How do I take photos for my blog? The basics.

I can admit that I spend way more time on Instagram than I spend on other social media or even on this blog - the reason is pretty simple - Instagram is a way faster platform and let's be honest - we don't always have time to read long articles. This year has taught me a lot - not only in a skincare but mostly if it comes to photography and graphic design. I've started to share my editing tips on Instastory but I've decided to change it into a short series of photography tips. It's the first post from this series so we'll start carefully - from choosing a camera to tools. 

What camera should I choose?

I believe that even if you've got a cheap camera which I like to call - Idioten Kamera (which you can translate to 'idiot camera') - you can still take great photos. You don't need to get the expensive camera first - just start with what you have - some cheap camera or a smartphone and save some money for later. If you really want to get something more expensive then DSLR camera or Mirrorless camera might be a choice for you but before you do that try to check how much all the additional products like lenses, memory cards, tripods, lamps, etc will cost. You might not need anything more than the Kit lens or Portrait lens and a memory card first but if you plan to take wedding photos in the future or you just want to develop the skills, sooner or later you'll start to think about it. If you plan to get a camera it's not all you have to remember.

Two useful features in a camera

Try it before you buy it! I do not recommend getting a camera without testing it - even in a shop. There are two things that might be useful for you in a camera - if it has a movable screen and if it supports RAW. The movable screen is useful if you plan to take some makeup photos or you need to take a photo from a very strange angle. 

Camera vs smartphone

Both! It depends on a phone, right now lots of smartphones have really good cameras and they can even save files as RAW. I wasn't a fan of taking photos with smartphones and I still think that I wouldn't be able to take all the photos with my phone but if I use RAW/Pro mode then I can take some really nice photos. I'll try to make another post focusing on smartphones soon. If you plan to take photos with your phone - get a tripod, it makes the whole process of taking a photo easier and if you have an option - use grid function in a camera mode. 

RAWs

I used to hate RAW's but now I really like them even if they take lots of space on memory cards. As the name says - RAW stands for a raw image - it's not processed so you can't just upload it to your IG account without editing it in a program. RAW photos are easier to edit but still, you can mess up everything if you're talented enough - we all make mistakes and it's good to make mistakes in editing too, you can learn from them.

Lenses 

A holy grail of every blogger - 50 mm lens f/1.4 or f/1.8 with lots of electronics in it. I also got it and I use it from time to time because I prefer to use a 58mm analogue lens which I use with my Zenit camera. Analogue lenses aren't that easy to use - sometimes it takes lots of time to learn how to work with them but the effects are really good. Analogue lenses look bit different from lenses to digital cameras and usually, you need to get AF Dandelion Chip to make it work. If you plan to get analogue lenses and use auto mode be prepared that photos might look different than they look on a screen, it's better to use manual mode - no matter what kind of lens do you plan to use, buying an expensive camera just to use manual mode has no sense. 

Additional tools

Tripod might be useful, I use tripod only when I need to shoot a video and as you can see on my channel - sometimes buying the cheapest option is not the best choice. Obviously, if you only plan to take photos then the cheapest one might be the option but try to check how much kilos the tripod can handle - the cheapest options aren't always the best for DSLRs. Depends on photo and if I need to edit it on my computer or on my phone I use a graphics tablet or pen to remove some flaws from photo - I do not use mouse anymore that's why if I can't do one option on a pad or with my finger then I need a (graphics) tablet or a pen. Pens for tablets or phones are really cheap, while graphics tablets can cost really high prices. I still use my old Wacom Bamboo which, to be honest, I do not like because working space is pretty small and that's why I still mostly draw on paper.

Background 

Do you think that bloggers have so many different tables which they use for flatlays? Nope, even if sometimes I use my desk as a background, in 99% of photos I'm using a background from printea. Before I bought my first two backgrounds, I've started with table pads which are really shiny and in my opinion, it doesn't look good. You can use different stuff as background - even a fluffy carpet or a bed sheet. Just remember that some backgrounds are too messy to take a good photo - if I add lots of elements to my photo and then I add a background with a paisley pattern in it then the whole photo will look like a mess. It's good to experiment but remember to keep it moderate. 

I hope you've enjoyed this post, I've tried to make it as easy as I can, in the next post I'm going to tell more about light, manual mode and some tricks. If you have any question related to this topic just let me know, I'll try to cover it in this series of posts.

Remember to check the latest video about my October Skin Care Routine

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