How I Create Content - From Pictures To Writing
A few years ago I shared my blogging process but so much has changed in that time that I thought it might be interesting to give you an insight if it's something that you've ever wondered about. The blogging world can look very illusive from an outsiders point of view and even as a blogger sometimes the entire world can look too complex and I'm not sure where to begin. So from the very beginning stages of an idea to the final product, here is a look at my current blogging process.
THE IDEAS
I'm not sure I can even call my ideas process a 'process' really because it's not something that I ever do in the same way. Something I try hard not to do is force myself to think of ideas as that never works well for me and I tend to let them come on their own. As personally, I think they always make the best posts as just like anything in the creative field when you've forced it then it never works that well. I've never been one to look at certain places for inspiration or follow trends as that doesn't seem genuine but I do try to take away from everyday life whether that be a beauty or a lifestyle post. I try to make sure that it's something that people in some way can relate to it, whether they're interesting the whole blogging thing or not. Weirdly I always tend to think of titles for posts first and then I build on the idea from there.
THE PLANNING
My overall way of planning things changes a lot but whenever I have a set in stone idea then I will build on it with the use of planning. We all know that I'm a big list-maker and it's something that I rely on all the time for my work. I've always planned my posts to a T so that everything can move seamlessly throughout the photography and styling sections. As well as my to-do lists I use my iCal a lot as it allows me to see how all my posts will flow together as even though I'm a big believer in pen and paper. Doing some things on a screen work so much better, especially when what you're creating is digital. For the details of the post and the photographs, I will always do it in a notepad and I'll always start with the title and then plan each image that I will need for the post. As well as anything that I want to research or link to in the copy of the post. I always think that planning is something that you wouldn't think would take up that much time but I can spend hours doing this.
THE STYLING
Probably one of my favourite parts of the whole blogging process is the styling element. There is something so satisfying about gathering props together and arranging them in a way that works for a photograph. My own image style is very much planned and perfected as that's just personally what I prefer, of course it's a personal choice and not everyone likes to really style their work and I think everyone should find what works for them. During the planning stage, I try to list what props and items that I want in the image so then I just need to gather them together instead of wasting time and faffing around trying to figure out what will work and what doesn't. Anyone who has ever styled a photograph before will know that you spend far longer doing that then actually taking any images.
THE PHOTOGRAPHY
Generally, I try to take all my pictures across 1-2 days for the entire week as then I have as much consistency in light as I possibly can. Right right now we're obviously in Winter and getting light and bright airy images isn't that easy. I have to pretty much chase the light around the house as it's still not getting properly light until around 9 am and the sun doesn't quite reach my house until 11 am which gives me around 3 hours of daylight to play with on a good day. Photographing in Winter is such a nightmare and I've probably found it more difficult this year than any years before. I use a few different backgrounds and set ups and I'm constantly trying to push myself out of my comfort zone and think of various setups to work with as flat-lay after flat-lay can get a little boring.
And after all that background and lighting chat, now to talk about equipment. I photograph with the Canon 700d and right now I'm using the Canon 40mm lens which is a new addition to my kit. I was a loyal user of the 50mm for 7 years and it's a lens that I recommend to anyone who is first getting into photography as it's such a brilliant piece of equipment to learn with.
THE EDITING
In the beginning stages of my blog, I never used to bother editing my photographs, which seems very weird considering that I was doing my photography degree at the time. Let's just say that I've come to love Photoshop and we've had a complex relationship but now I absolutely love editing. I try and wait for an hour or so between finishing taking the images and editing them as I think we can all relate to the feeling of looking at something too much and then just picking fault with it when there really aren't any big faults there. I edit all my images at once so that I can maintain a consistent colour palette throughout. If you fancy a look at my general editing process I've written a post on it here;
A BEGINNERS GUIDE TO EDITING #2
THE WRITING
Just like I have days dedicated to photography I also have days strictly for writing. I try to write in the morning as that's when I find I write the best type of content and don't tend to struggle as much as I do when I try in the afternoon. I try to write as much as I can in the day while the words are flowing as anyone who writes regularly will know it doesn't always come naturally. Once I find myself in a groove with words it feels awesome and I can write for hours, but sometimes I will sit there for so long and literally force the sentences out of me and it's incredibly frustrating. Again, I've written a post all about writing which you can read here;
WRITING A BLOG WHEN YOU FIND THE WRITING PART HARD
THE FINAL TOUCHES
This is the admin side of creating content for me is putting all the final touches on everything. So things like proofreading [I tend to do this a couple of times], adding links, adding all social handles and then scheduling tweets or deciding whether I want to share the post on Instagram are all things I do with each piece of content I create. And even though it doesn't sound very time consuming it can soon take a while to get everything ready to go live. And even though it takes a while and can become pretty monotonous there is something so satisfying about it all and finally being able to hit publish.
