How To Blog: Photography Tips
All photos taken by the lovely and talented Jaime Waters
Location: Calvary Court, College Station, TX
If you missed my first post in this How to Blog series I talked about five ways you can make money on your blog. You can read that post here, and today I’m continuing the series to share more tips and tricks with you. A key element for any blog is photography. Whether you are snapping pictures of food for recipes creating or you work in the tech world and are delivering copy on wide area networks you still need pictures for your posts! There are a few reasons - first, it helps optimize your page when you add alt text behind graphics. That allows search engines like Google and Pinterest to find your blog. Spiders will crawl your page to look for strings of keywords that are relevant searches, but images help boost your visibility! It also helps capture the attention of your reader! Here are a few tips for taking incredible photographs.
You Must Have Good Lighting
Lighting is everything in a photograph. You’ll want to figure out the direction the sun is facing when you are outdoors and if you photograph during the golden hours (about 30 minutes before and after the sunset) you’ll be able to capture better photographs. If you do have to photograph in the middle of the day, choose a cloudy day that filters the light or you can stand in the shade. Sunglasses are a must-have on bright days! If you photograph indoors you’ll want to make sure you are near a window and face to the side or use the lighting from the window for your face. If you are photographing interiors, the middle of the day or around golden hour is usually the best time!
Consider the Background
Your scenery matters. If you are photographing in your home, clear out all clutter and cords! It will make a HUGE difference in the aesthetic of the photo. Think minimalist! If you are outdoors, look for contrasting backgrounds like this green trim to make the red of my dress pop! Another option is to match your outfit to your environment. Here’s an awesome blog post that does this with yellow stripes and yellow flowers! I love photographing in front of old buildings, in flower fields, or along fences! You can also play with water (see this post and this post) or reflections as I did in the one below.
Use A Prop
Grab a stack of books (see this post), a cup of coffee, or a camera for a quick shoot. If you are sharing a post tech related you can have a cell phone or laptop as a prop. Think about photographing like you are setting up a scene in the movie. The more authentic you can make it look the more the feeling will convey in photographs and capture the reader’s attention.
Use a Tripod and Self Timer
Although these photographs were taken by my wonderful friend Jaime, most of the content created on Three Heel Clicks is done with a self-timer and a tripod. The key is to find an area with no one around when you first start! Make sure you have good lighting and then take as many as possible. When I first started, I would take 50-100 shots for a post. Now, it takes me about 20-30 to get 10-25 photographs to share. Repetition is key for getting better results.
Loosen Up, Laugh and Have a Good Time
Photography takes time to develop a system and eye, but you can get better results faster if you loosen up before hand. Watch a funny Tik Tok or Reel. Take a few minutes to listen to something inspirational. Shake everything out. Try to be as much of yourself as possible and it will show through on your photographs. It will also help get you into the mindset!
Anyone can learn how to take amazing photographs. Remember practice makes progress. Progress over perfection creates results. Keep going and trying different things to develop a craft! I’ll be sharing more about how I edit photos and create a blog post in coming posts. If you would like to read more in this How to Blog series click here!
