Thursday, February 26, 2015

How to Take Better Photos of Your Tea

One of my favorite blogs is Oh How Civilized by Jee Choe. I love her combination of tea, luxury, and travel. Every time I read one of her posts I'm amazed by her gorgeous photos. She has a great eye for design and placement. I often wonder how she gets her photos to look so perfect, so I asked. Jee has been kind enough to share her top photo tips with us! Here are her four expert tips on taking better photos:
Having taken many, many photos of tea for my blog Oh, How Civilized and for Instgram, I've picked up a few tricks and tips on how to get the best shots. I want to share with you four tips that I find to be the most useful.
[1] Natural Light
I always aim to take photos in natural light. Setting up your tea near a natural light source is already going to set you up for a great photo. It's good to have just one light source to get the best shot. If I'm taking the photo at home, I'll make sure all indoor lights are shut off so I don't get any weird shadows.
 [2] Three Angles
I like to take multiple shots and select the one I like the most. I'll always take at least one shot straight on.
Then another at a 45 degree angle.
And finally, one overhead.
 [3] Rule of Thirds
I like to follow the principle of rule of thirds. Instead of putting the focal point in the center of the photo, place it at one of the four intersecting points as shown. Your camera will most likely have a option to turn the these grid guides on to help you figure out where the focus should be placed.
[4] Focus, Focus, Focus
You can ruin a great photo by not having the primary focal point in focus. I've taken many photos where I think "FOCUS FAIL!" I try to combat this by taking a couple of shots per angle to make sure I can get at least one photo that is super sharp. The part of the photo that you want to draw the eye to should be in focus. If it's not, take another.
Hope these tips help you take better tea photos!

Very helpful tips, thank you so much Jee! For more of  Jee's gorgeous photos check out her blog and instagram page. Now get out there and start snapping your own gorgeous photos!

4 comments:

  1. Hi Sara, hope your readers find these photo tips helpful!

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    1. I am becoming obsessed with Instagram and I think tea is the perfect model so these tips are amazing to have. Thank you :)

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    2. I've had the grid enabled on my camera for a long time and now I know how to use it! Thanks, Jee. Great idea, Sara.

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