Blogging Tips | How to Take Your Best Pics at Home

I’ve become quite resourceful on my own without photographer friends to shoot with, fun locations to experiment with and such since I’ve been at home during the stay at home order. And surprisingly, I’ve loved my iPhone photos at home and realize there is so much opportunity to show yourself at home, take different types of photos than you have before and inspire new blog posts and social posts around the new normal.

So I wanted to share a few tips to keep your content flowing and not hold yourself back because you don’t have fresh professional photography or have a limiting belief that your photos somehow won’t be good enough if you take them yourself. Here are some tips to up your photo game at home:

Tip 1: Use Your Cell Phone + a Tripod

As a photographer, I’ve always relied on almost exclusively on my DLSR camera to shoot high resolution photos that could easily be put on a billboard (my dream, not reality.) So “settling” on my iPhone 11 seemed like a challenge at first because I was so used to shooting with my camera and working with friends/family who knew how to use my camera! But with the pandemic and out of convenience, I’ve relied on my iPhone for almost all my blog and social photography and it’s worked out perfectly. I can easily and quickly take my own photos and move on with my day!

My tips for using your phone? Wipe off the camera on your phone before you use it, the smallest smudge will mess it up! Buy a cheap tripod with remote. Half the time I don’t even use the remote anymore and just select the 10 second timer and take 3-4 photos. We don’t need 1200 photos to make a blog post–one good one works just fine.

Tip #2 Explore Various Places In and Outside of Your Home

Whenever I took “casual, at home” photos before they were always the same spot on my couch, on the edge of my bed or at my vanity. But there are so many spaces in your home to shoot and get creative with. Mixing it up, especially now, helps keep it fun for you and interesting for your readers. Try your front porch or backyard, sitting on your kitchen counter or standing in a well-lit space you haven’t photographed yourself in before.

You can always stage an area to make it a little more interesting. For example, my guest bedroom is usually a hot mess because that’s where Matt keeps his clothes and his laundry is usually all over–so I pick it up, fix the bed, strategically place the iPhone camera and tripod–and voila, I’ve got a cute spot to take a photo.

Tip #3 Find The Natural Light

Depending on your aesthetic, a crappy fluorescent light or grainy underexposed photo may not be a good look for you or your Instagram feed. If you’re not a professional photographer, the best way to mimic the high quality look and feel of a photo is capturing it in the right light and for me, it’s all about natural light and using that to your advantage.

Perhaps it’s the soft light of the living room window and standing in front of that gives you major glowy vibes or using the sunshine and shadows to create an interesting image for a product photo–whatever it is, play around with the natural light through windows in your home so open your blinds and curtains and test spots for photos! And turn off the lamps and overhead lighting to cut out weird light and colors!

Tip #4 Make it Candid

I love a candid photo rather something overtly posed and sometimes I feel too stiff and I’ll grab a dog or do something like eat a donut and ask Matt to keep snapping photos to find ONE good natural photo to use!

This works well when I take my own photos too and find some sort of activity that makes me feel more natural like apply powder at my vanity, look at a shoe, LOL lots of things can help you focus on something other than the photo being snapped and it’s almost easier to feel natural and more candid without the pressure of someone watching and taking photos.

Tip #5 Add Presets and Filters

Presets, filters and photo editing can help you define your aesthetic and make sure your photos blend together and scream your brand. For me, it’s always well lit, neutral tones but with a lot of warmth. This has changed a million times over the years, but currently that’s my vibe so I’ll edit it if it’s too cool (blue tones rather than yellow/red so I adjust the temperature to be more warm.)

Some people choose not to use any of this and that’s a look too. Whatever it is, think through what your aesthetic is, and play around with photo editing on mobile apps. I use Lightroom and then I’ve bought presets and also just use the app to adjust lighting, shadows, contrast, etc. I personally love Mandi Nelson and Jenna Kutcher presets for mobile Lightroom and the Tezza app to edit photos and videos in a warmer tone.

If you’re too lazy to read this all…

Cell phone quality photos have improved vastly–use it with a tripod and take your photos right now. Challenge yourself to snap pics in different rooms and parts of your home to switch it up right now. Natural light is your friend–take pics outside or near a window. Uncomfortable taking your own pics? Make it more candid by grabbing your partner, kid or pet and including them in a quick shot with you, this will feel more natural and at ease since your focus will be on them, not necessarily the photo! Buy and add a preset/filter that’s on brand for you and make all your shit look consistent.