How I Improved My Blog Photography

I have been blogging for five years now but I didn’t start taking things seriously until a couple of years ago which is when my photography seemed to have drastically changed. I feel as though I have now found my style, the way I like to shoot things and how I want them to look. I thought I would share how I’ve changed things up since the beginning and also share some cringe-worthy images from over the years.

PIN IT!EQUIPMENT

When I first started blogging I used my iPhone 3GS to take my photos and they were not good at all, I did take my photos at night time but they were so blurry and pixelated. The iPhones have come a long way since then and the cameras on them are incredible now especially the iPhone 7. I then went onto a Canon IXUS which is a point and short camera and was really good. After a while my brother bought a Canon 600D and I would have it for a couple of nights, take some shots in bulk and then give it back. I then ended up using it more than him so I bought it off him, then last year I invested in the Olympus Pen-PL7. Had my brother not had the Canon, I would have bought it myself anyway as not only did I want to improve my photography, I love photography in general.

If you really love your photography and want to take your photos to the next level, I would highly recommend investing in a camera of some sort, but remember it’s not about the camera but about the lens. You don’t need to buy a really expensive body but invest in the lenses when you can. I have the 50mm for my Canon which took the above photograph and also takes all my close up shots now, I then have the kit lens for both my Canon and Olympus Pen however I am saving for the 45mm Olympus lens. Both the 45mm and 50mm are great for achieving that beautiful blurry background that us bloggers love so much.

Another product that has recently changed my images is a reflector, I have wanted to get one for months and I finally ordered this one from eBay. It’s so big that it reflects the light across the entire layout as apposed to my A3 piece of card that used to just reflect on a small area. It’s seriously changed the finish of my images and everything is brighter, I highly recommend getting one.

COMPOSITION

The biggest change for me has to be composition. I used to shoot from just straight on or on a slight angle and I would never dream of lying products down for a flatlay! Oh how things have changed. I now love to experiment with different angles, sometimes I literally just wave my camera around until I have an “Oooh that’s the shot!” moment but shooting from low down, high up anything that takes my fancy until I have an array of different shots. The excitement I feel when I have a great angle and some photographs that I’m proud of and can’t wait to share really gets me motivated, the photography side is definitely my favourite part of blogging.

LANDSCAPE/PORTRAIT

I only ever photographed in landscape, it’s what I saw other bloggers doing and I got stuck in the habit. Then one day I noticed someone’s portrait photo and realised how nice it looked and from then on I’ve added a mixture and even some posts only feature portrait images. I love how you can get a completley different look from just turning your camera sideways, shooting in portrait is my favourite way to shoot any photographs now, I feel like it picks up detail that gets lost in a landscape shot, definitely something to try out if you haven’t already.

LIGHTING

The first post I ever wrote was about a Fudge hair product, I balanced it on my bed frame and I took a photo on my iPhone 3GS in the dark, yes I just did it at night time with just the over head light and safe to say it was a disastrous image – I have deleted posts from really early on, sorry if you were off to snoop. However my lighting hasn’t really changed from about 2013, from there onwards I mostly shot in natural lighting. I did however over edit things, I used filters *cringe* all the time on my images and added text which just didn’t fit in with the style of photo. I recently posted about How I Edit My Blog Photos which goes into detail the steps I take to edit my images now but you will see below how they looked in previous years. Nowadays I just like a clean, bright image that isn’t took cluttered and isn’t over-edited.

WHAT I PHOTOGRAPH

Another aspect that has changed for me is what I actually photograph. In the past I would photograph the front, all the writing on the back of the product, a shot of the box, the item open and shut and the back of the product, why? WHY? I didn’t need to add all that in, what I photograph now is just a couple of shots of maybe the packing with the product but mainly I like to focus on the products themselves and show them off. This is when I take the opportunity to experiment with different angles and props, I like to show the products off but in a new and more interesting way.

PIN IT!STYLING THROUGH THE LENS

I mostly like to try new things, think outside of the box and see what happens. I love using Pinterest and Instagram as inspiration for new set ups, props or angles as there’s an abundance of images on there. One of my favourite things to do, and probably my only thing that I would ever call a tip is styling through the lens. I’ve mentioned this before but it’s honestly my saving grace sometimes. Do you ever have those days when your photos just aren’t coming across how you have envisaged them? Or you think they look great on your camera screen but once blown up they just don’t look right? Well this step will stop those dreaded things from occurring. All I do is hold my camera up over my background and then I look at the screen and place the items down where I want. This enables me to bring my vision to life as I go, instead of setting everything up and it turning out pants, I can see it happening in front of me step by step. I do this all the time and it honestly makes things so much easier.

Now we shall go on a journey of my images from over the years, sadly because I have deleted my old content I don’t have the really cringe-worthy images but I do have some crackers from my Instagram from 2011. Here we go…

2011
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If you have any photography related posts please leave them below, I’d love to read them!

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