Miami Bloggers May Meetup Recap Secrets to Eye-Catching Photography

** Thank you to Nabila Verushka and In Common Photography for the meetup photos, and Killer Melts for hosting us and serving an amazing brunch **

Want to know the best secrets to eye-catching photography? Do you feel there’s something missing in your pictures? The South Florida Bloggers had the pleasure of chatting with Gabe Sanchez, Christine Russo, and Alex Veliz about the in’s and out’s of photography for bloggers. In case you missed it, keep reading for all the highlights from the May meet-up.

Use the right tools

It is very important to use the equipment that is appropriate for the work you are doing. Lightroom is one of the simplest softwares to edit and retouch pictures. It can cut your editing time in half!

Working outdoors

The best time to shoot outdoors is whenever you are available and feel more comfortable. Learn how to work with what you have by being resourceful, because bloggers have a lot of impromptu shots. Now, if you are working outdoors, there are a couple of things to keep in mind:

Use a reflector or diffuser to avoid sharp shadows
If shooting at noon or when very sunny, look for a shade in order to avoid sharp shadows and squinting.
Do not forget batteries!

Working at night

Night shots are sometimes tricky because of the lack of natural lighting, so be creative. If you can spot some kind of lighting, go ahead and take advantage of it. Try to never go below 60 on the shutter-speed, because it can make your pictures blurry. Try and use a very low aperture lens, which allows more light in.

Best camera for bloggers

Whatever fits your budget, cameras nowadays have great quality and can capture greatness.

Best lenses

The best lens really depends on the subject you are shooting, and the look you want to achieve. For example, if you’re doing street photography and want to get blurred backgrounds, you can use a 85mm or a 50mm (if you want to fit more in the frame). If you are doing food photography, you are probably better off with a 35mm.

Be prepared

Whenever you have to meet someone either to be the model or phoographer, be prepared, study the model/photographer style, and explain clearly what you want before you meet (if you are the photographer, ask what they want), so you both can be prepared the day of the shoot.

What is the etiquette between bloggers and photographers?

It is always nice to mention or tag the photographer in your pictures.

Any other tips?

When in front of the camera, be yourself. Don’t try to be what you’re not.
Practice, practice, practice. You only get better by practice.

Say no to unpaid brand collaborations. Don’t give your work away for free. Creating content will cost you time and money. Your work is worth it, never forget that.

photo credit: Nabila Verushka

photo credit: In Common Photography