Things I've learnt about pictures..

When I posted my things I've learnt about blogging post last week, I gained such a lovely response from you guys and some of you even too me up on the offer of a picture post. As I assured you all in that post, I am no photographer, far from one in fact.. But before I stumbled across the world of blogging over a year ago now I had no idea about cameras. Along the way I've picked up some really helpful tips, So here they are all in one handy post which will hopefully teach you lot something new!

You'll have to ignore the bits of black around this Jemma Kidd Primer which is the object of today's post, I'm guessing because of the amount of people who think its a good idea to rip the plastic of magazines and steal the freebies, Marie Claire have now taped their freebies to to magazine which don't get me wrong it is a clever idea, but its just annoying when it comes to clean up! (And why should shop lifters spoil everyone's fun!?) I do have a point to this little ramble; Rule one of picture taking - Make sure what you're blogging about is clean! Clearly I practise what I preach...but I didn't notice the marks until I loaded the pictures to my laptop, Promise! 

Notice the change of quality in the above images?! What if I told you they were all taken with the same camera with around a two minute time difference between each? It's all down to the lighting! The first picture is my favourite place in the house to take images which is right by the back door where the light hits the wooden floor amazingly well, Of course this is the most awkward place to photograph as someone (mainly my foodaholic sister) is always in and out of the kitchen and the door happens to be right beside it however a Saturday morning is when everyone ends up shopping and I manage to get my blogging photo fix. The second is a recent discovery, on my window sill sits a stereo I've used about twice in seven years. The speakers happen to have a wooden effect which makes it the perfect place to photograph (providing the product is small enough). Of course you could always use your window sill itself , mine happens to be far to starched from the houses previous owners but there's always the option of covering it with paper (Which I will discuss later) Basically get as close to a window as your can or the quality starts to drop like in the third image, My bedroom floor is great for blogging in the summer, although in the winter the light begins to hit differently and it becomes rather useless unless I need to blog about a bigger items such a magazines and favourite  posts which tend to have a lot of items. 

For me establishing your own photographic style is a must! There are photos I can look at on my dashboard and automatically know they belong to and its because the bloggers who took them have their own individual style. I know that many people opt for the classic white background  (easily achieved with white paper if you're wondering) which is fine, but personally I love sticking to wooden one although I am really lucky because wooden floor seems to be everywhere in my house! But there are so many other ideas for putting your own mark on your pictures such as table cloths, bedsheets and even patterned paper! Above is a style I wish I could pull off which I like to call 'The dressing table', Yes, I'm aware that my attempt is rather perfetic! Clearly I don't have a dressing table, This is just a few things on my bedside one trying to reenact the look - But hopefully you get the point!I love this focal soften which you can find on PicMonkey  I tend to use it in my lip product posts such as this one.

Patterned paper can be a really cheap way to bring your pictures to life! Here I grabbed some I had lying around in my room from when I took art in school, but I reckon you could easily pick up some prettier designs for a couple of quid. My personal favourite is the black paper, I love how it makes the primer stand out! 

Don't wait until the end of the day to photograph, It will reflect badly in your image quality. I honestly cant express enough my last point that you don't need a fancy camera, If you follow the tips above I have every faith that you'll be able to get some pretty descent images no matter what camera you have! I always take a few shots and then look to find my best once they're on my laptop.

 If you enjoyed this post please let me know, I'd also love to hear any tips that you guys have!