It’s getting closer to two years since I started blogging (this blog is only one year old) and the number one question many of my friends & basically viewers asked me was “how do you take pictures for your blog?”
Today I thought I’d share my tips and tricks on taking and posting pictures here and on my Instagram…
My Camera: I still don’t have a professional camera (I know, I know! I need to get one as a blogger) but I just love how handy my iPhone rear camera is. If you follow my instagram you’ll notice that not only I post pictures of makeup lying on a table, but also flowers, sceneries and even food that I randomly take during my travels. My phone is always with me, it’s something I hardly forget so it’s so easy for me to quickly do a snap or an instagram with it.
What I post: Sometimes people ask me not to post other things so that I won’t confuse my viewers and I should stick to being a beauty blogger. I completely disagree. I want variety. I know my viewers want variety too. A blog with just a bunch of makeup pictures taken in several angles is not an interesting one for me. I started my blog to share my experience around fashion & beauty, and the former is a lifestyle. Fashion is not just clothes. It’s how you express yourself, in other words it comes down to how you live… You know how a fashion brand recognises its customer… Where do they go out? What do they eat? Who are they hanging out with… It’s all about the customer’s lifestyle, so even though my blog and my Instagram is mainly about makeup and beauty, I want to share a piece of my lifestyle too…
How do I edit my pictures? I don’t always edit them. I have a few rules that I live by:
If it’s a picture of my face or a client’s, I don’t edit. Not at all. I let the imperfections such as pores, wrinkles and lines show, because that’s how your face looks like in real life, and I don’t want to give a false impression to my viewers. When I take my face or a client’s, I make sure the lighting is already good so the makeup really shows. If the lighting is perfect, the iPhone 6s takes beautiful photos that hardly needs editing.
It it’s a picture of makeup lying on table, yes I edit. I usually take these pictures near a window in my pantry, either between 9:00am to 10:30am or 3:00pm to 4:30pm. Still, the lighting over there isn’t the best, and this place gives a lot of shadow at times. I usually upload all the pictures to my computer before I upload anywhere, and on the screen I check for all the imperfections. Mainly I edit the lighting and balance the colours. (I’m not pro photographer or a retoucher, so what I do may not be the most ideal way to edit, but so far I’ve got many compliments on my pictures)
Never post too many pictures on Instagram at a time. This is something I totally live by. Nobody wants to see a stream of the same-looking picture with teeny differences one after another on Instagram. They’d just scroll down fast without even checking, so pick the best picture from the lot and do one post at a time. I usually post one picture a day, but after a few hours of interval, posting another different picture would do no harm. Ideal situation is to post one in the morning, and one in the night so people living in different time zones will not miss out at least one picture.
If you’re a blogger, plan your instagram pictures. Okay. Some of you might think I’m jobless to do this. But I do this because I’m fully busy everyday. I take pictures way before I post. Sometimes I don’t post them for months, and I wait for the right time to post it. Usually I take the next week’s pictures during this weekend, edit them and align them next to each other on photoshop to see the flow/rhythm of my posts. It’s important to have a nice flow on instagram. (Once I gave a sneak peek on my snapchat: nmstylefolder)
I never use Instagram filters. Initially, Instagram was all about filters, but now I see less people using them. I personally think that filters are unnecessary. They take away the essence of your picture in my opinion. Instead I focus on clear, neat pictures with good lighting and focus.
Get inspired. Constantly check other instagrammers/ bloggers to get inspired. If I repost, I always give credits.
I hope this post would help you…
See you soon,
Xx
Neth Mi
Style Folder 
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