Guess what? I’ve been blogging for over 3 years and I still shoot blog photography with my trusty iPhone 6. I know that my photos aren’t the best and yes, I constantly find myself drooling over others blog photos wishing I had perfect pictures just like that but unfortunately I’m not that talented. Funny thing is, I actually have a perfectly fine Nikon L310 sitting around in my room but I refuse to use it as I find iPhone’s easier and quicker to use.

I believe a lot of people really underestimate the power of an iPhone/Android and I admit, sometimes at first glance the photos can look a little poor however with a ton of editing apps and bit of playing around with, you can end up achieving some awesome images. 

THE GRID OPTION

If I’m being completely honest here, I had no idea about this feature until I saw someone talking about it on social media. Cleaaaarly I’m not great with technology these days. This has completely changed my photography game for the better, the grid helps to make sure all your photos are level making sure the rules of third is applied with ease. This took a bit of practicing and bit of getting used to but in the end you can achieve visually pleasing photos. To enable this feature head to Settings > Photos & Camera > Grid and select it green.

TAP TO FOCUS

Probably my most used and useful feature when it comes to taking my photos. Simply tap the screen where you want the image to focus creating a clean and sharp image. Don’t worry about having shaky hands (I have the most unsteady hands ever) it will automatically focus to wherever you end up tapping without a problem. 

ALL ABOUT THAT LIGHTING

If you can, try and take photos in natural lighting which is for me personally the best. I find that with artificial lighting, my photos can look more on the yellow toned side and it becomes a lot harder to edit. I try to shoot my photos at around 10am-11am where the lighting is usually at its best and I also like to make sure the window is in front of me when taking them to get the best results as I possibly can. 

EDIT, EDIT, EDIT

I can never post a photo without editing it a bit beforehand, I always feel like my photos look somewhat ‘unfinished’ if it’s not edited. I understand that editing all comes down to personal preference however, here are some of the apps that I use to edit my photos with PLUS THEY’RE ALL FREE!

SNAPSEED: I mainly use this app for when I want to brighten the background of my pictures especially when I feel like I’ve taken some shots in awful lighting. This app contains a selective feature which allows you to select in detail where you want to either brighten, change the contrast or change the saturation. That’s not all though! It comes with a bunch of other features like tuning your image and changing the structure.

COLOURSTORY: This is pretty much similar to SnapSeed in terms of allowing to play around with the brightness, contrast and saturation. Completely changing the brightness of my whole photo is what I use this for. The app also contains a selection of effects such as flare and light leaks whilst giving you a variety of choices in the filter sections.

VSCO CAM: I feel like everyone and their mother has heard about this editing app as it’s so popular within the blogging community. I use this whenever I want to add a universal filter to my photos (A5, HB1 and HB2 all being my personal favourites). Like any other photo editing app, it also allows you to change the basics like sharpness and clarity to make your photos look more like they were taken off a DSLR camera, what a bonus! 

What do you use to take blog photos? 

A New Favourite Mascara?

When it comes to mascaras, I never really venture out to try new releases as I like to stick to the same ones that I know will always work for me. If I’m honest, I’m quite fussy with my mascaras which is probably why I haven’t tried a great deal of them. The lovely people over at Essence Cosmetics sent me a ton of goodies to try out and to my surprise, the I Love Extreme Waterproof mascara was my favourite of the bunch.

Before using this I did a bit of research for some reviews like I would normally do, however there wasn’t a wide variety of them, although I did manage to find some first impression videos on YouTube and some of them seemed a bit disappointing which meant I didn’t set my hopes up high for this one. Boy was I wrong! I love everything about this mascara from the formula, to the applicator and to how it made my eyelashes look. 

I like the blue and pink packaging that this product comes in and the tube seems a lot wider and ‘fatter’ than any of my other mascaras that I own. The bristles on the applicator are quite dense and thick which worried me at first because I thought it was going to clump my lashes together however it did the complete opposite – it separated my lashes beautifully whilst giving them a good amount of volume and lift (bearing in mind, I used an eyelash curler beforehand). It’s also waterproof which means you won’t need to worry about smudges, I wore this product for a good 10 hours the other day and it held up perfectly. The only thing I will address was that it took AGES to remove at the end of the day which is understandable considering it being waterproof. I used my regular Garnier Micellar Water and a good few cotton pads to get rid of it, but I sometimes found myself rubbing at my lashes too forcefully so I would highly recommend using something more oil based to help breakdown the product. 

You can find this mascara over at Wilkinson’s for just £2.80 which is possibly the cheapest mascara I own and it’s a bargain considering it works like a charm. I think it’s safe to say that I will defiantly be re-purchasing this product once I’ve ran out.

Have you tried any Essence products? What’s your go-to mascara?

Must Have Carry-On Travel Essentials

With my holiday only being 11 days away, I think it’s safe to say that am very excited yet super nervous at the same time. I am such a nervous flyer. Well, I’m an anxious traveler in general. In my mind I believe that my comfort on a flight begins with how you pack your carry-on bag, I need to make sure I pack everything which will keep me feeling content and comfortable for the flight (and hopefully pass the time a bit quicker).

The Basics

Travel Bag: I currently use a plain black rucksack which I got for £10 in Primark and it has done me wonders. It’s the perfect size and I manage to fit quite a lot of stuff in there. I love how it has front pockets and also two more compartments inside for even more extra storage. I use this as my main travel bag and also my staying over bag for when I’m round a friend/family house for the evenings.

Travel Wallet: The boyfriend and I picked one of these up from eBay last year before we headed off to Amsterdam. I believe it cost around £5/£6 which I thought was very reasonable considering the ones we looked at were more on the £12 side of things. It fits all of our boarding passes, passports, ID cards and travel money inside, leaving plenty more room for any other extra cards and details you want to take along with you.

What I bring to keep comfortable

Flip Flops: If I’m going away on a summer holiday, I always love to either wear flip flops for the whole journey or bring a pair with me in my bag so I can change into them halfway through ready to face the hot weather when I get to the other side.

Sunglasses: There’s nothing worse than getting off the plane to bright, sunny weather and not having any sunglasses for protection therefore you end up squinting the whole way to your hotel/villa. I like to think ahead and bring a pair with me so that I can chuck them of once we’ve gotten off the plane.

Travel Pillow: I get neck aches whenever I sit down for a long amount of time. My brother bought a travel pillow recently and it’s the most comfy thing ever and I’m definitely going to be bringing it on the flight with me. We have an early morning flight therefore I will most probably end up having a little nap on the plane with this pillow as my support.

Lip Balm and Hand Cream: During flights, I always get super dry lips and hands therefore bringing lip balm & hand cream along with me is essential.

How I keep entertained

iPad: With the recently new download Netflix feature, I am definitely going to be catching up with some shows on my iPad to make the time go a bit faster.

Headphones: I don’t know what I would do without my headphones on a flight. I’ve always had problems with my ears where I’ve had to go to the doctors numerous amount of times, therefore headphones do me the world of good. There’s nothing worse than having blocked ears for days whilst you’re trying to enjoy your holiday.

Books: I have always loved reading ever since I was little. Getting stuck into a book is a good way to pass the time. I’m currently reading 13 Reasons Why after watching the show on Netflix and I’m loving it so far, it’s defiantly the book that I’m bringing on holiday with me.

Snacks: Of course you’re bound to get a bit peckish on the plane therefore I like to stock up with some snacks to help keep me content. (I get a bit ‘hangry’ otherwise lol).

What is on your ‘must have carry-on essentials’ list when it comes down to travelling?

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