This post is a part of a blog mini series on the topic of bookstagram.
Hello friends! Had a few things come up so wasn’t able to post this one last week but it’s time to talk about the ever-important lighting! And other stuff 🙂
So far I’ve talked about how to pick the “right” book, backgrounds, and props. Next up will be layouts and putting the picture all together!
PREVIOUSLY. . .
Full disclaimer, I’m not a photography expert. I’ve simply learned a couple things that can help.
The Camera
You don’t need a fancy camera to rock your bookstagram (but you DO need a camera of some kind as well as a smartphone capable of using the instagram app).
Phone Camera
Your phone camera can work wonderfully for snapping great pictures. Before you go to take a picture:
- Clean your camera lens and screen. It’s so easy to smudge up your phone camera so clean it off beforehand to get the clearest picture you can.
- Check your settings. If your phone has the option to change the size and quality of your photo, pick the highest settings you can. This means the highest MP value (refers to mega pixels where higher = bigger image). A larger image is going to come out looking better at different sizes compared to a lower MP picture.
- Turn your grid on. Again, depends on your phone’s options but turning on the grid can help you easily line up your photos so that you get the angle you want.
- Change the photo size ratio. If you can, an easy way to ensure your whole photo will fit in the square photo shape of Instagram’s normal format, change your photo ratio to 1:1 if available. If not, 4:3 can also work well to get close.
The nice thing with using your phone camera is that the picture is already on your phone ready to go. You don’t have to transfer it over.
Digital Camera
Alright, you have a DSLR camera or something similar. It likely has a higher MP than your smartphone as well as a lot of other options beyond the simple touch-and-capture. These can be great advantages for taking great instagram photos. A few things to consider when using a DSLR:
- Aperture. In basic terms, this is how you can get those really focused shots on a single object. When you increase the aperture it closes the lens which makes the camera hone in on whichever object you’ve chosen. Alternatively, a lower aperture gives it more to focus on and a less blurred background (this also increases the light allowed into the shot).
- Shutter speed. This will change depending on your lighting and if you’re trying to capture an action shot. You can use a lower speed for book photography though I recommend using a tripod or setting your camera up somewhere it won’t shake so your picture isn’t blurry. A higher shutter speed is great for bright lighting or action shots.
- ISO. How much light do you want in your photo? Higher ISO = more light, lower ISO = less light. Great if you don’t have the best lighting.
To be honest, when I use my DSLR I tend to mainly focus on the ISO which is an easy setting on my camera. It will differ with brands and models so I recommend reading your camera’s manual and Googling tricks for your specific model.
With a DSLR or other camera that isn’t your phone, you’ll need to put your picture on your phone in order to post it. When I’m not scheduling photos I use Google Drive or email to do this, usually, or you can connect your phone to your computer and drag them over.
Lighting
I’ll be honest, I don’t have much of an option when it comes to lighting in my house. I have one room that gets a decent amount but that’s it which can make photographing harder. Because of that, I focus on two main things when it comes to lighting: the type of light and where it hits in my picture.
Natural Light is Your Friend
Whenever possible, use natural light over artificial. Ceiling lights and lamps can cast unwanted shadows and also give your photo a yellow-tinged color (depending on the light bulbs you use). Using your camera flash can also change your picture because of where the light hits. If you can use natural light, do so.
Not every time of day is great for taking pictures either. It depends on where the light is coming from through your window (if you’re inside). I’ve found the best times of day tend to be either early morning or late afternoon/evening.
(Below Image: Taken early morning using gift box to bounce light - see next section)
Tricks to Bounce Light
Yet no matter what you try, there’s a chance you’re going to be dealing with those pesky shadows in your photo. You don’t need special equipment to bounce light on different parts of your picture to get rid of those!
White surfaces are great for bouncing light. I’ve used white poster board ($1 at the Dollar Store) and, more recently, I use old white gift boxes from the holidays. They’re easy to hold and direct if needed and do the job while on a budget.
Pinterest also has some great DIY light boxes using old white sheets and a cardboard box so if you’re looking to create a whole set-up for your photos, I recommend checking those out!
Photo Editing Apps
There are plenty of different photo editing apps out there but I’m going to focus on the ones I’ve used personally since I can’t speak for the others. These are all free, by the way.
Snapseed
Mobile
This is a great app for touch-ups when you need to adjust the exposure, saturation, etc. of a part of your photo instead of the whole. There are several different settings as well as pre-set curves that you can adjust to give your photo the look you want.
Using the BRUSH feature makes it easy to alter small parts of your photo, ease the shadows a bit and increase/decrease saturation. The curves help lighten or darken your image, balance the colors, etc. There are plenty of features, you just need to play with them to achieve what YOU want.
Aviary
Mobile
I love using the filters on Aviary. There are a LOT more than on Instagram which give you more options for defining your photo and your account. Generally I use Snapseed and Aviary together to achieve different edits on my photos.
If you have issues with yellowish lighting in your photos, Aviary has some great filters that don’t adjust the rest of the photo but make it look less yellow and more natural.
GIMP
Desktop
When I use my DSLR camera, I like to edit my photos in GIMP before putting them on my phone. GIMP works like Photoshop (except it’s free) and offers the same general settings. It’s very easy to adjust the lighting and contrast, and whatever else you choose to change.
GIMP isn’t specifically made for editing photos so while it does work well, if you’re not familiar with using it, you may want to use the mobile apps instead as they’re more geared for photo editing.
To give you an idea, the following two images are a before/after shot. Had a particularly bad lighting day but was able to use Aviary and Snapseed touch-ups to clean things up a bit!
Love the iPhone camera tips! Oh and the bouncing of light. I always have TERRIBLE lighting in my house. I recently switched to taking photos on my desk because it’s right under the window. It helps with quality a bit (but now there can be a glare on objects). It’s a constant battle haaha
I love this! After my husband requested I stop posting pics of our baby on social media, I was like, “what the heck should I post instead?” Now I know — pretty pictures of books! This is such a great idea, and lots of helpful tips for me — a notoriously bad photographer! Thanks!