Colorful Studio Photography for Instagram

Find out more about Tropico Photo as well as Michelle and Forrest, the creatives behind the studio. They talk you through the influences that have inspired their artistic journeys, from fellow photographers to fashion designers.

Discover how to find inspiration for your images through mood boards. Compile imagery that applies to your project, select a color palette, sketch ideas, and source materials for designing your set. Build on your sketches and create thumbnails with a focus on composition. Then, photograph or scan your drawings and use the colors from your chosen palette to fill them in. See how to use your sketches to come up with the materials and equipment needed for your set design.

Build your set with simple materials like paper, fabric, and plants. Then learn how to move beyond a simple background and add depth to your scene by layering props. Choose your model and pick their clothing based on your mood board and sketches. Michelle and Forrest then talk you through putting everything you’ve learned so far together at the photoshoot, as well as the importance of organizing your props and taking test shots for a professional end result.

Find out how to select the best images from the photoshoot and edit them using Lightroom, experimenting with exposure, color balance, contrast, and saturation. Crop your images for the best possible composition, then export them ready for retouching. Use Photoshop to enhance your images, then save them ready to share online.