So, I’m not a professional photographer but I take pretty much most of the photos on the Babe Box Instagram. Our page gets asked often what camera we use for some photos and to be honest, I’ve been using my iPhone 5s – yes, that’s right, not even the latest iPhone. As much as I’d love to have the latest and greatest, it’s just not possible on an entrepreneur’s budget so I must make due with what I have.
It took a little while for me to figure out my A game but since I think I have it down pack, I thought I’d share it with all you babes. Everyone likes to have a profesh-looking IG pic, but this is something very important to my blogger babes. Your photo is the first thing that most people see on social media and if it’s not appealing, your links won’t get clicked. So read along!
1. Use Your Camera's Grid
This is a simple one but it will instantly up your photography game. I'm not entirely sure how you do this on an android phone, but on an iPhone its pretty easy; Settings > Photos & Camera > Grid, and make sure it's selected and green. The grid setting allows you to make sure that you photos are level, lines are straight, and helps when you're trying to use the rule of thirds to create some really aesthetically appealing content.
2. Never Under Estimate the Power of Props
We’re talking about simple props like flowers, plates, trays, and jewellery. They are aesthetically appealing and they’re also great for conveying a colour scheme . If you’re shooting with a lot of products and props, I suggest taking the flat lay route. It’s trending photo on Instagram right now and it works because you get the full birds eye view of what you’re shooting.
3. Natural Lighting is the Best Lighting
If you can, shoot with natural lighting. I'm even tempted to say, only shoot if you have natural lighting, because I refuse to shoot in artificial light altogether! I have tried, believe me, and I just can't get a good shot. But, you can’t plan everything in life and photo opps come randomly. If you’re taking photos of an event that’s not as bright, take as many shots as you can – with and without flash – and then hop on an photo editing app.
4. Use an Photo Editing App
This is probably the most important step. Some great ones that you can find on the iOS App Store are Snapseed and VSCO and they’re free to download from the app store. If you’re more technical, photoshop is always a good one too. Editing your pics always comes down to personal preference and opinion, however I have a few tricks that make my images look brighter and bolder. In many editing tools, you can select specific areas of an image to edit:
1) Increase the brightness in the lighter areas of the images
2) Emphasis bright colours by using contrast
3) Use the saturation tool, it's great to get rid of unwanted colour
4) Increase the sharpness, to put a little pop in the products you're sharing, but not too much so that they look unreal
5. Add a Filter
If I could take my photo in good, natural lighting and edit it the way I like, I usually don’t apply a filter. But remember how we talked about life happening and we can’t always plan perfect-picture-moments? Well, that’s where filters come in – even if you’re not posting this photo on your Instagram. I feel like it brings together all the images as a collection, even if the lighting is slightly different, or the photos were taken in different locations.
What are your tips and tricks to taking the perfect picture? Comment below and share with us!
