How I Edit my Photos

This is a question I get asked fairly often on Instagram – “How do you edit your photos?” And while I am by no means an expert, if you were wondering what filters I use, here they are.

1. J2 in VSCO
2. Cascade* in Afterlight
3. Isle* in Afterlight
4. J5 in VSCO
5. Redwood* in Afterlight

I don’t have a single way that I edit photos each time – mostly because each photo I take is so different. As a general rule of thumb, I will first process in Afterlight, as I think their basic editing is more precise than VSCO.

The first thing I do is brighten the photo, and make sure the color balance looks right. Oftentimes I find that my iPhone shoots things to be a little too green, so I will use the Highlight and Midtone feature to bring the greens back down. Sometimes I will lower the color temperature for a more bluish hue, and then move onto filters.

I typically add a splash of Cascade to start (I’m talking like 25-35%) and then follow with Isle – which gives a nice cool tone and makes warmer shades appear more muted and mustard-y. Again, I only use a little bit of each of these filters, and never use them on full strength.

Then I will take this edited photo over to VSCO to apply a final filter. I almost ALWAYS use J2, but sometimes will use J5 if the photo is of a different tone. These J filters make the whites pop, and give the photo a more minimal feel. I only use VSCO filters at a strength of around 4-6 as they can be a bit heavy, and typically do not use their editing tools with the exception of the exposure tool. The exposure tool is something I will only use if a photo is especially dark, as it can be a very heavy handed tool. I only use it at a strength of 1 when I do choose to use it.

And that’s about it! I know it sounds a bit mad to use two photo editing apps for one photo, but to be honest, filtering is one of my favorite parts of being a blogger. I always have really enjoyed that before and after feel, and I like my photos to have a specific look to them. Hope this helps!

*part of the Wander pack, which I believe costs $1.99