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You have chosen your underwater photo for Instagram. But how do you get the most exposure possible? Hashtags are one of the main ways people find photos—and then follow your account. You can pretty much hashtag whatever you want and make it up as you go—Instagram allows 30 hashtags per post—but popular tags will get your photo in the right place so the people looking for it can find it. DPG’s Instagram guru Brandi Mueller shares some of her favorites.
Underwater: Our images on Instagram are unique because they are underwater, so you want your hashtags to stand out when users are searching for underwater photos:
#underwater #underwaterphoto #underwaterphotography #uwphoto #water #ocean #waterlust #divingphoto #underwaterworld
Animal: Is there a unique ocean creature in your image? Hashtag it.
#shark #sharklove #sharkconservation #pygmyseahorse #octopus #cephalopod #whale #humpbackwhale #eel #frogfish
Adding #spermwhales or #whales is going to gain attention among those who celebrate cetaceans
Location: While you can tag your location, it also helps to mention it as a hashtag inside your post. For example, you can tag the city, country, dive site, national park, and dive operator—that’s just for one location!
#indonesia #lembehstrait #lembehresort #northsulawesi #instatravel #travel #divetravel #wanderlust #seetheworld #divetheworld #arenui #liveaboard #worldwidediveandsail
Mood or Call to Action: How were you feeling when you captured the shot or what feelings does the image evoke?
#instamood #beautiful #amazing #moment #instalove #love #pretty #wow #myhappyplace #passion #inspire #happiness #protectwhatyoulove #stopsharkfinning #nomoreplastic #savethewhales #savesharks
Photo or Diving Category: Did you get your epic shot on one breath or were you tech diving to 200 feet?
#macrophotography #spiltshot #techdiving #wreckdiving #freedivingphotography #wideangle #reefdiving #PADI
Marking your images as #macrophotography will solidify your Instagram niche in the world of the small
Photo and Diving Equipment: Check out the pages of your favorite equipment manufacturers as sometimes they have specific hashtags they use to find images to share on their pages. It can be a big boon for your exposure.
#Backscatter #Ikelite #Fantasea #Nikon #Canon #NikonNoFilter #AquaticaDigital #MySealifeCamera #Scubapro #Zeagle #Aqualung
If you’re a gear fanatic, you both inform your viewer and attract the attention of manufacturers by including their hashtags such as #Nikon #D850 and #Ikelite in the post above
Adventure: We know what we do is awesome. Use your hashtags to describe how you felt getting the shot.
#adventure #wouldyoudoit #extreme #neverstopexploring #justgoshoot #divinglife #fomo #discover
Days of the Week: The most popular might be #ThrowbackThursday, but there are other days of the week that work well with hashtags. #TurtleTuesday, anyone?
#MantaMonday #TurtleTuesday #WideangleWednesday #FishFriday #SharkSunday #WhaleWednesday #MimicOctopusMonday #SeahorseSunday #ShipwreckSaturday
#FrogfishFriday might be a bit nerdy: But that’s how trends start!
Instagram Hashtags: These can be really fun. There are also apps that will tell you the most popular tags of the moment to help your photos show up in popular searches.
#instagram #instagood #instalove #instadaily #instacool #follow #photooftheday #potd
DivePhotoGuide: This is obviously the most important hashtag. Don’t forget to tag us!
#DivePhotoGuide
We love to see all of your amazing images (and share) when you use the hashtag #divephotoguide
Bonus: Tag other Instagram users. Both within your images and in your caption you can use “@” to tag people. When you tag users in the images they will get a notification and, depending on their settings, your photo may show up under their tab. This is a great way to let dive resorts see your images or equipment manufacturers see what you did with their gear.