I’ve had a few readers recently ask me how I edit the photos that I put up on my blog and Facebook page, so I thought I’d share some of my tips with you.
I am by no means an expert and totally flattered that you love my photos (cue big cheshire cat grin). Most of what I do has been learnt purely from trial and error and taking so many photos that my poor iphoto account is fit to burst (really must find the time to sort it out).
Here are a few of my very quick and easy tips to help make your photos look fabulous!
This photo was taken with my Canon 70D. The ‘before’ image is the original. The ‘after’ I edited in Picmonkey with three simple steps:
- I lifted the exposure (using the exposure button) to make it much lighter.
- I made her eyes a little brighter (using the touch up button – shaped like a lipstick).
- I cropped it to a size 5″ x 7″ (using the crop button)
It took me about 5 seconds to fix and I think it look SO much better. What do you think? There is so much more you can do with Picmonkey, so I highly recommend just having a good play around with it. I love my photos to be bright and often over-exposed, so adjusting the exposure is always the very first thing I do.
I’m also a real fuss-pot when it comes to posting photos online and I will never post anything on the internet unless I have edited it first. Especially when taking photos with my iphone and posting them directly to the internet (namely Facebook).
This is the original shot I took looking straight into the sun on the beach the other day with my iphone. I saved the original (which is always good practice), and then used the “little moments App” by Fat Mum Slim to adjust the exposure.
I think it now looks much more like I was seeing it with my naked eye and removing the shadows makes it look much clearer to me. Lighter, clearer photos are much easier to view on a mobile devices – which, lets be honest, is what most of us use to look at Facebook photos these days. You can also go a step further and add a filter to your photos if you want to be a little different. There are so many to choose from that I just recommend going with the one that grabs your attention, chances are everyone else will like it too.
I’ve added the ‘Hailey” filter here from the Little moments App as I think it makes this photo looks so much warmer (it was a freezing cold day when I took it).
You can also have fun and even tell a story or drive a message with your photos by adding text and overlays to them.



You can very quickly and easily add text to your photos using both Picmonkey on a desktop or laptop or using an app on your mobile device. I don’t always add text to photos but I think you can often get a much stronger message across when posting to your social media account or blog if you do, especially when using something like Pinterest.
I used to use two or three different apps to edit one photo on my iphone, but these days I just tend to use the little moments app. I can do just about everything with it, making it so much quicker to get fabulous photos on your iphone. I’m not very good at using photoshop (yet) so I just stick with Picmonkey or Canva and as it gives me everything I need quickly.
If you search google there are hundreds of articles with great tips for editing photos, but here are some of my favourites. A Beautiful Mess gives you great tips for taking amazing food photographs, Chantelle from Fat Mum Slim explains how to rock sun flare (which I LOVE) and here is a look at 32 wonderful, creative and unique ways to take a family photo.
How do you edit your photos? Do you prefer over or under exposed images?
I now do edit all photos, using Adobe Camera Raw now but about to start Photoshop part of the course I am doing. I think you are right that you need to think about social media when you take and edit photos and it’s different to even our blogs. Hadn’t quite got a grip of that.I do like the over exposed look and must try that more. Have you used Snapseed? I love it for the iphone and use it a lot to straighten horizons as it’s so easy and quick, and it’s so hard to get them straight using a phone. Cheers Seana
I’m slowing starting to get the hang of photoshop, but it takes me so much longer as I don’t really know what I’m doing with it yet. I do use snapseed and camera plus and a few others but I must admit I love the little moments app – so quick and easy. I love over exposed pics – not everyone preference I know and I’m sure it’s not professionally correct, but I like them. How’s your course going? I love your action shots – I still need to work on mine xx
I’m rarely edit my photos on my phone these days, but when I do I love Tadaa and Little Moments for when I remember to take part in Photo a Day! 🙂
I can’t help myself – I have to edit EVERYTHING!! Never heard of Tadaa before, must check it out xx
I didn’t realise you could do so much with pic monkey. Must check it our more closely 🙂
It’s great hon, although I do pay $5 a month for the upgraded version. It’s nice and simple which is perfect for me :)))
I’m far too lazy to edit photos on my phone – which is ironic really given how much time I spend editing my camera pics in Photoshop! I just got a new lens today so of course had to take the girls to the park to practice 😉
Ooooh what did you get??? Am I going to get lens envy?? x
I also love Pic Monkey but haven’t edited in ages, just too slack. Thanks for sharing your secrets – you do always have very lovely images xx
Thanks lovely. The simpler the process the better for me :)) x
Love how you edited your pics. I have pic monkey and canva and little moments but I honestly rarely do more than cropping. I cannot for the life of me figure out the tools that work on details like skin tone and shadows.
Some excellent and easy to implement tips Robyn , I love using picmonkey too!
Great tips. I use pic monkey occasionally and the Little Moments app too. I don’t have a great eye for what looks visually appealing, but I really want to work on this. It’s amazing how you adjusting the exposure on those images made such a difference.