Don’t Feel Guilty If…You Have a Cheap Camera

Don’t have a fancy camera? Neither do I. And I’m not a photographer, either. I don’t think you need a fancy camera or six months of photography classes to have a good blog. Still, it’s hard not to wonder if you should invest in an expensive camera so your blog features the crisp, mouthwatering pictures you see throughout the blogosphere.

Blogging more strategically means using photos more strategically, too. I recently upgraded to a slightly better camera, but it’s still no SLR! I got rid of camera envy by making the most of my low-budget camera.

That’s my “cheap” picture. Not bad, right? Here’s how you can do it too!

1. Be picky when it comes to your pics. It’s better to have one or two good pics then five or six mediocre pics. I used to think that people would appreciate seeing a blurry shot of my food just to get an idea of what it looked like. NOT TRUE. Blurry, poorly lit pics should be blogged with VERY low frequency. Choose the best pics from the batch and don’t give in to the temptation to post all of them — that’s the worst form of lifecasting!
2. Use free photo editing software! You guys, it’s FREE! Sites like Picasa allow you to touch-up your photos with the click of your mouse. In iPhoto, I use the “enhance” button. I don’t know exactly how it knows what to do, but my pics always look better after I push that button. I know it’s one extra step, but if you’re following the first tip, you shouldn’t have that many pics to edit anyway.
3. In that same vein, the crop tool is your BFF. No one wants to see a pic of your sandwich with a Dumpster in the background. If your food is the focus of the pic, crop unwanted background noise OUT! Again, you can find tons of different free photo-editing software that will do this.
4. Accessorize your pics. Classic but modern dishes for your food, a bouquet of flowers in the background, a pretty table to put it all on… all those things can do wonders for your pics. I’m a fan of clean lines, neutral colors, and a natural-looking setting for my pics, but experiment to find out what works best for you. You can get these accessories for cheap, too — You’d be amazed at how great dollar-store items can look! I have some white plastic dishes I got for $1.99 at Target that look like fine china on my blog (or at least, I like to think so!).
5. Find a good balance of text to pics. You can really make your pics shine if you can nail down a good ratio of words to images. A good picture looks so much better when it’s flanked by a bit of text, rather than being drowned out next to other pictures. Strategic use of images can not only help your photos stand out, but also break up long blocks of text that might be hard to read.
6. Invest in some stock pics or graphics. You don’t have to use the crappy picture you took of your dumbbells as the photo for your workout post. Stock photos are cheap (small ones can cost as little as $1), look totally pro, and you can reuse them again and again. I invested in a set of branded icons that can really spruce up an otherwise visually boring post. If you’re proficient in PhotoShop, you could easily make some yourself!
7. Read the manual! If you haven’t at least flipped through your manual, you’re not getting the most out of your pics. Even if you don’t know what f-stop or ISO is, you can still learn the difference between, say, “portrait” mode and “indoor” mode. And do some research on taking great pictures! God bless Google or we’d all be using our flashes at dinner. This Health Blog Helper post on the 10 Commandments of Food Photography is a great place to start.
8. EXPERIMENT. Digital film is cheap! You can take afford to use lots of it, provided you edit it well (again, see #1). Though I don’t spend a ton of time taking pics (I’m usually too hungry to take a million pics of my dinner before I dig in), I usually try at least two or three different settings and angles before I get one I like. Zoom in, zoom out, try framing the shot differently — What’s the worst that can happen? Okay, well, delete it!
9. Reduce, reuse, and recycle. This is a good phrase to keep in mind for us bloggers. We already reduced the number of mediocre pics we post by following tip #1, but also realize that you can reuse and recycle pics, too! If you ate at the same restaurant and you took a great pic of the exterior the first time, use it again! Ain’t no shame in a little recycling if the pic is worthy of it.
10. Ask yourself if a picture will really add something to the post. Honestly, sometimes a picture doesn’t really add much, especially if it’s a bad one (AGAIN, SEE #1!). Some of my most reblogged/liked posts have no images at all.

What are some of your best food/lifestyle pic tips? How do you make the most of your cheap (or expensive!) camera?

Tagged as: Don't Feel Guilty, Leah, tech tutorials