So, you’re catching up on your Bloglovin’ feed, and you get to one of your favourite fashion bloggers. Hooray! They’ve posted a new outfit post! Scroll… scroll… scroll… where’s the text to say where those shoes are from… scroll… we must be near the end… scroll… scroll… seriously – how many photos does one outfit need? Or perhaps you’re reading a beauty blog, and they’re reviewing a lipstick. Photo of the lipstick (closed). Photo of the lipstick (open). Photo of the lipstick (open, and extended so you can see the actual lipstick). Photo of the box (6 photos, actually – one of each side, including the top and bottom) Photo of lipstick in box… well, you get the idea.
Digital photography means it’s so easy to take a lot of photos (and so you should – it’s much easier to get the right photos if you take a lot of them!) but does that mean you should include all the good photos?
If you’re a fashion blogger, then you’re probably going to want 2 or 3 photos as a minimum – one should be a full length shot with the others being close ups of some detail (especially if an item has been sent to you to review). Beauty bloggers will probably want to have at least 2 photos – one of the product, and one of what the product does (of course, this is going to depend on the product – a lipstick or mascara, for example, is going to be more useful if the reader can see you wearing it, but a product like a Clarisonic might only need a photo of the item and a video of how you use it (or even a gif!) If you’re talking about a recipe, then you might want a photo of the ingredients, finished product and maybe a few of a technique that is easier to show what it should look like.
Today’s discussion is aimed a little more towards the bloggers who take their own photos for review posts, although we’d love to hear everyones opinions! What do you think is the perfect balance of photos for a blog post?
I always get so confused on how long posts should be and how many photos you need. When reading blogs I think 3 is always a good balance H x
It’s so difficult to know how many photos to use. I enjoy reading photo-heavy posts so I think I tend to use more photos than less!
Cathy x
http://whiskshooksandbooks.blogspot.co.uk/
I generally do the format of 1 or 2 photos max, then all my writing, and then the rest of the photos. I try not to include photos that are too similar.
I will include loads of photos if it’s something other than an outfit post that requires more photos, like a day out etc.
x
I don’t think I have ever put more than one photo for my blog posts but that is just because my topics always lend themselves to few photos. I really love photo heavy posts so long as they’re nice photos. Good photography is a quick way to my heart :)
I definitely agree that some fashion/beauty bloggers go way overboard with unnecessary photo shots. The idea of a GIF to demo beauty products is a great idea!!
It’s hard to judge how many photos should be in a post eg travel blog posts should include interesting and emotive images to get the reader into the scene/destination… I agree with Devyn – posts (when shot well) should include a high amount of images. If you have a load of photos, why not squeeze them into an Instagram collage format?
Yes, @BonjourBlogger – too many photos IS tedious! http://t.co/1DTGJsBM0B Don’t need to see the same pic 10 times with tiny variations…
I think it depends on the type of post. If they’re all different photos of different things, then yes, I’m all for photo heavy posts (I’m one of those bloggers haha) but even I’ve started putting some of mine into collages now.
When it comes to recipes though, you don’t need every.single.angel of shot, I know I’ve been guilty of this when I first started blogging, but it’s actually mildly annoying to scroll through looking at exactly the same dish of food before getting to the recipe.
I now have my hero, pinnable image, perhaps a collage of prep and then another one at the end of the finished dish.
For crafts I do the same – depends though, and for trip reports it’s all out photos I’m afraid!!
On the whole, the more text I include, the more images I include, to help balance it. With outfit posts I tend to have 5-6 images but I try to mix them up so they’re not all the same!
I usually aim for 4-5 photos in a personal style post. I don’t really see the point in posting more than that unless there are changes to the outfit or extremely unique angles to show off.
I get bored if I have to scroll through too many photos but on the other hand I love a well taken photo in a blog post!