Photo Tips – Better Pics For Your Blog

Boy is there a lot to learn. We all look at all those fabulous magazine pictures and wonder – –

how do they get them so perfect?

Now all of us don’t have a fabulous camera. Some of us just have a

POINT & SHOOT

Mine is a Kodak Easyshare V 1073 10 MP digital Camera with 3x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom

I bought this camera several years ago and I love it.

Super easy to use, no frills and it really takes a pretty good picture.

Since a lot of you have a point and shoot camera too, I thought I would share a few tips I am learning on how to take better pictures –

even some that look good enough for a magazine.

1. Lighting is Majorly Important. GOOD DAYLIGHT AND NO FLASH

Look at this picture with just the outside light shining in – no chandy light. This is how this area really looks in person.

Same picture with the chandy light on – – look at the difference in the table – it looks orange and there is no depth to the picture.
Everything looks “up front”.

Early morning with the lights on in the room – –

afternoon with just natural light from the windows.
The glare is greatly diminished and you can see the items and the colors.

Every room has light coming in at the most perfect time to light up the room and show it off to it’s best advantage.

Take your pictures during that time of day.

2. STYLING YOUR SHOTS can make all the difference.

Show off your things or space to their best advantage.

I wanted to show how I changed this room with the different pillows and throw in this picture.

Pretty, but boring – –

think outside the box and try some creative shots.

This still shows the pillows and throw.

and it is so much more interesting.

3. CROP YOUR PICTURES – There are pieces of a picture that are so much more interesting than the whole picture.

Try cropping a shot to showcase a small section of the picture.

This is one small part of the picture above – –

Same thing with this picture.

This doesn’t show off the desk accessories and looks like a lot of glare.

Crop the bottom of the picture- –

and now you can see the accessories so much better.

4. EDITING – There are some free programs out there that are fabulous for editing your pictures.

Pic Monkey and Ribbet are just two.

I do have PhotoShop. Now I barely know how to use it, but I can make a picture brighter and add more contrast. I know there is a ton you can do with it, but I havn’t learned yet.

The free programs are really easy and will make a huge difference in your pictures, so find one you like and learn how to use it.

This is how this picture looks unedited – –

here it is when I brightened it up a little. Nothing else was changed, just the brightness.

Huge Difference.

5. PICTURE SIZE – If you look at the “magazine” shots on your favorite blogs, you will notice that the pictures are large and you can see all the detail really well.

In the editing programs you can resize your pictures, so make sure they are BIG.

This is hard to see any detail at all —

now you can see everything on the tray so much easier.

and even better with it brightened up a little –

I know you can take some really dramatic shots with some of the fancier cameras, but if you try a few different things, you can take a respectable picture with your Point & Shoot.

You can still link up to Inspire Me. So much to see so check a few things out.

I am joining the following parties.