Being a blogger it is so important to upping your photography and editing game. I have been blogging for a while now and I think I have finally found my favourite way of editing and taking photo's and in this post, I will be showing you each step of how I edit my blog photos, I'll also be showing you how I create my Pinterest graphics and Instagram stories.  


What Apps I use:

  • Snapseed: For editing my blog photos i.e brightening, sharpening and adding contrast.
  • Canva: I make all of my blog graphics on Canva including my Pinterest and Twitter photos. I also used this website to create my blog header.
  • Unfold: This is another app that I use but this one is mainly for my Instagram Stories. 

Snapseed 

Snapseed is a free app that I use, it really has everything that you need for easy and simple editing. This is the app that I would say that I use most of the time for editing my blog photos. At first, I wasn't sure on how to use this app but with a couple of test runs, I finally got the hang of it. 

Step 1 

Once I have taken my photo then the first step that I usually do is brighten the photo. Most of the time I've taken the picture and the lighting hasn't been great but with this tool, it isn't really an issue. On the Snapseed app, you can change the brightness, contrast and saturation in the Tune Image icon.




I don't usually have an exact amount that I brighten the photo because I usually just see how the picture looks but I mainly just drag the bar at the top of the screen by around +50 but it can sometimes go up to +70 depending on what the lighting was like I when took the photo. I usually find that my photos instantly look better with just brightening and can be left there but I always like to make the colours a bit sharper. 


Step 2

After I have applied the right amount of brightness to my photos then the next step is to add some Saturation to the picture. Saturation is what defines the intensity of the hue, the bright primary colours are quite highly saturated but more pastel shades are unsaturated.




I like to do this to my photos because I feel that it brings the photo back to life after I've brightened the photo which I feel can reduce the Saturation of the picture. When adding more Saturation to my photos I don't tend to add too much because it can look very vivid and overpowering. For the Saturation step I only really slide the bar up to around +30 and will maybe do slightly more. This might be different from other photos depending on the look that I'm going for.


Step 3

The next step for editing my photos is Highlighting, A highlight is the bright spots in a photo, Highlights are usually created by a light source. At first (before googling) I thought that highlighting the picture was the same as brightening.




I like to add quite a bit of highlighting to my photos, especially if the photo I've taken has quite a lot of lighter objects or products in them. Usually, when I highlight I slide the bar up to around +50 or more, I find this makes my photos look really sharp.


Step 4 

The last step for tuning the photo is to reduce the shadows. Like I said before that I don't always take my photos in the best lighting so I usually have quite a lot of shadows which I don't like in my photos. For this part, I have to work a bit careful because this part reduces the darkness of a photo but if you have an item or product in your photo that's black it can reduce the darkness of the colour.




To reduce the shadows I tend to move the slider to the maximum of around +40 which I think is enough so it doesn't take away from the sharpness and definition of the photo.


Step 5

For the last few steps I usually just play around with until I find my desired look but one the steps that I always do is adding contrast to the photo which you will find under the Tonal Contrast icon. I usually don't need to move the slider bar at the top because I like the way it brings out the darker and lighter shades of the photo and makes it look more HD.




I use the button in the top right-hand corner which you can see what the product looks like before and after editing. This helps me see if I like the tonal contrasts that I changed.


Step 6 

This last step (I hope I haven't bored you) I don't actually do all of the time and only if I think the photo needs something a bit extra, which is the Brush tool. This tool helps you to add saturation, exposure and temperature to the image without having to do it to the whole image just the areas that you like.




For this photo, I have added extra saturation to areas of the image which have a brighter colour like the red lipstick and the diary.


Before & After



Canva

I think that every blogger in the world knows about Canva but if you haven't I'll go over it one more time for you. Canva is a photo designing website and app which helps you create everything from media kits, to Pinterest graphics and blog headers. 
I use Canva for every blog post (including this one) at the end of all my posts I add an extra image which people can repin on Pinterest. This website is free and they have so many free templates that you can customise for your own images and theme that you have for your blog. You can get a paid subscription to Canva to use more of their images and designs but I have been using it for ages now and haven't needed to do this. (You can see my example photo at the end of this post)

Unfold

This app is one of my favourites to use, it is the best app at making the cutest Instagram stories. I discovered this app a lot later than everybody else because I was always so jealous at home people had these ripped photos and Polaroid images on their stories then I finally found Unfold. The app is free but there is a charge for the different templates that you can get which are usually around £1.99.
For my Instagram stories, I usually use the ripped theme then use the cute handwriting font. Making these stories literally takes me minutes and I put these up once I upload a new post. 


Pin For Later...

I know a lot of people are using Photoshop or Lightroom but if you either can't afford it or just can't get the hang of it (like me) then I hope this post helped you out. What Websites and Apps do you use to edit your photos? 

Aaliyah xo

19 comments:

  1. Aaliyah your images looked so gorgeous! Thank you for explaining saturation because I would adjust it on my pictures but had no idea what it really was in a photo. I never heard of Unfold but I'm about to download the app to my phone because I need to up my Instagram story game 😂


    Natonya | https://www.justnatonya.wordpress.com

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    1. Thank you! It was hard for me to get a hang of all the photography terms too when I started out blogging! Unfold is the best for Instagram stories!! Xx

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  2. Your photos always look amazing so this was really interesting! I think we all use canva for everything 😂. I love how you edit your instagram stories. Really useful tips here! x

    Sophie
    www.glowsteady.co.uk

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    1. Thank you! Canva is the best, use it for every post that I do. Love using Unfold as well works really well for Instagram and look really cute xx

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  3. I always love seeing how different bloggers edit their photos and how unique everyones editing process is so this was such a fun post for me to read! I usually just use vsco cam or photoscape x on my macbook but I'm going to look into Snapseed for sure! I also want to make more effort with my graphics this year so Canva is another one I'll be checking out. Thanks for sharing!!

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    1. So do I, it’s very interesting. I’ve heard a lot of good things about vsco, will have to give that one a try! Canva is so great and easy to use! Xx

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  4. Your photos are absolutely gorgeous! I love Snapseed, it's my go to app!

    Love, Amie ❤
    The Curvaceous Vegan

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    1. Thank you! Love Snapseed too, has helped my photos look so much better xx

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  5. the before and after of these photos is amazing! i honestly always wonder how you get such great photos every time i’m on your blog. second time i’m saying this today, can’t believe i don’t follow you on insta. that NEEDS to change xx

    mich / simplymich.com

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    1. Thank you so much! I love taking Flatlays (that’s all I really take) and have tried to improve them over time. Definitely I’m glad we follow each other now! Xx

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  6. wow! the pictures look really natural and don't look like they are edited! what great tips!! have a lovely weekend! x

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  7. I always use Canva to make my featured images too but I definitely need to up my game with blog photography, this post did not bore me at all it's actually really helped me because I didn't know certain things like the highlights so thanks for sharing!

    Jess // foundationsandfairytales.wordpress.com
    xx

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  8. I swear by snapseed too! Your pictures are lovely! Hope you're having a nice day x

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  9. I really want to up my blog photography game. I use Canva for making my pins but I'm going to look into Snapseed and Unfold now...thanks for the recommendations!

    Nicola
    http://nicshealthylife.co.uk

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  10. Great advice lovely, I'm sure this blog post is gonna help so many bloggers! 🌸💜

    With love, Alisha Valerie x | www.alishavalerie.com

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  11. I love the before after! I use Snapseed all the time too! SUch a great app! Canva is also a fav of mine!

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  12. I use Canva too, great website! I haven’t heard of Snapseed before, but it looks good so I’ll give it a try too! Thanks for sharing these amazing tips! :)

    Ray
    therayjourney.com

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  13. I'm always looking for some tips on improving my photography game and while I have used canva in the past I have never heard of Snapseed and will have to look into it for sure! Thanks for sharing!

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