Hi everyone! Some of you have been asking about how I take my blog photos with my iphone 4s camera. As many of you know I’ve put out a few posts on blogger tips & tricks, so I thought this would make a perfect addition to the series!
How to Take Amazing Blog Photos With An iPhone Camera
1. Lighting
The most adorable dark chocolate cream puff from the Parisian @chouxsf
A photo posted by Chelsea Marrs (@chowdownusa) on
If there’s one thing you take away from this post, let it be lighting. Lighting will honestly make or break a good picture, especially one taken with an iphone. Be sure to never use your flash. Pretend you don’t even have a flash! Iphone camera flashes will only make an image look cheap, unfocused and grainy, and usually with a dirty yellow tint. No thank you!
Instead, make an effort to find natural lighting. Wake up a little early if you have to, and find a space near a window or outside if possible. Natural light gives you effortlessly high-quality photos, which look bright and crisp. I know it’s tough in the winter, but there are ways around that. Some bloggers buy a softbox which provides artificial natural light. I don’t use this personally, but it’s a great option.
2. Camera Features: HD
Did you know your iphone camera has an HD option? HD stands for high definition, aka amazeballs photos. When you’re in HD mode, keep in mind that you have to be careful and hold the camera super steady until it’s done taking the picture – usually around 3 good seconds.
3. Camera Features: Focus
While in camera mode, you can tap on the screen to focus on a certain spot in your frame. Many of you probably know this one, but may not realize it’s various uses. This focusing feature is key in grabbing the perfect lighting for your image. Try tapping on different parts of your screen until you find the best lighting – usually this will be a bright yet clear picture.
4. The Selfie
We all knew this one was coming. My main tip here is to never use the backwards, selfie mode camera to take selfies, because this mode has a worse lens than your regular front-facing camera. I always use the front-facing normal camera mode and stand in front of a mirror. I use the reflection to guide my picture, and look at the result each time to see how I should adjust for the next picture.
5. Editing Apps
I often edit my photos before posting them. That said, it’s important to avoid over-editing too. The idea here is to enhance your images – make them just a little brighter and sharper, make their colors just a little bolder.
My top two favorite editing apps are Snapseed and VSCOCAM (both free). Snapseed is a little tougher to get the hang of, but it’s worth it once you do. It’s like a mini photoshop- you can adjust the brightness, contrast, ambiance, saturation, even shadows in your pictures.
With 200 likes, the below picture of my flight into Boston is one of my most popular images on Instagram. As many of you know, I’m way into bold colors and saturation, and this is a great example of that. I used Snapseed to bring out the naturally beautiful pastel shades of the sunset and clouds.
“The sun always shines above the clouds.” -Paul F.Davis ⛅️👌
A photo posted by Chelsea Marrs (@chowdownusa) on
VSCOCAM is great because it has ready-made filters that you just select and voila-you’re done! Their filters tend to give the images a more dreamy feel, such as the bloody mary bar scene shown below.
Epic Bloody Mary bar at @barcelonawinebar! 🍹😋🎉 #barcelonabrookline #barcelonawinebar
A photo posted by Chelsea Marrs (@chowdownusa) on
6. Setup: Background
Your background is important, since it can really complement or take away from your centerpiece. I like to place my items down on a table with plenty of open space around it. That way, the background can be either a blank, undistracting canvas, or there can be room for a few props. Many beauty bloggers will use magazines as a backdrop for their products, which makes for a professional and fun shot.
7. Setup: Props
Don’t be afraid to use fun, relevant props in your images! For example, for posts I put out around Thanksgiving I used mini pumpkins that we decorated with glitter. Christmas posts can have candy canes, Valentines day posts can have hearts in them, and so on. I think little touches like this make it funner as a photographer to spice things up.
8. Setup: Framing
There’s a photographer’s trick to framing, known as the Rule of Thirds. The idea is to imagine your shot broken into thirds, going both horizontally and vertically (so you have 9 sections altogether). You then want to have the subject of your shot to be placed along these lines or their intersections (see below image).
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| Image from Slide Guru |
This “rule” is more of a guideline, but it really can make your photos look more professional and unique.
9. Inspiration
I think it’s really crucial to follow top bloggers and/or instagrammers to see what quality photographs look like. This gives you a goal to shoot for and even if your images aren’t perfect, it’s a great source of inspiration to keep striving for and learning from.
10. Practice, practice practice!
Last but not least, practice is key in developing your eye for a good shot. Keep pushing yourself, and remember to have fun along the way!
There you have it – my top tips on taking amazing iphone photos for your blog! I know it seems like a lot, and I’m certainly not the world’s expert on the subject, but I’ve found that with patience and practice, focusing on the above tips, my photos have really evolved over time. I hope you find them helpful and be sure to leave your own tips in the comments!
Be sure to check out my tips for growing your blog on Twitter and the top Pinterst community boards for food bloggers!
Comment Challenge: Do you use an iphone for your blog images? What are your best photography tips?
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