Visual Storytelling Using Photo Series
At the time of writing this blog post, it feels like the overwhelming sentiment in the photography community (at least the online community) is that “photography on social media is dead.” Engagement on photo posts and carousels looks to be down, especially as Instagram moves to prioritize reels & video content to do battle with TikTok. Reaching an audience seems hard, even for those trying to build photography communities or to educate on top of entertaining. As photographers, we can either accept this shift away from photos and be dejected, or dive head first into our creativity and find new ways to showcase our work. I’m definitely doing the latter.
Although I’ve tried making photo-centric reels (and I’ll probably continue to), I haven’t enjoyed the process as much as finding new ways to make photo posts and carousels stand out. As an aside, I’ve been posting daily on Instagram and Threads for about 40 days straight so far (I started at the end of 2024!), and I’ve learned a bit about what’s working and what isn’t. Posting daily has forced me to continue refining, curating, and reflecting on my work. It’s also forced me to find new ways to tell stories with my photos. This blog post is a tutorial on how I use Adobe Photoshop to prepare my photos for social media posts.
Full disclosure, I’m not sponsored by Adobe, I use their products because they best meet my needs. You can do a lot of this with free software, or using a tool like Canva, but I’ll be highlight my particular workflow in Photoshop. With that said, let’s dive in.
In this blog post, I’ll cover how I’ve been:
Curating images for photo series, including how to better document scenes in the field
Using Adobe Photoshop to prepare posts: my settings, plus free templates
Adding text to “cover photos” in Adobe Photoshop, including placing it behind elements
Telling stories with photo frames, slices, and collages, plus free templates
Feel free to download the free templates before we start if you want to follow along with your own images! You can enter $0 on the payment page to download for free.
Curating Your Images
Before deciding what to post, I’ll determine a theme or idea for the photo set. The theme can be as tangible as: colors, subjects, times of day, visual patterns, the focal length used, the location they were shot, etc. Sometimes they’ll be less tangible but equally as powerful. For example, they might be photos, places, or moments that evoke certain emotions, like feelings of nostalgia, wonder, or awe.
Once I’ve got a theme, I’ll start diving into my image libraries. Having a wide variety of images that fit different themes makes this process a lot easier. If you’re just getting started with photography, or historically have focused on capturing only one or two “banger” or “postcard” shots at a popular location, try and start capturing scenes from multiple angles. Take wide, medium, and tight shots. Raise your camera higher for a new perspective. Lower the camera and create some foreground. Look for reflections, whether from windows or water. Use techniques like slow shutter, or look for leading lines and frames. Find pieces of context that bring the details closer to your viewer in an interesting way.
Here’s an example of a photo set I curated from a visit to Meiji Jingu, a famous shrine in Tokyo, Japan.
The theme of this set is as simple as “A Summer Day at Meiji Jingu, Tokyo.” The set has strong earth tones, led by the browns and greens of the shrine and surrounding park. I’ve captured the scene from different perspectives and vantage points, as well as highlighted some of the finer details or things I thought were interesting. Even if you can’t take a super tight shot because you don’t have the right lens, cropping into an image to get that perspective works well too. If you’re lacking wider shots and are without a wide angle lens, consider taking a few images and stitching them together in post.
After shot selection, editing and coloring your images consistently is key. Matching the white balance and color grading on each image will help with cohesion. This isn’t a Lightroom editing tutorial, but I will mention that managing consistent white balance has been super impactful on finding my “style” - and it might help you too. Once everything is edited as desired, it’s time to export. I’ll export the full, highest quality JPEGs to work with in Photoshop. See my simple export settings below.
Preparing Photos for Carousels in Adobe Photoshop
After exporting my images, I’ll bring the files into a new folder on my drive. I make a new folder for each post I’m planning to put up, whether that be for Instagram or Threads. I’ll also grab a copy of my Photoshop templates and bring them into the same folder for ease of use. I’ll set up a “LR Exports” images folder and “Final” images folder within to keep everything organized; the former for the files I just exported from Lightroom Classic, the latter for the Photoshop exports that will be posted to socials.
Let’s start simple, with just one image, no additional text or frames/slices/collages. I’ll be using “IG 1 Image Vertical Template_Full.psd” from the template pack. After doing plenty of compression testing on Instagram and Threads, I’ve found that using a 2160 x 2700 file size for a vertical 4:5 post retains optimal detail after compression. Everything still looks nice and sharp on screen, versus a smaller 1080 x 1350 or larger full-sized image. Since the original image has an aspect ratio of 2:3, and Instagram’s vertical aspect ratio is 4:5, I’ll use Shift + Mouse Drag a corner to fill out the 4:5 canvas. I’ll typically crop in Photoshop, since I’ll want the 2:3 images for other projects. If certain elements, like foreground masking, would be lost by doing this, I’ll use the Snapshots feature in Lightroom Classic to create two versions, one 2:3 and one 4:5, the latter then exported for use in a post.
Once the image is set within the 4:5 frame, I’ll do one last check - which involves the “Guide” layers that are hidden by default. Turning those on quickly helps ensure that my image is also nicely framed in the 3:4 aspect ratio for Instagram’s “New” Grid and the 1:1 aspect ratio of the Explore page. If I like what I see, I’ll turn those off again and save the PSD file. Next, I’ll export a JPEG at Quality Level 7 (High). This image is now ready for socials!
Creating Engaging Cover Photos with Text
Adding text to cover images on photo posts has been a popular trend for over a year now. Doing this can help your post stand out on Instagram’s Explore page. Personally, I enjoy doing this because it gives you an opportunity to introduce your photos and add context to your set, while also flexing some creativity. Luckily, this is pretty easy to do in Photoshop, especially if the image has a strong subject with high contrast areas. Using the same PSD file from the previous example, I’ll start by making a copy of the image as a New Layer. In the New Layer, using the Object Selection tool, I’ll click on the subject and then mask it. The Object Selection tool typically works very well. If not, try using the Magic Wand or other selection tools to refine.
Now that the subject mask layer is done, I’ll move on to the text. I’ll put together some text in my “style” and place the text layers I want to be partially hidden behind the masked object. To give the text some separation from the subject and the rest of the image, I’ll typically add a drop shadow to the text. Finally, it doesn’t hurt to double check that our text fits the 3:4 aspect ratio as wells the 1:1 aspect ratio for the Explore page. The cover page is now all set and I’ll export it.
Storytelling with Photo Frames, Slices, and Collages
To further enhance the photo set, I’ll add slides with either one or multiple of these layouts: frames, slices, or collages.
Frames are what I call a slide in a photo set with either white borders or centered on a white canvas. Sometimes, I’ll do a frame that runs between two 4:5 frames, which can be used to “pinch” on Threads or slide on Instagram. I’ve provided this “2 Wide” template in the pack, just note that it will require exporting two copies of the image and then cropping each to vertical 4:5 either in Photoshop or on your phone. I’ll also use frames when an image is best viewed 2:3, viewed from a distance, or overall an image I want to highlight.
Slices are any slides with two or more images divided horizontally or vertically. I’ll use slices when I want to highlight details or juxtapose wide and tight shots. Slices bring the audience closer to your scene and add context. They’re also just fun to make.
Collages are any slides that use types of “slices” but may be more free-form in size or placement. I’ll use collages when there’s more than 3 details I want to highlight or just to try something more creative.
As mentioned, I’ve provided some Photoshop templates for each of these. For this example, I’ll just be using Frames and Slices, since they’re my two favorites. In each of these templates, I’ve used the “Frame Tool” in Photoshop to carve out spaces for each photo to occupy. I’ll simply drag and drop photos from my LR Exports folder into the Frame Layers to get started. Within the layer, I’ll click on the photo icon (on the right side of the layer) to select the photo within the frame, then adjust the sizing of each photo. Thanks to the Frame Tool, each photo stays contained within its space. With Frames that are just a single image (e.g. in “IG 1 Image Vertical Template_Frame.psd” template), I’ll often add a drop shadow to the image to give it more of a "gallery” feel. To do this, I’ll first need to select the frame and image within the layer list (both pieces must be selected) and then Convert to Smart Object. Once converted to a Smart Object, I won’t be able to re-size the image within the Frame, so if I’m still testing the look, I’ll make a copy of the layer first and toggle the copy’s visibility off. With Slices and Collages, sometimes I’ll use white divider lines, but they can also be easily turned off by toggling the layer. Once I’ve dropped the photos into each section and sized to my liking, I’ll save the PSD files and export to my “Final” images folder. Now, my photo set is ready to post!
Wrapping Up
Thought this was helpful, or maybe not so much? How are you enhancing your visual storytelling in 2025? What else do you want to learn about? Drop me a DM on Instagram or Email me - I’ll try to reply as quickly as I can.
Thanks for reading! Be well, and see you in the next post.
