Blogging 101: Photography

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The biggest thing that I have struggled with being a blogger is photography and putting up original and artsy photos that compliment my blog's aesthetic. It is definitely a lot of work and understanding how camera's work but trust me, it does not require huge lights and a fancy expensive DSLR. There just some small pointers and tips that you need to keep in mind when shooting pictures that I reveal today and hopefully help you guys out.

Lighting

It is my advice to try to use natural light as much as you can, whether that can be outdoors or in a brightly lit room due to the sunlight. Using artificial lighting will never ever produce those results which natural lighting will so if you're thinking about shooting for an outfit, do it outdoors; not only will it produce better and more clearer pictures but it looks more beautiful outside than shooting for outfits pushed against a plain white wall. I never believed that natural lighting would produce better results than artificial lighting until I tried it for myself and I definitely started to wonder why I spend so much time adjusting lamps and lights in order to capture one picture when I could have done it outdoors.

Invest in lens

Provided that you already have a DSLR and it is not producing the same results as a $4000 one would, I would advise you to invest on lens rather than another DSLR because not only will it save you money, it will allow you to use the same ridiculous amount of money on better things (like handbags, maybe?). The lens honestly do the magic, not the camera so work on getting some lens that work best with your requirements. 

Clean Backgrounds

This I say would apply on both photos shot either indoors or outdoors. Do not, I repeat, do not have a scattered messy background. If you're shooting indoors, try to shoot above a clean white wall with good lighting or even if you are shooting above some other background, try to remove extra stuff on the walls that does not contribute to the pictures. When outdoors, work on finding a background that has components that compliment each other. For example, if you have flowers in your background then try to pair it with trees or grass instead of standing on a road with flowers peeking in the picture just because you neglected the freshly mowed garden that was right next to the road. 

Editing

Not all of us edit our pictures but for those you us who do, I have some tips. If you're editing your pictures through a particular app, do not make every single photo go through a different filter. It looks very messy and does not create theme. The same goes for all photos on your blog, try to have each blog post's photos with the same filter or at least such a filter that compliments your blog's aesthetic. I mean, theme's work on Instagram so why not here? Secondly, balance is very important. Do not over brighten a picture but then put too much exposure at the same time and then you think; hey? why not shadow the picture as well. No, that does not work. Balance is essential everywhere and especially in photos.

Plus, since I was talking about clean backgrounds, there is an amazing app I would like to share with you guys called Face Tune. It's about $4 I believe on the app store and let me tell you, it's amazing. It helps you remove anything on your face that you don't want there such as pimples, crinkles, freckles (which I find personally find adorable), black heads etc. It helps you alter the color of certain objects in your picture such as turning pink flowers into white ones and turning a black background into a white one. Get the app here.

Do you guys have any tips on photography? I'd love to hear from you.

Zoha x