I have been blogging for a few years now & I get asked how it works pretty regularly.
So I thought I would talk you guys through the whole blog progress.
So the first part of blogging is purchasing/ receiving a product & testing it out. You can't review a product you haven't tried! I would advise used the product at least 3 - 5 times to form a fair & valid opinion on it. If it has a specific claim, definitely test that feature.
The next thing is to photograph or video (or both) the product. If it's make up, swatches are always good to photograph too. Try to create different backgrounds & set ups for photographs so they don't get boring/ too similar (unless this is part of your theme). I like to try to make them fit the theme of the product or season.
Fashion/ style photographs might be a bit more difficult, you may need to get someone else to help you by taking the photos. For fashion images I would advise scouting some cool locations, so you can get some awesome professional looking shots.
Then the next stage is to go through all your photographs at decide which ones you're going to use. Then it's time to edit them. I edit mine on photoshop, however you could easily do this on your phone or tablet.
Now you're ready to upload your images and get started on your blog post!
Firstly, the title. This can be the deciding thing to make someone read this blog post or click away, so think what you want it to say.
Now this is what I sometimes find the hard part, writing up the blog post. You want it to be informative but not boring or too long. It really is about getting the right amount in there without waffling on. I will say there is also another format which can work, which is a predominately image based blog post. Once you have done this & spell checked, you're ready to publish your blog post!
It's time for another odd-ball topic here on the blog & youtube channel. But as I've said before I like to cover all of my interests and another one of those in car detailing.
Some of you might be thinking, what even is that?
It's basically cleaning you car to a very high standard, which allows you to keep it cleaner for longer & maintain your paintwork better.
So what I wanted to discuss is what my favourite products are & mini reviews on them!
There are two brands in particular that I like at the moment, these are Meguiar's and Auto Finesse. I have also been getting into using Auto Glym recently too.
I've been running my blog for over a year now & I feel like it's only just being to grow.
I think it's all about getting a winning formula together (something I'm still working on).
I'm very active on my blog, as I like to provide you guys with a lot of good content regularly.
So I thought it would be worth showing you guys what my blogging essentials are!
1. Apple Laptop
I have been a Mac user for many years & love them. Sorry to any windows fans out there but it is all personal preference & budget. I am constantly on my Macbook either working on photography stuff or blog/ youtube projects. It is my 'hub' of productively, without it I'd get very little done!
This laptop is what I also edit my blog photos (Adobe Photoshop) & youtube videos (Final Cut Pro) on.
2. iPhone 6
My iPhone is basically an extension of my laptop, when I'm out & about it's the way I keep up to date with all of my social media. It also allows me to communicate with you guys on the go too! I also use it to take & edit my Instagram photos & occasionally my blog photos if for whatever reason I can't use my DSLR camera.
3. Nikon D7100
This is the camera that I use to take my blog photos. It produces amazing high quality images & being a photographer means I can produce some cool/ creative stuff. I take all of my photos in the Manual setting as that's my preferred setting, so I can change any settings (ISO, Shutter speed, etc) I need to according to the lighting I have available at the time.
4. Products
Products, now this one kind of goes without saying but without products to photograph, review & write about generally you are very limited on content. Especially if you're running a beauty based blog.
5. Artificial lighting
This isn't pictured above as I was using it to take the photo, but I like to use artificial lighting quite often to achieve the style & lighting I want in my blog photos. This isn't necessary if you can find some where with great natural light but I just find it makes for a more professional like to the photos. I like to use an LED ring light most of the time & shoot through the gap.
So onto you guys, what would you say are your blog essentials?
I thought it would be interesting to have a little look back at some of my recent Instagram photos & have a recap!
If you don't already follow me on Instagram you can by clicking here!
So we'll start with the top left.
This is the most recent photo, which shows the results of my favourite tanning product by Sun Goddess! I love this fake tan & I'm not really one for fake tanning, so that's saying something!
The second photo is of some band merch. My brother's band to be precise! The band is Everybody Looks Famous, you can check them out here. Even if you just like merch, it's always good to help out unsigned bands.
The photo on the top right is of me riding my horse.
I've being horse riding since the age of 7 & have owned my horse for 8 years. There is nothing more perfect to me than this right here! Horse riding is my little escape & I love it!
The photo on the bottom left is from a meal I had recently.
The restaurant is in The Mailbox Birmingham & is called Gas Street Social. It's quite a casual setting but equally quite fancy. I love the setting & the food. This photo is from the first time me & Reece (my partner) went but we have been back since.
The next photo is off a lovely golden bottle of prosecco & glasses. These were a birthday present for my 21st birthday last year. I included this photo as it was a great time & this was a lovely gift.
The last photo is of my camera (well one of them), to be exact my D7100. I love this camera, it's literally bae (sorry). I use this camera for photoshoots & for filming all of my youtube videos. It's also what I use to take my blog photos. It's just such an important 'tool' to me. I couldn't live without it!
I missed out on the Benefit Beauty advent calendar in 2013, so I was determined to get my hands on one in 2014!
I was so excited for this calendar, but at approximately £65 it wasn't a cheap buy.
And you know what, I was pretty disappointed with it!
In the photos below you see six gifts from the calendar that have absolutely nothing to do with Benefit Cosmetics! They are cheap 'filler' product they have just put their name on.
I don't want to go into too much detail on here, as that is the point of the video below.
Although below is a photo of all the actually Benefit products you get (plus two skincare products, samples of their eye cream & face cream).
So I strongly advise if you're planning on buy one this year either for yourself or for anyone else, watch the video below.
I'm not saying all beauty advent calendars are like this, I'm just saying the Benefit one isn't quite all it's cracked up to be!
Hi, I'm Eve. I'm a 23 year old professional photographer, who also has an interest in blogging/ vlogging. I like to write about anything really, from beauty to health issues!
