Blogging 101: 5 Tips To Help Boost Your Photography

Photos are, in my opinion, so vital to blogs. A good, sharp image draws you in, inviting you to read the post presented to you. It frames an argument or review, can give you just as much information about a product as words and has the ability to captivate an audience. It's true that even if your post is well-written, a dark, blurry photo can turn your reader off; it doesn't exactly ooze slick professionalism. Before you say it, I know I'm not an expert in photography. My photos are nowhere near as amazing as some bloggers' are, but I have learned a lot in the past 7 months that could help a little bit. Here are 5 tips to help boost your photography:



1. Batch shoot.

When photographing products, take loads of photos. I never get the perfect shot first time, or even fifth time, so the more you take, the more likely you are of getting that great photo. Yes, it may take longer, but it's definitely worth it. Do you need 34 photos of the same lip balm with slight variations of the angle each time? YES. If you're like me, half of them will be blurry anyway, so it's well worth having a nice selection to choose from when it comes to final editing.



2. Use natural lighting

I've found that the best time to shoot is late morning to early afternoon, when the light is bright enough to support your photos. Flash leaves your photos looking harsh, unflattering, and often unrealistic, especially if your photographing swatches of a product. You want your photos to look as true to reality as possible, so natural lighting really helps to convey these colours and pigments. Having a nice space by a big window to dedicate to your photography is a great way to get the best out of your photos.


3. Macro

What's worse than a dark photo? AN OUT OF FOCUS PHOTO. Using the macro setting on your camera will allow you to really focus in on one element, keeping it sharp and looking really professional. This feature is fantastic for close-ups, and makes your images look far fancier. It's such an easy way to make a huge difference to the quality of your photos.



4. Background/ props

Although I mentioned the use of the same-old backgrounds and props earlier this week, finding appropriate ones for your blog and style can really help your photography. Carefully choosing other items to be in the background of your photo can help tie in a tight theme to your blog or particular post, while playing around with different backgrounds can add a different feel to your photos (e.g plain white looks professional, a fur rug looks cosy, a wooden surface looks more textured). Play around with these and choose things you feel convey your brand or personality.



5. Picmonkey/ Picasa

Both Picmonkey and Picasa are free ways of editing your photos before uploading them to your blog. While I usually use Picasa (as it's where my photos automatically upload to from my camera), Picmonkey is a fab way to add text to your photos, or really fine-tune things like brightness and contrast. You can also pay for an upgrade on Picmonkey, allowing you access to a range of more editorial features, but the standard version is a perfectly adequate platform to edit the basic elements of your photos. Be sure to focus on light, brightness, sharpness and contrast balance to get the best version of your image.




What advice would you give for getting the best out of your photography?

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2 comments

  1. Shooting in bulk is a good tip I always do that as sometimes it will look great on the camera but big on the laptop its like so bad and by then I've used the product or binned the packaging xxx

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    Replies
    1. I always make sure I've got the shots I want before I actually use the product- patience doesn't even cover it! Haha!

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