It's taken me a long time to be happy with my blog photos, and even though I know I'm not the queen of flatlays, I've dramatically improved since I first started and I think that's all down to different props and backgrounds. Over the last year in particular I've really got into the photography side of blogging and I now love picking up new bits to add to my photos, and all of them are on the cheaper side! Blog props don't have to be expensive and if you shop around you can find some fab bits, so I thought I'd share some of my favourite affordable extras and let you know where I found them!
Trinket Dishes & Candles
Small trinket dishes are always a winner when it comes to photos. They just fill a space and are great to grab when you're stuck. I have a few different ones which I tend to use quite a lot, these being a pineapple dish that I picked up from New Look for about £5 (similar here), a Winnie the Pooh gold dish which was £8 from Clintons and a little white and gold pineapple dish from Wilkinsons which was only about £1.50! You can find a variety of cute trinket dishes for under £10 from all sorts of place and they look great with lots of different products. I love to use the pineapple one with beauty products especially, and it's a staple for photos throughout summer! I also love to add candles to photos. Recently I've been adding my Bath and Body Works dupe to the background whenever there is a space and this is £3.99 from B&M. As the copper lid is so pretty I also sometimes use this in my photos and you would never know what it is! Another candle I love to use and have done for a long time is a copper geometric style holder from the Card Factory which was only £1.99.
Fake Flowers
I love love love adding fake flowers to my photos. I find they can just completely change a photo and I can go from absolutely hating what I see to loving it. I have a few different ones I like to rotate, some fake peonies from Ebay which were around £3.50 at the time, some white carnations from IKEA which were 40p each, a pink orchard stem which was £1.25 from Wilkinsons and also some dried rose petals which I got in my Asda food shop for £1.50 and they are my current favourite to add to photos. Artificial flowers really don't have to be expensive and when you shop around you can find some beautiful ones. Something else I like to use in Autumn is fake maple leaves which I found on Amazon last year. They were for £1.99 for 100 and they were perfect for the last few months of 2017! I don't tend to stick to themes on Instagram but I do like to add little extras in to reflect the season when I can.
Cheap Wrapping Paper
As you can see from the photo above and the one below, I love to use wrapping paper as a prop. I only have one white background in this whole flat which is suitable for photos but I don't always like to stick with that so wrapping paper has been a great find! Whenever I buy any, I cut a large rectangular piece off and just keep with the rest of my blog props. I currently have quite a few so when I need to, I have a few to choose from. The one in the photo above was from Asda and was £2, and the one in the photo below was from Paperchase which if I remember correctly was around £1.50 for a sheet. I currently have my eye on this Gold Wood Grain one but they have loads to choose from instore. Wallpaper samples are also brilliant and you can get these totally free! I recently ordered a few from Next and delivery was also free but you can find many in stores like B&M and B&Q.
Blankets & Fabrics
One of the first things I started to use when taking blog photos was any blankets I could find! I've got quite a chunky fluffy one which I've used multiple times in photos and I've also got a lighter winter themed one which I love to use around Christmas time. These are things I had anyway so didn't cost me anything but you can find things like this in Primark for around £5. I also like to use other bits of fabric I can find and a favourite of mine is a thin scarf. I like how this looks in the corner of photos and it's so simple but adds a nice bit of texture and colour. Lastly in Winter I love to use a tartan pillowcase I have. Random I know but I didn't have a red tartan scarf which I thought would be perfect for Christmas themed photos and then I noticed the bedding in the spare room! There's no harm in getting inventive and using things you might not usually think of.
Stationery & Magazines
I love using a magazine as a backdrop to my photos. I find they're great for placing beauty products on or for placing to the side as an extra just to change up the white background. I've got a few different £1 Glamour and Cosmopolitan magazines which I flick through every so often and I try to find a page relevant to the products I'm wanting to photograph. Aswell as magazines, I also love to use notebooks. You can buy really cheap ones from places like Home Bargains and Wilkinsons and they're really, really pretty! I have few pastel pinks one which I like to use and I love how they look in flatlays.
Makeup
Though with a lot of my photos, makeup is the main focus, I also like to add little beauty items when I'm photographing other things. If I'm struggling with ideas and don't know how to fill the space I'll just add a few nail polishes, bits of jewellery and lipstick. These are things I have in my makeup bag anyway so cost no extra and they're fab to just grab when you're in a bit of a rut!
Ribbons & Fairy Lights
The last few bits I have in my props basket which I like to use to finish any photos is ribbon and fairy lights. I picked up some gold glittery ribbon from Hobbycraft for £1 around Christmas and now I tend to use it in most photos. I find they photograph quite well and just cover any little spaces. Fairy lights are also great especially to drape over any products and I find it instantly changes the photo up. I currently use some from Primark which were £2.50 and as they're copper wire they go really well with other props I tend to use and they're easy to position exactly how you want.
I had no intention of this post being so long but I just had so many things I wanted to share! It really is worth shopping around for extras for your photos as you can find some real gems. Places like B&M, Primark and Ebay are always a winner and brilliant for a bargain. Though aswell as that, it's always worth having a look around your home and finding some bits to include as I mentioned above, you can honestly create some beautiful photos at no extra cost at all!
Where do you tend to find your blog props?
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