Top 10 Blog Photography Tips
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Blog photography I think is one of the hardest things to grasp when it comes to blogging. Even if you're talented in taking pictures, blog photography seems to be on a completely different level and you can spend a lot of time perfecting your shots to make the final cut. Over the past few months, I've really tried to up my game when it comes to my own blog photography. Here are some of the things I have found super useful and which I also know will help you with your own blog photography:
1. Learn the settings - Like I literally cannot express the importance of this enough. When I first started to use a proper camera for my blog photos, I didn't have a clue how to use it, so just hit the snap button and hoped for the best. It's only been recently that I've really sat down with my camera and worked out all the different settings. So my advice would be to get your camera out, research and learn the best way you can, experiment and practice to really get a good feel for what you're working with. The same can be applied with your phone if this is your chosen device to shoot with. Understand how to use your phone camera in the best possible way to get the most benefits from it.
Caitlin from ThroughTheMirror has a really helpful post on mastering the tech side of blog photography here and Rebecca from FromRoses also has a useful post on the best photography basics to learn here. These two posts have really helped me and I always refer back to them.
2. Shoot on cloudy days - Whilst shooting on a bright day with lots of great lighting is good for achieving bright images, I always find that when the sun is shining and there's blue skies, your images then have the tendency to display the wrong colour tones, which will leave you having to correct it in the editing stages. Instead shoot on cloudy white days to create less of a shadow in your images and also achieve brighter photos.
3. Stick to a colour theme - When styling images, sticking to a colour theme can keep a consistent flow to your photos. Work with similiar shades or colours, those that you know work really well together and look best. This will also help your images to look more put together.
4. Have a good selection of props - If I had an endless amount of money to spend on props, then I would constantly be investing in new pieces for my photos. Props can really help to bring your images to life and make them stand out. Considering your theme, build your props around this and style them in a creative way to really pull the image together. Props are a really great way to fill gaps in images so it's good to have an experiment with them. You can have a lot of fun with your props!
5. Try natural light over artificial - This is more each to their own, but taking your photos in natural light will create a more crisp and natural look to your images. Natural lighting will also help with the white balance you will want to aim for when it comes to shooting (which can be achieved on those cloudy days!!!) and get rid of any shadows. You can also use a white sheet or card in the background or on the sides to help reflect the light making way for brighter images.
6. Add personality or a theme - Once you have a good grasp on what you want your images to be like, then you can really work on adding a theme to your images. This might be something you decide to use consistently throughout your whole blog photography for a series of posts. If you decide to do this, you will be adding a personality and building on your brand, helping to make you recognizable and stand out. You can literally get as creative as you like to figure out what your style is going to be like, so try out different things to see what works best for you.
7. Add layers - Something I've really found beneficial lately is to add layers to your images. Adding layers helps to create more depth to your photos and can highlight your readers attention over to a particular area, e.g the product that you are reviewing. Use different textures, heights and angles to see what works best. You can use a range of different pieces to achieve layers, like a blanket or throw, a piece of clothing, notebooks, books or magazines, a scarf etc.
8. Try different angles - There's so much you can do with different angles. You can work on the angle of the shot, like flatlays, close ups, side on, out of focus etc, the alignment whether that's portrait or landscape, the way your products or props are positioned. Again experiment and play around with it. See what looks best and what method of shooting you prefer. You can always switch it up from time to time to keep things exciting.
9. Take lots and lots of photos - Not only is taking your blog photos in bulk good to keeping organised, but when doing it in bulk ensure you are taking lots of images, so you have a greater amount of photos to choose from for when it comes to the editing stages. This way you avoid having to retake any that didn't work out so well and it is more likely you'll find one you love out of a bigger collection. Again this will help with your organisation and using your time productively. It will be worth it!
10. Practice makes perfect - Nothing could be truer than this statement! The more you put hard work, effort and time into something, the more it will work out and be successful. I always use to beat myself up that I couldn't take 'perfect' shots for my blog and it would really get me down. But now I've taken that time to just take the pressure off, learn and experiment, I've actually kind of fallen in love with shooting images for my posts. It's not going to happen over night. It won't always turn out 100% the way you want it to, but this might also surprise you, because you might end up loving a shot you didn't think you would. Keep on practice and don't give up!
What blog photography tips help you?
Lauren x
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