Hello my lovelies!
It's so freaking hot today and I have been a busy little bee let me tell you. Only around the house that is.
I put on fresh, new bed sheets today and I am so proud of myself because usually I cannot for the life of me get the duvet into the corners of the sheet. It all bunches up and looks a complete and utter state.
I have had a rocky week emotions wise but today I feel productive and positive. I accidentally on purpose made another Beauty Bay order today because I missed out on the Morphe 350 palette yesterday as they never pre-announced that it was going onto the site. They did however announce that they were going to put up the 350M palette. I was all over that shit man, I love my matte shadows. So I was up bright and early to get that little bad boy along with some other bits.
Thank goodness for birthday money. Ha.
So that should arrive tomorrow. I will do another little haul for you. Oh... And Beauty Bay contacted me today and asked me to be part of their affiliate programme which I 100% agreed to. I have had a few brands contact me too, to review their products.
Keep an eye out for those :)
Okay, down to business. I have been asked A LOT on what camera I use to take my photos and have been getting so many compliments on my photographs,especially my makeup ones.
So, the nice person that I am, of course I was going to spill my secrets!!!
N/B I am also fully aware that my annoying blog stalker will no doubt see this and copy. SO if you're reading this... "HI".
Along with telling you guys what camera I use, I thought I would also address things like the lenses, equipment, lighting, editing and my hints/tips.
It may come in useful, it may not. You can take whatever information away with you and adapt it to suit your needs.
Lets GO!
Camera - Model and Make
When it comes to taking my blog photos I actually alternate between my phone and my DSLR. The only time I will use my phone is if I am taking photos like the ones below. Other than that I will always use my DSLR.
The brand and model in which I invested in is the Canon 600D. They are actually discontinued now but I wanted this one as it has a flip out screen which makes it hella a lot easier when taking photes. I had to do my research to track this down and it is retailed at around £400.
At some point I will upgrade but I wanted this one to practice, learn and improve my skills on.
It is really user friendly and takes some awesome pictures. With these camera's though practise does make perfect as you have to switch between ISO's, F. modes and apertures. It really frustrates me when the camera takes a blurry picture because the lighting isn't right and it doesn't focus properly.
TIP: When swapping lenses make sure you keep the body of your camera facing down to avoid any dust falling onto the mirrored part inside. You get any particles on that and your camera is on the brink of extinction.
Lenses
When it comes to lenses, there are many that I want but man you have to take out a mortgage to afford one. They are so freaking expensive. I really want a 'Pancake' lens and a macro.
When taking my closeup images I will stick to the original lens that comes with the camera and tend to manual focus so I can get up close and personal to whatever I am wanting to focus on.
This is what I do when I want to get a good shot of my eye makeup. I find that if you're on auto focus you don't get the same detailing.
TIP: If you want a good close up manually do it. I learnt this on the way. Oh and what took me forever to realise is that I couldn't actually find how to manual focus, I was sliding the zoom in and out on the lens and then it suddenly clicked when I was messaging about. The actual manual focus is on the very end of the lens, on the rim!!
There's another tip, check that out if you have been doing the same as I was.
I have two other separate lenses too - I have a telephoto zoom lens which I use more outside to focus on subjects in the distance. It's a Sigma lens and it's super good.
The lens below is a 50mm f/1.8 STM. This lens I will use mainly for when I am filming a video on my DSLR, it's great at blurring out the background and focusing on the subject in the foreground.
This lens doesn't have a zoom so you have to be a certain distance away from the lens.
Tip: This lens is ideal for videos, occasion's such as weddings and taking portraits.
Lighting
Lighting is SO important to the turnout of your image, you don't take a picture in the correct lighting you risk losing, quality, atmosphere, detail and more importantly interest from your viewer.
If you can get some good natural light use that, there's nothing better than awesome natural light to take your blog/Instagram pictures - however with the typical British weather that's not always possible.
I originally bought a ring light that you attach to the front of your camera lens. I liked that and it's good to take around with you as it's portable and bag friendly but I wanted the king of lights.
A ring light. No joke, having a ring light has been a god send to me, it's really upped my image game because I am able to highlight all the areas I need to successfully take my picture. They aren't majorly cheap but if you are invested into your blog/Instagram/photography this is a must, especially if you take lot of makeup images.
The one I have bought was from Amazon (Neewer) and was around £100 and it's dimable, comes with a stand, hot shoe attachment and filters. I don't think think it's bad pricing at all.
TIP: The plug is a universal one so comes attached with a 2 prong connector, make sure if you get this that you get a plug piece to connect the prongs to it.
Backdrop
I never had a backdrop up until recently but it's always nice to have a pretty background in your pictures. Whether you're doing a flatlay or a face/body shot take pride in what appears in your background.
There's no point in placing a product onto a uninteresting background, especially if you're posting on Instagram because it's all so visual on there you need to make it eye-catching.
Invest in props, fairy lights, flowers, wallpaper samples... You name it, grab it.
Thank me later.
As for my backdrop, I need to hang mine from the ceiling as I photograph from an awkward place in my room. Choose a backdrop that's going to make your image stand out, something glittery is always a favourite with us bloggers, or even just a plain white one is super cute too.
I opted for a kind of holographic background and have been hanging it from my wardrobe. Ha.
Means must and all that.
TIP: You don't have to go all out to create a decent backdrop, so you can keep it relatively inexpensive. I went to The Range (UK) and purchased 1.5m of the below lino fabric and it cost me £5 and I purchased a plumbing pole to hang the fabric on and hook to the ceiling for around £2. Sorted.
See, it makes the image look so much more polished! This I placed on my Instagram.
Editing My Photos
I don't know about you guys but I LOVE editing my pictures, it gives me a sense of gratification and achievement. Okay, sure, it takes an absolute stone age, whether you're editing photos or videos but it's totally worth it when they turn out amazing.
I tend to switch between my phone app and an app on the internet.
On my phone, I will edit my pictures on 'FaceTune'. I will whiten the backgrounds with the whitening tool and add filters. I also like to use Afterlight too sometimes to add lighting effects.
All these things make such a difference to the final appearance of your pictures.
On my computer I will use the app called 'Fotor' - you do have to pay for this monthly and I use this to edit the contrast/brightness and add filters and effects.
This is a fun process. If I am editing a video I will use Final Cut Pro on my brothers Mac as I am yet to get one.
TIP: Keep your edits original, you don't always have to stick with a theme like Instagram suggests. Edit to reflect your personality. I like to keep my images a little quirky in how I edit and present them. There are lots of FREE good apps out there.
Thank you everyone for taking the time to read my posts and for following my blog. I have had a lot more hits these last couple of months and I fully appreciate it.
It means a lot :)
I hope you found this post useful and if you're a beginner to photography and the world of blogging, I would like to think this could help you.
I don't have soft box lighting and all the fancy equipment and you don't need to either. I have spent some money, yes, but if you really are serious about what you're doing it's worth the spend.
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Until next time...
L
X
