If social media’s one of your primary marketing channels (#helloalmosteveryone), you’ll have heard you need to be showing up regularly. 

And Instagram Reels certainly seem to be where it’s at in terms of gaining the greatest reach and exposure; they’re the proverbial hoop Meta wants users like us to jump through.

If you want to be seen, shared, saved and break through all the noise, you’ve got to show up, play the game and post Reels.

As a photographer though, you’re also likely busy wearing several other hats in your business, aside from chief marketer and content creator.

Keeping this in mind, we’ve put together 5 quick and easy ideas to help you create Reels fast. 

Think: high impact with minimal effort.

And once you’re on a roll with an idea, batch a whole bunch of clips at a time to build up your Reels library before you know it.

Before And Afters

By far the lowest hanging Reel content fruit for photographers - this is a train you want to get on.

We have RAW files or unedited JPEGs in absolute abundance and people - literally all people, it’s human nature - LOVE seeing B&As.

Pick a shoot or some theme from which you can pull one or more photos i.e. a favorite venue, shots of kids, client nurseries etc. and drop the before shot followed by the after into the Reels editor (or something like CapCut or InShot). 

Choose a visually appealing and effective transition effect to use between the two shots (wipe, crossfade, roll, fade out etc.), add some text or voiceover, and deploy.

No clever hook needed. 

A simple ‘Check out this before and after’ is all you’ll need to pique people’s interest and encourage them to stick around for the reveal.

TIP: Use one photo for a super quick and easy Reel or add three to five B&As in a single clip to maximize interest and viewing time.

Gallery Scan

We said these Reels ideas would be easy didn’t we?!

Either video your computer screen or screen record on your phone while you thumb through any finished gallery of photos.

Add catchy or poignant music (depending on the style of shoot you’re sharing) and some interesting dot-point facts or voiceover on the location, time of day, session type etc.

This one’s easy to batch produce too. 

Once you’re inside your gallery provider and recording footage, it’ll make sense to visit several galleries while you’re there and rinse and repeat the process.

You can even use the same template / setup for the Reel itself and just change out the video footage, music and facts.

You could have half a dozen or more new Reels created inside an hour.

TIP: Don’t forget to tag your gallery provider so they can love on you and re-share.

Time Lapse

What can you video in time lapse mode over an extended period of time (be it 10 minutes or an hour) that’s interesting, funny or clever?

Either set your phone to a fixed position and let it roll or keep it on your person, with your assistant, or on your camera hot shoe to capture the action as you go.

Some ideas include:

• Your culling and / or editing process (similar to B&As but shows the full process)
• Packing your gear / bag / car for a shoot
• Transforming yourself from ‘just rolled out of bed’ to ‘pro photographer’
• Scouting a venue or location
• Designing an album
• Creating a slideshow
• The dance floor at a wedding once the party’s started
• A portrait shoot from start to finish
• Studio setup, shoot, then pack down
• The formal portrait portion of a wedding day

Think about existing processes you can capture rather than going out of your way to set up and produce something specifically for socials.

Keep it simple but effective.

TIP: A similar time lapse effect can be achieved by auto-scrolling through all the photos from a shoot directly on the back of your camera in real time. All the single frames flow together in the style of an old-fashioned movie creating super easy and visually engaging content.