How To Take Your Photos To Another Level

Pictures are everything. Especially if you own a blog, a business or an Instagram. They’re one of the key things that represent your brand and your overall niche.

That is why it’s so important to pay attention to how you’re capturing or editing your photos, because your viewers are remembering everything from your style, your life, your hobbies and anything else that you love from your pictures.

So that’s why today I will be covering all the things that you can do to your blog and Instagram photos, that will actually help your photos look a lot more professional. I will be covering everything from what camera gear you should use, the time of day and setup you should take your photos in and even what software/apps you should use to make them stand out!

Here are the tips!

Cameras you should invest in

Smartphones can only take you so far, until you’re going to have to take things more seriously. That’s why it’s great to invest in a DSLR, that’s user-friendly, affordable and can most of all upgrade your photo quality. So the top and most trusted camera’s to achieve all of those things, are the Nikon D3300, the Nikon D3400, Canon EOS Rebel T6 and the Sony a58. These are normally the top cameras I hear a lot of geeks rave about, that are normally the most affordable and budget friendly. I own one of them, which is the Nikon D3300, and it truly is amazing! Even its standard lens kit that it comes with is still really good, and can produce some really high quality pictures that you’ve guys seen in my blog post!

How to find and get the best lighting

So once you have found the best camera for your site or for your Instagram page, you have to make sure you have good lighting for your photos too. And the best way to get that, is through natural lighting. Natural lighting will of course glow up your photos naturally, and will cause a very authentic, bright look to your pictures, without having to use artificial light. You just have to take your photo behind the sun, or in front of the window and your pictures will turn out flawless! I find that the afternoon sun around 2:00pm is the perfect source for your photos, while harsh lamp lighting or over-exposed camera settings is the worst for brightening them!

Different setups to use for your blog/social media

So using setups can be a bit tricky, because you have to work with what you have or have access to. And if your room or neighborhood isn’t very glammed up (like in my case) it can be hard to take blog or Instagram worthy photos of you or your subject if nothing looks interesting. So one of the things that I do for my photos, is to use small spaced flatlays; meaning that they’re quite up close to the subject, so you don’t see the rest of the room but just an item and a few decorative objects. Or, for my ootd post, I will typically go outside near a park or to a school, and take pictures there. You just have to get creative and find little nooks and areas that will look aesthetic!

Different angles to shoot in

Another important thing, is to use different camera angles instead of shooting everything from eye level. Try shooting upwards, downwards or in a side angle and really test out different positions when taking pictures. I just feel like a photo is more captivating when it’s slightly slanted or positioned in a non-typical way to give it more character. Anything from standing on your toes, putting the camera on the ground/floor, or buying a drone will help take your photos to a whole new level!

Best editing software/apps for your photos

Ok, so onto the last and final step that I think really takes photos to another level, and that’s of course editing! This step is probably my most important step of getting a great photo, because you can literally take a just ok looking photo, and make it look surreal! And Photoshop, and Adobe Lightroom will help you do just that, since they offer the perfect amount of settings and effects. For example, they allow you to tweak and change the basics of an image, to edit more complex things like shadows, clarity, colors and backgrounds without affecting the quality — which I love!

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Ok, I guess that wraps up this post! I hope I covered all the essentials of enhancing your photos for your blog, business or social media and hopefully gave you some new insights on what you should buy or try out. Let me know in the comments down below what you do to your photos to enhance them, because I would love to hear all of you guys tricks and tips too!

xoxo – Arianna♥