10 Tips for Great Blog Photos

We all know it. Imagery is SO important in the blog world. (FYI, I feel like a ding dong saying "blog world"). The images on a blog can ooze sentiment and pull you heart strings or catch your attention with super bright colors. Imagery is so powerful, some blogs are ONLY photos and no text at all.

I've noticed a few people commenting on and asking about the photography on my blog. I have to admit...I take a little pride in them. But that's because photography is a passion of mine. I'm am extremely lucky to have my man help me out with my photos. However, I've also spent a lot of time teaching him about how the camera works and what angles I need. He's invested a lot of time shooting my posts for me and has gotten to be quite a good photographer!

Shooting isn't all of it though. You have to edit, and post process your photos also. (Half the magic happens here). So let's get to it then. Here are some tips for getting lovely photos for your blog, for your life etc. 

1. Invest your time: I love every aspect of photography. Shooting, editing, all of it. So, I don't mind really investing time. I spend a lot of time actually getting dressed (which I thoroughly enjoy), then we walk around until we find a spot that compliments the vibe we're trying to achieve, then we shoot and shoot and shoot. Shoot until you are 150% sure that you've covered the subject. I would say spend At least 15-20 minutes shooting a look or your subject. After we shoot, I spend a good chunk of time sitting in front of the computer choosing which photos to use and then working on them in photoshop before I post them.

2. Invest your brain cells: If you are a blogger, shooting is half the battle. It's worth really learning about photography and your camera. Look at other photographs. What do you love about them? Are they super contrasty? Are they busy? Minimal? What photographers do you love? Try to emulate things that turn you on about photography. Eventually you'll develop your own style. Some of my favorite photographers are Richard Avedon (this project particularly), Annie Leibovitz (uhnoduh), Gregory Crewdson and Yelena Yemchuk

3. Get a good camera and a good lens: The people that say "It's not the camera, it's the photographer"
are usually shooting with a Mark III (yeah, I said it). It really does make a tremendous difference to shoot with a good camera and a good lens. I used to shoot with a 40D and just recently upgraded to a Canon Mark II. I invested because I'm a photographer, but this lil' Canon Rebel is a rad camera you can get great results with if you don't wanna break the bank. I shoot with a 50mm for all of my blog posts. It's easy to get a shallow depth of field with a 50mm and it's a pretty compact lens. (Here is a reasonable one). A 24-70mm is my next investment.

4. Shoot in the morning or just before sunset: You can't go outside at any ole' time-o-day and expect a beautiful image with amazing light. You have to work around the light. (It's nature, it does what the ef it wants). The most fail proof times to shoot are in the early morning when the light isn't too harsh, and at "golden hour". Golden hour is about an hour before sunset. You can get some RADICAL lens flare at this time of day, and beautiful warm light.

5. Play with different light: If your glamourous schedule won't permit you to shoot at those times of day, play with different light. Shoot in solid shade if you want something straight forward with no harsh shadows. OR you could shoot in the sunlight and see if you can get the harsh shadows to work with you. They might add to your story. (The darkness with the only illumination of a spot light below worked well for more rock n' roll-y action).

6. Learn your way around some software: Learn how to use whatever software you are editing your photos with. I've spent HOURS AND HOURS in photoshop messing around. You don't have to spend that much time with yours, but definitely play around with it.  Mess with the contrast, the levels, the toning, the saturation...see how it effects your photographs.

7. Totally Rad Actions (RadLab) for Photoshop and Lightroom: This is a biggie and you can purchase it here. It's a bit pricey, but again, it was worth the investment for me.  It's a huge time saver if you like different textures and effects on your photos. Tons of professional photographers use these kinds of filters. You can pick and choose your filters and adjust how strongly you want them to affect your images. You can also preview the before and after of your image.

(Daawwwwwww look at my handsome dude....)

8. Contrast, Sharpen, Brighten: These are 3 easy things you can do to any photograph that will improve the quality. These three adjustments can be made in almost any photo software including iphoto. But for reals....go easy on the vignette. Over vingnette-ing an image gives it a bit of an amateur quality (in my opinion).

9. Get creative with filling the frame: Just standing in the middle of the frame can be informative, but not necessarily interesting. Try filling 1/3 or 1/2 of the frame so you get some negative space. Shoot different angles, too!  You can do this even if you are shooting by yourself with a tri-pod. Here's a photo I took of myself in the old days before Jonny started shooting:

10. Tune in to your background: The back ground of a photo can totally transform it. It should help to tell your story. It should compliment or contrast the colors your wearing and the vibe of your outfit. Think pretty floral dress in an alleyway or super graphic prints against an angular background.

Bonus: Be bold by yourself: If you are a blogger that isn't lucky enough to have a photographer, you really have to think outside of the box. Don't be too timid to go wander around and have a little photo sesh with yourself. (Cindy Sherman did it, and she is just plain badass). You don't have to be confined to your room. There's no better time to experiment than when you're by yourself. 

Dealing with Fear: It's All in How You Look at It.

Fear. It's been a larger part of my life than I'd like to admit. Since I've moved to California, quite frankly, I've been beating it's ass. Two major moments of clarity oddly enough have happened on my friends' sailboat (read other epiphany here). Also oddly enough that first picture I will title, "Bird Shit Rock" is a perfect metaphor for the strategy I've found works best for rising above fear and enjoying your life: It's all in how you look at it. 

We went for a "sail around the marina" for Jonathan's birthday. The boats in the marina float on calm waters. Lots of charming sites too: beautiful yachts, goofy house boats, screaming seals, leather faced orange boat-living people. It's thoroughly entertaining, and completely manageable anxiety wise. It was chilly that night, but we had pizza and champagne and warm coats to cuddle up in. Before I knew it we were very close to exiting the serenity of the marina and entering the motherfacking Pacific Ocean. The panic kicked in. 

This wasn't the plan! Uhhhh Cap'n,  it's lookin pretty choppy out there! I'm gonna get sea sick! I'm on a boat.... I'm trapped on this boat. The water is too cold to swim back! We're all gonna die. I don't know how, but we are...going.....to DIE!

Right before I peed my pants I noticed the exit of the marina is lined with a rock wall where hundreds of birds sit to sip in the sunset. While enjoying the view, they like to poop. Ya know, like birds do. The white mess has completely Jackson Pollocked this massive pile of rocks....and it's kinda beautiful. You get what I'm saying? The doo doo is beautiful if you forget it's doo doo for a second. I forgot we were floating out to sea and frantically started snapping away with my camera and when I looked up we were rocking on the open Pacific. 

Woe. I'm not scared. It is breathtaking. This looks like a vintage OP tee shirt. My friends are awesome. I'm drinking champagne. On a boat. Happy birthday babe. I laughed out loud. 

The idea that I probably wouldn't have gone on the sail if I knew we were going out to the ocean because I was "anxious about it" is ASININE.  GAH! I'm a whiney baby sometimes! So many otherwise amazing moments in my life have been obscured in my mind by my anxiety. But the fix is to just look at the moments differently. Live in the now as much as humanly possible. And when you do get scared, let yourself go there for a moment and snap back to reality. 

The beauty of a sunset (or a rock covered in bird excrement) will always be there to remind you that it's worth paying attention to the world outside of you as opposed to obsessing over thoughts or fears fabricated in your mind. 

Do YOU have a bird shit rock? Something that should've been ugly that turned into a beautiful experience?

And for your listening pleasure, A SONG to match this post. 

Holi....Moly.

It's a gloomy day in Dallas, but these images are brightening it up. To celebrate the beginning of spring, Hindus throw brightly colored scented powders and perfumes at each other in the streets....they call it Holi. This video was shot by Jonathan Bregel and Khalid Mohtaseb. (I recommend waiting for it to load completely and watching it in HD) 

via: Honestly WTF

Lil' Lily

I got to have a super high-profile photo shoot with a princess. 

This is my 4th time to have a session with Lily, and every time there is more and more 

personality surfacing. She's pretty much my favorite model. 

If you have a babe or one on the way, and you need or are wondering about anything

click on her mama's link----> Butterflybabyplanners.com

BABIES!

Off

I'm a little off today. Thought I'd just do a quick post of some doggies I shot not too 

long ago. This was one of the most fun photo sessions I've ever done.

I was rolling around, running up and down and chasing these house beasts everywhere. 

It's funny. I know I'm pretty alright at a lot of stuff.... 

i.e. thrift shopping, writing, burping on command

but I feel like I'm actually really good at taking photographs of animals. 

I feel completely at peace when I do it too. 

And when I complete the animal photographs, 

I really don't tire of looking at them. 

It's good to find something that makes you happy. 

It's not a complete lack of ego, but a lack of ego affected by 

worldly things. 

Big Dog with a Big Stick. 

This last photo is my absolute favorite. The owner of the dogs wasn't a huge fan.

Yes, the dog looks completely ridiculous, but she's just being herself...jeez. 

It's looks like she's pleading for her life/doing the twist/trying to listen a little harder

like cartoon dogs do....sticking one ear up.

Impromptu Family Portrait

You don't know what it takes to get both of them to sit still. Look at the smile on Jonathan's face. 

Classic.

Accidental Resolutions

I didn't plan on having any New Years resolutions this year...Maybe just to lose some weight for the wedding.  Then Suddenly somehow I quit smoking and went vegan. WTF? Jonathan is attempting a raw diet, and I just kinda tagged along....I'm not quite able to give up hot food yet though, and I'm not sure if I ever will. 

Well, it turns out when I detox my body, my mind starts in on itself. I've been having some pretty peculiar dreams I'm almost afraid to interpret. I've also been re-evaluating every damn relationship and event in my whole life....and re-evaluating my definitions of things. 

You know when people suddenly start to eat really healthy, or quit smoking or drinking and they start to get sick and cough up all kinds of multicolored fun things that have been stored in their lungs for years? Yeah, well that's kinda how my brain and soul feel lately. 

These photos pretty well sum it up. 

photos by Lucy Nuzum and Waldemar Hansson 

Prophet, Speak

So I finally finished that digital photography "enrichment" class. It's really hard to put your full effort in to something like that when you've already graduated, but I did it! And I even made an A. Booyay! So here are some images from my final project. It might seem lame that I just shot around the neighborhood that I live in, but I mostly did it for myself and Jonathan. I wanted to have something tactile to look at in the future, to remember the very first neighborhood we ever lived in....which I'm totally in love with. 

Bedazzled Warfare

I really love our place, and can't imagine living anywhere else. I'm so so so thankful. The light shines through our windows during the day and it's the best picture takin' light....it's also great to lay in the warmth and watch the dust float through the air....here are some scenes...(and an outfit) :)

Yes, that's a Porky Pig lamp that lights up from within....And a HILARIOUS portrait of Jonathan: a prop from a play in which he was a philosopher spiraling into the depths of madness. Good times. 

There's also a poem I wrote and deco-podged to a piece of glass. It goes a lil like dis:

The mounds of clothes are cleared from the piano

It's time to confront all those dirty dishes of your mind 

full of things like poems and ping pong.

Homeboy once told me, 

"You're ruining my world"

Homeboy once told me, 

"I want to hear your voice when your old"

Katy once told me, she wants to go back to Arizona.

Are you tired of seeing pictures of my dog? 

I really liked this outfit, I felt like some sort of victorian-urban-cowboy with a Bob Dylan hat. Plus, that giant necklace makes me feel like I'm wearing really fancy armor. Like if somebody shot at my chest with Ruby bullets I'd be covered. There's something rad about wearing jewelry with implications of warfare. If I sat here and thought about it long enough I could probably tell you why. 

ANYHOO,  I'm also really digging those rich autumnal tones. Emerald Green, Rust, Navy, ect. 

Green felt hat: Antique mall, Pearl Necklace (te he he), Blue Tank and Ring: Forever 21, Fly Away Cardigan: Marshals/Tj Max... one of those. Johnston and Murphy Italian old man shoes: Thrifted, Jeans: DKNY

Side note: I totally made those pillows on my couch. Booyay.

 Have a Happy!

Rainy Daze

CHERE

These are a few photos from a quick shoot Chere and I did. It went like this: throwing random articles of clothing at Chere from her closet and seeing what sort of half hobo/ half carnival gypsy look we could come up with....not bad. The top one is less saturated than the bottom two, because I just couldn't decide which I liked best. whadayathink?

(I couldn't figure out how to get these two photos right next to each other...so now there's this big white space. hmm).