My Blog Photo Props
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. With blogging, that couldn’t be more true! Let’s face it, how many times have you read through the first paragraph of a blog post, then just scrolled through the pictures. Just me? I don’t think so.
When I set out to grow my blog about a year ago, I knew photography was one area that I would have to focus on. Sure, the words have to come together, but in my opinion, it’s the photos that really draw you in.
After looking through countless posts from bloggers that I admired, along with plenty of photography tutorials on Pinterest, I came to the realization that getting these stellar images takes some work, but isn’t all that difficult.
To begin with, I created a few backgrounds to take photos on and in front of. You might think that you need a fancy expensive setup, but that’s not true at all!
Using a regular white foam poster board has worked fantastically for me. In addition to using the white board, I created a weathered wood board out of planks glued together. My fake wood floor and table also make great backgrounds.
Since military housing has these crappy counter tops, I used marble looking contact paper stuck to a foam poster board, to get a more elegant look in this post. And never underestimate the power of some scrapbook paper. Most of the time, I don’t even rip the sheet out of the book. It’s all about angles!
When it comes to food, my wood cutting board is a favorite of mine! That paired with whatever I’m cooking and a utensil or two always look fabulous!
Now as far as actual props, I like to keep it simple. After all, the point is to highlight and enhance whatever it is that you’re shooting.
I paid a trip to the local thrift shop and was able to pick up all sorts of items for cheap! I’m talking $2.00 for a few plates, glasses, and utensils. Everything I have is either white or metal. Well, the glasses are just glass. But basically, as plain as I could find. As it is, I’m a pretty plain person, so the majority of my dishes are white anyway, which makes it easy to incorporate them into food photos.
Above all, my favorite prop is just good ole sunshine! I’ve stopped using the flash on the camera since it mostly makes for terrible photos anyway. Luckily, in my house, we have two big windows in the dining room that allow for plenty of light throughout the day. Outside during the golden hour is a great option as well. If it’s a dreary rainy day, I’ll postpone shooting until the weather clears up. Regardless of what I’m using to set up my photos, good lighting is by far the most important.