Blog Photography and Tips!

Hello!
Today I thought I'd take advantage of another snow day and write a blogpost. I was originally planning to get this posted in a few weeks as I did not know when I'd have time to take any photos for it, but along came more snow so I have time today (woo! Give the snow a pat on the back;) ) Any way, I'm going to take photos of how I take photos for you! I hope you enjoy!

I'm not a professional photographer, but I enjoy photography a lot and I'm sure that my photos have improved since I started my old blog year and a bit ago.

I always think the quality of photos is important. This doesn't mean you need a camera, while you might find it useful it really isn't essential. Most phones have good cameras these days, and I often will use my iPhone for photos mainly when I'm baking.

This is my Nikon D5000, the larger lens is the lens it came with, the 18-55mm and the smaller lens is one from another camera that used to belong to my Granddad, the 35-70mm. 

This is an Olympus SP-720UZ. It's a bridge camera and the first camera I got when I started getting into photography a couple of years ago.

If you're wondering which iPhone I have, it's the 5C.

The first thing is finding somewhere to take your photos, I take mine around my room, as you can probably tell, I love fairy lights and I love having them in the background of my photos because i think it adds a bit more interest to them.

I think when you're taking photos, you should try a few different angles and backgrounds because if you don't try then you'll never know whether there's an angle that looks amazing will you?

what's annoying is when it's too sunny and the photo is either bright white sunlight or really dark in the foreground and really bright in the background! I often have to close my blinds while taking photos on a sunny day! 

As you can see, the Olympus and the Nikon pick up light and colours differently and have different depths of fields.

Having more than one product in a photo and then trying different angles and compositions is something I do very often!

changing the composition makes a bigger difference than you think to the same products!

If you have a camera that has manual focus, I suggest you use that, it allows you to have more control over where the main focus of the image is, which can always be something that annoys me with auto focus, it doesn't always focus the way you want it to!

with a 35-70mm lens you can capture an image this close at the distance above!

Make sure you take each image a few times, refocusing each time, we all know how annoying it is to take a photo and be really happy with it until you see it properly and realise it's not in focus! It happens to me all the time, especially if i take the photo on my shelf, I'm not very tall so half the time i end up on my tip-toes trying to take a photo and lets say they don't always turn out successfully...

My last tip is lighting. Try to use natural lighting and no flash, this will make the colours show more true to life and they'll be good quality! It's best to take photos at the brightest time of day, around midday! I took mine at about 2.30/3pm (I was going to take them earlier but i got a bit distracted with lunch and tv) so it was bit later and I didn't edit any of them if you were wondering! Also, if you're thinking of editing, try to keep it to a minimum because it can decrease the quality of the photo a lot!

Couldn't not show you the snow we had today, it nearly goes up to my knees!!

I hope you found this post interesting or useful, if you want to ask me any questions, leave a comment or look how to contact me in the 'Contact us' page!

I hope you've had a good week so far, nearly the weekend!
Lots of love,
Emma xxx

Makeup Starter Kit

Hello! 

I hope you're all having a lovely day!

Today I'm going to do a post on what I would include in a starter makeup kit, for if you're just getting into makeup or are just looking for a few essentials!

The makeup bag is one of Zoella's, it's the newest one in the collection, I love how much you can fit inside it and how if it got dirty you'd just be able to wipe it clean and it'll look as good as new! 

The first product is Bourjois Healthy Mix serum. 

I really like that this foundation is lightweight and not too high a coverage. I'm going to be doing a review of it and it's matching concealer soon so I won't go into too much detail. Of course if you have good skin or you don't want to wear foundation yet you can skip foundation, I only started using foundation in the last six months and I don't use it every day! I said how much it was in my recent purchases post so you can find the price there as I can't remember now!

The next product and alternative to foundation is the Maybelline Dream Pure BB cream

This is good if you don't want much coverage but you still want a bit. I love it for the summer because it's so light and it has an SPF of 15 too! It contains salicylic acid which is commonly used in skincare products so that's an added benefit and it's also oil free! Please excuse how dirty is it, I need some more as I used it a lot during the summer, it's quite well loved as you can tell. I think this was around £8 - sorry I can't remember how much most things are!

The next product is one that you'll all have been expecting. Everyone and their dog owns it! You guessed right - it's the Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer! 

This concealer is my go to concealer, at £4.19 it's a bargain and you certainly get your money's worth! It's amazing coverage and great for covering blemishes. I actually don't have any at the moment as ik trying another concealer out but I definitely need to go and buy some! I would recommend this to everyone although if you have very very dry skin it's probably not for you!

The next product is also one that everyone's been using forever, Rimmel's Stay Matte Powder.

As you can see this is also very well loved, it's everything you need in a powder, it keeps your makeup from going too shiny throughout the day, sets your makeup and doesn't look cakey! Again, I can't remember how much it costs but it's not very expensive at all.

Next is the Sleek Blush By Three in Lace.

The colours look very bright and they are, they're really pigmented too but don't let that scare you off! If you use only a small amount and make sure you blend it really brightens up your complexion! They cost £9.99 which is £3.33 per blush and you have a big mirror so perfect for taking with you! 

My next product is a mascara. It's the only eye product I'm putting in because it's the only one I'd really class as an essential. On an every day basis I'll wear mascara, but if you're looking for eyeshadows and eyeliners there are plenty of amazing ones from Sleek and Soap & Glory if you have a look in Boots and Superdrug. The mascara I recommend is Maybelline The Rocket Volum' express.

I curl my eyelashes so it opens up my eyes a bit, and I've always struggled to find a good mascara that holds the curl well until I found this! I have the waterproof formula and it's not too hard to take off and it stays on all day without smudging or flaking as well as holding the curl really really well. I think this is also around £8 but again I'm not entirely sure!

Loréal Collection Privée lipstick in Eva's nude is the next product! 

It's a lovely nude colour, that's not too nude (no concealer lips here) and I'd say the undertones are quite neutral, not overly blue or yellow. It's quite moisturising and won't dry out your lips and they have quite a few different nudes and they also do a red collection too! Sorry I'm so bad with prices, I can't remember how much this cost! 

I think I talked about this fairly recently, it's a Tanya Burr lipgloss in Chic.

This is another nude/pink colour, a bit paler than the lipstick but still doesn't give me concealer lips either. It's very glossy without being sticky at all and it smells incredible! I think it costs £6.99 but I could be wrong and there's a large range of colours to choose from too!

I thought I'd include some brushes too! These are some Barry M travel sized brushes.

I got these for Christmas so I have a proper excuse as to why I don't know the price! Although I'm still very loyal to my Real Techniques brushes, these seem very good quality, they're soft and I, sure they're quite affordable! Obviously they're perfect for travelling because they're travel sized! 

I hope you enjoyed this post! What are your makeup bag essentials?

Thank you for the feedback on my last post as well, I will definitely do more 'day in the life' and photography posts as it went down very well and was nice to write!

Also a little mention to the lovely Gabriella (one of the guest bloggers & her blog is linked in the contact us page) for designing me a lovely header, I love it so much! She has a shop selling custom ones (they're very affordable!)  so if you fancy treating yourself to one take a look! 

Lots of love,

Emma xxx