One thing that I am very particular about with my blog is the photography, and it's something I take pride in. I have a degree in Graphic Design and Photography and I'd studied photography for two years before that, so I'd hope that I know pretty much all their is to know about what makes a good blog photograph! So I decided to write this guide for anyone who is struggling with taking photos for their blog - I'm afraid it might be a little haywire but I will try and put it into some sort of order. So, if you're prepared for a lot of reading, click the link below to find some tips and advice about taking photos of products for your blog!

The Camera

- I shoot on a Canon 400D, which is a DSLR camera. For all intents and purposes it is a fully manual camera, meaning you can set your own shutter speed and anything else you may need. It can also be used on full auto and there is no shame in that.

- I've seen this being said by many other bloggers and I will say the same: You do not need one of these sort of cameras to take successful blog photos. Any point-and-shoot will work just fine, but pretty much all of these come with some sort of light manual control - and you will need to know these to get the best out of every image. It may seem like a lot of hassle but it's worth it, trust me!

- With the image below, you'll see a capture of what settings I nearly always have my camera on. If you know a bit  about photography and can make sense of the screen, you can move on. If not, I'll try and explain what's going on. All of the camera settings I mention below are available to do on nearly every type of digital camera - even iPhones!

- I nearly always shoot in aperture priority, which is symbolised by the "Av" in the top left; this controls how much light you're letting into your lens. I'd highly recommend this option if you haven't got a lot of light to play with. Basically, the smaller the number, the more light you're letting in. So for example F5.6 = lots of light, F20 = not a lot of light. This also controls your "depth of field" - how much the background blurs in your image. Again, the smaller the number, the more the blur.

- ISO is again related to light; the higher the number, the faster shutter speeds/higher aperture you can use. This is especially helpful in winter, when it is nearly always dark and you get blurry images because the shutter speed is too long. The only problem with ISO is that the higher the number, the higher the grain. You will notice in the images above and below that they are quite grainy - this is a direct result of ISO. As a general rule try not to go above ISO 400 if you can help it; any more than that and you're losing picture quality. On your camera it may show as "low" or "high" ISO - select "low".

- Exposure compensation is the little bar underneath the "F5.6" in the image below, you'll see that it ranges from -2 to +2. There will be times when your camera thinks that an image is correctly exposed, but no matter what you do it comes out too dark or too light. This often happens when taking pictures of a predominantly white or black scene. I always set the exposure meter to 1 or nearly 1, as I shoot against a white background. You could argue that you could brighten/darken the images on your computer afterwards, but doing it in camera will save you a lot of time and hassle!

- White balance; this is how your camera perceives the lighting around you. Cameras are usually very good at detecting light sources, so in all honesty I would leave it on "auto" and let the camera do the work. There will be some cases where in struggles - for example with indoor lighting you will almost definitely get a yellow tinge - but this is fixable to a degree on your computer, and using auto will give you the best your camera can without delving too deep into camera mumble-jumble.


Where and when to shoot

- I cannot stress enough just how good natural light is for your product images. Trying to take pictures in your bedroom with a lamp or with flash, no matter how hard you try, is not going to get you the results you want. Natural light is best for even, soft lighting, accurate colour representation and gives you the very best shot of getting the image you want.

- Try and get as close as possible to the light source if you're inside, or if it's a nice day and not windy head outside! A windowsill is ideal for most situations and is what I use nearly every single time. I am lucky enough to have a nearly pristine white surface to shoot on, but if you don't try laying down a sheet of paper/card, or maybe a nice patterned fabric. As to which one of those two options is better, I'd say they're both just as good - a white/plain background looks clean and uncluttered, but a patterned one makes your images stand out and injects a bit of personality. It's entirely up to you!

- Whichever option you go for, make sure your background is uncluttered and neat. You don't want random objects in the background if you can help it; they only distract the eye, add nothing to the image and makes your blog look unprofessional. If you're struggling for space, try propping up a piece of card or draping some fabric over something. For example, if I want to take pictures of a product "standing up" on my windowsill, the black join of the window is distracting. I therefore prop up a large piece of plain white card behind the product(s), and this creates a seamless background. You can see an example of where I did that here. (Extra tip - try using a low aperture as I described above to blur your background, so it's not painfully obvious that it is just a piece of card propped up!)


- Shooting during the daytime is obviously the most ideal; as soon as the sun starts to set you've pretty much lost out on your chance of a decent image. Try and put aside some time during the day, perhaps a day off from work or a weekend, where you can shoot all of your images for the next few days in one go.

- Midday is probably the best time during the day in which to shoot, with a couple of hours either side. Morning light tends to cast a more yellow/red tone on the image, whereas the evening casts a blue, so try and aim for the middle of the day when possible.

- For an ideal lighting situation you want it to be a bit cloudy, as the clouds diffuse the light and make the shadows on your images softer and less harsh. If it's very sunny, you will find that shadows appear out of nowhere and you just can't find a good spot to shoot in. Try and leave it for another day, or if you're desperate, try and use some tracing paper or baking parchment to diffuse the light a little. Tape it up onto a window and try not to feature it in the background of your shot!


Getting the best out of a product

- Just like every other subject you could ever possibly photograph, every product has a good side. For blog product photos, the three key things you want are:

Good product representation: This includes colours, texture and shape
Clear images: In focus, not too bright or too dark
Details: Not a neccessity but it's nice to show some detail - maybe the packaging design or a swatch.

- I find it easiest to lay each product down on its "back", and take shots from above. If I stand the product up, I tend to struggle with perspective and with creating an uncluttered background. An example of this can be found here.

- Zoom in as close as possible to your product. The product should be the sole focus of your image, not the noticeboard you've got on the wall in the background! You can see above exactly how I shoot nearly every image; the only difference between that one and the image below is how much I've zoomed in. It makes a big difference!

- Try and wipe down any surface you intend to shoot on, or shake out any fabric if that's what you're using. You probably will not spot them when shooting, but bits of fluff or any other marks can blight an otherwise perfect image. If you happen to miss them or forget when shooting, take a few minutes to clean them up on your computer. Your images will look much more professional - it's all about the detail!


- I nearly always try and shoot horizontally if I can help it. On blogs, horizontal images tend to fit into the post much better; they fill up otherwise empty space. Vertical images are sometimes necessary, but try and keep them few and far between. Nearly all products you find will be taller than they are wide, and the way around this I've found is to shoot the product at an angle. Not so much at an angle that it renders any text on the product unreadable, but enough to fill up some of that empty space.

- Have a play around with your scene. Try moving the product to a different spot, and see how the light affects it. Does placing your product in front of a light source render it being back lit? Then try angling the product more towards the light source, moving yourself to take the shot and any background elements to get the best image. Don't assume that your first set up is the best.

- It's an easy thing to miss, so I feel like it should be included: Try, as much as you can, to not get a reflection of yourself or your shadow into the image! Sometimes, with products with mirrored packaging for example, it's impossible not to get your reflection. Try and wear a dark, plain top - anything bright and/or patterned will only draw a viewer's eye to it immediately, when otherwise they wouldn't notice. To avoid shooting your reflection (or even any reflection that you don't particularly want), try shooting the product at an angle, or placing something like that piece of white card into the spot it's reflecting off.


One last tip...

- If you have any products with a rounded surface, such as bottles or tubes, and you try and shoot them laid down on a surface, you'll more than likely find that it will roll around and not stay in the place you want it to, like you can see above. There are two ways to fix this:

- The first way is to simply stick a piece of tape on the back of the product. Just get a piece of sellotape, and loop it around on itself so that it becomes double-sided. Stick it onto the back of your product, press it onto your surface and there you go! Blutack works well too, but sellotape works when the product has transparent casing. Just make sure that the tape doesn't show on either side of the product. You can see an example of when I did this here.

- The second way is to shake the product, to make it fall to the "bottom" of the packaging - although you will want the product inside to fall to one of the sides when it it laid down. Doing this weighs the packaging down on one side, so it is less likely to roll about and quite a lot of products stay in place that way. However, the majority of the time it is simply easier to use tape, but sometimes you just can't find it or the packaging is too small for that to work!


So there you have it... hopefully everything you need to know about shooting products for your blog!  I hope some of you have found this useful and have taken away some tips that you can use in the future. I think I have included everything (I hope so, this post is certainly long enough), but if you have any questions please comment below or send me a tweet.