Whether you're a keen photographer or a blogger who enjoys taking photos for their blog, a bright image is something we all aim for and know looks a lot more aesthetically pleasing to our audience. It can be difficult to always achieve a bright image with things like the weather, lighting or using the wrong camera settings getting in the way. I know for me when it comes to taking photos for my blog or Instagram, I do struggle to achieve a bright image and have to rely on editing tools to help me out. But sometimes my images do come out bright with a good white balance and looking crisp. And not only is this such a good feeling when this does happen, but it also means I've been able to pick up some good tips and tricks to follow to even achieve this process to make it work in the way I want to. 

There seems to be some misconception within the blogging world that we need to be on our game 24/7 with making content, promoting said content and thinking of new said content. Whilst doing this can be good for progressing your blog along and bringing success, it can also be toxic if you burn yourself out, especially if you are already feeling deflated with your blog and know that you need sometime away from it. Blogging breaks are fine. Blogging breaks are needed. Everyone needs to have a break from blogging, the same way we have days off work or education, breaks are highly beneficial for so many reasons. The same applies for blogging and taking breaks. The benefits you can get from taking a break from blogging is endless. 

So two years ago today, I hit publish on my first blog post and after that I really got myself involved in the blogging world. It's crazy to think I have stuck with this hobby for two whole years. I don't think there has been any hobby that I've stuck with for this long so it's definitely been worth it. Of course, like everyone's blogging journey, I've had my ups and my downs. There has been times when I've wanted to quit and other times when I feel like I'm really on my game. But I'm really pleased I've stuck it out even when times were tough. Although when I first started, I never realised what I could achieve nor what blogging really entailed. It was a complete mystery to me. There's so many things I wasn't aware of and I thought I would share some of those things in today's anniversary post:

There's been many changes I've wanted to make to my blog for a really long time now and I've never seemed to get round to it for many different reasons. I also mentioned in my last post about how I've been feeling lately regarding blogging and some things I've tried to do to get my spark back. Therefore, I have decided to take the rest of May off from blogging. I feel like I need a much needed break away to get organised with my content and get back into a schedule of posting three times a week. There's also those changes I really want to start properly implementing on my blog and I thought it would be a good idea to share with you all what you can expect, as well as give myself something to refer back to over the next few weeks as I work hard to sort my blog game out once and for all. I hope you all understand that and can be patient whilst I carry out these changes:

Blog design - Now, my blog design has been something I've wanted to change up for the longest time. Since I don't earn a regular income, it's not something I really want to spend a lot of money on or if I could none at all. So resorting to finding a free theme is my top priority. I have a few I like and have tried out before, but I always struggle to get them to look just right and end up resorting back to my current theme. This time I am going to really take sometime out to just work on it and get whatever theme I go for to actually stick. Watch this space!

Blog header - Like my theme, my header has also really needed an urgent update for a while. I've had a few turns in designing my own and playing around with different designs, but again I am so fussy and want it to look perfect that I end up not using any. This time I am going to promise myself to change it up. Even if it's only a slight change in design. It just really needs a refresh.

Social gadgets - You can probably already see a recurring theme here, but I want to also switch up my social media gadgets on my side bar. These have been with me since I first created my blog nearly two years ago now (I know!!!!!). I really do need to change them and I think along with a nice new header and theme, everything will really tie in together and hopefully look more professional and sleek.

Update profile photos & about me page - I'm really hoping to go out and snap a few photos of myself now summer is approaching.  I really want to update my profile picture on my blog and on my about me page, which also needs updating and refreshing to keep it more current with how things are for me right now.

Post the content I 100% love - I think sometimes when you're going through a bit of a rut with your blog and find yourself running behind schedule, you end up rushing posts or not putting your 100% all into them. I feel like I have been guilty of this several times and I really want to stop doing that as it's never been me. Instead, I am really going to plan some content I truly feel passionate for and produce it to a standard that I really am proud of.

Get back to a consistent schedule - After daily blogging through blogmas, I will admit that it did really burn me out and whack all the inspiration out of me. Ever since I have not only lost my spark for blogging as mentioned, but I've also felt like I haven't been able to keep on my game when it comes to being consistent with my posting. I use to find it so easy to post three times a week with no real struggle. I want to go back to that as I really enjoyed doing it. Let's see if after this month off posting I can keep it up!

I think most of us can all agree that the blogging world has been a bit strained the past few months or so. With the drama of Bloglovin, Instagram and other bloggers bashing each other, blogging can sometimes make you feel a bit deflated and unsure of whether blogging is something you still want to be apart of. Lot's of us have noticed our hard work go to waste with certain apps making things harder for us to get noticed, there's also people cheating their way to the top by buying fake followers and playing games, resulting in some of us going on digital or social media detoxes to get away from it all. I know it's not just me who's been feeling a little burnt out and fed up with everything that has been going on. So I really wanted to share this post with anyone who has been feeling a bit 'meh' about blogging lately and needs some help in falling back in love with this hobby that was actually pretty damn fun! Here's what I have been trying to do to fall back in love with blogging:

We all can agree that most of us want to run a successful blog and be able to manage it to the best way that we can, right? No matter how long you have been blogging for, you'll know that it takes a lot of hard work, time and motivation to be able to achieve this. There's always a mixture of different things you need to be doing to run your blog and any social media channels you have linked to it. Today I wanted to share with you a series of task ideas you can use monthly to help maintain the running of your blog and also achieve the things you might forget about or put off for whatever reason. These ideas will help keep you super organised and also working efficiently to make your blog the best it can be!

One of my goals for this year was to be more active on social media for a couple of reasons. The first being I wanted to meet new people, create friendships with others in the blogging world and build a community of like minded people. But also wanted to up my engagement and interaction with current and potential readers of my blog. We all know that social media can be a great way to get our blogs out there, so if you're like me and want to up your social media game this year to help with the growth of your blog, then I've got a plenty of simple ways you can do so and how to maintain the amount of activity you have.

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

The Best Photography Basics To Learn For Awesome Images by FromRoses

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

Write it all down - First things first is that you're going to at least need somewhere where you can easily write things down into for future reference. This might be the notes on your phone for a quick and on the go method or a notebook if you'd rather put pen to paper. Writing things down helps you to clear everything out of your mind and deposit it somewhere else without running the risk of forgetting. You can store any ideas for future posts, important dates for events or meetings you might have in the pipeline, create a to do list to keep you going, store any key details of brand collaborations or sponsored posts etc.

Purchase some cute stationary - Nothing says organisation than buying some cute stationary pieces to work with! Treat yourself to a cute notebook, desk planner, some fancy pens or pencils, some sticky notes and whatever else you think will help you or you fall in love with. 

Create a calendar and work to a schedule -  If you really want to be extra organised, then working to a content schedule might be ideal for you. Creating an editorial calendar will help you with keeping to your schedule. An editorial calendar gives you the opportunity to control the process of creating your content, right from the start of thinking of the idea up until you hit that publish button. 

I have an 18 month planner to help me keep organised with mine. I pencil in the posts I want to publish for that month on the days I upload on and always refer back to it when I want to look what posts I am going to be publishing for the next couple of weeks. The great thing about pencilling in these posts is that you can always switch things around if there's any problems with posting or if you lose passion for a particular post you may have scheduled. 

Another option you might decide to go for instead of a planner is working to a spreadsheet. This is great if you prefer working straight from your computer instead of physically writing things out. You can really personalise your own calendar this way to suit your needs and style, as well as correcting and changing things up with a few clicks of a button.

Plan plan plan! - Planning is super important. It gives you a clear idea of what it is you need to do to produce the post(s) such as what photos you want to take, what you want to write about, the benefits of this post to your readers, is there anything you to need in order to to actually produce the post, like photo props or any products? This will help you to avoid sitting at your computer screen stumped with time wasted.

Make to do lists - I couldn't work properly without making to do lists! They're so handy for not only keeping you organised, but also help with keeping you focused and motivated. Remember to set yourself realistic goals for the day ahead, especially if you have quite a busy schedule anyway and you blog during your spare time. It also is good to write out your list the night before, so you know exactly what is it you need to do and can get straight on with it. Plus there's something so satisfying about ticking something off on your to do list, no matter how big or small. It's an achievement. 

Set yourself reminders - If you know that you're someone who's quite forgetful or finds it hard to manage their time, then setting yourself reminds might be a great option for you. You could do this by setting yourself reminders or alarms on your phone or sticking little notes around the home to remind you of what it is you need to do. This can also help with if you're feeling overwhelmed by the amount you have to do.

Dedicate a time/day to blogging - We all know how hard it can be to blog with the ongoings of everyday life, so setting yourself a certain time or day throughout the week to blog will really help you to stay organised with your blog. You might decide to keep a few evenings a week to writing up your posts and scheduling promo tweets, whilst keeping your sundays for photography sessions and content planning. Find what works for you and keep at it.

Respond to emails on the same day you receive them - I'm quite guilty at not doing this. But it's definitely something I'm going to try work on, especially when it comes to responding back to important messages from brands and other bloggers. Responding to emails on the same day will not only show your interested, but also will mean your inbox doesn't end up piling up along with that to do list of yours.

Quality over quantity - Blogging is different for everyone. Some people will post more than others  and some will post less over a week. Either is absolutely fine and it's important you do what works best for you. This is where quality over quantity comes in. Don't feel like you need to post just for the sake of posting. Don't. This might be where the quality of your posts end up slumping and where you end up becoming overwhelmed by trying to keep consistent with your high quantity. It might be easier for you to manage a smaller amount of posts each week and keep organised with this process, than it is to keep pushing out posts that aren't to your usual standard and end up falling out of love with it all.

Treat it like work but have fun - Sometimes blogging can end up being more of a chore than a hobby when you find yourself lacking inspiration or you end up slipping behind. This is where being organised comes into play. If you're organised and treat it kind of like your working a job with lists, a schedule and plans, you can keep things running smoothly. But add the fun element into it by putting the things you love and doing things you enjoy into the mix. This might be taking photographs, writing about subjects you're passionate about, getting creative with your content or being a social bee on your social media pages.

Maximise time - We've touched on schedules and everyday life. If you're someone who doesn't have much time to spend blogging, then maximising any free time you do have is super important. A good idea would be to dedicate a time or day to work on your blog as also mentioned above. But any other moments you find yourself bored or unsure of what to do, then put this time to use and work on your blog. This might be on your commute to or from work or school, when you first wake up in the morning and your scrolling through social media for ten minutes or so, when your partners out for the night and you're home alone or on your lunch break, spend a few minutes scheduling tweets, responding to emails or comments on your blog, uploading a new picture to Instagram or catching up with people on social media.

Find a work space - At night after a long hard working day, you might find it hard to switch off from the world from your computer or phone screen. We're all guilty of doing this. But shutting these things down and leaving them be for the rest of the night is so important for our overall health and wellbeing, but also for keeping ourselves organised and putting that side of our lives to rest the night whilst we also drift off. Pick somewhere around your home, whether thats an office/study, a chair in your living room or a desk in your bedroom, that you can use as your work space and once it's time to wind down for the night, then leave it be and come back to it in the morning.

Supporting other bloggers is so important! Most bloggers will agree that one of the great things about blogging is meeting people who share similiar interests to you and being a part of a supportive community. I'm sure if you're a blogger and you're reading this, you'll at least have one blogger in mind who you have formed some form of relationship with. 

Even if you haven't, there's thousands of us in the blogging world and sometimes because there is such a huge amount of us, like any community there will be the select few who hate and don't agree on certain things. This is normal. It's life. But instead of bashing each other down, we should be encouraging, supporting and being positive to to one another. Here's how we can do this on social media, on each others blogs and even in real life:

It is so important that when it comes to blogging that you really drawn in an audience and keep them engaged. This will ensure they keep coming back to your blog and support you as a blogger. You could have thousands of views each post, but a lack of feedback and engagement from readers can make you feel like people aren't taking you seriously. Today I am going to share with you how you can increase your reader engagement and create a community of people who always interact with you and your blog.

So today officially marks one year since I published my first blog post and have posted around 110 posts since. I can't quite believe that I have not only stuck to this fantastic hobby, but also how much it has benefited me and helped me develop myself as a person. 

I am so glad one year ago I decided to go ahead with the idea of starting a blog, to push away all those worries I had a couple of months before, when I published posts and then deleted them days later, too scared to have them online for all the world to see. But now I couldn't really care what other people think. Blogging has enabled me to not really (excuse the language) give a sh*t about other peoples opinions on me or what I do. But this isn't the only thing blogging has taught me over a year. Here are some of the things that I've learnt in one year of blogging.

It's a lot of fun - I didn't actually realise how fun blogging would be until I actually got into a routine of doing it. It is honestly so much fun. I love planning posts, being creative, taking pictures, being able to express my thoughts and opinions through writing which is one of my favourite things to do, getting to talk to like minded people and form friendships, as well as build on skills and improve  my confidence. If you want to try blogging, I'd definitely say go for it!!!!

It's a lot harder than it looks - From the above point, I only listed a few of the tasks that blogging involves. It's simply not just writing and publishing a post, there are so many other things that you have to carry out that don't even involve your latest post, such as building a following and designing your blog. 

A massive confidence booster - I wouldn't say my confidence has grown massively and in person my social anxiety rockets, but online and in relation to my own content I feel super proud. I am confident enough now to approach brands, make conversations with other bloggers and share my posts online without that fear of judgement. 

You learn lots of new skills - Blogging is a great thing to put onto your CV and talk about in applications, purely because it gives you a great opportunity and experience to learn lots of beneficial skills for you to take into the working world. I know for sure that it has helped me to stand out amongst other applicants when looking for a marketing and social media apprenticeships, because I have already been putting the skills you need into practice through my own work of running a blog.

Helped me to figure out what I want to do in life - As mentioned above and before on my blog, I really would love an apprenticeship in marketing and social media. I have been looking for the longest time for an apprenticeship, but due to set backs and my own mental health, it's been a bit of a struggle. But blogging has only made me realise that this is the field I want to go into. I want to be able to take things further and apply it to more of a professional level.

Promotion is so important! - When I first started blogging, I had no idea how to promote nor did I even bother to. As I got more into it, I realised just how important it is to promote your posts to engage an audience. As much as I find scheduling tweets tedious sometimes, it is so beneficial to do and stick at.

It's very time consuming - It may sound silly or even a little weird, but I pretty much have blogging on my mind most hours of the day. It is highly time consuming. I am constantly thinking of new ideas and wanting to get on with creating posts. Because I work to a schedule, some posts are planned weeks in advance and I like to try write one week a head of everything. So you can imagine that I am always on go when it comes to my blog. It's very time consuming but every minute is so worth it!

Bloggers block really is real - I think any blogger can relate to this point! Even over the course of a year, I have found myself struggling to write or think of new ideas, which I personally believe is normal for anyone who produces content weekly. But once you get your inspiration back, there's really no better feeling!!

The reward when hard work pays off - One of my favourite things is working really hard on a post and it getting the exact or even a better response than you were intending for. I absolutely love reading comments on my posts, it's really encouraging and so lovely to read positive feedback. Also I love hearing that a post has been helpful to at least someone. That's all I could ever ask for in a response!

How lovely, kind and support some people are - Despite the dramas and disagreements that can happening in the blogging world, most of the time it is a supportive and positive environment. I have been able to chat to a few people who have been nothing but support, kind and lovely to me regarding things aside from blogging. It's always great to feel welcome in such a large group of people.

Before I finish this post, I just want to say a massive thank you to anyone who has ever read, commented or shared one of my posts or blog over the past year. It honestly means so much to me and I'm so happy that I have been able to blog for a year. Everyone's support is so encouraging and I hope my blogging experience can continue on for another year. Right, I'm going to stop being soppy now before emotional Lauren makes an appearance (hahaha). But thank you so very much!!!!!

What have you learnt from blogging?

Lauren x

Since I started blogging nearly a year ago now, I've learnt just how important it is to plan and make sure that the posts you are producing are one of a great quality. I've got into a little bit of a routine with content building and it's definitely helped me be more efficient when it comes to my blogging process. Today's post is going to help you be able to master thinking of new post ideas and generate great quality content for your readers to enjoy.

To blog all you really need is a laptop or mobile device to write, upload and share your posts. However to take it that one step further, you might want to  invest in a few extra things to improve your blog. Today's post is all about the typical blogging equipment you might want to have, whether you're a newbie just starting out in this hobby and want to know what you'll need, or someone who wants to know what equipment to invest in to up their blogging game.