Why it's important to compare yourself... to yourself and nobody else.

I recently wrote about overcoming the 'Blogging Blues'  and I had so many lovely comments, tweets and emails from readers and blogger friends who related to it. In my post, one of my points was to not compare yourself to others, but only to yourself. I shared on twitter 2 photos that represented my blogging journey better than any words ever could. My first and last blog photos. I even started a photo sharing session with many bloggers sharing their first and last photos too.  

As bloggers we spend so much time learning. We're constantly learning new about new products, fashions, trends, techniques and skills. We're constant researchers, we live and breathe social media and imagery, but all of this comes with a hidden downfall - comparison. 

The problem with living in a world full of social media is that we're surrounded by other people, albeit virtually - but often there's no escaping it. That comes with the hidden price of insecurity and envy for good measure. We spend so much time looking forward and trying to better ourselves and our blogs that we never really look back at where we started.

I wanted to share with you three visual examples of how I've grown over the past few months since I started my blog. From the sole single product shot, to the haul post and the make up look - my imagery has changed so much it's almost unrecognizable as belonging to the same person, taken with the same camera. 

The Single Product Shot

Gone are the days of the dull, flat product shot with a busy background. Instead replaced with a clean, bright and airy image making full use of the depth of field my DSLR has to offer. I feel proud when I look at the image of the Kadalys Banana Balm, and I cringe when I see the image of the elf acne blemish powder. 

The Haul / Multi Product Post

I actually laughed when I compared these images side by side.The old image taken on a bit of wood found on the side of the road with products 'artfully arranged' in what can only be described as a horrendous attempt. To the bright airy shot of the Kiko Eyeshadow sticks. Even though the new image isn't perfect, and there are things I wish I did differently, it's a visual reminder of how much i've improved and how far i've come. That old tatty bit of brown wood - has been painted white is the base that the products stand on. 

The Make Up Shot

Can you believe I wasn't actually wearing fake tan in the first pictures? I had no idea how to use or set the white balance on my camera when I first started sharing photos of my make up online. My photos all had a yellow tint to them, which massively affected how my make up looked. If you look at the eyes, you can see that they're a grey/yellow in the first and bright white in the second. 

The two biggest changes that happened to my make up pictures were learning how to use my camera properly - including the white balance, and learning not to use warm yellow table lamps to light my face.

I wanted to write this post to show you why it's important to compare yourself only to yourself. I didn't fully realise how much i'd improved, learned and grown until I put these images together. It makes me proud to look at my latest images - I still cant believe that I took all of these photos.

This is my blog journey so far in photos, and a reflection of how I've grown as a blogger. I would absolutely love to see yours - so be proud, and post them! I'd love to read some blog posts showing the journey of your blog and how you've progressed. Leave me your links in the comments.

As always, thanks for reading.

Em xxx