I started blogging about three years ago with zero
knowledge of photography. Like every newbie I started with my phone. I had a
digital camera but was not confident enough to use it. However, once I got hold
of it, it completely changed the game. I am still not professionally trained in
this department. Just a beginner trying every possible thing to make my blog
photos stand out. I am going to list few basic steps down below if you are new
to blog photography and want to work on your photography skills. But before
that let me make this very clear, that I don’t own any fancy equipment or to be
very precise no photography equipment at all. I only have one eight years old
Olympus SP-570UZ digital camera. Let’s get started.
Know Your
Camera
Important step is to know your camera. Check all the
options it has and experiment with it. Once you are familiar with it you can
change settings according to your choice. My camera is set most of the time on
Auto mode. But playing with different other modes of your camera can make you
understand better about its performance.
Lighting
I don’t own any lighting equipment. I take all my photos in
natural light. But I don’t take pictures in direct sunlight. Harsh sunlight
makes photos overexposed and wash out the colours. I also prefer cloudy day for
photography. Because clouds act like a soft box, minimising shadows. Here
cloudy day doesn’t mean grey weather, although I took photos for this blog on
very dull and gloomy day. But I placed my table right in front of window to
utilise the maximum available light.
When it comes to beauty products you want swatches to be as
true to real colours as possible. I prefer early morning light which is cool
white and soft. Afternoon light is also suitable if you are not too much
concern about the slight colour distortion. Afternoon light adds warmth to the
photo.
For self-portrait I stand in front of window keeping
three-four feet distance. It helps in capturing every detail and crisp photos
without any reflection or bouncing of light.
Background
and Backdrops
Clean background pops the product better and don’t take the
spotlight from the object which you want to photograph. White and marble effect
backgrounds are fool proof choices. However, any subtle colour works better. You
can add patterns in the background and some texture as well. But make sure they
are not distracting.
I find plain white background a bit boring and cold. I love
to add few accessories as a backdrop to give a little character to the photo. A
little greenery, small fairy lights, a burning candle or fresh flowers can
bring the picture to life. The choices are unlimited but always remember that
less is more in this case. Don’t overwhelm the background and clutter it with
too many props.
Editing
In beauty products photography, unfortunately the editing
options are minimal. Too much editing and you can change the undertone of
lipstick/eyeshadow/foundation. If you are beginner, don’t go for complicated
software like Adobe Photoshop. I use the Photoshop Express. It is free to
download. It has all the basic editing tools like cropping and colour
correction with few filters if you want to be creative for Instagram or Pinterest.
I don’t apply filters on my photos when they are
specifically beauty products for blog reviews. It almost kills the purpose of
whole exercise. To make photos crisp and sharp play with brightness, contrast
and highlight. Any digital camera on auto mode captures photo in 50% grey
scale. White looks dull and black looks slightly grey tone. This can easily be
fix by increasing and decreasing brightness and contrast using editing
software. Example is below.
Super
Macro Mode
Super macro mode is my favourite mode to take pictures. Super
macro is symbolised with a small flower. With this mode on, you can take super
close up photos, focusing on the specific part of object while blurring the
background. I capture all those photos where I want to capture the detail with
super macro mode on, like focusing on lipstick bullet or taking a photo of
jewellery item. It captures every tiny detail and photos look very professional
and high quality.
In the example picture below you can see that when I tried
to take a close up picture of applicator, it got blur and my camera focused
somewhere else. With Super Macro mode on, camera automatically focused on
applicator which was the nearest object to the lens.
Other than these basic tips, play with angles. Take
pictures from every possible angle to get a good view. Also don’t rush unless
you are absolutely sure that you have a nice collection of photos. Take as much
photos as possible and then pick four or five for your blog. If you can,
dedicate a small area in your room for this purpose. I don’t have enough space in my room
for photography setup, that’s why I have to pack everything after the session
and setup a whole area before session which sometime is a mood killer.
These are all the basic tips I can give to any beginner.
You don’t need full setup to get decent photos. With little effort and
creativity anyone can achieve stunning results.
A very good blogger friend of mine Huda form Sparkling Palette gave
me the idea and encouraged me to write this post. Thank you Huda for
appreciating my work <3
In the memory of my brother
Great post with some very useful tips. Thanks for sharing it. R
ReplyDeleteThis is a really great post. I am stuck on using my camera phone for now but would love a proper camera. What would you recommend for a newbie?
ReplyDeletewww.sparklesatmidnight.com
I heard good things about Olympus Pen. It is compact camera but performs like proper DSLR with all the lens change etc.
DeleteFab post. Thanks for sharing these tips. Your photography is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThank you.. Your appreciation meant a lot 💕
DeleteReally helpful tips Madeeha! Thank you for the guidance
ReplyDeleteI hope these tips help you as well.
DeleteI totally agree on the clean background tip, I always make sure my photos are uncluttered x
ReplyDeleteSome very useful tips - especially the one about clean backgrounds!
ReplyDeleteGreat post dear.You have shared some very useful tips that can help anyone who wants to improve photography for the blog. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteGlad you found these tips helpful.
DeleteI rarely ever have time to take photos in natural light and I hate having to use artificial light but it's about positioning things in the right way x
ReplyDeleteA very valid point. Placement of product is very crucial if you are taking photo of more than one item
DeleteYour photographs always look so clear and crisp, thanks for sharing your tips.
ReplyDeleteGreat post - I've recently been loving photography a lot more, and therefore will be bookmarking this page!
ReplyDeleteReally helpful I'll use these tips for my next post
ReplyDeleteWarmth and love
Jazziepickles xoxo
Www.jazziepickles.blogspot.co.uk
Thanku for the tips. These are very helpful :)
ReplyDeleteZabardast! Thanks for putting up this post, enjoyed reading and adding on to my own knowldge.
ReplyDeleteLoads of love :)
And thanks for mention honey, what good friends are for?... to encourage eachother. Stay blessed
DeleteAnd thanks for mention honey, what good friends are for?... to encourage eachother. Stay blessed
DeleteZabardast! Thanks for putting up this post, enjoyed reading and adding on to my own knowldge.
ReplyDeleteLoads of love :)
So many good pointers and knowing my camera is what I really do need to get to grips with x
ReplyDeleteExcellent post. Really helpful.
ReplyDeleteExcellent post! It was really helpful :)
ReplyDelete