A photographer gets five hashtags per Instagram post, the platform's limit: two or three for the kind of shoot (#Elopement, #DocumentaryWeddingPhotography), one for where it happened (#CharlestonWeddingPhotographer), and your studio's name. Couples and families look for the kind of day and the place they're planning, so tag those.
The hashtags worth using for a photographer
What you shoot
Match the tags to the day you shot. #Elopement is two people on a clifftop, #IntimateWedding is a few dozen guests in a barn, and neither belongs on a ballroom wedding.
Where you are
Couples look for a photographer where the wedding is, not where you live, so tag the area of the venue. Add the region when the town is small.
The pattern: #[Place]WeddingPhotographer or #[Region]Wedding
- Charleston: #CharlestonWeddingPhotographer #CharlestonWedding
- York: #YorkWeddingPhotographer #YorkshireWedding
- Cape Town: #CapeTownWeddingPhotographer #CapeTownWedding
Your own tag
Your studio's name on every post. Many couples have a wedding tag of their own as well; that one is theirs, so ask before you use it.
For example: #FieldnoteWeddings
Five tags for one real post
The post: “Lakeside wedding on Saturday. Golden hour landed right at the vows, and the couple asked for no posed shots at all.”
What the post shows, where the business is, and its own name. Five tags, each one earning its place.
Tags to skip
- #love, #wedding, #bride. Every florist, dress shop and guest with a phone posts there. A couple hunting for a photographer near their venue won't dig your gallery out of it.
- #Elopement on a big wedding. Couples planning a tiny day browse it for exactly that. A full-ballroom gallery under it wastes their time and one of your five slots.
- The couple's names. Names in a public tag tie the couple to the post in search. Many are happy to be named; ask first, and leave names out if they'd rather not.
- #FilmPhotography on a digital edit. Couples who want film go looking for it and ask what you shoot on. If it's a film-look preset, leave the tag off.
Seasonal tags
- Engagement season (Christmas to Valentine's Day): #EngagementSeason #JustEngaged
- Spring: #SpringWedding
- Wedding season (summer where you shoot): #WeddingSeason #SummerWedding
- Autumn: #FallWedding #AutumnWedding
- Winter: #WinterWedding
Only on posts that are about that season. A Christmas tag on a plain Tuesday loaf is noise.
More for your photographer
- Post ideas for a photographer, each with a finished example post.
- How posthell runs social media for a photographer, from one note a week.
- Hashtag counter to check a caption before you post it.