Photography Matters
I am celebrating 5 years of blogging and I am excited to share with you today my fourth biggest lesson learned: photography matters.
Oh… I think I’ve found myself a cheerleader!
I will be the biggest cheerleader for diving head first into a dream or a project and working out the kinks later. That’s exactly what happened when I started my blog: I dived in… without a professional camera.
While I’m still that cheerleader screaming, “Go for it, emerging blogger!” I want to caution you to make the investment early so that you can build your following quickly.
2 things you must do…
Save your money and purchase either a professional camera or hire a professional photographer. Period. (I love alliteration, lol)
I see you. Love, iPhone
The mistake most new bloggers make is taking pictures with anything that has a camera. Phones are usually your first source for photos… And if you don’t have an iPhone, I don’t suggest it. If you have an iPhone with no eye for capturing photos or without doing your research (looking at the blogs of other bloggers), I don’t suggest it.
You can have success as a blogger with an iPhone (no shade, androiders). The camera quality is amazing and the photos can be favorited in a special album and extensively edited directly on the iPhone! I always crop and use the magic wand in the top right-hand corner to automatically edit my photos before I try anything else. There are Apple apps that can be used with photos to enhance them as well. My favorite is Snapseed (not sure if this app is available on android, no shade, lol).
Quality Camera, check!
Don’t have the right phone? (No shade… I used to love my android, lol) It is so important that you purchase a camera or hire a photographer. I’m not a camera expert (guess, I should know more than I do, but I prefer just modeling, lol) but the best brands are Nikon and Canon. Along with your purchase, you will also benefit from taking a class to learn all of the features on your camera… I heard always taking your photos in automatic mode is wack, lol. Do your research!
The expert behind the lens doesn’t have to be who you expect…
Hiring a photographer is a good idea because you can just skip learning how to use the camera like I did, lol. I have an amazing hubby who enjoys photography and loves me enough to go outside in all kinds of weather (you need to be ready for that too, lol) to take photos of me twirling, laughing and smiling…for all of about 5-10 minutes per session. You’d be surprised how many photos you can take in 5 minutes! No hubby? Many photographers are now offering packages to bloggers based on the amount of time or the number of ensembles. There’s usually a monthly price, called a retainer–shop the best prices, photographers and final products! Also, many bloggers are creating small groups among themselves and they go out on designated days and take photos of each other. This is also a great strategy to get perfect pictures especially since bloggers know what they want!
6 mistakes to avoid…
When reviewing your photos, be conscientious of how they will look to your audience. I made the following mistakes in the past:
- Putting out grainy, fuzzy or dark photos
- Taking photos at the wrong time of day (never take the photos when the sun is high!)
- Having awkward objects behind me
- Red. Eye. Ugh!
- Not checking my hair and wardrobe before snapping (I messed up some of my best photos in the past because of this)
- Over filtering a photo (if you take photos at the right time of day, you won’t need any filters)
Here is a look at the differences in my photos over the past 5 years:
2012
Mardis Hall’s (my hubby) Cell Phone
2013
Mardis Hall Photography (my hubby, Point & Shoot Digital Camera)
2014
Jazzy Studios Photography (professional)
2015
Mardis Hall Photography (my hubby, Canon)
2016
Grumpy Panda Photography (professional)
Listen… This blog post will be a game changer for your blog! Take care of your photos and watch your following increase!
xoxo,
Corner Curl Girl
43 comments on “Photography Matters”
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Corner Curl Girl 
I love your images! The black suit rocks. You are absolutely right. Nothing turns me off more than bad photography..really..nothing. Hubby is a photographer so l have an in-house one 🙂
Nothing like having an awesome hubby for a photographer! 😉
I like that you showed your gradual growth in taking pictures. Thanks for these tips.
Thank you!
I’m loving this series! I celebrated my blogiversary today and I need to upgrade my android to an iphone badly. Maybe this will be my year!
Awesome Stacie!
This is great!! I see some great blogs with bad visuals and it really makes a difference.
I believe those blogs will evolve in time!
Love love love your style. It’s always cool doing what you love and being able to stick with it!! Congrats!!
Thank you so much! 😘
Great pictures! You’re right, photography matters and it can make or break your blog. My iphone and my iPad are great for taking pictures but I did (like you suggested) and invested in a professional grade camera.
It’s always great to have options. Awesome!
Yes it does! Photography makes all the difference.
Absolutely Tia!
Samsung Android cameras are incredible and I have an iPhone. They put Apple o shame, it doesn’t matter how great your camera is if you don’t have an eye.
Congrats on your growth.
I used to have a Samsung and loved it!
All your pictures are gorgeous, but your husband definitely has a gifted. You two are a talented duo.
Awesome tips! I always wondered how yall got all these pretty pics for your sites.
Great tips, I have both Android and iPhone, and Snapseed is also on Android.
Excellent work. Keep us updated please!
Thank you! 🙂
This is so clutch. Bad pictures can definitely be a turn off. Love the progression pictures – that way people know where you came from so you know what you’re talking about.
You take gorgeous photos. A quality camera is definitely a must-have for bloggers.
Your skills have evolved wonderfully! Great pics and tips!👍🏾
thanks for sharing this as I have just started my own blog and need to purchase a camera!
http://www.mybucketlist.blog
Hi! So did you ever end up getting a pro cam? And what inspires you to blog/photograph?
Hey dear! Yes, I did! I love being confident and showing others they can be too. I demonstrate this in many ways and fashion blogging is one of them. Thanks for visiting and stop by anytime! 😘
Great tips, thanks for sharing! it’s nice to see where successful bloggers started and how they progressed. I’m working on finding my own style on my new blog https://oppositeofkate.com/
Thanks for the advice!
I could not have read this at a better time. Simply amazing.
Thanks for the info. Beautiful pic!
So happy for you !
Great tip, photography does matter, just started my blog not quite long and I will be sure to make do with this advice. Thanks.
I totally agree and you have awesome photos!
https://sincerelyophelia.com/2017/04/07/724/
Really good tips. How do you edit your photos in snapseed? What are some editing tips you use with this app?
Snapseed is very easy to use and navigate. I usually only use the Tune Image and White Balance options, but there are many more options, like blurring, frames, etc. Hope this helps!
Ok thanks! I’ve been playing around with it a little. I will try using tune image and white balance next time!
Any advice entering the modeling industry ?
A big piece of advice is to STAY AWAY from “agencies” that want you to spend money to model or learn how to model. Real agencies pay YOU, not vice versa.
Nice post
Perfect blogpost
Thanks for the advice! I started my blog and this will really help<3
very beautiful images!