When I started my blog in 2014, I borrowed a camera from my grad school’s media department and enticed a friend to take photos of me in a stylish outfit outside the Cleveland Art Museum. The joke was on us when we realized after an hour of shooting, my friend hadn’t been holding the shutter button down all the way and we had a total of five photos to work with. In that exact moment I realized there’s a lot more work (and planning) in content creation than meets the eye.
That’s the biggest misconception about bloggers or influencers: a perceived lack of planning. I hate to break it to you but your favorite influencer likely isn’t waltzing around Manhattan in a ballgown and four-inch heels on a daily basis going about her errands. A lot of the content we see on social media is not, repeat NOT spontaneous. And while this is common knowledge, I think it’s best to be open and honest about content planning because life is hard enough without thinking everyone’s picture-perfect lives go on like clockwork around us (the curse of social media).
But there is an art to being a content creator. I know each blogger has a different method to their madness, but when I plan to shoot a recipe I’ve made it two or three times before shooting and sharing on Bliss & Bellinis to make sure it’s absolutely perfect. My apartment’s kitchen has dark countertops under less than desirable lighting, which makes it hard to get a good photo so I have a piece of white marble that I pull into natural light and set up the recipe in that space. I don’t use any ring lights, so I truly have to cross my fingers it’s not a miserable grey day because I need good, natural light to photograph the dish.
And shooting outfits outside? This one takes a lot of time and effort leading up to actually taking the picture. Besides selecting the exact outfit to showcase, I’ve got to scout a picturesque location, with little foot traffic, and pray the weather cooperates. I work during the week at my corporate job, so the weekends are really all I’ve got to work with. I also prefer to shoot my content in the mornings before the sun is too high to avoid a Peter Pan-esque shadow dancing on the ground behind me. “Just take pictures inside” you say? Add a small apartment and Covid regulations into that mix and that really shortens the list of potential locations.
I could go on for days about the planning, strategizing, and execution behind being a content creator but I guess revealing all those details is like giving away the recipe to my secret sauce. Long story short you’ve got to be your own account person, stylist, creative director, photographer, photo editor, copywriter, IT department and social media strategist and you’ve got to get pretty good at them all. So just know the creators you choose to follow are putting a lot of effort into creating the recipes, outfits, restaurant recommendations, gift guides, and beautiful images you love to see. And the great part of social media is how easy it is to support your favorite creators; you can just engage with, interact, and share their posts; their works of art.
@bliss_and_bellinis
