I have been creating my own images for my blog for the past 8 months now and there are so many things I have come to realize. In the past, the simplest way was creating a post, and downloading a themed image online to match the content.
This was something I did for a really long time, until I began to have issues with images that had watermark or copyright issues. With watermarked images, it was difficult to get curated by initiatives or incubation programs on the Hive blockchain. Some watermarked pictures are not easily detected, while others are, but it eventually doesn't sell originality.
However on the chain, we do not have issues with using GIFs and images that aren't ours especially if we source them back to the original owners, but i have come to learn from strict curating initiative that one of the reasons why people might create good contents and never get curated is because of the images they've used and how it rendered the originality of their content null and void
For example, in 2020, I was a sports writer back on sportstalk it was difficult to get an apprioprate image that didn't have copyright. Because of that, I dropped writing sports. The niche required one to have original images.
Another scenario is thatlive pictures of a sporting event you've witnessed. It was difficult to get images as this, because most sporting contents I had we're based on European football and this was more difficult.
The Limits Of Free Images
Of course, there were free stock image downloading websites like pexels and pixabay but this has its major downside.
Downloading from these places creates a limit, this means that, when you click to search for an image that might match your blog post, if the images cannot be found, it'll link you to another website, where you'd have to pay to remove the watermarks.
These aren't bad either, but what's the was essence? Why not use the money to get canva pro and eventually design or have control over how your blog images would appear, the choice of effect, graphics and aspect ratio would signal more originality.
Here's my collection of images looking like an NFT
Aspect Ratio; Promoting Hive Off-Chain
Talking about aspect ratio, this is very important it was recently that I even began to understand the Importance of aspect ratio on blog images. For example 16:9 is a good aspect ratio for blog images and this is because it aids the promotion of Hive, especially if one is sharing these contents outside of Hive.
Apart from this, aspect ratio creates aesthetic effect, this might actually differ from different contents. So, it's favorable to use 16:9 aspect ratio especially for the first images, then other aspects ratios for subsequent images.
Using free website makes it difficult to get an exact themed image for your blog and as well as suit the aspect ratio you might want. For this reason, creating one's images would feel better. Having a good application and a good camera would facilitate this For this main reason, I actually began using Canva, I could determine the aspect ratio and so many other things
Down the line, I decide to buy an iPhone, I got the 12 for about $800. The main reason was to create a series or a collection of original images spread around different themes. This would enable me to take pictures, modify them as well as use Canva to finally create the final effect I want for my posts.
Start The Journey
I have taken some really stunning images for my blog in the last six months. One of the advantages of crafting one's images is that the images themselves are like a source of inspiration I do a lot of finance contents, sometimes a cool image of an empty wallet i've taken and modified by canva can bring an inspiration to create a post.
One thing is, canva has limited graphics that can be applied, unless you decide to unlock canva pro. (This is what I'm planning to do, but giving a foreign app access to my credit card is still something I'm skeptical about.) If you haven't decided to unlock canva pro on the other hand, it'll be difficult to create an original concept without bringing in your own images for modification.
I remembered, @starstrings01 marvelling at my finished products. It takes a long time to 100% make your blog original and this is something content creators on the Hive blockchain must strive towards.
Interested in some more of my works?
A Personal View Into The Meaning Of Spirituality (ecoTrain QOTW)
Why You Couldn't Create Good Contents In 2021, Why You Still Wouldn't In 2022.
A Psychoanalytic Dive Into Incentivized Loyalty
The Nigerian/African Disposition On Marriage As An Endowment
Living & Living Unintentionally (The Financial Repercussion)
@Josediccus, your brother-in-pen & heart
I'm hoping to reach more people who are broken at heart and spirit, so share on any platform or reblog
Hey @josediccus you're right in every way. It's quite frustrating, they're times when I just run away from google searching images because most of them are watermarked and not free to use. Even the free images sites are limited, most of them can't give you exactly what you're looking for.
I really want to always make use of my own images, I recently started learning some photo editing on youtube. Now I can make use of picsart and pixellab really well. Canva is great but then my phone's memory is not enough to carry it, lol so I'm stuck with using what I have now..but it's great, everything takes time.
Lol, who wouldn't see that chicken ??. Its glaring and the beauty of iphone camera is it's amazing quality..ómo you dey enjoy o.
I took something home today and that's the aspect ratio, I didn't know there was a required size for posts on Hive but then if you look at it. It actually gives it a better aesthetic...
Its always great learning from you..
❤️✅✅✅
Thanks for the comment man, in reality I think photography creates aesthetics. I also used to download a lot of stock images. The challenges I had was just like the challenges you have too. I also got a few people who told me to explore creating my own images and because I wasn't really getting anything from downloading images online, I decided to like go through the tedious process of creating my own pictures. Canva is a beast, it gives you so many options and the moment you begin exploring it this is when you discover how much you have been missing.
Nevertheless you can make do with what you have. I guess it's more about the creativity.
As per the images you saw lol, they're pictures i've taken to match my blog themes. Na borrow I borrow the chicken 😅😅😅
Yeah, I get what you mean, at the end of the day it all balls down to creation your own pictures, I'll still try to get the beast soon so I can explore more. And as for this
😂😂😂😂, You no see small chicken borrow na the kind wey go turn people eye, quite believable
Yeah, you're right. Speaking from the perspective of a photographer I can tell you that it does feel good to actually use your own image to make a post and it also puts it at the top to get a chance to be curated as opposed to stock images.
Whether you are a photographer or not, having an eye for aesthetics and knowing the basics of taking a good image is pivotal to a successful blog post. It makes your work more authentic.
Nothing beats canva pro for a beginner at the moment, although the price is pretty steep, it's worth it being that you get access to all those stock images for free and they do pay for that.
I remembered the post about the empty wallet, haha, classic.
I stopped using stock images over 10 months now, it actually discredited me. Plus, I have the passion for photography, its a niche I want to explore. But Nigeria itself isn't encouraging on that end.
Canva pro plus original photography is bae. If you know how to do the both, one is actually unstoppable.
Hahahaha I do remember the post about the empty wallet, the journey has come very far. Hahah. Thanks for dropping by.
If they look at those your NFT collections of images, they would notice that this boss @josediccus don enjoy gan.. see chicken, pepper soup and all those salivating meals there. This boss you don enjoy oh no be small.
About canva Pro, let's do trade by barter, you tutor me on how to professionally use canva and I help you with canva Pro without credit card.
Hahah thank you, I was wondering how you got to see the chicken and all that, I made sure to zoom to the smallest scale. You're an irunmole although, me too, I can see then hahah.
Well, I promise to professionally teach you how to use this canva, but you'll be willing to take your own professional images with your phone. Plus, you'll pay my canva pro subscription for 4 months. Hahah no bargain.
yeah, I would take my professional images with my phone.. No Problem with that... oya I dey enter your WhatsApp Dm.
Yeah, I promise to show you how these things work. The funny thing is, when you eventually know how to do everything you'll find it very addictive and your creative spark will increase.
And after @josediccus don teach you, @starstrings01 our deal is next? You teach me and I go do P.A for you for 2 weeks..Deal? 🏃
lol.. no be me... From here, I dey see the ground floor of the moon from Earth as I dey like this. Na to show you as my eye dey zoom reach. 😂
Irunmole reformed!!!🙌
Honestly, @josediccus you got the points laid out really. Most times you may not get the exact image you are looking for, so you'd have to settle for less. Even if you get one and you see another person using the same thing, it sure seems like unprofessionalism to me. I believe designing ones image is very cool, that is why for my food blogs in which I do what I love -taking pictures and cooking - I have someone who uses some of those pictures to create a design for the opening image for me..But I had said I would learn it ....for like 3 months now, I never start!😞
Well, procrastinating wouldn't do the job now. You just have to take that content creating one step ahead. I think it can be tedious, hence many people tend to just use stock images Online, but like you said it fosters this unprofessionalism. Hopefully you can find the time to learn how to do it.
Yes, it won't. Sadly, I know. With this, I'd strive to get something done in that area soon. Thanks for the advice, boss.
And thanks for the delegation yesterday, I very much appreciate it!!🙌
I am thinking about this and I agree. I am often looking for a picture to capture my title and my theme… it’s hard, so I compromise. Sometimes create my own, but the result doesn’t look good, so I use the free images instead.. maybe Canva sone way.
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
Yes, at times it is hard to get the particular image you'd love to fully go in line. I think I will start to take design lessons too..
I have never really paid attention to the images as much as I just use the free stock images. Maybe it's because I generally do most of my stuff on Hive and I haven't had any issues otherwise.
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
Well, stock images tend to work for some people especially when they don't need to create an impression with the images they're using. All in all, it's all about what matters to some particular extent.
I never thought that the original images be that important. Currently I am relying on free to use images sites and I would confess that at times I have too much difficulty finding the image of my choice.
So you are right now using canva without pro ?
Original Images are Important, they give credibility to your blog. I take original images with my camera then use canva to make them better, after that I use snapseed to make it perfect.
Snapseed?? Is it an app?
Yes it is.
Okayyyy. Thanks for the explanation
To be honest that's the first thing i want you to teach me... I always admire your images.
It can be very annoying how difficult it is to get free images sometimes.
Well, I won't lie, getting free images can be a hassle, so I stopped doing that like 10 months ago, I listened to the advice of @felixx plus some other people.
How I achieved it was turning to a photographer and mastering the professional use of canva. You'd have to firstly take your own photos, then you can hit me up if you need help with learning how to tweak it with canva.
Seriously, I used to enjoy your original pictures. Your editing is topnotch and unique. Sometimes using your own pictures makes things easier.
Pls what do you normally use to edit your pictures
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
Thanks bro, I use my iPhone to snap and edit, then tweak it with canva, then finally Snapseed. It takes time but I get the job done.
I've heard of cavans but I'm still not sure of how to use it, maybe is because my phone is slow to connect.
I've tried using the cavans app before but it was showing me some things I didn't understand.
Maybe when I get a new phone I'll try it out again.
Thank you so much for sharing this amazing piece with us.👍
But Canva does not select phone..Well, I only know of Android. I am guessing its an Iphone, is it?
No, it's not like it's selecting, my phone network is very poor, it uses 3g.
Oh, I get that now.
Yeah, thank you for your comment.
Anytime, mama
Mama?😱😱
Sorry I missed this comment. When you get a new phone you should certainly become your own photographer, then edit, then tweak with canva it actually pays.
Sure I will, I've seen the benefits in it self. Thank you once more for this beautiful write-up.
Hello @josediccus
You have touched on an interesting topic.
I often use my own pictures for articles and communities like flowers, nature, clouds… But for intellectual posts where the value is in the words, I have always felt the images were just there to break up the post into digestible pieces.
This is and has been my point of view until now. But after reading this post I will give more thought to eliminating pictures altogether, and maybe using instead some abstract symbol of my own design to break up the flow of words.
As a writer my thoughts come in torrents of words. My job is to translate this cloudburst of words into an enjoyable post.
Lastly, this also touches on the subject of unwritten rules. I will leave that topic alone. It is like the third rail of an electric commuter train: You Touch It You Die
I wish you a long life, health, freedom and happiness @josediccus
@shortsegments
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
For intellectual posts,it makes sense to have of find video quality or attractive pictures. However I do not do this. What are usually do is to try and create my own pictures then blend them by using canva. Actually whenever I am shooting with my camera I know that I write finance-related contents. So I normally shoot finance-related pictures. Unless I want to upload through Liketu.com
Great points. Images are a major sticking point for me. By the time I get the post written I just want to hit submit. I don't want to deal with the images at all. I really need to get better at making my own.
!LOLZ
!PIZZA
I feel that making my own images is what I want to do, so i put my mind at making it happen and here we are today. I saw your post about DEC and I was thrilled. You've made some realistic analysis of what the Devs should look into.
Thanks! I really appreciate that. Hopefully it will resonate with enough people that the devs might consider it. There is so much low hanging fruit that could turn this game around.
As far as images, we always do what we find to be the most important I guess. It really helps if you enjoy it too. I think for me I just need to make a text based template for the cover image that I can easily duplicate in canva. Not as pretty or inspiring as yours but I might benefit from the branding and uniformity.
Thanks again!
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
lolztoken.com
He was stuffed.
Credit: reddit
@josediccus, I sent you an $LOLZ on behalf of @imno
Use the !LOL or !LOLZ command to share a joke and an $LOLZ. (2/10)
Your content has been voted as a part of Encouragement program. Keep up the good work!
Use Ecency daily to boost your growth on platform!
Support Ecency
Vote for new Proposal
Delegate HP and earn more
The rewards earned on this comment will go directly to the person sharing the post on Twitter as long as they are registered with @poshtoken. Sign up at https://hiveposh.com.
Canvas is an excellent choose. I have used for instagram. I will use for Hive too. :-)
You can try it for Hive, I think it's very good, thanks for dropping by.
Ye this is so correct. Several times I had been put in this limited position. Just maybe I will try to create my own album.
Well this is very true. I’ve also tried canva in the past and was surprised at how easy it was to use.
With that aside, I’m wondering why you have pictures of some really good looking food delicacies among your image collection. 😂
Hahahaha well food collection? How were you able to see that one? Hahahaha.
I’ve always had an eye for food I guess. 😂
Ha Ha Ha…The man must be hungry.. we always look for and find what we are interested in :)
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
PIZZA Holders sent $PIZZA tips in this post's comments:
@imno(2/5) tipped @josediccus (x1)
You can now send $PIZZA tips in Discord via tip.cc!
Wow I learnt somuch from this post thanks for sharing.
It's something I want to start doing more. I just don't have the skill right now lol
I guess I'll start slow and learn the basics
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
You are indeed a brother in Pen and in heart
This is really informative, guess I'll soon start using The canva and start creating my images because I get frustrated when I need some photos so badly but can't get access to it...
How was the day at the CAMPARI Joint... These your pictures show say Na you hold Nigeria budget, we are coming to your location
Thanks for sharing the eye opening Post
@khingstan Cares 🤴✌️
Great article, I just joined Hive and my first post broke the rule of not giving credit with the images used. You are so right about pixabay and pixel matching images with content is usually challenging. Someone once suggested that you can get you can also get original images by pausing videos on images you will like to use and taking a screenshot. I have never did it but after reading your article, I wondered; Is it permissible or legal to create original images like that?
Wow, what an eye opener. Thank you so much
This one is really helpful to me as I am a newbiew in here. But as I am going make most of the content in topic of trading, so I will be in need of using screenshots for the post. And the ratio you mentioned, 16:9, which I will use. Thanks for such content, sir. It will really be helpful if you keep making such contents.
16:9 is the best like we both agree on. The vertical one is preferable if the content is probably not a proper blog post. For example there are some posts where I use 16:9 for the first image and this is because I want the image of the post to appear well, even without clicking the link on the post. So when I create my own images I have the ability to tweak it to my taste. This is probably one of the disadvantages of people who use stock images.
Moreover, I like the originality and the different feel of creating one's own image.
Thanks for dropping those sample images, you could naturally say that the first one looks rather attractive.