Photo Tips for Blogging

While there are many, many, many tutorials on blogging photography, here are my top 5 tips.

That one rule you learned in art class, in grammar school?? It still applies! Not only adding leading lines to your photos, but keeping the eye moving. The human eye will start in the corner, and follow the line, getting the whole picture. Blank space can be effective, but not all the time.

Seriously. Turn it off. Don’t photograph things at 11:30pm… Turn off your flash and let the camera work it’s magic. While you have more control using Manual mode, it is TOTALLY OKAY to use the Automatic/No Flash setting. You can always lighten in a photo editing software. (I’ll share my favorites at the end of the post!)

Don’t get too close. You can always crop in, but not out! When I first started photographing food for my blog, I would get super close….. While it is an appetizing photo, it makes me a little dizzy now…

Label your top photo, not only making it pinnable, but easy for people to find what they need!

If you are photographing food, don’t think you will get the perfect shot while your family is waiting for you to sit down at the table. Those photos are best for Instagram! Make your food, save a plate, and enjoy the food while it’s warm! Reheat the plate, or spritz with a water/olive oil combo to make it look fresh.

When photographing crafts, again, take your time. Don’t try to cut with your left hand, while holding a camera…. It’s not worth it! Invest in a tripod and set your camera on a timer. Or! Just take a photo of the final product…. I like to take the before photos with my trusty iPhone, and the afters with my Nikon.

Now, I use Adobe Photoshop Elements to edit all my photos. However, Lightroom, Picmonkey, and Picasa are wonderful! Picmonkey & Picasa are free applications! Woo hoo! We all love free! I enjoy using Picmonkey to create blog graphics and pinnable photos.

Cheers to better photography! If you have questions about photography, you are welcome to email me: ashley(at)sweetpealifestyle(dot)com!