Location, location, location

Prior to the lockdown one of my favorite things to do was scout out the best locations around Kansas City and Philadelphia, depending where I was, to take photos for my blog at a later date. When I started The Mod Little Melanin four years ago (crazy right!) I frequently took photos inside of my house. But once I started comparing my blogging to other bloggers (and I’ll share in another post why you should never do that), I realized exactly what my blog was missing, scenic shots!

Most bloggers take photos in a variety of locations around their city, some even go as far as hiring photographers. But for me, a broke med student with no extra money to spend on photogs, or even good editing apps, I’ve learned to do everything on my own for the last few years. I’ve learned that blogging is trial and error until you learn what works for you. So eventually, I learned that I didn’t like shooting for my blog in my home, or even outside of my home. I learned the importance of lighting, and “golden hour” to get the best shots when shooting outside. And most importantly I learned that the backdrop of your photo can make or break your blog post.

Some bloggers take time to coordinate their outfits to their backdrops, or focus on having a particular color in all of their photos, and while that may work for them it has never worked for me. When I tried that method of blogging, or focused heavily on preserving my color theory in each photo, blogging no longer was enjoyable for me. My entire reason for starting The Mod Little Melanin was to share my joy for fashion and styling with my bloggers, and I felt I couldn’t do that when I worried about how my Instagram feed looked.

Instead, my joy comes from finding vivid, colorful or scenic backgrounds to photograph my looks in front of. Philadelphia is home to hundreds of murals and my goal is to take photos in front of as many as possible. Sometimes I’ll purposely go to a specific location if I feel my outfit best coordinates with a particular mural but usually my shoots for a blog post are unplanned.

Here are a five tips to get great photos for your blog at any location!

1. Find a location that isn’t crowded.

Crowds make it difficult to get a good shot, and it results in a lot of photoshopping later to remove extra people.

2. Make sure your photos are taken in locations where the sunlight isn’t too harsh.

If lighting is too harsh, find a wall to provide a bit of shade to cut down on harsh light.

3. Find your triangles when you pose.

Posing in triangles helps to elongate your body and extremities, while providing flattering photos that you will love! Not sure what this means? Don’t worry I have a blog post coming soon to explain posing in triangles! For now, check out my Pinterest board linked in this sentence to learn how to pose in triangle!

4. Take a few candid shots.

I always direct my photographer (aka whichever friend is with me that day) to continuously snap photos so that I have a few candid shots to post on Instagram later. Photos directly facing the camera are not my favorite, and I rarely smile in photos or even show my eyes without sunglasses. It’s become sort of my signature look with my blogs.

5. Shot the same outfit in a variety of locations throughout the day.

Don’t just stick with one location, explore the city and snap as many as possible at a variety of locations! This helps you to create content that can be posted on your blog or Instagram weeks or even months later.

Most importantly, have fun with your shots while you’re on location! I’ve found a ton of examples of unique poses to do in photos from Pinterest alone. Remember those triangles, and snap away!

- Chelsea Nicole, The Mod Little Melanin