How To Take Blog Photos When You Struggle To Take Photos
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A few weeks back, I was reading FromRoses post on Writing A Blog When You Find The Writing Part Hard. She was explaining about there's some sort of assumption within blogging that most bloggers blog because they love writing. But Rebecca was highlighting how that's not the case for all of us and including herself. Not everyone finds it easy. Some people find it difficult to do the writing side of things.
It got me thinking about what part of blogging I find hard. It's probably evident that it's the photography side of things. Before blogging, the only cameras I was familiar with were an old digital one I got for my 13th birthday and the camera on my phone. I didn't have any clue about aperture, shutter speed or ISO and even until this day it confuses the hell out of me. It's a complete learning process for me and probably always will be. Even though I'm still at a basic level right now, I've already learnt so much about photography from other bloggers and taking my own photos for the past year or so. You might be reading this, nodding along and agreeing with me, that this is also something you struggle with, then I really hope today's post is going to help you in some way. Here are some tips on improving the way you take your blog photos:
Planning - This is a very important part of blogging as a whole, but especially important when it comes to shooting photos for your posts and in particular when you struggle to shoot said photos. Planning your photos for your content will help give you rough ideas and a guide of what it is exactly that you want to shoot and you want the end result to be. You could jot down what it is exactly you're photographing, like a beauty product for a review, then build around this idea. What props are you going to use? What backgrounds? What colour scheme do you want to base it around? What style of photo is it going to be? Ask yourself lots of questions and build on your ideas. This will really help you to be prepared and gather yourself lots of inspiration together. It will also help improve your motivation, because you'll be ready for it and excited to create the photographs you have envisioned. As a result, you'll end up getting better shots that you really love and will feel proud of yourself for achieving exactly what you wanted.
Experiment and learn - Do your research before shooting. This obviously includes the planning stages, but if you want more tips then look into other areas you might be struggling with. This might be photo style, props, how to work your camera, better lighting or how to work from different angles. Pinterest and other blogs are a great place to look for help and tips. Also knowing how your camera works is essential for you to work better with it and have the ability to experiment more. Experimenting with your photography is a great way to get really creative and build on your experiences. Try different things and see what works best for you. Play around with the angles, the way you shoot, the backgrounds. Think about what you like in photographs and try incorporate that into your own, but add your own twist to it to make it personal to you.
Some helpful posts by other bloggers on blog photography:
12 Tips For Taking Blog Photos by DizzyBrunette3
How To Master Flat Lay Photography by GemmaLouise
Blog Photography Styling + Affordable Props by ThirteenThoughts
Creating Dreamy Photographs For Your Blog by PintSizedBeauty
Prioritise - Do it first and get it out of the way if you really do not enjoy doing it. This will help you to focus on other tasks afterwards, which you may prefer more than photographing for your blog. It's also sometimes useful to have your images uploaded already onto your draft post as this might help you to write better when you have an image to draw inspiration from. Also do your photography in bulk. Once you have a series of post ideas, take the photos for all of them in one go to not only be organised, but it also means you've done it and don't have to stress about doing more at a later date.
Finding your style takes time - I've been blogging for over a year now, which is hardly anytime at all compared to others. But I'm still trying to figure out my photography style. I absolutely love flat lays and they're a great go to, but I also love to experiment with other styles of photography and I think that's absolutely fine to do. Some bloggers prefer to stick to one style, which they become well known for, whilst others like to have a couple to switch between to spice things up a little through different posts. The more you photograph and the more you build on your skills and knowledge, the easier it will become and you might even find yourself enjoying it. This has happened to me many times before. I've actually liked taking the photos and been proud of my achievements, so much so that I have found myself wanting to keep on snapping away.
Use the basics - Don't overcomplicate things. Go straight back to basics. Remember to have good lighting. Get near a big window or door within the place you shoot to get lots of natural light in from the outside. Stick to backgrounds you know reflect the style and theme of your post or your blog. Have a selection of props you can always go back to and experiment with in different shots. Remember to think about what exactly it is you're photographing and keep that aim in your mind throughout the whole shooting session.
And finally, just have fun with it! Don't stress yourself out too much. Remember it's a learning game and it's ok to still be learning. We all are. Even the experts who look like they have their sh*t together.
How do you make blog photography easier? What tips do you have for others?
Lauren x
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