*Replace boyfriend with friend/husband/wife/sister etc as relevant to you*
Behind every outfit of the day, every photo of me smiling holding a coffee and every photo of me posing before a night out, there’s my Instagram boyfriend (George) and about 50 outtakes.
He’s the man behind the camera, who stops at any given location that might look nice as a background, takes my phone and snaps away until there’s a photo I like.
He sighs and rolls his eyes at first when I say, ‘Oh quick, I need to get an Instagram photo – it’ll only take two minutes!’ but rarely complains.
He’ll hold any bags I don’t want in the picture, make me laugh when I can’t smile naturally and shushes any worries I have about people staring.
He’ll take an extra 20 photos when I ask for a few more, even though we both know I’m going to go with the first one.
He encourages me to keep smiling to get a photo I’ll like, and never lets me feel silly or low in myself as I pose holding a cup of coffee in the middle of the park for 5 minutes.
It started out a few years ago, when I’d ask him to take a quick photo for my blog, but now, he’s morphed into a fully formed Instagram boyfriend.
And I know we’re not alone.
As a blogger/person who loves and uses social media in the 21st century, most of us have an Instagram boyfriend/husband/friend of some kind behind the camera.
Without them, we’d have very few OOTDs and ‘candid’ snaps as we eat out. We’d have a hella lot of flatlays and mirror selfies, but very few killer outfit snaps taken at any given time.
So I wanted to write this post to say thanks to my Instagram boyfriend (although he’s so much more than that).
Thank you for being patient when I hate every photo, and for encouraging me to keep going when I just want to give up (in more ways than one), go home and stop taking pictures.
Thank you for wearing my beret and draping my scarf around your neck when I decide they don’t look nice – even though we’re in a public place – and thank you for honestly telling me when a photo is or isn’t working.
Thank you for noticing stray hairs, bunched up jumpers and when one of my eyes is doing that squinty thing when I smile.
Thank you for taking time out of your day to take a photo of me, when I know it’s annoying but you know how much it means to me.
Thank you for not making me feel bad when I hate the first few photos, and for not walking off and leaving me there, like I might deserve at times.
Two weeks ago you took a few photos for a blog post for me (below) and within the first few shots we’d gotten them perfectly, and it made me think how far we’ve come.
Taking blog and Instagram photos is something that means a lot to me because my blog is my passion, and you’ve decided to make it yours too. And that means more to me than any photo at all.
While some people who aren’t into taking outfit or blog photos might think I sound mad for putting so much work into a ‘simple’ photo, I know those of you who work hard on your blogs and Instagrams will understand.
So thank you to all of the ‘Instagram boyfriends’ out there for taking on this duty that you’re not even sure how you found yourself doing – our Instagrams (and our lives) would be a lot less interesting without you.
xx
My Instagram boyfriend in his natural habitat (and wearing my scarf) after taking photos.
I am going to have to show my boyfriend this post because he will understand every single thing you have mentioned!
Danielle xx
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