.

Photo by Carey Nash

Shari + Mike – @shariandmike

Photo by Shari + Mike

From Shari and Mike: We try to consistently post one-three images a day during the week. We set up our Shari + Mike account as more of a portfolio to show our most recent work, and we have personal accounts as well for personal stuff. This isn’t the only way to do it, but it’s been great for us! We now get around half of our wedding inquiries through Instagram! Be aware of what time you’re posting. Think about when you are on Instagram the most, often that’s when others will be too. Don’t forget to share work that you are proud of and that you love!

Photo by Shari + Mike