Artificial lighting gives you flexibility, control, and consistency that you just can’t get when you’re working with and relying on… the sun! Particularly if you are photographing in the winter, on nights and weekends, live in a cloudy or rainy climate, or live someplace without many windows, artificial lighting is a necessity when it comes to food photography.

One of the biggest barriers to getting started with artificial lighting is the equipment. Which artificial lights are the best? Are there any affordable options? What other materials do you need? Curious to answer these questions and learn more about choosing the best artificial lights for food photography? We’re breaking it all down below!

How to choose LED panels for artificial lighting

There are two main kinds of artificial lights: continuous and strobe (or flash). For the purposes of this post, we’re going to focus on continuous light because it’s the most similar to natural light. It means that you’ll have a light on continuously throughout the shoot. It’s like turning a light switch, but unlike an overhead light in your home, an artificial continuous light setup gives you a bit more control in terms of light quality and direction.

There are countless varieties of continuous lights, but our favorite for food photography is an LED panel. LED panels are available in a variety of sizes and budgets (you can search for “LED light panels for photography or video” to compare options) — so how do you choose?

What specifications should you look for when choosing an artificial light?

• Daylight balanced (5200-5600K) — this gives the light a more ‘natural’ quality.
• Brightness — get the brightest panel that fits within your budget (660W is ideal).
• CRI (Color Rendering Index) Rating of 90+ — this is an indicator of quality (no flickering!) and how well the light will render the true quality of the object you’re photographing.

One of our go-to options is the Neewer LED Light Panel. They are easily broken down for storage (convenient!) and are dimmable. You can also change the temperature of the light which is a nice customizable option to have. The Godox Godox SL150W II LED Video Light and the MOUNTDOG Softbox Lighting Kit are two additional options, depending on your budget and preferences!

Additional equipment for artificial lighting

Now that you’re prepared to purchase the “lighting” portion of your artificial lighting setup, what else do you need? There are a few other tools that will make photographing with artificial lighting easier and more successful.

Tripod

When you’re shooting with artificial light, which isn’t nearly as bright as the sun, you’ll need to slow down your shutter speed. If you’re holding the camera in your hands at these lower shutter speeds, the camera will pick-up on your shaking hands and you’ll end up with blurry images.

An easy fix? A tripod! This tripod is a good budget option and this tripod comes highly recommended by Food Blogger Pro members.

Diffuser

Diffusers are essential when using artificial light. They are positioned in-between your light source and your subject matter (aka your soup, bread, cupcakes, or whatever you’re shooting). Diffusers take the small light source from your LED panel and diffuse it into a big, soft light source that’s more reminiscent of the sunlight you get through your windows.

You’ll want to experiment with the distance between the light source and the diffuser to see what works best for your photograph style. A simple rule of them is the farther the diffuser is from the light, the softer the light will be.

Some of the most popular diffusers for artificial lighting are the NEEWER 40″x60″/100x150cm Light Reflectors.

Reflector

A reflector, or bounce card, is positioned opposite from your light source to… reflect (!) light back onto your subject matter. This helps to fill in any shadows or dark areas of your image and provide a more uniform lighting.

Reflectors can be very simple — a piece of white foam board works perfectly!

How to use artificial lighting for food photography

Once you’ve pieced together your equipment and set-up for artificial lighting, a few simple tips and tricks will help improve the quality of your photography right from the start.

• Continuous artificial light is not bright enough to block any other ambient light. Close your window curtains and turn off overhead lights to block out other lights that might affect the white balance of your photographs. The only light should be from artificial continuous light.
• Position the light source behind or to the side of your food just as you would with window lighting
• Use black cards to absorb light and create deeper shadows for higher contrast in your images.
• Adjust the height of the artificial lights to control how the light falls across your food.
• Experiment with changing the temperature of the light source.

As with all new skills in food blogging, there will be a learning curve with artificial lighting in food photography. But it’s an incredibly valuable skill to have that will give you invaluable flexibility and opportunities for creativity.

Looking for additional resources for artificial lighting? We love the artificial lighting resources from The Bite Shot and Two Loves Studio.

Do you use artificial lighting for your food photography? Any favorite tips or products to share?

The post Best Artificial Lights for Food Photography appeared first on Food Blogger Pro.

Because you know the old adage, “We eat with our eyes”? Well… it’s true! I know that when I’m looking for a recipe to make, I’ll only consider it if the photos are mouthwatering.

The strategies and skills we’re going to cover are ones that you can easily implement as a beginner food photographer:

1. Use natural light
2. Use the camera you have
3. Know your angles
4. The Rule of Thirds
5. Use the Color Wheel
6. Use props in your food photography
7. Find your style

With these food photography tips for beginners, you can take your photography skills from the lackluster photo on the left to the stunner on the right in no time!

Food Photography Tips for Beginners

1. Use natural light

The easiest and cheapest tip of them all…using the sun!

We suggest using natural light versus the harsh overhead lights in your house or the flash on your camera. Why? Let’s compare:

The picture on the left was taken with an overhead light, while the one on the right was lit only with the light from the sun.

Notice how the photo on the left has an orangey hue? You can thank overhead lighting for that! In addition to an unnatural color, overhead lighting and camera flash can give your photos unwanted and harsh shadows. Not super yummy.

The colors in the photo on the right are much more natural, much more appetizing, and more true to the actual colors of the food. I’d dig into that any day.

Adjusting your camera’s white balance can help (to an extent), but nothing beats the colors, look, and feel that a natural lighting situation can bring to your photos.

An important thing to note about natural lighting is that you should opt for shooting in indirect sunlight, rather than direct sunlight. With indirect sunlight, light will drape over your food, rather than blow out your colors and give you those intense shadows. Indirect sunlight gives a much more natural look to your colors, which is much more appetizing to your readers.

That is, of course, a styling preference, so if you like those harsh sunlight shadows, go for it! Bon Appetit has been really successful with this with a few of their food photos. Just be sure to adjust your colors with an editing program to make sure they really pop!

2. Use the camera you have

When you’re first starting on your food photography journey, there’s no reason to drop a ton of moolah to make it happen.

Have a smartphone or a point-and-shoot camera? Great! Get started with that, and upgrade if, and when, the right time comes. You can practice honing in on your style and learning about lighting while taking great photos with the camera you have.

Mobile phone cameras are pretty incredible these days, so we suggest using the tools you have when you start photographing food.

3. Know your angles

When you take a food photo, where do you stand in respect to where your food is? Knowing your angles can help you figure that out!

With food photography, there are three main angles:

Table Height Angle

As the name suggests, you can achieve this angle by positioning your camera flat against your table. This angle works best for thick foods, big piles of foods, or stacked foods. Here are some examples:

This is a really great angle to show texture in your food; just be sure to be aware of whatever is in the background of your photo. You may need to use a second photography board or a bare wall to get the look you’re after.

Three-Fourths Angle

The midpoint between a Table Height angle and an Overhead angle (more on the latter in a second). I really like a Three-Fourths angle because you can see a bit more of your food, especially when it’s in a bowl. Imagine how you’d stand if you were peeking into a bowl full of cookie dough — that’s the look that the Three-Fourths angle will give you.

It’s also really helpful for showing depth if the food you’re shooting is long and flat. A Table Height angle really wouldn’t work with a platter of food because you miss so much of the full picture; the Three-Fourths angle will help you fit the entirety of the platter in the frame, while still showing off some height.

Here are some examples:

Imagine your table or photography background is 0° and directly over your food is 90°. To achieve this Three-Fourth’s look, position yourself in the middle of the two, at 45°.

Overhead Angle

The famous flat-lay! This angle, taken from directly above the food, is great for foods or spreads that have a ton of texture or different elements like this:

These kinds of photos may be difficult to achieve depending on how tall the surface you’re shooting on is, so if you’re having trouble, you can use a step-stool or take your photography background to the ground. Just be sure you’re not blocking your light source with this angle!

4. The Rule of Thirds

The Rule of Thirds is a classic way to help you compose your photo in an aesthetically pleasing, balanced way. This guideline was first mentioned all the way back in 1797, and it helps you position the content in your image.

Take this photo for instance. Let’s divide it up into thirds.

To follow the Rule of Thirds, any important parts of your image — in this case, it’s that fully-pictured chicken sandwich–should be positioned at the intersections of your lines.

You can also use the lines in your Rule of Thirds grid to figure out the positioning of important elements in your photo. Let’s take that same chicken sandwich photo again:

The arm, the torso, and the serving platter are all positioned along those “Rule of Thirds” dividers. Nifty!

Of course, rules are meant to be broken, so you can still achieve an incredibly aesthetically-pleasing photo without utilizing the Rule of Thirds:

We just suggest using it as a starting point as you begin to hone in on your style.

5. Use the Color Wheel

We’re going back to middle school art class and talking about Color Theory and the Color Wheel!

(Fun fact: the Color Wheel was invented by Isaac Newton! Crazy, right?!)

Do you remember the Color Wheel? It looks like this:

Complementary colors are across from each other in the Color Wheel, meaning that if you have an orange food (think enchiladas with orange sauce), it may make sense aesthetically to include some kind of blue linen or bowl in the photo. Orange and blue are across from each other in the Color Wheel, and according to the Color Theory, that means that those colors will help each other “pop” in your photo. Pretty cool, huh?

There are other color combinations in addition to “complementary colors” that we’re not going to get into today, but if you’re having trouble figuring out why your photos look dull or unexciting, try checking out the Color Wheel and playing with your colors a bit. I love this page from Canva where you can experiment with different colors and color combinations. Hopefully it can help you think of creative ways to style a photo.

6. Use props in your food photography

Food photography props and backdrops can be used to create the mood of your photos. These props are also useful for providing visual interest and structure to your photographs. Take a photo like this. What does this photo make you feel?

Cozy? Ready to spend time with your family around the dinner table? Wanting Thanksgiving to happen immediately so you can dive face-first into this bowl of yum?

Exactly. And while the food clearly adds to that comforting aesthetic, the props (like the distressed wooden background and the antique spoon) really help convey your message (“You should make this for Thanksgiving!”).

7. Find your style

Just because one food photographer is doing something one way, that doesn’t mean that you have to do it that way too. And that’s okay! Your photography style makes your blog and your photos unique; don’t be afraid to break the rules.

A fun exercise is to peruse Pinterest or your favorite blogs and save the pictures that make you go, “Wow. That’s a great picture. I’m saving that recipe for later!” It can help you hone in on the style that really speaks to you. Do you like dark and moody photos or light and airy photos? Lots of props or more minimal?

Food photography can seem intimidating, but these strategies for beginners (just like you!) should help give you some direction as you jump into this wonderful, delicious world.

If you’re a seasoned photographer, we’re curious: What are some other photography rules that you follow? Any tips for newbies? Leave ’em in the comments below!

P.S. We have a ton of photography and photo editing tutorials on Food Blogger Pro. You can get access to them (along with other courses on growing your blog, monetizing, and more) by signing up for a membership today!

The post 7 Food Photography Tips for Beginners appeared first on Food Blogger Pro.

When it comes to taking mouthwatering food photos, it’s really important to create a compelling visual scene, and a great backdrop can make a huge difference.

There are many types of backdrops you can use for your food photos, and we wanted to highlight a few of our favorites, as well as where you can buy them, in this post. Alternatively, you could also consider making your own backdrops, so we’ll share all our best tips and tricks on how to do that as well!

Our Favorite Types of Backdrops for Food Photography

Before you invest in any new backdrops, it’s important to think through what color and type of backdrop you want to use for your food photos. Let’s walk through a few of our favorite types:

Wood Backdrops

Without a doubt, a tried-and-true favorite of food photographers is a classic wood backdrop.

The rich color of a wood backdrop helps warm photos up and gives them a rustic look. When you look at an appetizing bowl of soup against a wood backdrop, it makes you feel like you’re right there in the photo, dipping your own slice of bread in the soup to get a big bite.

And when it comes to wood backdrops, there are so many different tones of wood that you can choose from. Play around and find a shade and texture that best fits your photography style.

Unique wood backdrop ideas: wooden cutting boards, kitchen tables, hardwood floors, reclaimed wood from the hardware store

White and Marble Backdrops

White and marble backdrops are also very popular choices for food photographers, and with good reason!

Light backdrops like this really help food pop out of the photograph. It can be fun to experiment with bright colors against a white background — vibrant green salad, juicy red tomatoes, and sliced oranges all really shine against a white or marble backdrop.

Unique white or marble backdrop ideas: marble countertops, marble cutting boards, parchment paper, white kitchen tile

Dark Backdrops

On the other hand, you might want to opt for a dark backdrop if you want to give your photos a dramatic, moody feel.

Dark backdrops really help colors stand out in a photo and keep your eyes focused on the food instead of the background. Since there is so much contrast between the food colors and the background, the food remains the star of the photo.

Unique dark backdrop ideas: black chalkboards, dark (soapstone or granite) countertops, dark tile, dark kitchen tables

Grey Backdrops

Have you ever tried shooting photos using a grey backdrop? They’re another one of our favorites!

In contrast to white and dark backdrops, grey backdrops provide a subtle background that can help mellow out the photo, which can oftentimes place more emphasis on the food in a different way.

Unique grey backdrop ideas: metal tables, baking sheets

Colorful Backdrops

If you prefer bright and bold photographs, a colorful backdrop might be the way to go! A favorite of many food photographers, a bright backdrop can really make a statement in your photo.

And don’t be afraid to color block your photos — try shooting a bowl of juicy strawberries against a red backdrop or photographing ears of corn against a yellow backdrop for a bold, monochromatic look.

Unique colorful backdrop ideas: colorful foam boards or poster boards, large sheets of construction paper, contact paper that you cover a piece of scrap wood with

Linens as Backdrops

Last but not least, we love using linens as backdrops! You can style your food on top of a tablecloth or a cloth napkin to create an eye-catching photo.

The fabric of the linen helps provide texture and detail to the photo without being overpowering. And you don’t even necessarily need to iron the linen first; you can leave it a bit wrinkled and strategically use the creases to create shadows and dimension in your photos.

Unique linen backdrop ideas: tablecloths, cloth napkins, flour sack towels, t-shirts

Where to Buy Food Photography Backdrops

There are lots of stores that sell backdrops specifically for photographers, but these are a few of our (and our community’s) favorites (in no particular order):

• Replica Surfaces — These are great backdrops for those on a budget. Their backdrops are light, easy to maneuver, and come in lots of colors and patterns.
• Capture by Lucy — Though based in the United Kingdom, CBL ships backdrops worldwide. They sell vinyl backdrops in a wide variety of shades and colors.
• SwankyPrints — This Etsy shop sells vinyl backdrops that are waterproof and can be rolled out flat.
• Erickson Surfaces – They make beautiful double-sided real wood background boards specifically for food photographers. Their boards are a bit on the pricier side, but they’re well worth the investment.
• Woodville Workshop — This company offers high-quality, double-sided backdrops made out of wood or stone. They offer several different sizing options, and though they are based in Kazakhstan, they ship worldwide.

In addition to all these stores, we recommend keeping an eye out when shopping in places like thrift or antique stores. You never know what kind of beautiful surfaces you’ll find that might make a perfect backdrop!

And when you’re just starting out with food photography, don’t feel like you need to go out and buy all the backdrops — you can always use something like a small table in your living room as your first backdrop and grow your collection over time.

How to Create Your Own Painted Backdrops

Don’t want to shell out lots of money on a brand-new backdrop? You can always make your own backdrop at home! All you need are a few supplies and a bit of creativity.

Plus, the best part is that your DIY backdrops will be entirely unique! Since nobody else will have the same backdrop as you, your photographs will have an original feel.

Here’s an easy way to DIY your own photography backdrop:

1. Purchase a wooden board with your preferred dimensions. You can easily buy these at your local hardware store and have them cut to the size you’d like.
2. Buy some paint samples in your desired color. The hardware store usually sells small paint samples for just a few dollars, so look around and buy a sample or two of the color you’re going for. For a unique look, you can always try blending a few different shades together.
3. If you’d prefer a board with texture, try using a ready-mixed concrete patch (like this one). Before painting your board, you can spread this concrete patch on the board using a trowel to create texture and dimension. Be sure to let the concrete patch dry completely before painting.
4. Using the paint samples you purchased, paint the board. Paint the board using your paint of choice, and be sure to get into all the nooks and crevices of the board. To add more dimension, you can also add in some light or dark paint (such as white or black) to add some additional highlights and shadows.
5. Let the board dry completely before using. If desired, you can paint the other side to create a double-sided board.

A quick disclaimer: if you tend to put food directly on your backdrops, be sure to double-check that the materials you used are food safe. Some of these materials may not be, so it would be better to use dishes and other props between your actual food and the photography surface.

And that’s a wrap on our discussion of all-things photography backdrops! We hope this post gave you some inspiration and ideas to take your backdrop collection to the next level.

Now let us know in the comments: What kinds of backdrops do you like to use for your food photos? Have you ever tried making your own backdrop?

The post Best Photography Backdrops for Food Bloggers appeared first on Food Blogger Pro.

Plates, forks, bowls, napkins, mugs… the list of potential props in your food photographs goes on and on! These props help to create a story and set the mood in your photographs.

Props are also useful for adding visual interest and structure to your photographs. But choosing the right props to include in your photos can feel daunting! 

You want to choose props that will help your food shine. It is also important to use props that are consistent with your food photography style and brand. 

We’re here to break down everything you need to know about props, from all of the props to have in your collection, to the best places to buy props, and even examples of how to use them!

Building a Collection of Food Photography Props

We’ve broken down the props we recommend into a few different categories. While this list may feel intimidating, it is important to remember that you do not need everything on this list. Far from it! 

Pick and choose from the items we’ve listed below to fit your photography style and budget.

We’ve linked to suggested items for each prop we recommend (not affiliate links), but feel free to dig around on your own to find items that you love.

Note: For most dishes we recommend a matte finish to reduce the shine and reflections off of the dishes in your photography.

White, off-white or neutral dinnerware

These will be your go-to props and you really only need one of each!

• Dinner plate
• Salad plate
• Pasta Bowl

Unique dinnerware

We recommend having a few extra pieces that can provide color, texture, details, and shape to your photographs.

• Plates
• Bowls

Large dishes

These are great for taking photos of food that looks better in its original dish, or may not look as appetizing once you’ve served it!

• White ceramic baking dish with handles
• White oval/round ceramic dish
• Cast iron skillet

Utensils

• Basic Silverware – use whatever you have at home
• Vintage silverware – bonus points for a tarnished finish!
• Wooden spoons
  • Tip: Adding a wooden spoon to the skillet or pan can add life and authenticity to your photo. 

Glassware

• Clear wine glass
• Water glass
• Colored/textured glasses
• Mugs

Linen Napkins

Once linen napkins are washed, they have a wrinkly quality which adds an additional element of texture and depth to your photographs.

Where to Buy Food Photography Props

The sky is the limit when it comes to building your prop collection, but here are a few of our favorite places to find props:

• Etsy
• World Market
• Thrift shops (like Goodwill)
• Target
• Home Goods
• Estate Sales
• Antique shops
• Ikea
• Restoration Hardware
• Crate and Barrel

Props You Already Have at Home

While you may need to buy a few props when you’re getting started, the great news is that you probably already have lots of items on hand at home to supplement your food styling collection. Let’s take a look at some examples!

Old, rusty cookie sheets…

Parchment paper/brown paper…

Your hands…

Cooling racks…

The food – more on this later!

How to Use Props in your Food Photography

When you’re ready to take a photograph of your food, it is best to start with the bare minimum in terms of props and add prop pieces only as they’re needed.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed about using props, an easy way to get started is to choose a monochromatic prop set-up. 

This allows the food to be the focus and ensures that the viewer’s eye is not distracted by any contrasting colors in the props. 

Let’s take a look at what this might look like. Below you will see the same food plated in a white bowl with a white background and in a black bowl with a black background. 

Both photos are beautiful and make the food “pop” — but which is your favorite? Neither is wrong; they’re just different styles. And you get to define what your food photography style looks and feels like!

Using food from the recipe as a prop is another simple way to start introducing props into your food photography. 

Try using garnishes like herbs, a wedge of citrus fruit, or a hunk of bread in your photographs to add interest, color, and texture to your photos. 

And that wraps up our deep dive into props for food photography! We’d love to know… what are your favorite props to use in your photos?

The post Best Props for Food Photography and How to Use Them appeared first on Food Blogger Pro.

It’s not too surprising –– you know that phrase, “You eat with your eyes”? Great photos are an essential part of any successful food blog, so it makes sense that bloggers are concerned with making sure that the photos on their sites are on their sites are the right size for their posts, Google, and site speed.

Image size may seem like a simple enough topic, but it’s actually a bit more nuanced than you may think!

So let’s dive into the beautiful world of food photo sizing.

Why should you care about photo size?

Food blogs are typically pretty photo-heavy –– we want to show off the textures, colors, and experience of our recipes through the photos we add to our blog posts. Photos are great for readers, as they’ll know what to expect if they make the recipe, and you can easily share your photos on social media to help you get even more readers to your site.

That said, you want to make sure that your images aren’t too big or too small –– either case will create issues for your readers, your site speed, and search results.

And an important distinction before we unpack that, when we say “image size,” we’re talking about:

• The file size –– in kb (i.e. 700kb)
• The dimensions –– in pixels (i.e. 600px X 900px –– where the first number is the width and the second is the height)

Images that are too big

Let’s talk about images that are too big in file size first.

You know when your internet is slow and every site you try to visit takes for-ev-er to load? Super frustrating, right?

Your readers may have a slower internet connection than you, and if your image file size is too big, it’s going to require more resources to load when someone visits your site. Add in the other elements that are trying to load on your site –– like ads, your text, your theme, your colors, and your fonts –– and it can take a really long time to fully load your page!

47% of readers across the web expect a page to load in 2 seconds or less, and 40% of people leave a website that takes more than 3 seconds to load, so it’s incredibly important to do what you can in order to decrease your site loading times –– paying attention to image file size is an easy way to do that!

Now let’s talk about images that are too large dimension-wise.

The dimensions of your image can impact the file size of that image; if you’re exporting an image from your editing program that’s 3000px X 4500px, your file size will most likely be much larger than an image that’s exported at 1200px X 1800px.

Images that are too small

Lucky news: an image that has a small file size is actually a good thing. Faster is always better, and images that have small file sizes will load faster than those with larger file sizes.

Images that are exported with dimensions that are too small is the issue here. And to understand that, it’s important to first understand the content width of your blog posts.

When you think of a food blog post, it typically looks like this:

We have a menu bar on top, the content area on one side, and then a sidebar on the other.

That orange chunk –– the content area –– is what we’re talking about right now. That’s where your post, your recipe, and you photos go. Here’s what that looks like on our food blog, Pinch of Yum:

Content area widths differ from theme to theme, but most content widths are anywhere from 600px – 800px, meaning that there are that many pixels to fill width-wise in your blog post.

Typically, you’ll want images to fill that content area, so if your image dimensions are too small, it’ll leave some unwanted white space around your photo.

Not only that, but a lot of screens these days are 4K or retina-ready, meaning that they show twice as many pixels per pixel on the screen in order to deliver crisp, high-quality photos to their users.

If you upload an image that’s only the width of your content area or lower, your image will appear grainy, blurry, and unfocused on those retina screens because they’re expecting more pixels (or a larger image) in that area on the screen.

So we’re after the “Goldilocks” of a food photo –– one that’s not so big that it slows down our sites, but not too small so it still looks nice and crisp.

WordPress and Image srcset

If you’re a WordPress user, your theme will most likely utilize an image attribute called srcset, which helps make your images more responsive.

When you upload an image to WordPress, your site actually creates a bunch of different-sized versions of that image (called thumbnails) for use in different places in your theme.

srcset helps serve the correct image size for the device your reader is using. If your reader is reading your post on an iPhone, there’s no need for your website to serve a giant 1200px image when the screen is only 1125px wide (and when your content width is much smaller than that!).

On Pinch of Yum, srcset creates versions of the same image for screens that are 1200px wide, 200px wide, 600px wide, 768px wide, 1024px wide, and 150px wide:

This is a handy feature that optimizes your images for different devices, but there are still a few different ways that you can optimize your images even further to ensure they load efficiently and still look great.

How big should your images be?

The short answer –– A good rule of thumb is:

• Your image size should be in the 200kb to 300kb range.
• Your images should be 1200px wide (and however tall to maintain the correct aspect ratio).

The longer answer –– There are a lot of different components that impact the size of your images.

First, you need to start out with great photos. If you’re trying to optimize an image that’s too dark or grainy to begin with, no amount of image optimization will make them better.

Once you have a great photo, it’s time to edit. When you’re editing your photos in Photoshop, Lightroom, or another editing software, there are a few different ways you can minimize the file size and optimize the dimensions of your images:

1. Export your image as a JPG

JPG photographs are usually a bit smaller than their PNG cousins, so you’re already reducing your file size by exporting all of your images in this file type!

Nerd Note : JPG is great for photos, and PNG is great for text, line art, drawings, and most logos.

2. Resize your photo to have a width of 1200px

When exporting your photo, you can set the export width to our recommended 1200px, and keep the height “locked” so that it’ll automatically adjust based on the aspect ratio of your image.

If you’re editing an image that’s 3000px X 4500px and you set the export width to 1200px, your editing program can automatically adjust the height to have the same aspect ratio as the original image, 2:3. So your final exported image will be 1200px X 1800px.

3. Adjust the quality setting

Not only can you adjust the height and width of your image, you can also adjust the export quality.

If your export quality is at 100%, that image will export at the largest image size it can for the image’s dimensions. It’ll also be the most crisp image you can export from your editing software.

That said, you can reduce the export quality to make your file size a bit smaller. Of course, reducing the export quality too much may have a negative impact on the look of your image, but you may find that there isn’t a huge visual difference between exporting the image at 70% quality and 100% quality.

We recommend experimenting here and seeing what works for your photo style. Once you find a quality that works for your style, you typically won’t need to change it moving forward.

4. Keep an eye on the file size

After your image is exported with 1200px width and at a decreased quality, check the file size. Is it in the 200kb to 300kb range?

It may not be! And that’s because whatever is in the image itself can also impact the file size.

If your photo has a ton of texture and detail, it might need to be exported at a higher quality in order to look its best. And as we know, higher quality = larger file size.

So the tl;dr here is to find a quality setting that results in files sizes in the 200kb to 300kb range, as it’ll work for most of your photos, but definitely keep photo quality in mind and adjust as necessary in those one-off instances.

5. Use a compression plugin on your site

Last but not least, you can compress your images after they’ve been optimized! We like, use, and recommend a plugin called ShortPixel for that.

There are two really compelling reasons to use a compression plugin on your site:

1. They use custom algorithms that help reduce the image size significantly more than the ways we chatted about above.
2. They optimize all of the thumbnails that WordPress automatically generates (aka. those other sizes of the same image!).

If you’re a Food Blogger Pro member, you can head on over to our course that walks you through setting up and using this plugin.

Putting it All Together

Now, I know you may be saying, “Okay, Alexa, this is all fine and dandy. But you’ve just given me a lot of information to digest, and I need a quick checklist to help me make it all happen!”

Your wish is my command. Download this free PDF and keep it handy whenever you’re editing and uploading images for your blog posts!

Now we’re excited to hear from you: Is there anything that surprised you about image sizing? Anything you still have a question about? Let us know in the comments below!

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