How to Step Up Your Photography Game | Tips For Bloggers

Now before I start this post, I just want to reiterate that I am not a professional photographer. I do make my living from blogging, though, which involves plenty of photography. Clients want their products or events photographed well, so I have to make them look as good as possible. The majority of the time I am taking photos at home, though. And I have found that lighting can be the thing that either makes or breaks a photo. It can be tricky to get right. So here are some things I have learnt about taking photographs at home. If you get the lighting right, you are onto a winner.

Equipment

I know plenty of bloggers like my that have DSLR cameras. I know quite a few that simple use their smartphone. As with anything like this, it is how you use it that makes the difference. I have a Nikon D3300 as well as an iPhone. I am not going to tell you what camera to get, but just more to think about how you use that equipment. Practice is key, as you learn different angles and settings on your camera. There are some useful tutorials that I have watched on YouTube, as well as classes on photography at blogging conferences.

I think some other important equipment is trinkets and accessories. Thinking about how your photos are styles will make them look much better too. Think of flat lays or making photos of food look more appealing. They always look better with a few bits in the background, but having the main dish as the focus, for example.

Light Box Credit

Lighting

As I have stated above, lighting is something that makes or breaks a picture. It is something that I really have to plan out. If you are doing a zoomed in shot, then think of the best room in the house for light. The best light is in my son’s bedroom. But set up with the right backdrop or food on a tray, you’d never know it was in his bedroom.

So think about the light in your home. It might be worth getting something like a light box for more styled, zoomed in photos. You can easily make your own using a box, paper and some desk lamps too. Getting some LED lighting in the home is good to increase the light in a room as well. Somewhere like Nest.co.uk is a good place to start if you are looking for some new lamps or pendant lights. Though you should try to use as much natural light as possible, depending on the mood you are after.

Editing

I probably don’t spend as long as I should on editing. Though I do think photos can be over edited. Using lightroom or just the iPhoto editor is what I use. I tend to make things brighter and crop them quite a bit. I don’t have the finished image in my head when I take a picture. I always imagine that I will be cropping the picture somewhat afterwards. I wouldn’t mess with the colour, but just the exposure and perhaps contrast.

Are there anythings that you have learnt along the way?

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