The full ABC for amazing blog photography

As a beginner blogger, I often felt lost on how to create good blog images.  But over the past two years, I have learned a lot about making good blog images. And part of that is getting better at blog photography!

To get you started I shared some of my best tips on this in the blog photography ABC!

The ABC of blog photography

Everything and anything you ever wanted to know about photography for your blog in alphabetical order. Plus resources and links to help you become a great photographer!

# = camera function

A- Attention grabbing; if you want you readers to be engaged then at least the first image should be attention-grabbing.

People, for example, in the photo capture more attention than pictures with no people and bright colours do better on social media.

Find a way to use your photograph style to make some very attention-grabbing photos.


A – Angle; If you are using your camera to shoot pictures of artwork or products it is best to shoot at a 90-degree angle meaning that the camera lens is parallel to the picture.

For making another kind of pictures you can vary the angle at which you take them for different effects.

Read more about photographing your Art here! 


B- Branding; A blog needs a brand and your images are part of that brand.

Branding your pictures often means choosing one style and adding your name or logo to them. Shooting and formatting but mostly the colour theme is things which style your pictures.

You can also improve the branding of your images by keeping a mood board around to get a feel for the kind of images you want to have for your blog.


C- Camera; Luckily, a good camera does not have to be expensive. Of course, if you have the money and the means a DSLR is nice but it isn’t necessary to shoot good pictures.

Recently even smartphones can create stunning images.

It is mostly about how you use them and understanding your tool.

You can read more about shooting amazing images with your smartphone here! – join the creative side


D- DSLR; Cameras that work with mirrors and lenses. They give you ultimate control over the image. They are, however, something you will have to learn how to work with and they are quite expensive.

(Plus, for different effects and results will have to buy different lenses)

 


E- Equipment Extra Equipment for your camera can really help your blog photography.

The basic first piece would be a tripod as these really help to get sharp shots. But you can find loads of other things that can up your game.

Think lights, reflective boards, shutters etc.


# F- f-number; Quite a complex concept but basically it has to do with the focal point of a lens. Different lenses have different focal points. Some cameras give you the option to change that focal point.

Understanding the focal points can help you create these beautifully blurred backgrounds in pictures.

 


G- Grayscale; Grayscale help you identify the values in your picture.

Perfect if you want the values to match reality like when you are photographing artwork.


H- Hue; changing the hue of your photo is a post-production thing mostly.

Some cameras do offer the option to photograph in a warmer or cooler hue. This can help you when dealing with coloured light or bring a certain feel to an image.

In post-production, any kind of hue can be applied to the photo.


# I- ISO;  the ISO says something on how sensitive your camera reacts to light. A low ISO means your camera takes longer to take the photo which makes it harder to get sharp shots and not great for darker spaces.

The higher the ISO the quicker the shot is taken but you also get more digital static in your images.

(An ISO of 100 is considered a standard value)


J- Jargon; getting comfortable with photography Jargon helps you when reading some more advanced tutorials. Super important and easy to read up on.

Trust me, this is a game changer! 


K- Knowledge; after learning the jargon it is also super important to get to know your camera. Know what all the buttons do, what the menu options are etc.

The manual is always a good place to start!

This helps you understand how to get the best results from your camera and it get easier to make the shots you want!


L- Light; good shots need light. It is one of the main elements of a winning shot. Unfortunately, it is also one of the most difficult ones.

Natural lighting is always the best!

Knowing where and how the light is going to hit in the space where you want to shoot is vital. More dramatic light can be found in the evening and morning while more natural light can be found mid-afternoon on cloudy days.

Read more on how to combat low light – Elah Tree


M- Megapixels; 1 megapixel is the equivalent of 1 million pixels which would be a good quality photo of 1152 by 864 pixels. Knowing the number megapixels your camera can shoot in,  refers to the quality and size of the pictures you can upload.


N- New; Trying new things in blog photography can help you create a unique and exciting picture library to define your branding!

 


O- Organisation; Naming all the pictures will help you find them back later. After you upload them to your computer make sure you sort pictures, delete the ones you don’t need an edit and rename the rest.

If you don’t do this regularly, chaos will ensue (trust me)


P- Practice; Like all the arts you can get better at them by practice. Making loads of shots and learning more about what makes a good picture can really change the quality of your images and enhance your blog images.

 


P- props; props are basic items you have to make your setups more pretty or themed. Maybe you have a wonderful interior already, that way you can use the items in your house to make little setups for your blog. If not,  investing in some cute props could be great.


Q- Quantity; When taking pictures for your blog it is important to take multiple shots. You will need a lot of shots for one post and to not move the camera can be hard.

Making multiple shots makes sure that there is at least one good shot.


R- Resolution; The height x width of an image. You will most likely want to shoot at the highest resolution possible. However, when you edit your images make sure to resize your image. Smaller image or optimized images as we like to call them) load faster and don’t slow your blog down.

Shooting at the highest resolution before resizing them makes sure your images have the best quality and don’t appear blurry or stretched out. (Never size images up, or this will happen)

Also, keep in mind the ratio of the height and width of the image. Changing this ratio will also make your image look weirdly stretched.


#S- Shutter speed; the one thing that will save you when you don’t use a tripod. The faster the shutter speed the higher the chance of a sharp picture.

Also very important for action shots! 


T- Tripods; are very important for your camera. The two main kinds are regular and table tripods.

The first one is great for distance shots and self-portraits.

Table tripods are great for shots for your hands crafting or writing or even recording them.


U- UV filters; are filters used to protect lenses on DSLRs. Some swear by them, others hate them. It is worth looking into them yourself if you are planning to shoot with a DSLR outside.

 


V- Variety; making different kind of shots like flat lays, portraits, landscapes, still-lifes, makes it more likely that your skills will improve and make you image database more likely to contain anything you need.

Flats lay photos for example are an art form on their own!

More on styling a Flat Lay in 5 different ways! – small talk social


#W- White balance is an option on most photo cameras. When you are in a dark place or the light is coloured you can adjust this setting.

Aim for something like a white piece of paper and adjust this setting till the paper is white on your camera as well.

(If your camera doesn’t seem to have this option it might be under the preloaded settings, then it tell you different settings for cloudy weather for example. It then automatically adjusts the white balance for this situation)


X- X-factor; the special feeling you get when you make a good shot. Getting a shot like this might take some time. So trying a lot of different setups and light will help you get it.


Y- Yellow; the hue you are most likely trying to avoid! Start off with never photographing indoors with your lights on. This will most likely give you yellow tinted pictures!


Y- Yourself; As a blogger, you will probably also photograph yourself. We need to put a face to the brand and blog. Self-photography can be a little difficult.

Luckily there are some amazing tips and tricks for this as well;

Here are some extra tips on shooting your own portraits from a fashion blogger  by Style Tomes

 


Z- Zoom; most cameras have a lens zoom which actually zooms and a digital zoom that only zooms in on the pixels. The best results are to stay in the lens-zoom range of your camera!

Otherwise, the quality of the image gets affected.


Are you impressed by the fact that I got a word for every letter of the alphabet? Because I definitely am impressed!

So what is your number one go to hack for blog photography? Or do you prefer to use stock photography instead?


 

 

2 Responses to “The full ABC for amazing blog photography

  • Such a great post! I love how much you covered! Thanks so much for including my post! 🙂

    • artsbysofie
      6 years ago

      You are so welcome and thank you for your kind words!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

%d bloggers like this: