Instagram Secrets – Behind the Scenes of My Instagram Feed

Do you ever look through someone’s Instagram feed and marvel not just at how fun their life looks, but how perfectly documented it is? When you’re a blogger, it’s something you notice immediately. So when Allie and then Christine both shared posts on the real story behind their Instagram photos, I knew I wanted to steal the idea join in the fun. I did warn them I was going to be a copycat and share all my deep, dark Instagram secrets too…

So here’s a little selection of a few of the photos on my Instagram feed along with what it really took to get the shot.

Nap time = workout time! 💪 👍😜

A video posted by carlypizzani (@carlypizzani) on Jun 24, 2015 at 2:04pm PDT

Maybe you’re guessing the secret will be that this wasn’t a hard workout, since it’s just a little clip of a couple of exercises. But I really was working out (and sadly it felt way harder than I expected). The secret behind the scenes reveal is that there are no toys, books, burp cloths, unopened mail, coffee cups and crayons everywhere. Like there almost always would be if I took a candid photo of any part of our apartment these days.

Fran came home and was all impressed: “You worked out AND you tidied the living room? Wow!” Later, as he scrolled through his feed and saw my video: “Well, I guess now I know why the living room got picked up.”

Yup. I totally cleaned for you guys. You’re welcome!

Go ahead and run. ❤️ A photo posted by carlypizzani (@carlypizzani) on Jun 13, 2015 at 3:35pm PDT

It took me a long time to realize that all the running bloggers who have actual photos of themselves running (not shoe shots, or selfies) are doing it with timers and apps. I really thought they always ran with someone, or else asked a random bystander to get the photo. So when I worked out how it was done, I was all over taking my own timed shots. Except…I’m not very good at the whole timing part of it. The photo from my feed above, for example, is blurry and yet was the best one I captured. Here are some other shots from the same ‘photoshoot’ (and I’m using the term photoshoot loosely):

Amazing, right? I have quite the eye.

Incidentally, this woman takes the most spectacularly beautiful running photos of herself on her Instagram. I don’t even think she’s a professional photographer.

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Since I’m not a food blogger, I don’t have a lot food photos on my feed. That doesn’t mean I don’t take a lot of food photos, they just don’t always turn out the way I want, so you don’t see them. This one I posted purely because I was so happy that our wonderful, thoughtful cousins had brought us a ton of frozen, home-cooked meals when they came to meet Baby T:

Had some visitors from the Italian side of the family…now our freezer is FULL of Italian deliciousness to pop in the oven. 🍴😋🇮🇹 yum! #bestnewbabygift

A photo posted by carlypizzani (@carlypizzani) on Apr 29, 2015 at 5:18pm PDT

And of course it was one of about 20 shots, with me moving the wine glass just so, then changing the angle, etc etc. Until finally Fran wondered aloud, “Do you take photos of everything you eat and drink? Or is it just when I’m around?”

It’s gotta be a little annoying to be married to a blogger.

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Speaking of food photos:

I *may* have a hummus issue… I discovered this new (to me) brand and now I want to try ALL the flavors! 😍😋🍴 A photo posted by carlypizzani (@carlypizzani) on Apr 23, 2015 at 1:07pm PDT

OF COURSE I stacked them up like that for the photo. Of course.

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You guys know I walk to and from my personal training clients in Brooklyn and I kept doing that throughout pregnancy – extra walking never hurts. Now, for a couple of my clients, the quickest way for me to walk is near the Barclay Center, so in the evenings I often see dressed-up people on their way to a concert, like this woman whose heels made my pregnant feet and eyes cry out in pain:

Add this to the list of Things That Are Painful Just to *Look* At When You’re More Than #38weeks #Pregnant… 😬👠🙈

A photo posted by carlypizzani (@carlypizzani) on Mar 30, 2015 at 3:39pm PDT

But I totally got busted surreptitiously taking this photo by the woman’s boyfriend. I think it’s because I realized it was blurry so I paused and really tried to take my time focusing…only to click an empty frame as he whisked her out of my way, muttering, “Let’s cross here, honey.” I felt like a total stalker.

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My OB’s office is in midtown, so a few times after a morning appointment I stopped by MoMA for a quick art fix. This day I had taken Roman and was showing him some of my favorites. Now, the behind the scenes story isn’t exactly about this photo – he really did stop and stare for quite a while at this Matisse:

We checked out MoMA today! 🎨👍😊 @themuseumofmodernart A photo posted by carlypizzani (@carlypizzani) on Mar 24, 2015 at 12:02pm PDT

The thing is, I actually wanted to get a photo of Roman with the Picasso painting Les Demoiselles d’Avignon. I had given him the abridged three-year-old-friendly version of Cubism, I explained how much I loved the painting and why and I told him the story of when I first came to work at MoMA as an intern and my very first stop when I got my staff badge was to head directly to that painting. Roman listened to all of this carefully, then sat down on the bench in front of it. As I fiddled with my phone to get a photo of him, he launched forward, saying, “Mama, what is behind that curtain?” And then went to try to pull the curtain back. The curtain painted into the scene.

Yes, my son touched the painting.

I was HORRIFIED. (More at myself for being the terrible parent who’s so busy taking a photo, she can’t stop him in time.)

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I love this photo taken after a run when I was pregnant:

Here’s how I feel about the spring temperatures and snow melting!! A gorgeous day for a run! #fitpregnancy 👏😄👟

A photo posted by carlypizzani (@carlypizzani) on Mar 11, 2015 at 11:02am PDT

 

And again, here are some of the outtakes:

It’s a GIFT, having timing like this.

Got any good stories from something you posted on social media that doesn’t tell the whole story?

Is anyone really good at the timer function for action shots? Or is this just me?

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