12 Content Creation Tips to Make the Most of Your Gap

We've asked our Digital Media Fellows and Social Media Manager to share their pro tips to help you level up your on-program content collection. Adventure (and #inspo) awaits!

I think it’s important to capture the raw and natural moments of your experiences rather than have everything showcased as perfect. Some of my favorite content has come from filming candid and genuine moments. I made it a habit to record videos of my friends being real and natural, rather than staging it strictly for social media.

Live Photos can be a lifesaver when producing on-the-go content as they allow for twice as much content where you can have both a photo and a one-to-three-second clip. This feature allows you to capture animated, real-life moments and offers more liveliness than solely the still image of a photo.

In the moment, it can feel embarrassing to be creating content, but your future self will thank you for capturing a fun moment on video.

Always be looking for new ways to spark inspiration.

It can be tempting to stay shy and reserved when making media, but when you involve others in your content, not only do you develop closer friendships off-screen, but you can also showcase more experiences than just your own on-screen!

Iconic places and experiences are cool, yes, but they’ve also been filmed by every creator ever. When combing through my footage, I’ve always found my absolute favorite clips come from when I was filming simple things, like eating at a restaurant with friends or people watching at a café.

Make a plan and stay organized—don’t let things get messy, because it’ll get very overwhelming. Have albums, Docs, and/or folders. Set times you transfer footage and edit the content you've collected.

It is a little nerve-wracking to ask people you don't know too well if you can snap a photo of/with them, but it's important to ask and they end up appreciating it in the end.

Don't be afraid to send all your pictures to your peers on the trip. Make a shared album to add everything to so everyone can be included!

Instagram’s algorithm is always changing—remember when the feed used to just be chronological? Simpler times...

Nowadays, your content is competing with your friend’s posts as well as those from micro-influencers and mega-creators. One of the best ways to ensure your followers engage with your content is to shoot photos and videos in portrait mode by holding your phone vertically; this will take up more room on your follower’s feeds and your non-follower’s Explore pages, which will help stop the scroll and boost engagement.

This is a secret content creation hack that the biggest TikTok creators use!

To shoot the highest quality video content on your iPhone, head to “Settings” and click into “Camera,” and make sure the setting “4K at 60 fps” is checked off—“4K” referring to the number of pixels the content is being shot at, which is the highest quality, at the maximum “fps,” or “frames per second.” 

P.S. If you have one of the newest iPhone, you’ll also be able to shoot in cinematic mode, which is optimal for video content.

Here’s a fun photography tip for you: although editing platforms like Lightroom are really key to making a photo pop, shooting in the correct lighting can make or break a photo, too. Shooting during peak sunshine (around noon) tends to be too harsh and will fill your photos with unwanted shadows that are difficult to edit out; similarly, night photography is a true skill that is difficult to master.  

Try shooting about 2 hours after sunrise (“Blue Hour”) or about 2 hours before sunset (“Golden Hour”)—these windows have optimal lighting and will give your photos a natural glow, whether you edit or not!