Sometimes we forget about all the amazing things we’ve done in life so we like to take pictures to treasure those memories. I have an Instax Mini Polaroid camera however it’s quite chunky and I don’t always like to carry it around with me wherever I go, instead I tend to just take pictures on my iPhone. Polaroid style pictures are everywhere right now, they have never gone out of fashion. Ever since I could remember I’ve been wanting to create a scrapbook full of all my favourite memories and life events which I can happily look back on through pictures. When the lovely lady Beatriz over at Printiki* contacted me, I jumped at the chance to work with them after seeing all the amazing reviews and the gorgeous prints.

If you haven’t guessed already, Printiki is a photo printing service which can link straight to your social media accounts so that you can print off some of your favourite pictures. Printiki offers many fashionable print styles to choose from such as:

• Retro Square M (4x4”)
• Retro Regular M (6x4”)
• Retro Square L (5x5”)
• Retro Regular L (7x5”)
• Retro Regular XL (8x6”)
• Square M (4x4”)
• Regular M (6x4”)
• Square L (5x5”)
• Regular L (7x5”)
• Regular XL (8x6”) 

As well as being able to create a variety of posters and photo books. The retro prints are more of a polaroid style whereas the square prints have a thin white boarder around them, making it a perfect fit for your Instagram photos.

I am very fussy when it comes down to the cost of prints which is why I don’t tend to use photo printing companies that much as I can find some to be very overpriced for what they are. Printiki is a service that I will never stop using as it’s only £5.50 for 20 M prints and you can add an extra 10 for just £2.75… such a huge bargain! Not to mention that my prints arrived just 3 days after I ordered them. This is such a great price point especially as the quality of the pictures are insanely good. You have the option to choose either a matte or glossy finish, I optioned for the gloss and it gave my photos a more professional look to them with the beautiful added shine.

There’s so much that you can do with your prints. I went for a scrapbook as I’ve always been a very creative person therefore I enjoy decorating and adding to a scrapbook but it also gives me a chance to constantly look back on some of my favourite moments. You could make DIY wall art, photo bunting or a photo collage, the options are endless.

If you’d like to have a look around and buy some prints for yourself or even as a gift to someone special then head straight over to the Printiki website. As a special little treat for you guys, I have an exclusive voucher code that first time buyers can use at the checkout to receive FREE SHIPPING which means you get 20 medium prints for just the price of £5.50!

Voucher Code: X77JNFE8

Also, don’t forget to follow Printiki on their social media platforms for some photo print inspiration:

• Twitter
• Pinterest
• Instagram
• Faceook

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I hope you have tons of fun creating some super cute prints for yourself! 

Making The Most Out of iPhone Photography

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?