Camera Talk

I wanted to take a moment and discuss an important aspect of any great blog.  Picture Quality. Nuff said. I bring this up because this last month marks the start of my blog. There is soooo much to learn during this time and the one thing that has really been on my mind is how to get professional looking pictures.

So many {actually all} of you great DYI, Home Design, Upcycling, Refurbishing and Junk Loving bloggers have amazing photos every time. I want them too! And I want to know how you get them. Do you hire a professional to come in every day, every other day, or once a week? My camera sure the heck does NOT give me pictures that look so great. I mean sure, my camera does the trick for everyday picture taking but when I try to take a great picture of something that I’ve created for my blog, it just doesn’t have what it takes.

So I sat down with my laptop and started looking for my answer.  I started with looking at blogs with pictures I thought were amazing. I ended up finding Better Brighter Blog Photos by Kate at Centsational Girl. And it’s no wonder my pictures are so bad. I don’t know much about photography so I had no idea what is essential for great pictures. Here’s the jist...

• Natural Light Is Key. I take about 80% of my photos at night due to my work schedule during the week. I generally do most of my projects after 6pm and right now in the Midwest it’s dark at 6pm. Blah! I’m going to have to make some considerations in the future regarding my project times.
• Camera Quality. I mentioned already, my camera isn’t anything fancy. I’ve never been into photography so the thought of spending anything more than $100 on a camera has always been a little daunting and completely unnecessary for my lifestyle. Somehow, I’m going to have to make do with what I have.
• Don’t Use A Flash! And I always do because if I don’t my pictures turn out like crud. Uh oh! Gonna have to think about this one.
• Photo Editing Software. Yep I just downloaded Picasa for FREE tonight and I’ve been playing with it for a bit already. It is really easy to navigate and I’m already addicted J I can’t wait to use it on pics for my next blog post.

I’m so glad I found her post. There are also other links to more photo tips and tricks that are helpful. I have a feeling I’m going to be referring to them quite a bit for awhile!

With that being said…I'd like to hear what you readers have to say about photos and quality. Is it possible to use a less than stellar camera and have a great blog? Or is the camera really a necessity? Are there any other bloggers out there that are going/or have gone through this same issue? What did you do? Any insight would be so much appreciated :)

xoxoxo

Jessica