Dare to be different: creative tips for social media shots

The key to creating standout images to fill jam-packed social feeds is to think differently and show the world how you see it. TikTok creators Rosie Lugg (@rambosphotos) and Peter Jay (@Eletrico) do just this. They each have a passion for producing unique content, and sharing their methods and ideas with an audience.

Here, Rosie and Eletrico reveal their best tips and tricks for creating unique images that will wow your followers, using five different photography techniques.

Attention-grabbing techniques are a must for photographers seeking social media success, and both Rosie and Eletrico suggest creating striking light-trail pictures.

Rosie recently experimented with light trails created by red buses on Tower Bridge in London. "You have to play around with camera settings for the effect you want. I generally shoot in Manual (M) mode anyway, which makes it easy to control your shutter speed and aperture, along with the ISO setting. Photographing somebody with a bus creating a light trail in the background, I found I needed a shutter speed of around two seconds, with an aperture of f/5.6 and ISO100 to get the right overall exposure. I always like to keep the ISO setting as low as possible anyway, to maximise quality and keep image noise to a minimum."

Eletrico created an equally eye-catching image using everyday household items. "I put some smouldering cotton wool inside a metal kitchen whisk," he explains. "Whirling the whisk around on a piece of string created sparks, and a long exposure of 13 seconds was just right for creating the light painting." (Caution: this could be a fire hazard. Make sure you have a fire extinguisher or other precautions on hand.) "Putting the camera on a tripod with a 10-second self-timer delay gave me the chance to set everything up and get into place before the shutter opened."

You can create similar light-trail effects with torches, LED lights or even sparklers.

Action-packed shots taken with fast shutter speeds really stand out on social media. Motion is frozen in a split-second, revealing detail that can't be seen with the naked eye.

For his sunset shot of water swirling out of a glass (top of page), Eletrico made use of manual focus mode. "With a self-timer delay, autofocus wouldn't necessarily have locked on to the right part of the scene, so I marked a spot on the ground and focused in advance. The vari-angle touchscreen of the Canon EOS M50 Mark II was really helpful, allowing me to compose the shot while standing in front of the camera."

Rosie says: "I love shooting models twirling around in dresses and, unless you use a really fast shutter speed, all the detail gets lost in a blur. I also much prefer shooting handheld instead of using a tripod, as I can move around and be much more spontaneous."

When shooting without a tripod, using lenses with in-built Image Stabilisation will help you get sharp shots. The Canon EOS R5 and EOS R6 have in-body IS, which works in tandem with IS lenses or even if your lens does not have IS built-in.

Macro images, revealing incredibly fine detail, are sure to make social media users stop scrolling and take notice. "I've always thought you needed a big, specialist macro lens for extreme close-ups, but I was surprised how close I could get using the Canon EF-M 18-150mm f/3.5-6.3 IS STM lens," says Eletrico. At focal lengths of 18-50mm, the lens can focus as close as 25cm away.

"I stretched some clear tape across the circumference of a reel and placed it over an image on my phone screen for illumination, then sprayed some water droplets for the light to shine through.

"I didn't have to use any special camera settings, and the lens captured the smallest details in the droplets. Camera shake can be a real problem in macro photography, but I shot handheld and the Image Stabilizer in the lens proved incredibly effective.

Seeing double is enough to grab anybody's attention, and, as she demonstrated in her TikTok video, Rosie loves creating mirror images with reflections, adding the special effect of symmetry to her content. "I waited for a rainy day so there were plenty of puddles to play with," she explains. "I ended up using myself as a model and found the Canon Camera Connect app incredibly helpful. It was amazing being able to put the camera on a tripod and control all of its settings from the phone in my hand.

"To make the most of water reflections, you generally need to get down quite low – the camera angle was critical, so being able to preview the image on my phone as well as adjust shooting settings made everything really simple and straightforward," Rosie adds.

If you're not using the Camera Connect app to control your camera remotely, you'll most likely be holding it to get a lower-angle shot. In these circumstances, Rosie continues, "a tilting or vari-angle screen makes life easy and means you don't have to kneel or lie down in the wet."

Eletrico also enjoys adding creative style to his water reflection shots. "I poured some water on the floor and switched off all the lights, so it was really dark. The water reflected the image on my phone screen and the effect looks really cool. I used a narrow aperture of f/14 for a greater depth of field, so everything's sharp from the front of the scene to the back."

Isolating the main person or object within a scene by blurring the background is one of Rosie's favourite techniques. "Most of the portraits you see on social media look quite similar, especially those taken with a mobile phone. My Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L II USM lens gives me the edge, as its widest aperture produces a tight depth of field. It focuses all the attention on the person being photographed." If you use an EF lens on a camera with an APS-C sensor, the subject you're photographing is larger on the sensor than on a full-frame sensor, which in effect increases the lens's focal length by a factor of 1.6x. "The 'effective' focal length of the 35mm lens works out at 56mm on my Canon EOS 200D, which I find ideal for my portrait and fashion shoots. The images have a high-end, inspirational look that draws the eye and stops people in their tracks on social."

To demonstrate a shallow depth of field, Eletrico took an architectural shot of a building in the distance. His novel approach was to hold a neutral density filter in his hand at close range, including it in the shot. "Focusing on the mosque in the distance, the filter creates a dreamy, soft defocused halo around the building for special effect." Often, thinking outside the box can have beautiful results.

For the most engaging content, you need kit that keeps up with your creativity. Rosie and Eletrico travel light and shoot with gear that doesn't weigh them down yet is intuitive and responsive, allowing them to create incredible work when inspiration strikes.

Rosie uses the pocket-sized Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II (now succeeded by the Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark III), her powerful, portable companion for unleashing ideas while on the move. She also uses a Canon EOS 200D (now succeeded by the Canon EOS 250D), a remarkably compact and lightweight DSLR perfect for use in both a home studio and out and about. "Keeping pace with fast-moving action can be a challenge," says Rosie. "But my EOS 200D is wonderfully responsive, especially when it comes to autofocus tracking."

For lenses, Rosie relies on the Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L II USM for its incredibly tight depth of field, and the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM (now succeeded in the EF lineup by the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM) for the versatility of a zoom lens with no compromise in image quality.

Eletrico, meanwhile, favours the compact yet powerful Canon EOS M50 Mark II paired with the ultra-versatile Canon EF-M 18-150mm f/3.5-6.3 IS STM lens. The combination has surpassed his demanding expectations for just about every shooting scenario.

Inspired by these creative techniques? Watch Eletrico's tips for better shots on TikTok and then have a go at adding some fun effects to your own images. Share the results with the hashtag #FreeYourStory and tag @canonemea.


Written by Matthew Richards