Hello Everybody! This may be a different type of blog post to what you will all be expecting and I apologise in advance for a very long blog post/essay. Go grab a cuppa and meet me back in 5!
My name is Mollie Rose and I am an undergraduate
commercial/fashion photographer studying at Arts University in
Bournemouth. I have been following many fashion and beauty bloggers for a while now because I simply
have a passion for it – I love hearing reviews on products or outfit ideas
(name me a girl who doesn’t?!). Photography related Blogging and Youtube are two things I have wanted to get into for a while now, and I believe I am finally at that stage where I feel i'm ready to start. As a blogging baby, I will be hugely grateful for any sort of nurturing you experienced folk can give me!
I noticed through reading peoples blogs and browsing through
social networking sites that there are many bloggers who have expressed that
they can sometimes get a teeny bit stuck on the photography front. I decided not too long ago to atleast try and
change this and even if it helps one of you it will be more than worthwhile
doing! I would like to point out that I am in no way a professional photographer, I am learning so many new things myself at the moment that the purpose of this blog post is more to share my opinions of how I take images and share the knowledge that I do have! So without further a do lets get
started!...
Equipment
It is not a necessity to have a DSLR camera, you can gain perfectly good images from digital cameras and on some occasions even phones (instagram is proof of this!). However to gain the best possible quality from your images DSLR cameras work wonders! DSLR cameras begin at around £250 and you can find a fair few here. For me, photography is my life and soul and the career path I have chosen. I therefore have just invested (after months of 'Do I? Don't I'?) in the Canon 5D Mark III. However, this is because photography is my career and a purchase i will treasure forever.
Studio lighting is not essential either, however it can help to show your products in the best, most realistic light. If you are a youtuber, studio lighting can also be very useful when filming videos of yourself.
Probably the number one question i get asked is how to create the blurred effect (shallow depth of field) that you see in many bloggers photography. There are a number of different factors to consider when creating a shallow depth of field, and one of them (the most expensive one!) is what lens you use on your camera. Some lenses are made to create certain styles of work for example, a wide angled lens to capture as much of a landscape as possible or (in this case) low aperture lenses to create a shallow depth of field. Without getting too technical (yawn!) these types of lenses allow the aperture to decrease more than the standard lens on your camera, enabling you to take close up shots with a very blurry background. These come with a variety of price tags and 3 I would recommend can be found here, here and here.
In terms of camera settings, there are just a few simple
starters to point you out in! I would recommend putting your camera in ‘Manual’ or 'Av' (aperture) settings. Although it may seem hard to grasp at first
and easy to flick to ‘auto’ it can be seen through the pictures! On most cameras you can change the setting by twisting a nozzle (thingy ma bob in other words!). The images below show the Av (Aperture) setting (left) and the manual setting (right).
Aperture Mode
You select your aperture level (anything below f5 to create a blurred background) and the camera selects the shutter speed for you to gain the perfect exposure. = Less faffing about with settings to get the correct lighting for each photo!
Manual Mode
To gain the correct lighting on the ‘manual’ setting you can
scroll to change the aperture and the shutter speed.
The 'Exposure Level Indicator' is a very useful tool to ensure you get the correct lighting for the scene. If you look closely, you will see a black line directly underneath the indicator. When i took this image, the lighting was perfect and therefore this line is pointing to the middle of the indicator. If the image is too dark it will point somewhere in-between -1 and -3. If the image is too light it will point somewhere in-between +1 and +3.
To create a blurred background on the manual mode you should have a low aperture
(below f5) and then adjust the shutter speed accordingly to find that balance.
The ISO also changes light – as you increase it, the image
gets lighter. This may seem like the
perfect solution however the higher the ISO the lower quality image you are
left with. When shooting
products with
good lighting conditions, you should not need an ISO higher than 400.
Moving on from the boring bits!...
Beauty/Product Photography
There are some definite Do’s and Don’ts when it comes to
product photography however there are also so many blurred lines where
sometimes a style that you’ve tried looks fab and other times it looks
awful! There are so many factors to take
onboard such as the camera itself, the product, the lighting and the place you
decide to shoot that it can vary. It’s
pretty much impossible to take the same image twice. There are no rules with photography, only
guidelines. So I would take what i'm
saying with a pinch of salt. If your
picture looks good the way you’ve done it - then rock it! Each to their own and all that.
Yet, whilst saying that, there must be some styles and
techniques that create a better image than others, so i'm writing this post to
share with you what I
I would also just like to add in here that i'm not a pro with beauty or fashion so excuse my make up choices! I literally tipped my make up bag upside down to do these images and was scrambling about all over the place trying to find make up from this century! Also, if you see anything that you do like in my make up bag, its most probably come from one of your recommendations!!
One key factor is to ensure the item you’re blogging is in full focus. This makes a huge difference to an image – it can either capture an audience or turn them away (and give them a headache). This does not mean that everything in the image is in focus, just the item you are focussing on. (In this case the BABY lips lipbalm)
Most photographers tend to centre their item in the middle
of the photograph. This can add more
appeal and simply state what item you are talking about. This also tends to happen in stock
photos. However, sometimes moving the
item slightly out of centre can add more interest to your photo. There is no right or wrong way to do this –
simply experiment and see where it takes you!
The images below show an off centre image and a
centred image. In this case I prefer the non central image, what about you?
A great composition technique is to simply tilt the camera. This can be done in a portrait or landscape fashion.
Busy background Vs plain background? FIGHT! There are many ways to compose the background of an image some that add to the featured item and some that distract the eye. I believe this purely depends on what the background consists of. For example, relevant subjects with different shapes, colours and structures could quite possibility make an image and vice versa. For my example, in my opinion I prefer the totally plain
background as it adds an ere of professionalism.
As i mentioned above, I get asked so much about how to blur the background of an image.
There are a few ways of going about this, some a lot more damaging to
your bank balance than others (^see lens section above^). Other ways of creating a shallow depth of field are to reduce the aperture on your normal lens. This will not have as bigger effect as the specialised lenses featured above, but can still create a slight blur to the image. Also ensure you use 'manual focus' as this allows you to control where the lens focusses on. One more: try to create as larger gap as you can between the product in focus and the background behind. This increases the depth of field in the scene and with a low aperture, makes it harder for the camera to keep the background in focus.
It is important to get the correct vantage point (from what stance and angle the lens looks onto the item). In my opinion, a low vantage point for shooting product photography is a whole lot more appealing than a high vantage point.
Sometimes less is more.
Especially when it comes to editing product photography. The key elements to focus on are slight tweaks
to the images so the product still looks real life and doesn’t alter the
colour. To do this, I would stay away
from ‘brightness and contrast’ and ‘lightness’ and only use them to slightly
tweak the image. Quick and effective
tools to use are: Image, Adjustments, Levels or Curves.
In an ideal world, studio lighting would be used for all
your photos I know! But this can definitely come at a price! However there are certain lights that can
help without a studio.
However, if you don’t want to spend money, you should always
look for a room with as much natural light as possible, and switch all
artificial lights off. An ideal shooting
condition is to be as light outside as possible, however with no sun beaming
through the windows (not easy!).
I love the way many bloggers add a subtle theme to their images to make their product suit a certain theme. There are so many ways to experiment with this and can really add your own 'stamp' on to your work.
And Breathe...its over!
Hopefully you found this post helpful and it wasn't too amateur for you all! It may be worth going over it a few times as there is a lot of info to take in all at once!
If you have any questions at all, if theres something I haven't explained well or i've missed something then feel free to email me at info@mollierose.co.uk or tweet me @mollieroseskeff.
Other places to find me are:
What are your favourite ways of taking your photographs?
mollie rose xx
mollie rose xx
