I Shoot On Manual: If you own a DSLR, shooting on manual is the best way to learn about your camera. Just by messing around on it regularly, you'll learn a lot about aperture, shutter priority, white balance, and everything else. Avoid leaving it on auto and hoping for the best, and get to know your camera instead. It's not that scary, trust me!
I Use Natural Light: I don't own any kind of lighting equipment, and almost never use flash. If I'm taking a close-up product shot, for example, I'll place the item on a bright/interesting surface (a windowsill, a magazine, even a piece of blank paper will do) and under even light, usually right by a window. If you own a point-and-shoot and can't control the pop-up flash, I used to put a sock over it, to diffuse the light! It really works. I sometimes use this tripod in dim light, as then I can take a longer exposure. When I had a compact, I used to place my camera on a stack of books!
I Flag Pictures With Sharp Focus: Focus is the first thing I look for when I'm starting to choose blog photos. Trawling through hundreds of almost-identical pictures of a mascara in order to find the ones with the sharpest focus - that will still look good once blown up to 775px wide on my blog - is a time-consuming and mind-numbingly boring activity, but I do it anyway. Call me crazy. My eyes aren't what they used to be either, which means I end up hunched over my laptop like I'm welcoming someone to Dracula's castle.
I Use Pixlr: Pixlr is an amazing, free, online editing tool. It can do most things that Photoshop can, and won't cost you a penny. I first upload pictures to Pixlr Express, and do some quick, basic editing, such as retouching a background. Sometimes I add a filter, but dial it down so it's very opaque. After the photo is polished to perfection I'll upload it to Pixlr Editor, the more professional programme, resize it to just over my post width, and save it as a PNG file, as JPEGS lose quality once uploaded to Blogger. I almost never do any major editing of my photos, although I love to mess around with light and color.
And that's how I get the shiz done. Let me know in the comments if you'd like me to give more photography tips on my blog!
Labels: Blogging Tips
