As the holiday season kicks into full gear, many people may be heading home for winter break, or if you’re lucky, may be headed off to some extravagant winter vacation. No matter where your travels take you, you’ll most likely take some pictures that must be shared on social media ASAP. Ever since Instagram began allowing users to post several pictures in a slide all in one post, vacations have simply become a way to curate the perfect Instagram “photo dump.”

What is an Instagram photo dump?

Rather than posting ten individual Instagram feed posts all at once, you can post several of your favorite photos all in one post. A photo dump can include pictures of anything you want to. As New Years approaches, you’re bound to see your whole feed full of people’s “2023 photo dumps,” which will include highlights from the whole year.

Here are my top tips on how to do that and the products you should get to elevate your photo dump to the next level.

5 things to include to curate the perfect Instagram photo dump:

There’s no one way to post a photo dump and everyone has their own vibes that fit them best, but here are some tips for things I think you should include in a photo dump:

A solo picture

Maybe I’m just vain, but if you’re going on vacation or are an avid selfie taker, I think you should definitely include a picture of yourself. After all, people follow you because they want to see you.

A photo of the scenery

Whether you’re in beautiful Aspen and have dozens of pictures of mountains to post or you’re sitting in a café in your hometown, there’s beauty in everything and a photo dump is a perfect place to share that beauty.

A picture of others

If you’re spending your time with friends and family, then share them. Having other people in your photo dump helps add some personality to your feed. A candid shot of laughter or a posed photo of your favorite people together is always nice to look back on.

A short video or live photo

This one isn’t a necessity, but sometimes I have cute short video clips that I really want to share, and a photo dump is the best place to share them.

A ‘silly’ photo

This may seem cliché, like when your mom is taking a photo and says “okay, now be silly,” but I think that adding a photo that’s funny or a little absurd can be a fun nod to inside jokes among everyone on the trip.

Photo dump example

Please note, I am no professional influencer, but if you want to see all the photos above in action, here’s how I compiled a photo dump of my two months spent in Oahu this past summer:

3 Items to help perfect your photo dump

There’s really only one thing that matters when it comes to taking a selfie: lighting. Whether or not you have a full face of makeup on, it’s your choice, but good lighting will always make someone’s face look clear and camera ready.

The clip-on ring light attaches to the top of your phone and has three dimming light modes along with five adjustable brightness settings. Quick warning, the light does tend to move a bit on your phone, so just make sure that it’s not blocking your camera as you snap selfies.

Using a disposable camera is simple; all you need to do is point and shoot. You don’t have the ability to check how the picture comes out or adjust any settings, which, personally, I think helps the often social-media-obsessed Gen Z remain better at staying “in the moment.”

The biggest downside to buying a film camera is paying for the pictures to get developed. I used to only go to CVS to get my film developed, where I could only get my film physically printed out, leaving me wondering how people were able to post their pictures easily on Instagram. The secret to faster development is to head to a photography or film shop. I highly recommend going to your local film shop (there are more than you think) and asking them to email you the scans of the pictures.

If you’re looking to truly dive deep into the influencer world or just really want to step up your Instagram game, then the Canon Powershot G7 is the solution.

Personally, I use the Fujifilm X-T20 but the Canon Powershot is what most influencers use. The camera lets you live stream directly from the device, has a touch panel LCD screen and is compatible with external microphones. You can shoot your content at normal speed or in a time-lapse all in 4K quality. This camera truly is the holy grail of digital cameras.

If you can only buy one product, this is what we’d recommend…

My top recommendation for putting together the perfect photo dump is buying a film camera. Film cameras are pretty affordable, easy to use and give every picture a more classic look. After heading to the film store to drop your camera off, you typically receive the scans via email in 1–2 days (but sometimes I’ve received mine in under an hour) and then they’re ready to be posted.

Film photo dump example

Here’s how I used a film camera to make a photo dump of three weeks I spent traveling Europe: