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? 

5 Ways to Switch Off After a Stressful Week

Last week was full of stressful moments for me. I don’t deal with stress very well as I’m one of those people who tends to break down into tears the minute I get stressed about something and it truly is horrible. As I was casually scrolling through Pinterest one evening, I came across a short quote that completely stood out to me: 

                                                      

  “It is ok to take a break”

Sometimes we get so piled up with stuff that we feel like our heads may explode. It’s so important to pause and really think about what is most important at that moment in time. Yes. It’s okay to take a break from everything once in a while, to switch off from the world and focus on yourself for a change. How do we switch off? Well, everyone has their own ways of relaxing and winding down at the end of the day. Here are 6 things that I like to do: 

Read a book | Reading a book is one of the most relaxing things to do in my opinion. Getting stuck into a good story helps me to forget about all my worries and de-stresses my mind from any negativity. I recently picked up a new book to start reading called: Our Chemical Hearts by Krystal Sutherland which is beautifully written Young Adult book about love and loss.

Switch off from Social Media | This is something I have been trying to add into my life recently. We use social media every single day for an excessive amount of hours (well, I do anyways) and that’s not a bad thing however it can become too much sometimes especially when it starts to affect your social life. It would get to the point where I’d come home from work and instead of spending time with my boyfriend who I haven’t seen for the day, we’d both end up on our phones for hours catching up. I’ve been starting to switch off from my social media for a few hours each day, and it honestly makes such a difference with my stress levels.

Talk to someone | I have always noticed that it’s much better to let your feelings out to someone you can trust rather than boxing them up on the inside and actually making you feel worse. It’s okay to get a second opinion sometimes and it’s also okay to ask for some help and advice when you need it the most. When I’m stressed, I’ll either turn to my boyfriend for help or I’ll end up ranting to my best friend over WhatsApp and that instantly makes me feel better.

Organising things |Bit of a strange one, but it’s always helped me. When I’m stressed and mind is completely puzzled, I like to organise my stuff. Whether that’d be my makeup drawers, my wardrobe or just cleaning around the house in general. I feel 100 times more organised afterwards and having some sort of order in my stuff makes me less stressed out in the future.

Go to bed early |When I’m tired, I tend to get a bit more ‘cranky’ and agitated which is where most of my stress comes into the picture. I used to go to sleep at around 2am which was never good as I would wake up and feel super irritated for the rest of the day. I’ve been trying to get into bed earlier than normal, probably around 9pm on work days or 8pm on my days off. I never force myself to sleep as that doesn’t work, I like to lay in bed until I feel tired – going to be earlier helps me to have a better and more productive day the next morning.

What are some of your favourite ways to switch off during a stressful day/week?