Photos make a blog better. They make the posts more interesting and more memorable, especially when blogging about food.
When I started blogging I knew nothing about photography. I still have a whole lot to learn, but I have learned a few simple tricks that have improved my photography of food.
Many bloggers have spent a lot of time and money to produce high quality photos for their sites. They have expensive cameras, lenses, photo editing software, etc. Not only do they use those things, they spend quite a bit of time editing their photos to make them just right.
Many of us do not have the time or money that it takes to produce professional quality photos. But, I have learned a few simple and inexpensive tips that have improved my photos.
Several places I read recommended using white poster board as a background for food pictures. I really did not think this would make a lot of difference, but after hearing it over and over, I decided to give it a try.
I could not believe the difference the poster board made. It was so inexpensive and simple to do. I should have tried it a long time ago.
My counters and back splash are beige, and my walls are off-white and highly textured. Neither of these make very good backgrounds for photos. I could not believe how much better the food stood out against the white background of poster board.
Here are a few examples of photos where using the poster board made a big difference. Now these photos are NOT edited. I did not use special lighting, or anything else. My point is to show how just poster board alone can improve the quality of your photos.
My wall is the background on the left, the poster board on the right. See how the food and the plate stand out better.
My wall is on the left, the poster board on the right. In the picture on the left the background looks fuzzy and out of focus. The one on the right has a much cleaner look.
Again, my wall is on the left and the poster board on the right. The food, plate and red napkin stand out much better against the white background. White poster board also improves your photos by reflecting light.
This is an easy and inexpensive thing anyone can do to help improve the quality of their photos.
Lynn loves to cook and try new recipes. She blogs at Lynn’s Kitchen Adventures about recipes tips, and ideas, that she uses to fit her love of cooking into her busy life.
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I just started doing that for food pictures too. Otherwise, I use a white plate and hold it up near a bright window, then crop in close to get the clutter out. Seems to work well, but there’s always room for improvement!
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I agree that photos make a really big difference in a blog post. This is something I’ve purposed to fix this year. Thanks for the tip!
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Hmmm… Now that is interesting.
My pictures are admittedly not great since I know nothing (and I mean *nothing*) about photography. I rarely take food shots, but I am certain this can translate over to laundry/clothes/linens in some form!
Thanks so much! Excellent tip.
-Lauren
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Where do you recommend easy uploading and shrinking for the web?
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This is an awesome idea! I’ve been experimenting with lighting, flash/no flash with my point and shoot, but I bet this helps a ton! Thanks
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Oh! I need to try this with my photos of freebies and coupons! Thanks so much!
I have to say that I love following along with this blog!
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I recently made my own light tent for the photos I take for my eBay items.. It would work great for this as well..
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Great suggestion. I will have to try this as I do take a lot of food photos.
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I didn’t think it would matter, but now I am convinced! I thought my white tile backsplash would be enough. Great side-by-side.
Katie
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Wow – this is an AWESOME tip. I almost didn’t click through to this post because I assumed the answer would be, “spend a ton of $ on equipment or photo editing.” The before and after photos are especially helpful.
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This is too funny–I bought a white foam board at the Dollar Tree two weeks ago and it’s been hanging out in the dining room. I meant to use it for a project but didn’t need it. My husband keeps saying, “Why is that still here?” Now it has a purpose.
Great tip!
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THANKS SO MUCH FOR THIS TIP! I just started a new blog and post lots of pictures of food. Every time I take a picture of food I struggle with having distracting backgrounds in the picture! I am going to go out and buy some poster board this weekend! Another thing I like to do, in case you don’t want white backgrounds all the time, is use colored construction paper. This can sometimes add a fun element to your photos as well!!
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Wow, that’s a really good idea. I knew it’d make a difference, but not ‘that’ big of a difference, just by placing white poster board behind it.
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Very good blog. I will book mark this.
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Thank you so much for this tip! What a difference, huh? I have always been frustrated when I took time to take my own picture and it didn’t turn out! Thanks so much for the tip!
Christy,
Coupon Gal
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What a great tip! I’ll have to remember that next time I take pics for any of my blogs.
Thank you!
Kristy from My Pet Savings & Tomorrows Plight
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Great idea but if the lighting isn’t well established the poster board is only half the effort for high quality. Having a lamp well placed or even under ceiling lighting can also help out tremendously.
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I’d love to incorporate pictures into my blog but so far I can’t think of one reason why I would. When I do come up with ideas, I’ll remember to use this tip. thanks
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