BLOG PICTURES: A FEW SNEAKY TRICKS

Don't get me wrong, I'm not an expert with the photography side of blogging. The opposite in fact. It's something that I end up faffing about with for ages on, and a lot of the time it'll take two attempts at shooting something before I'm okay with it. One thing I have really had to work on is finding ways to make things look good when they aren't actually that glamorous. I live in a normal 3 bed semi - it's lovely, but it's not somewhere I have a fabulous shoot space to take pictures that would be fit for a magazine, y'know? These tricks are just a few I've picked up to help out with getting snap happy. 

1. Collect together some props
I'm always on the lookout for things that can be used as props in flat lays. It doesn't have to be anything fancy, just little bits and bobs that can be added in to a picture. In the past I've gone for teacups, little trinkets, fake flowers, scraps of ribbon and a whole load of other bits that I now store in a big box. It would be bloody lovely if I had one of these dressing tables with makeup neatly laid out, Instagram ready, but life (/clutter) takes over and for me it's just easier to set things up separately. 

2. Get a few backgrounds
This probably made the biggest difference to me, mainly because I don't actually have that many free surfaces. A lot of my blog pictures are done on two giant, white pieces of MDF that I keep under my bed.  They're so handy and are probably one of the best things I've bought in relation to blogging. I just pull them out and I've got a little shoot space ready to go. In the past I've also stocked up on pieces of coloured card and pretty wrapping paper, just for something a bit different to lay products out on. The same can apply for outdoors really, I'm still always hunting down perfect background to take outfit shots.

3. Rearrange
I feel like I spend half my life taking my room to bits so it looks half decent on blog pictures. I'm thinking you'll have worked out that I love a good white background with minimal fuss, but achieving that takes quite a lot of effort. I usually pile everything up behind camera so I've got my little area to take outfit pictures. While it is a bit of a pain, it's worth it to not have a stack of old magazines, shoe boxes and god knows what else lurking in my pictures. If it's in my way, I'll just rearrange, take as many pictures in one go as I can then move it back later on. 

4. Work with what you've got
Always a favourite for any sort of blogging tips. Yeah, having a whole room especially to take blog pictures is the dream, but for now, I can manage. If there's a cute road in your area where you can get a few outfit shots in then go for that, or if your kitchen has the best lighting then try that out. It's really easy to compare your pictures with other bloggers (I do, all the time), but that doesn't mean you can't still make things look nice.

5. Edit what you can
A little editing goes a long way. I'm not talking a Photoshop fail, more along the lines of brightening things up or blurring out a mark on your background. That's one I do a lot - my bedroom wall has a few marks from where old pictures were, so I always neaten them up. With editing I just think it's worth learning what you need as you go. 

youtube / bloglovin / twitter / facebook / pinterest / tumblr / instagram
x