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Blogging Help

Blogging Photography Props

Comments : 56

Now I’m not some sort of photography expert, but I do love a good photo taking session and I’ve been doing this for a while now, so I thought it’s only right to share what I’ve learnt (which isn’t that much, but we’ll see how we get on)

I don’t have a fancy camera, so I take all of my photos on my phone and edit them on there too. I have an iPhone 6 and I use Afterlight to edit. I’ve recently took the plunge and bought Face Tune for the whitening feature, and oh my god it has changed the game. If you want a white background then it is definitely worth investing. If you’d like an in-depth: ‘How I edit my photos’, then feel free to let me know.

My approach to blogging photos has been: ‘invest in the editing, and save on props’. You can get some great props for really good prices. This mainly involves shopping around and looking in places like The Range or Primark.

Backgrounds:

When I was first starting out I had no idea what to use as a background, but I finally learnt what worked for me and what didn’t.

Wallpaper Samples

If somewhere sells wallpaper then chances are they’re going to have samples for you to take home. You can get wallpaper in lots of different colours and styles, so you’re bound to find something you like, and best of all; it’s free!

Coloured Card

A good way to break your photos up is by adding a little bit of colour, and a good way to do this is by investing in a piece of card and slotting it in the background. Like the wallpaper you can get it in a number of colours, so you’re bound to find something you like.

Clothes

The lace thing I use in my photos is actually a dress I got from Missguided a while ago, and thought it looked like too much of a nightie to wear out, so it’s now my blogging background. For my photos I used to get another top and put that over it to break it up, so it wasn’t all the same colour. If you have something that you think would look nice in a photo, then experiment with it.

Rugs / Blankets

I feel like a white fluffy background is such a classic, and that’s because it looks so good! There are also plenty of other styles on the market, so if White and Fluffy isn’t your style, I’m sure you can find something.

Marble

If cliché blogger is your style then you can’t go wrong with a classic marble background. You can purchase something from somewhere like Amazon. Then stick it to some cardboard and you’re ready to fool everybody into thinking you have a Marble Table.

Props:

Props are a great way for you to get creative and put together a set up of things you look great to share with your readers.

Trays and Dishes

These are a fabulous way of adding another layer to your photo, and help to break it up, so you aren’t looking a plain background. I also use a tray when I don’t want to get my background dirty, so there’s another good reason to invest in a good dish. I get all of mine from Ikea, but places like H&M Home and TK Maxx are good too.

Ribbon

I love a good bit of ribbon, I got mine from Hobby-craft for £1, and it’s lasting me ages. If an area looks blank I twist the ribbon and add it in.

Fake Flowers and Plants

Of course real flowers are beautiful to look at, but that is an expensive habit to keep up. If you invest in some fake flowers then you’re good to go and you shouldn’t need to repurchase, plus they also look pretty in your room. Places like The Range, Ikea and Etsy are good places to look.

Notebooks/ Books

These are another great way of breaking up the colour and adding an extra layer to your photos. The Lauren Conrad books were massive at one point, and you can get really affordable notebooks with pretty covers.

A Few More Ideas:

Stationary

Candles

Letter Light Box

Glasses

Jewellery

Magazines

An electronic device (Laptop, phone, etc)

Scarves

Mug Coasters

Yourself! (Hold the product with your hand, or photograph yourself applying it)

That’s it! I hope this post helps you, and if you have anything else to add to either of these lists, be sure to leave it in the comments, so other people can see. If you want more blogging help, then I have a post on How to Stay Organised with blogging!

What are your favourite props?

Thank you for reading!

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Comments

    • Thank you! Clothes make such a nice background, and it’s so easy to do too. Using a bit of fabric is a brilliant idea, so much more affordable than buying the full rug xx

      Reply

  5. Oh gosh this is so helpful! I just started blogging and I was just thinking about what to use in my pictures. I always thought I had to use a dslr camera with a tripod in order to have good pictures but you take beautiful photos using your phone!

    Reply

    • Thank you, I am so glad you think so! You definitely don’t need to have the full equipment, it’s all about finding what works for you, and I hope you manage to find things that you love! Thank you so much xx

      Reply

  8. These are all such great ideas! I’ll need to visit a place that sells wallpaper as I could definitely use some free backdrops! Otherwise I use marble contact paper from Amazon glued to a poster board. Also, I had no idea that you take all your photos on the phone, they look just as good as ones taken with a dslr!

    Jenny | Geeky Posh

    Reply

    • Thank you, I’m glad you think so! It’s such a great way to get a backdrop, and you can’t beat it, if it’s free! That’s a good idea too. Thank you so much, that means a lot!xx

      Reply

  12. I love your photos <3 The best part about blogging is that we all use similar things such as fake flowers etc. but everyone has a different style of photography! I have used things like my exercise mat as a background for my photos and even a bathroom mat, sometimes you just have to look around the house and there's so much you can incorporate into photos <3

    Lots of love,
    Agnese | http://www.agnesehadebe.com

    Reply

    • Thank you so much, and I love yours too! That’s so true, it’s great seeing what everybody does with them, as we all certainly have our own styles. Looking around the house is such a good idea, you can make anything into a prop really xx

      Reply

  20. I love to use flowers, they are my no.1 props, they are so romantic and give a lovely feeling to my photos. Also fabrics such as lace or velvet look good 🙂

    Yiota
    pinkdaisyloves.blogspot.com

    Reply

  22. Thank you so much for sharing this, it’s really helpful! Photography is something I’ve really been struggling with, I had no idea how other bloggers managed to take such amazing flatlays

    Reply

  24. These are good tips! I’m no good at flatlays, I think I need to consider props more to get the photos right! 🙂 I love that these photos are from your phone too, you’d never be able to tell if you hadn’t said, they look really professional 🙂

    Hope you are having a good week 🙂 I had the day off yesterday and after a specialist appointment for the little one I dropped the boys off at their grandmother’s and did some Christmas shopping, yey!

    Away From The Blue Blog

    Reply

    • Thank you, I’m glad you think so! It’s all practice the more you do it and experiment the better you’ll get, and don’t be so hard on yourself. Thank you so much, that means a lot!

      I am thank you, and I hope you are too! Christmas shopping is the best, hope you had fun and I hope the little one is okay too!xx

      Reply

    • I’m glad you think so! It really is, you definitely learn as you go along. It really is, there are some great editing systems out there that don’t even cost that much. They really are, it’s fab when you spot something else to use. Thank you so much!xx

      Reply

  27. This is a great post Hannah, so helpful! Your pictures always look amazing! I love using dishes and fake flowers. After reading this I deffo need to get more props! I’m obsessed with that photo of the NYX palette, I need it! xx

    louiselovesbeauty.com

    Reply

    • Thank you, I’m glad you think so! Dishes and fake flowers are great to use. I hope you manage to find things you like! The NYX palette is fab, all of the sections are really good xx

      Reply

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