Behind a blog photo

Behind a blog photo or a photo for instagram there can be a lot of work. I didn't use to plan my photos a lot, but now I do, especially for the blog, sometimes for my instagram. I have written a post about background and props ideas here: ... Now to the actual work behind it. 
First it's all about the topic, theme, title, book etc. Then I usually like to collected things connected to the theme, maybe make something, get some matching flowers etc.  This is the example of my summer lipstick post. I found a great card to go with it, decided to add some kisses on a white piece of paper, of course gather all the lipsticks and then think about the background. I didn't want to go with just white tiles, so I added my marble papers. 

Afterwards it's about arranging the backgrounds and all the props. I always have to move them around several times until I'm happy with it. Lighting plays an important role as well. When the sun is shining outside it's much easier to take photos. Then there is your shadow, make sure it's not in your picture and be careful with reflections. I usually take my pictures on the phone, I think the result is very good and it's easier for me. I use my camera from time to time, when my phone is on the picture or for other reasons. I'm not a big photography pro, so I didn't even know what my camera can really do. 

Having found the right arrangement I start taking the pictures. Here I did it with all the lipsticks first and then I put them in groups. I also took one, where they were closed and one where they were open to actually see the colours. 

Depending on the type of blog post or topic you need different perspectives, sides etc. In this example I also watched the lipsticks. I used a different background here. 

That was the actual part of taking pictures. Then I load them onto my computer, which is easy with my phone, because iCloud does it for me. Afterwards, I start editing the photos: cutting them to the right size/detail, changing the light, turning them etc. I also pic the main photo, duplicate it and add a title on it to put on top of my blog post and also to share in Twitter/Facebook etc. 

I'm sure other blogger put a lot more work behind their pictures, but I'm really happy the way I do it. How do you do it?