Photography Tips… Continued.

I’ve done a few ‘photography for bloggers’ posts in the past, but as I discover more little tips and tricks, I think it’s worthwhile to post my findings. Hopefully some of the below will help you to improve your blog photos even a little..

The Technical Stuff

I use a Canon 600D camera for my blog photos, although I don’t think it matters what camera you use, it’s what you do with it that counts. I occasionally take photos with my phone and I don’t think anyone notices a difference. I’ve been using the same camera for around 3 or 4 years now and I don’t see myself upgrading any time soon, it was a great investment and I occasionally treat myself to a new lens here and there. I use a Canon 40mm pancake prime lens for my usual blog photos, this has a f2.8 aperture, so you get a really sharp focus with a blurred background. It’s so easy to get really crisp photos with this lens, and I much prefer it to the 50mm lens.
Seen here is actually my ‘out and about’ camera, I take this on trips with me as it’s a little more handbag friendly. This is the Canon EOS M with the EF-M 22mm lens, the kit lens for the EOS M is huge so replacing it with this 22mm lens has been amazing. It’s an incredible lens and my camera is now so much lighter!
For reference, I also have an iPhone 6 that I take Instagram photos (and occasionally blog photos) on. I love the camera on my phone, and I think you can really work at iPhone photos to get them looking great.

A Little Info

Just a little note: I don’t think it’s my photography that stands out. I mean, my photos may be what makes my blog what it is, but I wouldn’t say it’s actually the technical side of photography that makes this happen. I work on my backgrounds, my composition and other details, so I thought I would touch on this rather then delve in to how to point and shoot a camera. So here’s some things to think about when you take a photo…

Backgrounds

I usually use my white floorboards as a background, just because I have to use what I have and they’re there! I don’t have many white surfaces anymore, and the only other background I use often is my marble coffee table. I feel like the white floorboards are very me, so I tend to stick with them and change it up a little. I like to use clothing, fresh flowers, patterns, rugs, scarves, cushions and accessories to make the photos more interesting – and I move things around until the photo looks right. My style is very busy and full of pretty bits and pieces, so I just run with it. I find bedding, cushions, wooden surfaces, tiles and soft furnishings also work well, so make use of what you have and change it up often. I like to find a good background and then take a few different photos there, so I have a stock pile for upcoming posts – making sure they’re kind of spread out, of course.

Composition

In short, this is the layout of your photo. I think understanding composition in photography is more important than your actual technical setup, as it’s truly what makes a photo. I have years of blog photo taking behind me, and I truly started from the bottom as my early blog photos were horrendous! I can now just plan out my blog photos without much effort, because I kind of know what’s “me” and what works for my blog. I guess this is just practice, trial and error and finding your niche.
Play around with backgrounds, and the placement of products in your photos. Move them around, use tape or tac to get them to stay where you want them, and add in other bits and pieces to make it a nice photo. Position in other products and perhaps a vase of flowers and see what you come up with, there’s no formula for this so you just have to keep rearrange and snapping until you’re happy!

Lighting

I’m lucky in that I have big windows and high ceilings in my home, but I’m also ~blessed~ with the grey Scottish weather. I usually just switch the ISO up on my camera to 400 or 800 and the shutter speed to 4o or so, to allow for as much light as possible. This can make the photo less crisp though, so it’s best to take photos near a source of natural light. I never use studio lights for my photos, I would rather just work with the natural lighting I have and then use Photoshop to edit the photo.
If you can, set up a little shooting area underneath a window. Lighting really improves photos!

Editing

I don’t do much to change the photo, I tend to try and get it how I like it with my camera because I’m lazy like that. I crop, resize, up the brightness (usually in ‘curves’) and sometimes tone down the yellow with the colour balance setting. It’s nothing extreme but it does make a difference! Get familiar with Photoshop or whatever you use, and play around with photo editing until you know the basics. You can also buy Photoshop Actions that work like Instagram filters, I don’t use them but I have seen them done well by others.

Do Your Own Thing

I think with blogging it’s all too easy to get caught up in whatever everyone else is doing, so try and find the next big thing. Stay on top of the game and work with what you have – those are the photos (and blogs) that stand out to me.

Are you trying to improve your blog photos?