10 Tips for Better Blog Photos

Stop the scroll and capture the attention of your reader by taking better blog photos.

Your photography helps draw them into your writing and is key to increasing your blog traffic too.

With these 10 simple tweaks and tips, your blog photography can reach higher ground fast.

Hair Romance x Olympus collaboration

First of all, you don't need to be a professional to take great photos.

Creating better blog photos will not only improve the look of your blog, it can help you get more readers too. Better blog photos can drive traffic to your site through visual social media platforms like Pinterest.

And that's what we want: people to find our blogs, right?

These tips for taking better blog photos will help you create more balanced, professional looking images that will make your blog glow:

1. Take lots of photos

Practice really does make perfect with photography. And the good news is that with digital photography, space is cheap.

When you're learning, it's important to take lots of photos, but to then review them later. You can't really judge the quality of a photo on the back of your camera screen; it's too small. So make sure you review your images back on your computer. Then you can crop and edit to find your favourites.

2. Find the light

Lighting is key to taking good photos – as anyone who's tried to take a selfie knows. Take a walk around your house to find the best spot for photography. You're looking for open shade or window light that won't cast strong shadows. Keep checking at different times of the day too.

Note down the best shooting times to help maintain a consistent lighting theme across all of your photos.

3. Get to know your camera

Your photography style really develops once you get to know your camera and how the functions work. I simply adore my Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II and I use it all the time. Now I'm confident with the features and functions, I can put my focus back on the subject.

The best way to get to know your camera is to shoot every day. I keep my camera in my handbag and take it everywhere.

Make notes on your favourite set up, for both your lighting and camera, so that the next time you set up to shoot, you have everything ready to go.

4. Watch your backgrounds

When shooting a busy subject matter, keep the background clean and simple. Conversely, if you have a very plain object to shoot, a more interesting background can add extra detail to your shot.

5. Use your camera not your phone

While I do love snapping photos on the go, to get the best photos I always use my camera. Upgrading my camera was the biggest thing I did technically to grow my blog.

6. Turn off your flash

In almost 99% of situations, the flash on your camera isn't going to help you take a better photo. Instead, see if you can get closer to a light source or wait until another time to take the photos.

If you get to know your camera and can shoot in manual mode, you'll probably never need to use your flash anyway.

7. Style it up

Set the scene in your photos by adding in some extra props and adding context to the item that you're photographing. You can work by colour or location to really set the scene and start to create a theme for your photos.

8. Change your perspective

Instead of taking photos that you can see while you're standing, try and take a photo from a new angle. Try looking straight down for an overhead shot or crouch down to get a shot looking up.

By changing the point of view, you'll add more interest to your photography and share your different perspective with your followers.

9. Look for details

To add variety to your blog photography, instead of taking a full length shot in six different ways, look for details. Add a close-up photo or reveal a detail. Take us all around the subject and have fun with it.

The only way to find your photography style is to experiment and explore. Take the shots you love, and create that story through your unique eye.

10. Don't be afraid to edit

Nobody takes a perfect photo straight out of the camera. There are always ways that you can tweak or crop your images to get the stronger image that you saw first. Desktop programs like Lightroom are ideal but mobile apps such as Snapseed are perfect for editing on the go.

I try to avoid using too many filters, but I always add some contrast and brightness to my pictures, and I generally always end up cropping my photos down. And if you're taking landscape photos, make sure your horizon is straight. Nothing stands out as an average photo more than a crooked horizon.

Bonus tip: Know the rules… and then break them

When composing your photo, the Rule of Thirds is a popular method to balance the composition of your photo.

If you are matching a grid of lines cutting your photo up into nine squares, instead of having the horizon in the centre, you place it either on the upper third or lower third. And in the same way, you put the subject of your photo either on the left third or the right third of the photo or at the point where the lines intersect.

This is the rule of thirds.

But instead of trying to fill the frame, try leaving a lot of space in your photo so that your subject stands out from the background. By embracing the negative space, you can really create interest and impact, and evoke a reaction from the viewer.

I hope these tips help you take better blog photos and if you have any photography questions, please ask me in the comments below.

PS. If you're looking for some inspiration head over to my Instagram @hairromance and also follow @Olympus_au to check out the #OlympusInspired and discover some beautiful photography work that'll inspire your blog photos.

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