As much as it drives my friends and family mad, I am that person that always has to take photos of everything. Going for dinner at a restaurant? It’ll be photographed. Baked a cake? Better get a picture for the gram. New clothes? Should probably take an outfit pic. My friend’s doing something stupid? This certainly needs to be documented. On holiday? Every second of the day will be photographed. I love taking photos. So much so, in fact, that I took GCSE photography outside of school. My Year 9 art teacher was genuinely so upset that I wasn’t going to be taking photography any further (due to my other options taking priority, hello triple science) that she offered to teach me in my own time. Despite it being a two-year course, I managed to squeeze it all into an hour a week session in a year and managed to come away with an A. So yeah, I’m pretty proud.  

For today’s post, I thought I’d compile a little list of some blog photography tips that I’ve managed to pick up along the way. I currently have a Canon DSLR but ideally would like to upgrade to something like this Mirrorless 12-60mm Lens Camera* in the future. I bought my camera back in 2013 so it’s fair to say it’s a little outdated now, but it still more than does the trick.

Bright lighting

I know this one sounds pretty obvious but it honestly makes a whole world of difference. It’s a pain when it’s dull and overcast outside and photography plans have to be scrapped, but bright natural lighting is the best thing for photos. Fling those curtains wide, open those windows, get all that light in. 

Edit, edit, edit

Haven’t got time to wait for a nice sunny morning? Editing is your best friend. It’s pretty easy to get carried away in the post-processing stage, but sometimes less is definitely more. I always adjust the brightness, check the saturation and play around with all the other settings until I create something I like the look of. It's fair to say I'm not an editting whiz, and tend to just go with the flow.

Get a tripod and remote

I’ve had my tripod for a fair while now and it’s definitely been a great help when taking blog photos. Not just for portraits when I can’t rope a family member/friend into giving me a hand, but also for flatlays too. I can’t even begin to explain how much easier it is to take a good flatlay when you don’t need to worry about keeping your hand still whilst holding the camera. Definitely invest in one. 

Tell a story with your photos

This tip sounds a bit cringe but it’s definitely one I think is important. For example, the photo in this post contains an old film camera my Grandad gave to me and a couple of disposables I took in London back when I was about 13. I mean, with a photo of a lipstick it’s admittedly a bit trickier, but with lifestyle photos it's a really nice touch

Create a theme and try to stick to it

Consistency is key, kids, consistency is key. Now I’m not saying all of your photos should be carbon copies of each other, but some sort of coherency is a good idea. Perhaps in the form of a certain flatlay prop, or a particular background, or lighting style. That way when people scroll down your blog there’s a sense of fluidity and it all just sort of fits together.

What is your number one blog photography tip?
*This post contains a sponsored link*
I mentioned in my latest Sick Tings post that I  headed home for the weekend last week. It was lovely. Despite only being home for less than 48 hours, my mum, sister and I managed to squeeze in a very fruitful shopping trip. We hadn't initially planned to go clothes shopping, but we had to return a faulty clothes rail back to Argos (what a glamorous life I lead, it's not all parties and blogging events) and ended up falling into Topshop, New Look, H&M... The usuals. I was only really on the lookout for a potential boat ball outfit, but somehow managed to accumulate quite a haul, none of which including a boat ball outfit. I did, however, make an ASOS order and think I've found the dress I'm going to wear, there's a photo of it on my twitter here if you're interested. I'd love to hear your thoughts. My housemate said it looks like I've just wrapped a beach towel around me so there's that. It's definitely out of my usual dress scope, but I do think I really really like it, and I'll be more than likely wearing it to the ball. 
New Look are currently holding a sale (when are they not??) and I managed to grab all three of these pieces from the sale, winner winner.  Now, let's start with that skirt. I'm still not entirely sure how the tie at the front of it works, but the print is what absolutely sold this to me. I absolutely love the red and the pink together, particularly with the black contrasting with it. This skirt was only £5 and whilst I can't find it online, it might still be in stores if you want to look out for it. The Bonjour tshirt is in one of my favourite colours at the moment and was only £3 ?? Whaaaat? I'm going to pair it with blue denim and my white Missguided leather boots for casual days, and I think it's going to be a vibe. As for the floral number, it's a playsuit and cost a measly £8. I have quite a lot of events/parties/balls coming up after exams so I'm sure I'll be wearing this to one of those. It fits really nicely, and the print is stunning. I'm not usually a florals kinda gal, but there's something about winter florals that really draws me in. 

Shall we just pause here for a second to admire the beauty that is that botanical print? I absolutely love it. Both of the above pieces are from H&M and were only £8.99 each full price?? I've recently ordered quite a few Boohoo playsuits and had to send them back due to them covering less than 30% of my derriere, so was pleasantly surprised when this H&M one was plentiful in length. I got this in a small and it's genuinely a perfect length, so if you're after a playsuit H&M is certainly worth looking at. Wait what, is that two floral pieces in one haul? Yeah it is, kids. This second piece is actually a maxi dress and I'm lowkey in love with it. I haven't had a maxi dress in years, but this one fits like an actual dream. The bodice of it is really tight and the skirt has a slit the whole way up of it, so it's super flattering and not at all frumpy. Get me to Bali in my maxi dress already please. 

Have you bought any new pieces recently?
On Wednesday evening I headed to another blogger's event with the lovely @Sotonbloggers. This one was hosted by The Body Shop, at West Quay, and was to showcase a few of their newest products. Now, I'm going to be honest here, The Body Shop isn't somewhere I ever pop into and I can't even tell you the last thing I bought from there, perhaps a solid perfume back in '09? Every Christmas and birthday I'm fortunate enough to be absolutely swamped with new toiletries to use, so much so that in my twenty years of life I don't think I've ever bought myself a bottle of shower gel. So, popping into The Body Shop just isn't something I ever find myself doing, as prior to this event, the only things that came to mind when I thought about them were shower gel and body butter. Two things this girl certainly doesn't need any more of... But, this event really changed my opinion of the brand, and I think I could be a convert, particularly to their skincare. 

The event itself was to showcase all of their newest products, particularly the body yogurts and face mists. Both are 100% vegan, which, whilst I don't live a vegan lifestyle myself, is never anything but a good thing. After we'd all arrived at the store, we had a little wander around and then were given a talk through of the products in question. Of all of the mentioned ones, the yogurts were the ones that interested me most. They're body moisturisers with a gel consistency and The Body Shop claim they sink in within 15 seconds. Which, can I just say, if it's true could absolutely revolutionize my skincare habits. So much so, that I knew I had to buy one on this premise alone.

They've launched six scents in the yogurt but my favourite by far was the Almond Milk one. It smells really clean and fresh, and isn't overpowering in the slightest. From what I could see, the Almond was the most popular scent at the event by a country mile, so if you're looking at getting one, that seems to be the blogger's pick. They retail for £8.50 a pot, and I'm really excited to see if it lives up to expectations. 

During the event I also had a skin consultation. I was looking at the plethora of skincare bits in the shop (including a terrifying-looking metal blackhead remover) and didn't really know where to start. After a couple of tests with some interesting devices, it became apparent that my skin was very very dehydrated (note to self: get swigging that H20), and wasn't anywhere near as oily as I thought it was. I was also told the importance of toning, which is something I've never thought was that much of a big deal and hence haven't ever really done. Not toning is apparently, and I quote, 'like washing dishes in soap and then not rinsing them'. Oops. My poor skin.

 I was recommended a whole routine's worth of new products but decided I'd start with the toner and take it from there. My skin can be pretty temperamental, and bombarding it with a whole routine's worth of new products is a bit of a risky move that would only ever end in tears. The toner I bought was the Chinese Ginseng and Rice one, which claims to brighten and smooth the skin. Two things that my acne scar ridden cheeks are always screaming out for. I've used this a couple of times already and I'm actually quite impressed, my skin feels lovely and looks a bit brighter. This retails at £9.50, and could very much be a skincare game changer for me if I keep loving it as much as I do currently. 

We were lucky enough to be gifted a few products to take home with us, one being one of the new face mists. There are five different mists, all targeting different skin types and qualms, and personally, I chose the Mint one. It's the mattifying one, which, in the summer I think is going to be ideal. A fresh scented, mattifying, refreshing facial mist? Sounds good to me. These can be used both on top of and underneath makeup apparently, but don't work as a setting spray, so won't prolong the duration of your makeup. I haven't used this yet, but when I have I'll certainly be reporting back. The other bits in the goodie bag were a British Rose Shower Gel and a Strawberry Conditioner - neither of which I have used before, but both are fully vegan too! Which, as always, I'm sure you'll hear all about once I've tried them.

Thank you for a really nice evening The Body Shop, I'm sure I'll be back soon to pick up the rest of the skincare bits I was recommended and maybe another yogurt or two...