There are some great bloggers who always produce beautiful photographs of their homes and projects—and have even shared their tips and tricks for using your camera to its potential. I’m not one of those bloggers. But, I like to think that the photographs I take for my posts have improved since I began blogging nearly three years ago. And, so, these are the lessons I’ve learned about blog photography—the hard way :)
A Good Camera is Worth the Investment
I’ve had my Canon Rebel XSi for over two years now, and have yet to read the manual. (I don’t do manuals. I have no patience.) But, I do love my camera and am able to take pictures of our house and our kids that are clear, usually by just sticking to the automatic setting. Overall, I would say it’s the best investment I’ve made for my blog so far.
It’s also been a great investment in my sanity as a mom. I was in tears after first birthday pictures that turned out like this with my old point and shoot camera:
Soon after, we bought the Canon. It’s taken the pressure off of feeling like I need to have professional pictures made of the kids on a regular basis.
Natural light & No flash!
With interior shots, I’ve learned that time of day is everything. I used to write all of my posts late at night (I still do, actually) and would just take pictures around the house then, too. Since there was no natural light, I turned on every light in our house and used my flash. And, that is why my navy walls looked purple and there’s a strange glare on everything:
The same room in sunlight and with the flash turned off:
Turn off the lamps
One thing I noticed when the Better Homes & Gardens team came to shoot our house is that they didn’t want one lamp or overhead light on. Looking back at my own photos, it only creates a weird glow and some terrible reflections in the mirror. (Focus on the picture quality here, and not my decorating mistakes!)
Natural light + no lamps = Much better and brighter!
Experiment with Angles
I could seriously look at 35 pictures of the same room when a blogger takes interesting shots from different angles. All of the photographs together tell a story about a room, which is really what interior blogging is all about. When I take pictures for my posts, I sit on the floor, stand on chairs, hold my camera up in the air. . . Whatever it takes to get good pictures (and to entertain you, of course).
Pay attention to detail
In the early days of my blog, most of my house pictures were straight-on views like this:
And, could my nightstands look any worse? I didn’t even bother clearing the clutter before snapping this picture (which I proudly posted). A pretty blog post these days is all about the details.
A wide shot of the room is great, but I love seeing those little details close-up. Those are the images that grab the readers’ attention and are often “pin-worthy.”
Pinterest alone brings more traffic to my blog than any other site these days. Although it’s a great tool for getting your blog (or work) noticed, it also means that your pictures could live in “infamy.” Even the bad ones, if they happen to get pinned. . . So, include the detail shots in your posts, make them pretty and clear—and it doesn’t hurt to add your watermark or web site, so that there’s no question about the source.
![[IMG_98332.jpg]](http://lh3.ggpht.com/-xA7gGWB7E-k/TzPKzlT9r1I/AAAAAAAAHZM/oNEA3FIdKF0/s1600/IMG_98332.jpg)
Enhance with an editing program
I will admit that I’ve never used PhotoShop, and it’s not even on my list of things to learn . . . What I do use is the photo editing program (Windows Live Photo Gallery) that came with our computer, and it’s worked okay for what I need to do. It lets me play with contrast and brightness, and change color temperature if something’s not reading right onscreen.
Okay, that’s all I got. What tricks have you learned for improving your blog photography?
Great tips Emily! I’ve learned the hard way as well. Natural light is key!
Thank you for sharing! This was so healpful as most of my pictures suck. I really need to invest in a new camera a well!
Thanks for sharing this—-great helpful little tips. Never realized that it helps to have the lamps off—but it’s so true.
Great tips! Thank you for sharing!
Great tips! Thank you for sharing!
Great tips! Thank you for sharing!
Great tips! Thank you for sharing!
great tips! i need to spend time photo editing!
I have just recently started venturing out of “auto” mode and into “manual” mode. My new year’s resolution was to improve my blog photography, but you wouldn’t notice by looking at my blog :)
Almost every room in our house has windows on only one side of the room. It’s very challenging to get the exposure and lighting right. I’d love to see how the professionals handle that.
I love our home Emily and our beautiful photos!
I use picmonkey to edit my photos and I absolutely love it! They are continually adding new features and it so easy to use {I have Photoshop elements and have no idea how to use it :)
great tips emily! I have a Canon Rebel T3i and it really takes out all of the guess work as you said. Although, there is a really great online tutorial if you want to learn how to crank that sucker over to the dreaded “M”. Check out ShootFlyShoot.com.~Sara
Great things to remember! I always think that your photos are perfection, and agree that good photos can make or break a post!
I would love to know where you got your mirrors. The one over your bed and the one over your mantel….I’ve been looking for some lately and am having a hard time finding them…..
Your tips are completely accurate and I have learned through experimentation and watching the pro’s on mag shoots…great tutorial!
So lovely! And great tips.
Thanks for the tips! I’m guilty of turning all the lights and lamps on–oops. We have one window in our living room and it doesn’t do much of anything as far as light. I feel like without the lamps and light it’d just be a dark, noisy shot. We even took off metal awnings and trimmed the tree outside the window, but it hasn’t helped much.
This is very helpful. I feel my photos are not great so these are great tips. I realized I need to play around with my camera a lot more. Thanks and love your blog!
This is very helpful. I feel my photos are not great so these are great tips. I realized I need to play around with my camera a lot more. Thanks and love your blog!
These are all great tips – I’ve learned a ton since I started blogging. I look back at old post and cringe sometimes – but it’s all part of the process right?
Yay Emily!!
Good photos are everything for design bloggers.
If you or anyone else is interested… I teach a camera 101 class to get you out of “auto” and into “manual” modes!
Thanks for this post! I know my pics are horrible! LOL! I only been blogging for a couple of months and just glad to do it. Perhaps one day I’ll get “o.K” at it!
LBDH
This is really helpful- I never knew whether to keep the lamps on or off. I also do most blogging at night but have learned to take the pictures during the day or not at all. I do hate that all my bad pictures live on . . . Your photography is really good! I agree about the different angles too.
Looking back at my old pictures make me cringe also….of course they were so tiny you could not see them anyway :) Hopefully I am improving but I know I have a long way to go!
Thanks for sharing your tips Emily! It’s great stuff to remember and you’ve shown what a big difference it makes.
One of my favorite editing tools that really improves pictures is the Clone tool to erase cords, outlets, etc. I love it!
thanks-
Brenda
Great post Emily! I feel like I went through the same progression as you … figuring out about the flash and lighting. I always love the look of a room with a few table lamps on, but like you said, they never look right in pictures. Interesting to hear that the BHG photographers wanted all the lights off. Oh my gosh, and interiors shot with flash look horrible, don’t they? Also, I love Windows Live Gallery too. It’s a great way to do quick adjustments and resizing.
This is a HOT topic for all of us I think. What really can make a blog stand out is the pictures. I want to put more perfection in ours as well. Your tips are wonderful, thank you so much!
Nancy
Powellbrowerhome.com
What a wonderful, informative post, Emily! Thank you for sharing so many tips, tricks and lessons-learned! I don’t blog, but am always looking for new and improved ways to photograph my design projects for marketing!
Couldn’t agree more with these tips. I am so embarrassed when I look back at all of my nighttime shots. Yikes. I used to have every light on in the room. It’s all a learning process. I think natural light and unique detail shots can make a great photo.you do that so well.
wonderful tips! thanks for sharing! can i ask what lenses you use?
Such a well written post, and I appreciate your tips and honesty about where you started and where you’re at now. Thanks for coming up with blog topics that keep me visiting your blog day after day….you’re a favorite!
Great tips! I too have learned have learned things the hard way too. I cringe at my early photos, ick. But I find I have some rooms that are soooo hard to photograph, living on the west coast where sunshine is not in abundance opening up the aperture and long exposures really help!
Thanks, Emily! I try to do all of these tips, but my pics still don’t look the best – time to ditch the point & shoot, ya think?!
What great tips. I have been doing most of them for a little while now, but the one thing that I starting doing recently was using the “M” on my Canon Rebel T3i. Then I just play around with the dial a little and see what works best. The other thing that I have been trying to do and you really need to when you start to shot in “M” is use a tripod. For the most part it keeps your pictures from not blurring on you. I’m still figuring it all out, but I’m getting better pictures since using the “M”. :)
it’s time to upgrade – all of my pictures are too dark – i think my phone takes better pics than my camera!
Yep, it’s all about natural light. My first photos of my living room had my camel-colored leather sofas looking decidedly orange and shiny, ugh.
Jessica
Great tips, Emily! I’m learning to take some photos on manual and that’s made a big difference. But the number one tip is for sure natural light. Like night and day. :-)
xo Heidi
Great tips, Emily! I’m learning to take some photos on manual and that’s made a big difference. But the number one tip is for sure natural light. Like night and day. :-)
xo Heidi
Great tips, Emily! I’m learning to take some photos on manual and that’s made a big difference. But the number one tip is for sure natural light. Like night and day. :-)
xo Heidi
Great tips, Emily! I’m learning to take some photos on manual and that’s made a big difference. But the number one tip is for sure natural light. Like night and day. :-)
xo Heidi
Thanks, Emily, for the great tips!
Thank you Emily for these tips, I think I’m going to talk my husband into getting your camera!
Great tips Emily…and I have used all of them. I too LOVE my Canon camera and have never really read the manual. I did go online and watched a few u-tube videos and they were so helpful. And finally…sometimes I feel like an acrobat taking shots for my blog! Pretty funny when I am standing one foot on stool, the other on the arm of the couch, camera overhead, when my teenage boys walk through the room and never say a thing! Guess they are getting used to it! Ha!
These are great tips Emily, thanks for sharing! I’ve learned that lesson about the lights as well :). I’ve also used picmonkey.com to edit my photos and it works great. also allows you to add some other features to your pics without having to know photoshop.
Great tips Emily! I always love the posts you do on blogging tips… always so so helpful. Thank you!
Great post! Thank you for sharing! You can definitely see a difference!
Great tips! I just got a new Canon and love it. My house has skylights and a multitude of windows–not conducive to good photos. Any ideas?
Emily, I loved this post. All very good advice! I have the Sony A55 camera and I love it. I still need to work on my camera skills but what a difference a good camera makes!
I too, like the detail shots…but I LOVE the full shots better so to see how everything fits together. Love you blog.
Great tips Emily! I just bought a new Nikon and I’m loving it too. I have yet to read the manual either :)
This is terrific info and I just learned something yesterday at the NY Gift show which is go to Home Depot and buy a painter’s lamp or two and if there are any dark areas, turn it on and point it up to the ceiling and it will bounce all sorts of nice light. This is different than turning the lights on in the room.
It’s your kind of advice that keeps the rest of us hopeful and happy! Thanks, Emily. :)
Great tips and examples!! My husband finally gave the okay for a more expensive camera with faster shutter speeds and more options than our first point and shoot when the pictures of our little girl at White Sands were not as awesome as they could’ve been.
Your photographs are always beautiful…thank you for sharing how you do it. I loved reading your photography tips… Thank You!
I’m horrible! I use edited iPhone pics waaaay too much!!! Xo shel
Thanks so much for sharing! Really great tips, especially the one about the lamps being off. I’ll have to keep that in mind next time! Natural lighting definitely wins!
These are great! Thank you for sharing from you trial and error!
Wow! Thank you, Emily! I love reading posts about blog photography. My strength is definately not photography, but this reassures me that I don’t need photoshop, or an expensive editing software to be able to acheive good quality photos. Thank you, thank you!
Love these tips! And speaking of Pinterest, I think I’ll pin this post right now.
We recently bought a Canon SX40HS and it takes beautiful pics. I keep it on automatic also. Thanks for the tips. I am learning as I go!
Thanks for the great tips, Emily. I just found your blog and love it! I’ve recently taken the plunge and entered the blogging world, but have put off posting pictures of my own home. I love the ideas of using different angles and focusing on the details of a space. Great advice!
Tiina
tiinadecor.com
My home hardly gets any natural light, so it’s really hard to leave the lights off because I really have no other source of light. I do know how to use the manual settings on my Canon Rebel, and I always use a tripod indoors because of my lack of natural light. I’m thankful for your reminder about taking close-up shots of the details. I often forget about that. I’m on the fence about taking photos from every angle imaginable. Sometimes that drives me nuts when I see a blog post with 12 photos of the exact same thing. But I do like it when I get a better idea of how the room flows.
My Cannon Rebel XS is five years old. I literally just read the directions last week. It has changed my life! Ha. Hopefully you have read yours by now!
:-)
Ummm…I havent. :(