Want to turn your partner / friend / sibling / parent into the perfect “Instagram Boyfriend”? I’ve got all the best tips for you!

If you’re not familiar, the term “Instagram Boyfriend” refers to whoever your personal photographer is when it comes to shooting your IG content! From here on out, I’ll be referring to this person as “IB.”

These tips I have literally implemented with my own boyfriend and, I must say, have proven to work. Keep reading for precise tips you can share to improve your content today!

This post may contain affiliate links which may earn a commission for purchases made at no additional cost to you. I make sure to only link products and retailers that I use myself and recommend. Thank you for your support! Learn more.

1. Turn on the Grid on your phone camera

To locate in your settings: Settings -> Camera -> Grid, turn button on. These instructions are for iPhone, but I believe all phone cameras have grids you can turn on as well.

This is super helpful, because then you can give your IB precise instructions on where to capture you in the frame. So I usually tell my IB to keep the top of my head below or on the top line:

I’ve found that a lot of people focus on YOU and then literally just take the picture of you and get no scenery in the background. This has also helped, because then I can edit and crop the photo however I want.

2. Take a "practice" shot

This is pretty much what it sounds like; you’ll want to position the other person the way you want your photo to look, and then take a practice shot of them. 

Then, you can show them the photo you took so that they have an example to go off of! Here’s an example from when I went to La Jolla with my mom (also, isn’t she cute?!):

This has really made a big difference. I think we all have these “visions” in our head of what we want the perfect picture to look like, but it’s SO hard to communicate that to your IB without an example.

Also similar to this, if you have inspo you found on Pinterest or Instagram, show it to your IB! Any visuals where you can point out things for them to focus on or specifically capture will help a lot.

3. Take note of possible height differences

If your boyfriend is a foot taller than you, that will drastically change the angle of your photo! And vice versa, maybe your friend is shorter than you and that’s what is causing your photos to turn out differently than you expect.

We learned this one recently – I was so confused why the practice photos I took didn’t look like the ones he took. And then I realized, he just needed to hold the camera a little lower, like where I would hold it and we were golden.😂

4. Ask them to just click away

If all else fails, just position your IB exactly where you want them, camera angle and all, and have them snap away. And make sure your live photo is on!

Case in point from when we were in Paris:

This way, you’ll really increase your odds of getting that perfect shot. Sure, you may end up with 200 extra photos to sort through, but I think you’ll also end up with way more cute candids.

Let me know if you try out any of these tips and how they go for you! For more content like this, follow along on Instagram!

💙mariss