Blog post photo tips

Blogger photo Tips

These Blog post Photo tips are not photography  tips as I take average photos only but sharing some blogging photo tips as photos are such an important part of a blog post and help popularize your blog!

Name your photos well. 

When  you download photos from your camera they will have meaningless names .Before you upload/post your photos rename your photos manually or more easily using a batch rename software . This helps search engines such as Google to identify your photos and can increase your blog traffic.This is a very basic and easy to follow blogging photo tip!

Blogger Photo Tips

Re-size your Photos

When you take photos on your camera the size is very large. Before you post them on your blog you have to re-size these photos and make them smaller.

Why bother?

Most of us use free photo sharing sites such as picasa, photobucket, flikr etc. Picasa is a popular photo storage site for blogger and it has a limit on the photos based on the total size. If you kept uploading large megapixel photos- you would soon run out of your free quota on the free site!

Large photos take a long time to load on your blog page.

Re-sizing your photos too small has a tremendous downside as they loose clarity and details are compromised.  I generally use approx 400x 300 pixels for photos I post medium size and 640 x 480 pixels for photos I post as original size [the large ones]. 

Blogger Photo Tips

You can quickly resize your blog post photos using the batch re-size function of a photo-editing freeware.

Blog post Photo Size

Whether to post the photos in small/medium/large etc is an individual preference...I like to post the lovelier photos as large or original size! Closeup shots and tutorial steps can be posted as medium which is the default blogger photo size

Blogger Photo Tips

Many a times if the photo is posted small you have to click on it to see things better.Since blog surfing isnt at a leisurely pace always , the pundits say having to go an extra step to click on a photo to view it better puts people off !

Large photos look nicer but have a down side- they take longer to load on your page ! So no consensus on this point -do what you like!!

Protect your photos

It leaves a very unsavory feeling if people may post work inspired by you and don't give credit or even worse sometimes post your photos and claim them as their work. It has happened to quite a few of my blogger pals. To decrease incidence of such heartache- 

Watermark your Photos

Do watermark your photos-This helps you in 2 ways – 

1) Anyone who saves your craft photo for inspiration and later creates a project based on it can more easily credit it to you. 

2)The other way watermarking helps is it deters unscrupulous people from stealing your images and claiming them as their work to some extent. 

Popular photo-editing freeware can easily help you to even batch watermark your photos.

Positioning it across the center or in the background makes it difficult for anyone to crop it off or erase it and is one of the best watermarking positions.I personally dont like the watermark in the center as I feel it is distracting for the viewer.

The watermark should not be so large as to dominate your photo and spoil the beauty of your creation.

Disable right click

Disabling right click is a huge deterrent to anyone saving your picture. I don’t like doing that cos I feel it is an honor that a person is saving my photos to inspire them! Just because someone saves your picture doesn’t mean they will misuse it! And if someone wants, they are many ways to still capture the image despite the disabled right click!

Blogger Photo Tips

Photo Enhancement

Most of us are casual photographers and it will help our photos tremendously if we can use some simple photo enhancing tricks! The simplest tricks are playing with the brightness and contrast of your photos using a software.
What photoediting software to use?
The "boss" is Photoshop but I didnt have the patience to master it and have played around with quite a few freeware. Now settled on 2 freeware Photoscape [ helps add lines and shapes on tutorial photos] and Fast stone image viewer[ helps me batch edit fast]. Why I like these are they are easy to learn and not too complicated to understand!A caution about auto enhance feature on photo editing software-- most of the time your photo looks odd if you use it! So better adjust the brightness, then the contrast etc one by one.

Tricky Craft photos to take

Embossing- take several shots from different angles and you might get lucky! 

Shiny papers- A big pain to capture. Anyone worked out a solution do let me know!

Photos at night- A big majority of us are night bloggers and even nocturnal crafters so mastering night time photography would be quite a boon! U can use the flash or the Party/ Indoor mode of your camera. You can use a lightbox like the professionals Or you can heavily play around with your photo-editing software. However I always find it easiest and in the long run quicker to take pictures in daylight outdoors[ only drawback- have to wait for free time in the day!].

Close up shots – most digital cameras will have an option for close-up mode. Since most of us are amateur photographers it pays to use this easy option of your camera.

White craft projects/cards- very difficult to capture the beauty of white- place a dark chart paper or back ground against your project while taking the photo and the contrast just may do the trick!

Easy Craft photo tip- The easiest way to get " good " pics is to take a white chart paper outdoors , prop it behind  your craft project. Snap in normal or closeup mode in natural daylight and 95 % of the time you will get a good photo!

Add Captions to your blog photos

This blog post photo tip again helps search engines find your photos.This photo shows a screen shot of a blog post editing window. Click on the photo in your blog post draft and an "Add caption" will show up.Click on it and type in a descriptive photo caption.

Blogger Photo Tips

If you feel its too much of a chore ,you can take the lazier easier way out like I do and put in the same caption for all your photos! [Just a matter of pressing "Ctrl  and V" !]

The first photo of your blog post

Choose the first photo of your blog post wisely as this is the photo which shows up on the reading list of the blogger dashboard of your readers .This photo along with the blog post title  will be instrumental in making your follower decide whether to visit your blog to check out your post! 

So the most beautiful photo should be at the top of your post! 

Not everyone will be inclined to visit if on the dashboard they see a blog hop’s blinky or a challenge Bingo table but will surely be more tempted to click on to your blog if they see your lovely creation!

Check your blog dashboard reading list and tell me if its true!

Post a photo towards the top of your blog post write up.

Sometimes no photo from your blog post shows up on the reading list of the dashboard- this happens if you post the photo quite lower down. As an example I have taken a screen shot of my reading list which shows a blog post by my dear friend Patti.. no photo ...

Blogger Photo Tips

Do I click ??? Yes I do since she is my friend and I know how creative she is .I dropped by her blog and was greeted with a stunning project.. the gorgeous photo hadn't shown up on my reading list as she had posted it lower down her blog post and not at the top.  Do drop by Patti's blog and see her awesome card!

So if its a friends blog you will go over no matter whether the heading is catchy or whether a photo is there or not but not all your followers will do that-- to tempt the casual reader to drop over to your blog ,you need a photo to show up on their reading list!

For bloggers who use google reader to track the blogs they follow, this whole issue doesn't arise at all!

Dont make a blog post with only photos

We all love photos but dont be tempted to make a blog post with only photos. This is a mistake many budding bloggers make including me. Many of my early posts are photo only posts! Either I didnt have the time to write about the project or was hesitant or I didnt know what to write!

Why should you not post a photo only blog post?

1.Google search engines cant see the photos- they need a word description- so put in at least captions!

2.Most of your readers would like to know something about your photos- So do pen down a few descriptive words as it keeps the post interesting and more interactive.

Post multiple photos

If you are blogging about a project you are particularly proud of -- do take multiple photos from different angles and some closeup shots. It draws your readers attention to the different facets of your project and is visually more satisfying!

Preview Preview Preview

This is the last blogging photo tip --- always preview your blog post before you publish it!

You will realize yourself which photo needs to be published in a larger size , which photos need tweaking and you may even decide not to post a blurry picture altogether!

Dear friends I am no photography expert or a computer wiz- these tips are what I have managed to imbibe in this crafting blogging journey and sharing in the hope it is of some help to my bloggy buddies!

Do add your experience, tips and suggestions so that we can all learn from our experiences.
Here are more Blogging Tips

• 10 tricks to a better blog
• 8 Easy Tips for Blogging