Chris Brogan Got It Right—Custom IS Everything (D169)
Maybe “everything” is a bit of hyperbole. I’m willing to give you that. Simplicity and personality are important as well when it comes to connecting with guests, clients, customers… even friends. But after reading Chris Brogan’s post about the importance of customization, you can imagine my pure delight when I opened up a package with my new custom Teen Identity iPhone cases. We ordered black and pink to maintain our... [Read More...]
D104: Death of the Marshmallow—A Series
I’ve been talking about creating photo series and tonight I started a new one, capturing the life and death of… a single marshmallow…by roasting. Roasting marshmallows brings back such warm childhood memories. I seriously have refined the art of browning the perfect marshmallow. Golden brown on all sides, melted all the way through to the center. (Okay, I admit it. I went off my mostly raw, vegan eating style for this event. Can... [Read More...]
D100: How to Take Your Photography Up a Notch
We made it this far! Unbelievable. It’s time to take your photography up a notch. Here’s how… Manual Monday. If you’re not reading your manual every day, I encourage you to at least read it once a week on Monday. The rest of the week you can read other technical books on photography, lighting, etc. But reserve Monday for your manual. If you’re feeling inspired, post an image with something you learned or tried after reading... [Read More...]
D84: Make Lemonade
It’s a tired cliche I know, but that doesn’t make it any less true. I’m living a perfect example of making lemonade out of lemons right now. We’re on vacation for the first time in years, and I promptly get sick. Sucking on a sour lemon would mean complaining and moaning about it. Making lemonade means enjoying the extra rest and time to catch up on blogs and videos. Yes, that is my life as I know it right now. In the sick... [Read More...]
D43: Face to Face
Looking back through the images the last 40 days, I realize I haven’t photographed as many faces as I would’ve thought. So today I decided to return to the portrait… with a slight variation. I chose to photograph the detailed face of one of my daughter’s dolls. It’s a collector’s item that she inherited from her grandmother who was an avid doll collector. This is one of our favorites because of the detail, the expression,... [Read More...]
D40: Economic Insight From a Teen
I was experiencing a bit of post-conference withdrawal. How do I follow the images of a man breaking the world record? Do I even want to? Pondering this out loud, my daughter (who was folding towels at the time) chimed in and said she’d volunteer to be my photo subject. I asked what she’d do and she said she could scrub the floor. Uh, okay. And why would I want to photograph you scrubbing the floor? Here’s her response, which was... [Read More...]
D15: Lighting Up the World
Lighting. It’s becoming a semi-obsession with me. I find myself looking at and for light everywhere. Light. Shadow. Bright. Dark. It’s all a variation of the same thing: the way light shows up in the world. I get frustrated when I can’t find good light and my camera isn’t powerful enough to compensate. I’m excited when I stumble upon an ideally lit situation (not very often). I’m becoming more resourceful about... [Read More...]
D10: Create Mystery with Your Images
I’m not really a mysterious kind of girl. I’ve always thought of myself as simple and sometimes even a bit plain. My mother-in-law, who was a fashion diva, was always coaching me to think beyond basic black. Even if that’s how I live my life, there’s no reason for my images to lack an element of flash and flair, surprise and mystery. So that’s what today is about. Considering I couldn’t sleep (no surprise there)... [Read More...]
Memorial Day Photos Ready to Scrapbook
I went on a hunt this Memorial Day to take pictures that would be scrapbook-ready. That means, images I wouldn't need to Photoshop or fix, images with color and texture that would jump off the page, and images that would tell the story of our life at this moment. To be clear, I wasn't looking for perfection or professional pictures, just real, everyday images that capture our story. I just added some quick and easy Lightroom 2 presets to the... [Read More...]
