Are you an aspiring cook, or just love food? Photographing food is a popular pastime by professionals and amateurs alike, and can be a fun way to document your culinary adventures for your own benefit, as well as family and friends. Shutterfly posted an awesome article of tips for photographing food. Check it out: Storytelling with Photo Books.
One of the challenges of photography is enabling your camera to capture the fullest, most natural coloring in every photo you take, which is difficult because every lighting situation is different. The Auto-White Balance on your camera is only effective in certain lighting situations where the computer in your camera detects a perfect balance between the highlights, mid tones, and lowlights. This lighting situation is rare, so using the right custom white balance tools while shooting, or afterwards in post processing, are vital to getting photos that look amazing every time.
I am a fan of using a grey card to tell your camera what the exact lighting situation you are dealing with actually is, instead of relying on the camera’s computer to make it best guess. The approximately 18% value grey color of the card is the most neutral tone that can be printed, both in the value of color, and its ability to take out any color caste that may be on your subject’s face (such as green when shooting in the woods, or yellow in some indoor lighting) Here is how to make this work:
Doing this allows the camera to custom set a white balance for your exact lighting situation as long as you continue shooting in it, and no other elements alter your lighting over the course of your shoot. For example, if you were shooting under a cloudy sky when you took your sample shot and then the sun came out, you would need to retake another grey card shot and put the new one into your custom white balance settings. Also remember to always set you camera back to auto white balance when you are finished shooting. The grey card method gets excellent results, and they are very affordable, however they can be awkward to carry around and require you to shoot with one hand and hold the card with the other.
Here is another route you could take, Post Processing:
There are other tools out there that make this easier including the ColorRight Pro camera attachment, which you pop right onto your lens when taking your test shot. This device is small, easy to carry around, and allows you to shoot your test shot with both hands on the camera. Here is a great review on the ColorRight Pro and PostRight White Balance Devices from Professional Photographer Magazine. Review: ColorRight Pro and PostRight White Balance Devices (Professional Photographer Magazine Web Exclusives).
The awesome thing about this device is that you can take a test shot before every lighting situation and skip the step in which you set it as the custom white balance in your camera settings. So basically you can continue shooting in Auto White Balance mode, as long as you take your test shot, and then in Post-Processing later on you can use that test image in a program like Lightroom and the computer will automatically adjust all your images’ coloring after the fact. It is a matter of preference if you prefer to use a grey card to do all your adjustments while at your shoot in-camera, or let your computer do it later on.
So last year here in Southern Illinois we got a ridiculous amount of snow well before today, but this year our snowy blanket of white is continuing to elude us. Luckily I came across this great guide by Vintage Junky for making your own decorative Paper Snowflakes, and even includes a few printable templates to get you started. Ready to start snipping? I am!
This is a great way to make the Holidays a little more festive, and is kid friendly! Do this Deco Craft with the whole family on those days when you are cooped up in the house. Adding a little bit of visual cheer goes a long way to boosting spirits, and reducing crankiness. 
And of course… this would even be adorable for an indoor winter photoshoot. Can you imagine??
Vintage Junky – Vintage Home Style & Decor Shopping, Blog, & more!.
New Blog Post!
Whether you are an entrepreneur, an artist working out of your home, or your boss allows you to work from home, sometimes actually getting things done can be a challenge. Having a space of your own that is specifically functioning to help you boost your own creativity and productivity is essential. I discovered this very interesting article by Art Bistro that gives a list of “MUST HAVE” elements for this special workspace. Check it out!
How To Build a Better Home Studio – ArtBistro.com.
Photographers & Graphic Designers out there, this post is for you! As a professional, my time is the most valuable resource I have, and any tool I can use to make me more efficient will make me more competitive in my market, and help me meet my clients’ needs better. In today’s fast-paced world, we understand we have to stay on top of our game if we want to make it as a creative professional.
You have to check out this article by Art Bistro. It is a great summary / cheat sheet to learn about or brush up on your Photoshop shortcuts. Whether you are a beginner or an advanced designer you could possibly benefit from learning a few new tricks! I remember some of these from my first Photoshop class back in high school that I totally forgot about! Good stuff…
This is an awesome article by Picture Correct full of great tips on taking Corporate or Business Portraits. Corporate America is a whole area of the business world that is in need of professional portraits, and is a way to show your skill diversity as a photographer, or an opportunity to specialize. Check out the tips, there is more to it than you’d think.
How to Take Corporate and Business Portrait Photography – PictureCorrect.
Here is an awesome article covering advice on what to wear for a Maternity Shoot from MCP Actions:
Note that there are a lot of natural colors & interesting texture in her examples, but the big key is dressing with certain shapes of clothing, to accentuate the baby belly properly. Read to learn more.
This cute DIY vintage wedding photobooth tutorial from WeddingToBe is adorable, unique and FREE. Gotta love free resources like this!! Its a great way to add an extra spark of life to your wedding day, and capture priceless candids at the reception without paying a photographer to stay the whole time.
Check out this article from VeilandTrain.com, and learn their take on what’s been hot in Wedding Photography in recent years. If you are planning a wedding, you should take a moment to read up on what is available to you these days, from Contemporary Vintage, Photo Booths, Pre-Wedding Shoots, & Reception Prints, to Parents Gifts, Fine Art Photography, Boudoir, & Proposal Photography, and even exciting Trash the Dress, & Cherish the Dress Photography. Guys, this is for you too, some of this you may be interested in being involved in!
Oh WOW! Love this free tutorial on repurposing pillowcases into child’s dresses! Need to dress your kid on a budget for their big shoot? Try this idea: http://icandyhandmade.blogspot.com/2011/02/icandy-plenty-of-pretty-pillowcase.html
We love it when we get the opportunity to use our friends’ designs in our shoots. Think you are pretty crafty? Contact us to become a possible partner for fashion shoots!
Need a fresh outfit for your little girl’s photo shoot? Try this great idea to take three long t-shirts and transform them into an adorable ruffled top. You have to give this a try!! Thank you Makeit-Loveit.com!!
http://www.makeit-loveit.com/2010/11/re-purposing-long-sleeved-tee-into.html
This impressive design and printing blog is giving away this awesome free PDF download of free printable holiday tags: http://www.sassandperil.com/blog/2011/11/24/giving-thanks-free-holiday-gift-tags/
Stinking Cute! And they walk you through the whole process. Super easy!
Use this for as designed as gift tags for store-bought presents, or take your creativity to the next level, try your hand at a custom photo book gift from Snapfish or Shutterfly for a loved one. Print your favorite photos from your camera or camera phone from this year and make a memory book to seal this year off. I am making a book of our engagement and wedding photos for my husband and another of iPhone pics from some of our adventures we had this last year. And now I can use these cute gift tags to adorn my homage to our 2011 year together. Can’t wait to order them!
So easy to do your nails this way yourself. Perfect for a holidays party? I would say so… Or use it as a finishing touch to prep for a Holiday Photoshoot! Trust me, little details like this matter when it comes to creating a unique, out of the box photoshoot. Happy nail decorating!
I love this tutorial + this blog is amazing (where this nail/star tutorial came from), so much good stuff! http://thebeautydepartment.com/
This is an interesting article featuring current photography trends. Though we see these done and overused all the time, and may be a bit cliche… it is hard not to love them. I believe there is a reason most of the examples are so popular. But a good artist is a pioneer, willing to try what has never been done before. A true artist does not settle for where others have been, or even where they themselves have been, but is always looking ahead to pioneer the art world, and go where other artists have not gone before. It does help to study where photography is now as well as where it has been in the past to help you be a well rounded artist… and there is nothing wrong with having fun with trends, as long as you do not limit yourself to them. It is always better to have a reputation for being a trend maker than simply a trend follower.
