2/23/2014

Blog Photography-Tips and Tricks


One of my favourite parts of putting together a blog post is taking the photos to go alongside it. Today I thought I'd share with you some things you can consider when taking your own photos, and what goes into my photos when I'm working on them. Side note-I am by no means a professional photographer, nor am I claiming to be one. I studied Photography at A-Level in the last two years of high school and that is all the education I have had. The rest is purely what I've learnt myself. This is currently what works for me, but there's definitely some equipment I'd like to invest in one day. Feel free to leave any questions down below or tweet me and I'll answer them. 

The Tools-I use a Canon 450D for virtually all my photos, aside from the Instagram grids you see in Friday posts, which are taken with an iPhone. A good quality camera can make all the difference, but if you're new to SLR's they can be quite complicated machines. I've been using SLRs for five years or so, and I'm more familiar with how they work. If you're not ready to make the investment, a decent point and shoot will do just as good a job. A lot of bloggers and vloggers like the Canon EOS M both for filming and taking pictures on the go. I don't have any other equipment in terms of lighting or tripods, and usually use a step to stand on when I'm taking photos overhead. Tres glamorous... 

Props-Odds and ends in the background of photos add a unique touch to your images and make a change from the standard, plain background shots. I like to use things like my room decor, a pile of books, perfume bottles (both new and old), beauty products that are in stunning packaging and more to jazz up an otherwise plain photo. Get creative, if you're in a new space, take advantage of the unique bits and pieces around you to see how you could work them in to your pictures.

Some of the items I typically use in the background of photos/alongside whatever it is I am photographing.

Here's an example of a setup using some of those items.

Background Selection-Trying to select a background that's inviting, but not distracting to the viewer can be quite the challenge sometimes. I went through a phase last year of using printed paper as backgrounds but found it just made my images too busy and drew attention away from what I was photographing. Again, you can get quite creative with backgrounds rather than using the standard blank wall. I like to use fashion editorials (Vogue is the best for this), blank notebook pages, plain paper or inviting prints. With prints, sometimes less is more-a subtle corner of a print you like can be just as effective in pictures.

Composition-Again, composition can make such a huge difference to how your images look. This really takes a bit of trial and error, most times I shoot three to four different compositions and then decide which one I like the best later on. It's common sense really but if you think about it, if you want to focus on one element of a photo (e.g. an embossed eyeshadow), have less background space and focus in on that, whereas if you want more details-zoom your shot out. I like to compose my shots quite tightly so that there isn't too much background space in them, but then I also like photos that have that space showing, if that makes sense. It comes down to personal preference really and I highly recommend looking at things like other blogs, magazines and photography books for ideas.

Editing-When it comes to editing photos there are a range of programs you can use. I use Photoshop CS5 but there are other editing softwares around. You don't need to go overboard with editing either. I usually just resize my images, adjust the contrast, and crop them slightly. If you've lit and composed your photos well, you shouldn't need to do a great deal of editing to them.

Utilise Apps!-Using your phone to edit pictures on the go is so convenient. There's even a Photoshop app you can use. Photo editing apps are great for things like framing your photos, adding pretty filters+lens flares and making an otherwise plain photo more interesting. My favourites are Instagram, Picfx (for lens flares), Afterlight and A Beautiful Mess. There are so many photo apps out there nowadays so head on over to the app store if you're after more.


These background elements are all ones I incorporate into my pictures regularly if I'm not using objects like the ones shown above.

This is a zoomed-out photo from next Monday's post. It's not what the final image looks like, but it just gives you an idea of how I set my pictures up. I loved this picture on the right of Kate Moss in British Vogue. Being a more beauty-focused shot I felt like it complemented the Hourglass blush well.


*I hope this post may have helped some of you who are perhaps new to blogging, or just wanting some general photography tips. I highly recommend getting hold of this book as there are some fantastic tips in there. This post on blog photo editing is also worth the read. Also, my blog giveaway closes soon so be sure to enter that here if you are yet to do so! xx 

2 comments:

  1. I love hearing tips and tricks from lovely bloggers like yourself! Thanks for sharing :)

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  2. Thanks for your lovely comment and thanks for reading! :)

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