amateur photography

I consider myself to be a very very amateur photographer, learning as I go & enjoying the process, however the most common emails I get from readers (I love those!) are about my photography. So while I might not know much, I am always happy to share what I got:

Today's topic: how to get crisp, clear, bright photos?

My equipment: Canon Rebel T2i, 50 mm f/1.4 prime lens, tripod & remote (see this post for more of my remote/tripod photography tips)

First off, I do a couple of things while shooting to ensure sharp photos:

{1.} spot metering (this post helped for tips on metering mode)

{2.} Hold my remote next to my face so that is the most in focus point (my remote has a  2 second delay, so I have a little time to point the remote next to my face & then hide it)

{3.} For outfit photography I stick to an aperture of f/1.8-2.8 but I have found that f/2.2 is just about my happy spot.

{4.} Because it is just me standing in my alley, by myself, I typically have all the time in the world to get the right shot (just dealing with mosquitos, creepy neighbors, & dogs that need to be walked aside) - it is normal for me to take 50 photos/outfit & only 3-6 make it on the blog.... there are tons of blurry ones that the world just doesn't ever see... but they exist!

FYI: I shoot on manual, so I set the ISO (aka light sensitivity), aperture ("f stop") & exposure depending on the day's elements (with white balance set on auto). Figuring out manual settings is a more complex topic than I want to get into in today's post, but I just wanted to show you the settings & what each element means... there are pictures below that this key will be relevant for :) (P.S. you can find this info for each photo by clicking "info" in iPhoto)

See how ISO, aperture (f/#) & exposure (read as a fraction of a second, i.e. 1/1000 = 1 thousandth of a second) work with each other in these pictures below:

As far as the post-processing photo tips I know, those are few & far between. I use Photoshop (I have an ancient version, CS3) & don't extensively edit my photos but I do do three things to every photo:

{1.} lighten it a little bit (using brightness/contrast sliders)

{2.} Bump up the sharpening (I follow this tutorial for photo sizing & sharpening... but don't use their suggestion to save as .png files, I prefer .jpg & think they load better)

{3.} Resize the image to be exactly the pixel width I want & save it in the highest quality format so I can upload the original, high-res file directly to Blogger (& pick "original size" option every time)

Personal tip: Because I know that I have the power to adjust the brightness/contrast of each photo, I prefer to shoot the photos a little darker than I want as it is easier to "fix".

The photo on the left was brightened to achieve the look I wanted:

While I attempted to darkened the left photo, & the result on the right looks a little unnatural.

Finally, the sharpening that I do is very subtle, but an easy fix because I have the whole process automated in photoshop. Can you tell a difference?

What photo processing do you use? 

I would love for this to be an open forum for us to share tips with each other. 

If you have any burning questions let me know & I will try to include them in a future post!

P.S. Enter to win a shop credit to Bella Fusion {here}

a glamping we go

I am blessed to have true girlfriends in my life.

The kind that let me dress them up, top them with flower crowns & drag them out to a mini mint camper in the middle of no-where for a photoshoot on a moment's notice.

But seriously, when the coordinators of The NotWedding asked if a couple of my bridesmaids & I could join them for a glam camping ("glamping") bachelorette photoshoot, I just couldn't say no!

Because honestly, this IS my idea of a good time:

Special thanks to the wonderful people that made this possible! 

Including:

Photography | Zipporah K. Photography 

Styling + Vintage Rentals | Elizabeth Ulrich, Stockroom Vintage

Floral Headpieces | Flower Crown Society

for The NotWedding

Who else is now itching for a weekend away with the girls!?

P.S. Enter to win 1 or 3 pairs of denim Celebrity Pink Jeans is giving away {here}

P.P.S. To all my Nashville ladies, join me tonight at the Green Hills Mall J.Crew for a special styling session {more info here}

take your best shot

{ What I Wore: J.Crew baseball tee (similar 1 & 2) // Madewell lace shorts // Gianni Bini red sandals (love these) // Anthropologie sunglasses }

Oh the wonderful world of blogging.

Lordy how I had zero clue what I was getting into when I started on this journey almost 2 years ago now.

I have loved learning new things pretty much every day, meeting such wonderful & inspiring ladies, learning about new brands, interacting with you guys through comments & giveaways & developing in my personal style since I hit publish on my first post back in October 2011.

But seriously, one of my favorite things to come from blogging is my new-found interest in photography.

I am by NO means a photographer. However, the challenge of taking my own outfit photographs has been the school of hard knocks & I am constantly trying to hone my skills & get to the next level.

I shudder when I look back at where I first started with a point & shoot camera, but at the same time smile at the growth & a new hobby that I think will bring me joy for years to come.

Right now my Canon Rebel T2i with the 50 mm lens serves me well, but I love browsing photography shops dreaming of new camera gadgets to add to my clutch.

And I actually just inherited a vintage Minolta SRT 101 camera (as seen in these photos) - I can't wait to get this bad boy cleaned up & start taking pug pictures with this new toy.

What's been your favorite blogging outcome?

Any new photography hobbyists out there?

I am so happy that I got these lace shorts on super sale a few Summers back.

If you are looking for your perfect pair of lace shorts, these are my current favorites:

(size up for a more polished look)

Inspired: Engagement Photos & a giveaway

Tyler & I had a blast shooting our first engagement photos with the lovely Jessica of Jessica Ranae Photography a couple of weekends ago. After getting our first scheduled shoot rained out, Nashville seriously delivered the gorgeous weather for our second attempt!

Our goal for engagement pictures was to capture us in our natural states. Nothing overly done, just us, loving each other, with gorgeous lighting, in a more rustic setting. The pictures above served as the inspiration for our shoot & you can see all of these photos & more ideas on my Wedding Pinterest board here.

We have gotten a sneak peek of the pictures from our photographer & I am obsessed!

This is one of our favorites from what we have seen so far... more to come soon!

Wedding planning is trucking right along & I am having a blast soaking up all the delicious inspiration from Pinterest, wedding blogs & the "real life" weddings that I have found on the internets.

Just this week I learned about the "NotWedding" on Ruffled & even won a pair of tickets to their upcoming event in Nashville!

The NotWedding is a bridal show alternative where "wedding guests" enjoy a ceremony, dinner & dance-party reception while experiencing fabulous wedding vendors in action!

Now NotWedding wants to give YOU a chance to attend too!

The NotWedding is giving away 5 pairs of tickets to any of their future events: New York, Cape Cod, Charleston, Atlanta, Nashville, Athens and Wichita. 

Just leave your name below and let us know which event you’d like to attend!

P.S. Don't forget to enter the giveaway for a $50 gift card to Lisa Leonard's fabulous shop {here}!!

P.P.S. Get your white tee looks together for the Real Girl Glam Link-up starting tomorrow!

remote control

So as many of you know, I am not one of those ubiquitous duos of blogging girlfriend/professional photographer boyfriend (Oh to be Nicole Warne). Unfortunately, when the manfriend & I met over 3 years ago, it wasn't even on my radar that I should be testing out my date's photog skills. Missed opportunity there!

Surprisingly the most common email question I get, is about photography tips! Either y'all are just being nice, or there are others out there wanting to stop relying on your boyfriend/friend/mom's subpar skills/limited free time & start taking your photoshoots into your own hands.

As the story goes, I dove straight into blogging & tried to convince my boyfriend that taking photos of me should be his new hobby. It all started on my point & shoot camera & gosh were those photos a million kinds of awful, but I didn't know any better & it was what I had to work with at the time (don't believe me, check out this gem from the archive, but just be warned, your eyes might bleed!)

150 outfit photos later, Ty & I decided that it wasn't healthy for me to "direct" him while he worked the camera. There are many things that my man is good at:

- being an incredible pug father

- making delicious beer

- looking sexy on his motorcycle

But we both came to the conclusion that photography just wasn't ever going to be his "thang", it would be just me & my tripod from here on out!

I LURVE my tripod (found here)

Christmas 2011 brought me my first DSLR (Canon Rebel T2i). I turned it to the "Auto" setting & we got to know each other from there. After taking a photography class in June, 2012 I felt comfortable enough to make the leap to "Manual" settings (eeep!)

And then just this past Christmas (2012) I upgraded my "kit" lens to a 50mm f/1.4 prime lens. 

So that's the story... now what useful knowledge to I have to share??

Welp, just this one nugget for today: get a remote!

My remote is this Canon one.

I started out with my tripod using only the self-timer option, but quickly realized that a remote would help me better achieve the crisp photos of which I was dreaming!

But, there is one major trick to using a remote. You of course don't want to look like you are using a remote.

 On the back of my remote is a toggle switch, that can either be on "2" or a dot (see picture above & see if yours does too). When I first got my remote, I of course didn't read the manual, & just started using it right away. Just in the last month I realized that the "dot" setting means that the picture snaps right away, but the "2" means a 2 second delay... GENIUS! I have to have my remote pointed EXACTLY at my camera (annoying much!?), but the 2 second delay is just enough time to "hide" my remote (AKA look natural). 

So all you tripod users, first get a remote, then change the toggle switch to "2" & start snapping away! 

Many of you spotted my tripod friend reflecting off my glasses in this post (sneaky sneaky)!

Resources that taught me a thing or two:

Another tripod user, Megan of Feathers & Freckles, has some genius tips about lighting & background choices here

Julia, of Gal Meets Glam, is lucky enough to have one of those incredible boyfriends-turned-photography-pros, and he was geneorous in sharing his tips for taking your DSLR from Auto to Manual here.

Ok, you tripod users of the blog-world, what are your tips?

Any other remote "hiders" out there?

And if your boyfriend/mom/friend takes your pictures, you be nice to them!
**P.S. if you have specific photography questions, leave them in the comments & if there are enough I will try to do another post**

into the blur

Drumroll please.... these are the first outfit photos that have been taken with my new camera!

See that background blur in the first photo, oh yea buddy! 

I. Feel. So. Cool.

I literally have ZERO bad things to say about the Canon 50 mm f/1.4 lens - sure, I have MUCH left to learn about this new addition, but so far it has generated photos that look way better than my current skill level should be able to create. 

I think some of you might be considering this lens purchase for yourself, so I am just going to talk about it a little bit (I do NOT know all the appropriate photography words for the things I am about to discuss, if you know, or have any additional info, please share it in the comments, let's chat!)

This little f/1.4 lens is substantial! Made of metal, even though it is more squat than my 18-55 mm lens (f/3.5-5.6), it has much more heft, you can definitely feel the difference in your hands. 

There is no "zoom" capability - only your feet. With the 18-55 mm lens you can twist the lens to "zoom", but the 50 mm f/1.4 does not do this. I also feel as if I have to stand further back from my subject when using the 50 mm f/1.4 lens. 

Can we talk about bokeh for a second? Bokeh, or background blur, was something that my first 18-55 mm lens couldn't do, and was the main reason I desperately wanted to upgrade my lens. You see, I can't convince my neighbors to all wheel their trashcans out of the alley when I want to take pictures, so the next best thing is to blur them out. There is a fine balance of background blur and maintaining focus on the main focal point (one thing I am still working on), and these pictures were taken with a f-stop around f/2.0.

Light - the f/1.4 aperture lets in so much more light, so bright & crisp photos are possible even at low light, & all my photos have a more "true to life" look.

Ok, those are the 4 things I can think of right now. If you are looking to get this lens for yourself & have any additional questions, let me know and I will do my best to help you out in the comments!

{ What I Wore: ASOS leopard jacket // Forever21 striped tee // Cole Haan cross body purse // COH boyfriend jeans // Steve Madden pumps // Bobbi Brown creamy matte lippy in True Pink }

{ Get the Look }

leopard jacket {$55.00, exact one} + stripe tee {$14.80} + boyfriend jeans {$69.95} + nude pumps {$24.80} + gold cross body purse {$24.80, so cute with scallops!}

My new "Leo" necklace from Boutique Onze

What type of camera do you use?

What's your best outfit photo taking tip?

P.S. Don't forget to enter my $50 J.Crew giftcard giveaway { here } & the Because Shanna Said So group giveaway (for a prize package worth $200+!!!) { here }

a whole new world

My new Canon f/1.4 prime lens came last night & I all but bear-hugged that delivery man!

As you know, I struggled with the decision between the f/1.8 & more expensive f/1.4 lens, & while I haven't ever used the f/1.8 lens, after playing around with my new baby (aka stalking my dog around the house)... I know that I am in LOVE with this lens! 

If any of you Canon f/1.4 lens owners have any tips of your own, or sources that you have used before, I would love to hear about it! And after I get this little sucker figured out, I will share more about my decision to splurge for the f/1.4 lens!

this one, that one, or the other one?

I have loved getting to know my Canon Rebel (T2i) baby over the past year, but I am ready for a little bit of an upgrade. I got a camera base that was nice, at the upper end of my price range, but generally considered affordable (in the photography world) in the hopes that I would be able to purchase fancier lenses when I grew out of my starter kit lens.

I want to get a lens with a higher f-stop so that I can blur out the trashcans in my alley (since my neighbors are apparently not going to be moving them any time soon!)

My eye is on either a f/1.8 lens ($110), or the f/1.4 lens ($339). 

The only thing I can't figure out is, why is there a $200+ difference between these two? 

Is the f/1.4 lens really that much better?

I want to get a lens that is going to serve me for many years to come, so if the f/1.4 will do that much better for a bit more, then I'm down, but I don't want to just throw $200 away simply because in my mind a higher price tag means a better product.

So many of you take such gorgeous photos, so I am turning to you ladies - the experts!

What lens do you use (Canon users)?

Are these two the ones I should be looking between, or is there another one that is right for me?

Drop me some knowledge!

poser

{What I Wore: J.Crew vest (crewcuts), skirt, baseball tee // Nine West sandals } 

{Get the Look}

utility vest {save(ish) // splurge } + floral skirt + baseball tee + nude sandals

Well, after documenting 150+ of my outfits, the boyfriend is throwing in the towel on being my personal photographer. I really can't complain - I am grateful he has stuck with my backseat photography this far...

And now I am just a girl with a tripod and a remote.  I pretty much have no clue what I am doing... but this tutorial from IFB and these tips from Jen over on the Effortless Chic blog have helped so far. 

Maybe I should work up the courage to venture outside... there are only so many clean corners of my apartment to stand in front of!

Got any tips or tricks of your own?

Send 'em my way!

xx

Jessica

photog skills

Saturday I had the pleasure of walking around Nashville taking photographs and learning some tips for using the manual settings on my Canon Rebel T2i from 2 local experts at the Brick Factory. 

I have been using my camera since Christmas on mostly the automatic or pre-set controls, so it was really awesome to finally learn and test out the relationship between ISO levels, aperture, and shutter speed... so now I can finally capture the subtle emotions of Doug the Pug... oh and outfits too!

pensive pug

pouting pug

pudgy pug

During the walking photography class I enjoyed taking pictures of the Nashville Symphony fountain...

When did water become SO COOL!?

Downtown Nashville has lots of fun nooks and crannies... lots more exploring to be down!

No clue that these Jonny Cash and Willie Nelson murals existed! So awesome!

Oh, and tourists always abound... haha (I have actually done this and it was awesome... biking & drinking... it must be the pedal tavern!)

Do you have any beginner photography skills? What is your favorite test subject for practicing your photography skills (I think the pug is starting to tire of my using him! ha)

xx

Jessica