30 photo dump ideas that don't look staged

Variety, a loose story and one look. The best dumps mix people, places and small details, hint at what happened without spelling it out, and look like they came from the same camera.

Instagram lets you put up to 20 photos in one carousel, but you don't have to use them all. A tight set of eight or ten often says more than twenty.

• The table from above, halfway through the meal, not before it.
• A drink held up against the view.
• Coffee next to whatever you're reading.
• Something melting in the sun: ice cream, a lolly, a cold glass.
• Market stalls or a shop window full of bread.

• A friend mid-laugh, a second after the joke.
• Your friends walking ahead of you, from behind.
• A flash photo of the dance floor, blur and all.
• Hands holding cards, a glass or someone else's hand.
• A close, slightly too-bright group selfie with the flash on.

• The view from a train, plane or hotel window.
• A street sign, a shop front or a hand-painted menu.
• Your shadows on the pavement in the late sun.
• The sunset, once, not ten times.
• The made bed in the room before anyone's touched it.

• Your feet on a beach, a bridge or a station platform.
• A bike leaning against a wall.
• A tram, bus or ferry going past.
• A map, open and slightly crumpled.
• The road ahead from the passenger seat.

• Ticket stubs, wristbands or a boarding pass.
• Rings, nails or a watch against something with texture.
• A handwritten note or a postcard.
• Flowers, from a market stall or a hedge.
• A reflection in a puddle or a shop window.

• Packing, with everything spread across the bed.
• Getting ready in the mirror.
• The walk home, lit by street lamps.
• The morning after: sunlight, tired faces, cold pizza.
• Something that went wrong and was funny anyway.

A dump looks deliberate when every photo shares a look, even if the photos themselves are random. Shoot them on one film, put the date on a few, or give them all the same white frame so they look like a pile of prints.

In DisCam, a roll has one film, so a dump from a single roll matches by itself. For photos you've already taken, the free online film filter gives any photo one of the same ten looks in your browser.

Lead with your strongest photo, since it's the one people see in their feed. Then alternate: a wide shot, a face, a detail. Keep similar photos apart, and end on something quiet, like the walk home. Our post on sequencing a carousel goes into more detail.