Instagram is a great way to promote yourself while showing off your best assets, but choosing filters can be challenging. I’m always going back and forth as if the fate of the world depends on it. While it’s true there are more important things to worry about in the world, you should always look your best on social media — especially since you’re trying to attract business.
It’s important to take certain things into account when choosing a filter, like lighting, shadows and saturation. After months of strenuous research (aka selfies), I give you this list of what I think are the Instagram filters that best improve photos without further edits.
Probably my absolute favorite of them all, Clarendon does wonders for saturating bright colors and improving lighting in most photos. I use Clarendon for most of the photos where I’m showing off my body, because it hides or smooths out things I’m trying not to put on blast (such as blemishes on my face and my overgrown leg hair because I’ve been too lazy to shave).
Juno
Not as bright as Clarendon, but still great for saturation. Juno has a slightly more natural look and less of a retro feel than most other filters.
Amaro
I absolutely love Amaro, especially for selfies, because it subtly puts you in focus with brighter lighting in the center of the photo while darkening whatever is around you in a way that’s not blatant. Amaro isn’t an obvious filter, but it is more apparent than filters like Juno.
The most cinematic of the filters, X-Pro II is great for when you want a photo to look darker. This filter can be tricky to use on a photo with a lot of shadows, but if you put some effort into eliminating natural shadows in the image before slapping on X-Pro II, the filter can do wonders. I’ve always felt that X-Pro makes photos look like they’ve been done professionally.
I have to put one of the black-and-white filters on the list, and Moon is my favorite of the options available — probably because I’m a sucker for saturation. Moon makes a black-and-white photo that shows deeper contrast. It’s perfect for hiding blemishes as well, and greater accentuates things that might get washed out in color photos like makeup. For when you have a good eyeliner day, definitely bust out the Moon filter.
There you have it — the best five filters on Instagram, according to me. That doesn’t mean the rest are bad. I’m sure someone else has equally good results with, say, Gingham or Perpetua. Personally, I find these five to be the most consistent and reliable. (Remember Kelvin? Thank goodness that one is gone. We can all agree that was a travesty, right?)
Now, get out there and show off all you’ve got, and remember — obsessing over a photo for too long will drive you crazy. It’s never going to be perfect, so just put it out there and let it do its thing. Trust me: No one notices all the small stuff you obsess over.
Thanks to Rebecca000 for illustrating these filters. Vote for Rebecca in the AVN Awards’ Favorite Cam Girl competition right here, and follow her on Insta at @Rebecca000L.
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Sonia Stevens is a writer-comedian who picks apart the absurdities women face daily. Email her at Sonia.Stevens@ynotcam.com.
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