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How to choose a photography workshop

May 20, 2015

Over the last few months I have really enjoyed sharing some fabulous photography tips and ideas and even more so because so many of you have come out and told me how useful you’ve found it – thank you for that! Today is the last post of this series and I wanted to share my recent experience of attending an inspiring photography workshop and my tips for choosing one for yourself. I knew I wanted to attend a course as I really want to improve my photography skills. Learning to improve your photography skills from written tips and e-courses is possible and can help a lot, but there is no substitute for going to a workshop and being taught in person, especially by photographers you already admire. So if like me you want to take your photography to the next level, then I highly recommend taking a beginners course which will get that expensive camera off auto mode – sound familiar?

Last weekend I went to A Happy Capture workshop which is taught by Abigail Fahey and Suzi Bowles both of whom are very talented family photographers with very different styles. Both have contributed tips to my photography series so I already knew and loved their work. They’ve recently started workshops held in Cobham, Surrey – a suburb just outside South West London. The workshop was held in a beautiful venue called the Medicine Gardens which is a walled Victorian garden with quaint cafe’s, workshops and art galleries tucked behind the garden walls. It was a full day course and had me engaged from the moment we started till the very end. I’m so glad I chose to go on it and if you’re thinking of a course, I totally recommend it but if you’re not in the area then I have some suggestions on how to find a course that’s right for you.

Photography courses can be expensive and you’re not likely to do more than one or two (unless of course you want to go pro). So it’s worth taking a little time to choose the right one for you and it will really pay off. I’ve done one before A Happy Capture which was completely un-inspiring and I ended up learning nothing. It probably wasn’t a bad course but was not the right fit for me being too techy and focusing too much on technique and numbers rather than creativity. So here are some tips on how to choose a photography workshop to make sure you get the most out of it:

1. It might sound obvious but look at the work of the photographer/s behind the course. Does his/her style inspire you? Do they photograph subjects that are similar to what you want to photograph? Read their website and any information you can find about them to check that they are the right match for you.

2. Most of us here are mums who may also be bloggers so our aim is to improve our everyday photos of our kids, our holidays and our life to keep as memories and perhaps share on our blogs. We don’t want too much technical knowledge or technical speak that will just mean nothing to us. So read the course details to see what’s covered and always check the level of the course – beginner, intermediate or advanced.

3. The venue is almost as important as the teacher as it tells you so much about what the photography workshop is going to be like. And if the workshop is held in an inspiring place it will help you get your creative juices flowing too. The first course I did was held in a small dark room with bare walls and one small window where everyone sat facing one of those bare walls! As you can imagine it did nothing to inspire me at all. But A Happy Capture was held in a beautiful room contained within a stunning walled Victorian Garden – this venue had me excited from the moment I got there.

4. Think about what you want to get out of the course and write down questions before you go otherwise you are likely to forget. If you’re an absolute beginner and don’t know what exactly you want, write a basic list and take along pictures that inspire you. Also carry photos you’ve clicked that you want to improve on. I loved that Suzi and Abigail asked us each to send them one or two photos we’re proud of before the workshop – this really made me think about what I like about my photography and what I don’t and helped me think about my questions.

5. Find out what happens after the workshop. With A Happy Capture Suzi and Abigail have set up a facebook group for past students to interact with each other and help each other and Suzi and Abigail pop in too and answer questions and critique your photos. I’ve already been taking part in the group and been learning even more.

6. Preferably always go by a recommendation rather than just picking a course off the internet. By recommendation I mean a like-minded friends suggestion but also your own experience of a photographer. Perhaps you have had photos taken by a pro you really admire and they do courses or you have just admired somebody’s work from afar, maybe on instagram. I have known and admired Abigail’s work for a long time and recently discovered Suzi’s both of which I like a lot. So when they recently launched their courses, I knew I had found the course for me and I wasn’t wrong.

So that’s what I would suggest on how to choose a photography workshop. Don’t make my initial mistake and attend a photography course that isn’t suited to you. I have seen the difference of what the right workshop can do for you. One of the things I wanted to get better at was taking dark and moody shots especially of Anya. I wanted to capture her face, her personality and her expressions in a natural, un-posed way but with a strong element of moodiness in the pictures. Above are a few shots I took after attending the workshop and while they’re not perfect I can honestly say they are far better than anything I have taken before (compare these to the one I shared on this post which was taken before the workshop when trying to do something similar). So a little research beforehand can really go a long way in finding the right workshop for you.

If you’re interested in learning more about A Happy Capture workshops, visit the website and feel free to get in touch with Abigail or Suzi – they’re both really helpful and very approachable. And if you haven’t already guessed, I couldn’t recommend them more. I learned so much in such a friendly, relaxed and creative environment which has given me the skills to experiment far more with my DSLR.

A very big thank you to all the talented photographers who contributed to my photography series and gave us such useful photography tips – Julia, Abigail, Lucy and Suzi. Gosh imagine getting all four of them in a room and learning from them?! Shame that can’t happen but the good news is that you can get two!

There are lots and lots of handy tips and ideas on photography in my previous articles which you’ll find here:
How to style your photos
How to photograph your newborn baby
How to organise your digital photos
How to grow your instagram following
How to photograph moving kids
The best photo filter apps
How to photograph kids using an iphone only
A mini photobook
A beautiful forever photobook

*I’ve linked up to Honest Mum’s Brilliant Blog Posts

A beautiful photo book + a discount

May 13, 2015

Over the last several weeks, I’ve shared lots and lots of tips on taking better photos on iphones and DSLR’s. I’ve also shared tips on editing and organising your digital photos. But perhaps the most important thing is what we do with all those thousands of photos. Ultimately we all want to take photo’s for one reason and one reason only – to capture and immortalise those fleeting moments of our lives. Those moments that mean so much to us. Big life moments like the birth of a child or a wedding somehow always manage to get captured and usually put in to albums. But it’s the hundreds of everyday photo’s and everyday memories that often get left sitting on a hard drive somewhere. And those are the very moments that make up our lives.

When Anya was born I decided I would make a photo book or album to document each year of her life. One book, once a year – how hard can that be? I did it for the first two years and then just gave up for lack of time and even laziness. But starting this photo series made me realise just how precious our photos are and how I needed to get them off my laptop and phone and on to paper. A few weeks ago I shared some mini photo books which are great for quick little albums especially for giving to friends and family. Today it’s about making forever photo books that I will hand down to Anya and hopefully one day my grandchildren (and beyond) will see it too. And there’s a special reader discount for you too.

I’ve searched high and low for the best and most beautiful photo books around and I think it has to be Artifact Uprising. Making a book from there has probably been on my to do list for two years and I finally did it. I chose the 8.5″ square format photo book because I love that shape but there is also a beautiful hardback cloth bound book that I will probably choose to make next time. I made a book documenting our life for a year from when Anya turned five. This included any holidays we took in that year and also just moments we want to remember like her Halloween costume, her 5th birthday party, her first school performance and so much more.

Artifact Uprising keep it simple and that’s why their photo books and other photo products are so stunning. I also love the matte, recycled paper they use – no shine in sight! I want my forever photo books to last forever and I know these will. These books are special and take time to make so it’s not about making them all the time but instead, just one a year. I’m feeling inspired to do something with all my important photo’s so that I can touch and hold them whenever I want. I hope today you too are inspired to get printing those beautiful memories of yours. Whatever you do, don’t leave them on that hard drive!

Artifact Uprising don’t often do sales but have offered my readers 10% off any of their photo offerings. The discount is valid for a week from today and ends on 20.05.2015. At checkout, just use the code: AUEBB10 This offer is open to readers worldwide. Enjoy!

There are lots more handy tips and ideas on photography in my previous articles which you’ll find here:
How to style your photos
How to photograph your newborn baby
How to organise your digital photos
How to grow your instagram following
How to photograph moving kids
The best photo filter apps
How to photograph kids using an iphone only
A mini photobook

How to style your photos

May 6, 2015

It’s Wednesday and that means time for more photography tips. This week it’s all about styling your photos. I will start by saying I am no styling expert but over the years of writing this blog I have learned quite a lot about styling. I used to drool over the photos you find on pinterest and wonder how they did it. Then I decided to see if I could teach myself through some basic courses and practice. We all know one part of a great photo is the photography but the other part is how and where you place everything. Ordinary, everyday objects can look stunning with just a few styling tricks. As bloggers we all know how important our photo and styling skills are but also if you’re just interested in photography and want to learn a bit more about taking better looking shots, then these photo styling tips for beginners will help you create beautiful images.

1. Get inspired!
Before you even touch your camera and start trying to compose images, gather lots of inspiration. You can do this online or offline but with pinterest it’s so easy to do. I have set up 5-6 different secret boards by subjects that I’m interested in learning to style like food, toys and beauty. Any styled shot that appeals to me gets added to these boards and over time I have built up quite an inspiring selection of images. The plan here isn’t to copy but to get inspired and get ideas of ways to style your shots. In addition I write notes on each pin as you can see from the snapshot of my food styling board. I write what I like about that shot or why it’s inspiring me – is it the colours or the positioning of something or an unexpected touch that brings the image to life.

2. Practice, practice, practice
Once you’ve gathered some inspiration, grab your camera pick a few objects and get styling. The first few times you try, it may look nothing like you had hoped – I’ve been there! But don’t give up. As with most things, the more you practice the better you will get at it. And by practice I mean take a few household objects and put them together and photograph them. Move them around, put them on a different table, put them on the floor, on the bed, add objects, remove objects and just keep trying till you get a shot you like. This won’t happen in a day but over time you will train your eye in to learning which compositions work and which don’t.

3. Keep it simple
This is key. When you are starting to develop your styling skills, keeping it simple and small helps a lot. So to start with take a vase, a jar of make-up, one toy or a book and start styling that object with a few props. If you start trying to style a whole bedroom as a beginner it will feel overwhelming. Styling entire rooms or big gatherings or anything on a big scale comes with a lot more time and practice.

4. What’s your style?
Styling is all about style. As you practice, you will find that you are drawn to a particular style. This could be bright and light or dark and moody, it could be minimal, monochrome shots or shots bursting with colour. So choose your style and experiment with it. You are much more likely to produce great shots with a style you are naturally drawn to.

5. The props
Don’t go out and buy props – just look around you. Regular household objects can make fantastic props. The kitchen is my favourite place to go to find props and another great source of props are Anya’s toys especially the smaller ones. Also look in your garden (or a nearby park) – leaves, twigs, flowers all make great little props to add to a photo.

Speaking of props, if I buy something that comes in nice packaging or a nice jar, I always keep the jar once I’ve used up the product. I never go out and buy props as styling isn’t my job. Instead I collect interesting boxes, bottles, toy parts – anything that has a bit of beauty in it. For e.g. in the shot above that little glass bottle was some hair oil I bought and after using the oil I hung on to the bottle. I also went to a park next to my home and found a little flower to put in to it. The little vase just adds a bit more interest to the shot but it’s still a very simply styled shot.

6. Backgrounds and backdrops
Props are one aspect of styling a shot and another is the background. Look around your home – do you have a wall painted in a colour that would make a good background? Do you have a wallpapered wall? Do you have some interesting floor tiles? Or even some fun wrapping paper that you can use as a background? A tablecloth maybe? I use anything and everything that I can find in my home from walls to scraps of cloth that I can make a backdrop out of. I also occasionally buy some pretty tissue paper or wrapping paper if I come across something that catches my eye. Or else I just use a white wall as I love keeping my shots simple, white and bright. For e.g. In the picture above, I wanted to show some ingredients against a dark background to help them stand out. I found a piece of slate I had lying around and it made the perfect background. Don’t forget you will always crop your photo’s so the background doesn’t have to be huge.

7. Play with your angles
You’ve set up a shot and you keep clicking but it’s just not working. Of course you can move things around but instead try moving yourself! Photograph from above, from below, from the side, straight on, go in closer or take a step back and just keep playing with your angles. The same objects in a shot can look completely different when you change the angle just like in the example above. I didn’t move the trees at all when I took those two shots, I only moved myself and you can see how different each shot looks. The first just doesn’t work while the second is so much better as the little trees look like a forest which is the intention of the shot.

8. Just start
Nobody can become an amazing photo stylist in a day or a week or even a month. And the idea isn’t to become a top stylist but just to lift your photos and make them more interesting. You will see a huge improvement in you styling skills over a period of a few months if you practice often. Remember to take your first styled shot and keep it hidden away then after six months take a look at it and compare it to your latest shot. You will see a world of difference. The secret here is to get started so why not look around you now and see what you can photograph today.

So those are my top photo styling tips for beginners. For us bloggers it’s an important skill to have but also for anyone interested in photography or anyone who just wants to take better photos. Once you learn how to style your photo’s it will become addictive and you will realise it’s not so hard to make an ok photo look amazing just by adding a little thought and effort.

There are lots more handy tips and ideas on photography in my previous articles which you’ll find here:
How to photograph your newborn baby
How to organise your digital photos
How to grow your instagram following
How to photograph moving kids
The best photo filter apps
How to photograph kids using an iphone only
A mini photobook

*I’ve linked up to Honest Mum’s brilliant blog posts.

How to photograph your newborn baby

April 29, 2015

Probably the most memorable day of my life was the day I gave birth to Anya. How could it not be? And afterwards Richard and I got to take this tiny bundle home and stare at it wondering what to do next?! But as the days passed, we slowly learned to become parents as do most first time parents. The one thing we didn’t do properly though and I sincerely regret to this day is take any great newborn photo’s. In that crazy haze that is the newborn days (especially with the first baby) photo’s didn’t seem like the priority or even much of a thought for me. Thankfully Richard took some but I wish someone had told us, warned us, advised us that don’t miss capturing those precious first few days. So today, that’s what I’m doing for you – telling you that no matter how you feel, don’t forget to capture those incredible first few days of a new life. And to help you today’s photography post is on the best newborn baby photography tips for parents by Suzi Bowles – an incredibly talented photographer.

I have yet to meet Suzi in person but I already feel like I know her through our many online interactions. Suzi specialises in contemporary family photography including newborns, maternity and children. Her style is distinctive, bright and very fresh. The expressions and little details that Suzi manages to captures in newborns is second to none. She snaps those exact newborn moments that you want to remember forever and so I am very excited to have her here today telling us exactly how she does it. Now over to Suzi.

I love photographing newborns. Those euphoric first few days of a child’s life are so very unique and special. Capturing these moments to immortalise those special memories is one of my absolute favourite parts of my photography life. There are so many magical new moments to capture with the arrival of a baby but there’s nothing more frustrating than snapping away only to find that your picture is missing the very detail that you were hoping to capture. These ten tips should help you immortalize those memories of the days when your precious bundle was still tiny, fresh and very new.

1. The ‘best’ time to photograph
The best time to photograph is between 6 and 10 days. In photography terms your newborn is only considered to be a newborn for the first two weeks – sounds crazy doesn’t it! But some of the reflexes that they are born with, which make them all curly and new looking, disappear after that time. Many babies develop baby acne for a while around the two week mark and they become more alert and aware of the world around them each day so achieving those classic newborn images are much more difficult after the first two weeks of life. Having said that, there’s something delightful about a curious newborn stare and capturing those little eyes looking back at you so there are still plenty of other special shots that you can get after this time.

2. Keep your camera close
Keep the camera close to hand so that you don’t miss an opportunity while you’re fumbling around around trying to remember where you last left it!

3. Find the light
Pay attention to the light in your home. Think about which rooms are the brightest and and which times of day they have the most light. Daylight will generally produce a much prettier image than artificial light so daytime is your friend. Turn your baby towards the light source to photograph her. Diffused, indirect light consistently produces good results so having your baby facing towards a window but not in the direct sunlight is a great option. Have her head nearer to the light than her feet as this will produce shadows that fall in a natural looking direction.

4. Keep it warm and toasty
Babies inbuilt thermostats don’t work very well and they can get cold really quickly. Also they love being bundled up all warm and cosy. If you’re planning to photograph your baby au naturel, crank up the heating – a lovely toasty 28 or 29 degrees is what I recommend for my newborn sessions to keep them content while I’m shooting. The parents and I are usually peeling off our layers but baby is cozy and content.

5. Capture the details
As well as photographing the big picture, don’t miss those tiny details as babies change so very quickly! Make sure you capture tiny hands, feet, eyes, nose, rose bud lips and the top of their head so that you can always remember it exactly as it was. These kind of shots of my kids still transport me right back when I look at them today; I can almost smell that newborn freshness!

6. Think about family and friends
Who is visiting to meet the new arrival? Document those precious first cuddles with grandma, those story times with siblings and those evenings when your baby barely moved from your other half’s chest. And whether it’s mum or dad who is taking the lions share of the photographs, don’t forget to hand the camera over sometimes so that you exist in some of the pictures too. You will really cherish these in years to come.

7. Keep it simple and let your baby be the focus
If you trawl through pinterest you’ll find a plethora of ideas for posing a newborn – dressing them up as Oscar the Grouch, covering them in lipstick kisses or putting them in a tutu. Personally I’ve found that no matter which props parents bring to their session, the most treasured images and the ones that my clients usually choose from their gallery are the simplest ones. Brand new babies are so very gorgeous as they are and props can often just distract from their fresh and captivating beauty.

8. Make your baby feel secure
Sometimes a newborn’s startle reflexes can go in to overdrive as they may not be comfortable with their arms and legs being free. If your baby won’t settle while you put him down to photograph, try swaddling him as he is more likely to relax when he feels secure. A bit of white noise can also help him relax – it will drown out some of the background highs and lows and send him right back to the womb. There are a couple of great white noise apps that you can download on your phone – I like White Noise Lite on the iPhone.

9. Print your images
Don’t leave those beautiful images of your newborn sitting on your phone or computer. Print them out and put them where you can enjoy them! Frame them, share them with family or have them made into a photo book like the quick and easy Pop Books that were mentioned in a previous photography article.

10. Keep that baby safe
I’ve intentionally saved this point till the end because it is the most important point by far. It may seem obvious, but I’ve heard of several unfortunate incidents where proper safety precautions have not been taken. Always keep within reach of your baby. If you are taking the photograph, have someone else as a spotter to give their entire focus to your baby’s safety. Never place your baby near the edge of a surface which they could roll off or in a glass or ceramic bowl which could shatter. Always carefully check any baskets, crates or other props you use for sharp edges, snags or anything which might hurt your baby.

Some of the poses that newborn photographers create such as the baby leaning up on his elbows with his head in his hands, or hanging from a branch in a muslin hammock, aren’t what they first appear to be. Some are composites – that is, they are made by stitching together two or more images in Photoshop to create the final picture and others are shot from above with baby lying on their side to give the illusion that they are suspended in mid-air. This is absolutely vital for safety – babies necks aren’t strong enough to hold up their heads at this age, they shouldn’t be placed anywhere that there’s a possibility of them falling, and certain positions will require a hand to hold them at all times.

Thank you Suzi for these very helpful newborn baby photography tips for parents – I just wish I had these when Anya was a newborn. But you have them now so once again I say don’t miss capturing those precious first days of your babies life with these helpful tips. Suzi has also recently started photography workshops in Surrey for beginners, bloggers and intermediate photographers so if you’re interested in learning more check them out at A Happy Capture.

There are lots more handy tips and ideas on photography in my previous articles which you’ll find here:
How to organise your digital photos
How to grow your instagram following
How to photograph moving kids
The best photo filter apps
How to photograph kids using an iphone only
A mini photobook

How to organise your digital photos

April 22, 2015

It’s Wednesday and that means the next dose of my photo series. We live in a time where taking photos could not be easier. We click away several times a day creating thousands of memories on our phones, cameras and other devices. On the one hand it’s quite amazing that we can photograph anything, anytime, all the time but on the other, what do you do with all those photo’s? Do you have thousands of memories sitting in one big horrible mess on your phone, on your laptop or even on your facebook? Do you spend hours trying to find photos? Do you wonder what to do with all those thousands of photo’s you’ve taken? If your answer is yes, then todays photography article on how to organise your digital photos will help you get on top of this mess. These tips are easy to follow and with a little effort you will have a very organised photo library. I’ve put these tips together based on what I do (when I’m organised!):

1. Download those photos
This is the easy bit because if you’re anything like me, I can’t wait to see the photo’s I’ve taken after an event or holiday. So whenever I take photos I always download them usually on the same day or within a day or two. Never leave photo’s on your memory card as your card will eventually get full and you may not have room the next time you need to take photo’s. This could leave you furiously trying to scroll through your camera and deleting photo’s in a hurry to free up some space. And besides it’s also possible to accidently delete your entire memory card.

2. Delete, delete, delete!
As soon as you download your photos, start deleting. And be ruthless. Blurry shots, duplicate shots, random photos – you know the ones I mean. And then delete some more. Only keep the shots you really love and often you’ll find that more than half can be deleted. This also helps keep more storage space free. My best advice (which I try to follow) is to delete photo’s as soon as you download them. This will make putting them in to folders a much easier job.

3. Create folders
That brings me on to the next point – creating folders. It doesn’t matter what software you use or even if the photos are stored directly on your PC but creating a folder system is essential to getting your photos organised. The simplest way to do this is chronologically – by year, then month, then by the subject or occasion. The best way to stay on top of your system is to place photo’s in to folders as you download and after a while this will become a habit. But if this isn’t possible you can also set aside a little time the end of each month and spend an an hour or two dividing the photos for that month in to folders. If you do this regularly, imagine how organised your photos will be and how easy they will be to find!

None of us have photo’s just on our camera’s anymore. In fact many of us have more photo’s on our phones than anywhere else. We definitely don’t want to forget these so do the same with these – download to your computer (or wherever you store your photos) monthly or weekly (depending on how many you take), delete unwanted ones and put in to folders with the rest of that months photo’s.

4. Mark your favourites
I’ve recently started flagging my favourite photos in each set of photos that I download. This is easily doable in many photo management tools like apple iphoto or windows live photo gallery. This has helped me so much especially when I take photo’s for my blog. Before I’d trawl through 100 or more photo’s to choose the best two or three and then forget which ones I liked so I’d keep going back and forth and wasting far too much time. Now when I download them, I immediately delete the hopeless ones and flag the best. This will also help a lot if later you decide you want to print some or make a photobook – no more spending hours choosing.

5. Storage
If you take a lot of photo’s then keeping these on your laptop can start eating away at your computers storage. So instead you could use an external photo storage site like flickr. There are many such sites that are free to use so it’s just a question of finding the right one for you – here’s a list that will help.

6. Print them!
Seriously, how often do you print your photo’s? I am really bad at this but since starting this photography series I’ve realised that there is no point learning to take fab photos only to have them sitting on a hard drive somewhere. It’s so much nicer to hold a book or album and flick through the pages than it is to stare at a screen. With all the easy printing options available, there really is no excuse not to print photos. And once you’ve spent a bit of time organising your digital photos, choosing ones to print should be easy.

Some ideas on printing – You could print a yearly photobook. I did this when Anya turned one showing the first year of her life and it is such a wonderful memory. I did it again when she turned two but since have given up but plan to re-start. Another idea is to make mini little photobooks of instagram photos or phone photo’s that can literally be done in minutes. Yet another idea is to make real prints and create a gallery wall in your home. You could refresh these every couple of years and older ones can go in to an album. There are so many easy and quick ways to get real copies of your photo’s and once you start, you’ll love the physical memories you are creating and memories that can be handed down for generations to come.

7. Don’t feel overwhelmed
If you have done nothing to organise your photo’s over the years and have thousands upon thousands stored on your laptop and phone, don’t panic! It’s so easy to feel overwhelmed and not know where to start. You can either start with your latest photos and work backwards or the other way around but most importantly, start with bite sized chunks. So consider tackling a months worth of photo’s each week and slowly you will start to see your digital photo library looking very organised.

8. Back it up
You knew this was coming, you know you should do it but are you doing it? Even if you end up doing nothing else to organise your digital photos, at the very least you need to back them up. I use an external hard drive that I plug in to my laptop around once a month and job done! But there are so many ways to create back-ups, the important thing is to do it – not say you will do it, not plan to do it but do it today! Here is a simple article that lists some photo back-up options.

So that’s how I like to keep my photo’s organised. It’s a shame to have so many gorgeous memories lying in a huge mess somewhere. With my tips on how to organise your digital photos and a little consistent effort, you will have the most organised photo library ever. And once you get in the habit of doing this, you will save so much time because you won’t ever have to look through thousands of pics to find the one you want. And don’t forget to print and back-up those amazing memories.

There are lots more handy tips and ideas on photography in my previous articles which you’ll find here:
How to grow your instagram following
How to photograph moving kids
The best photo filter apps
How to photograph kids using an iphone only
A mini photobook

How to grow your Instagram following

April 15, 2015

It’s Wednesday and after a short break last week, I am back to my photography series. In the past few weeks I’ve shared some great tips and tricks on how to photograph your kids, which apps will make your photos shine and so much more. Today we are talking Instagram – the photo sharing app that seems to be all our addictions! When done right, Instagram is the online place to build a community by sharing snippets of your everyday life so we’ve got some great tips on exactly how to do this and how to do it better. Whether you’re a blogger, a small business owner or just someone who wants to share your photo’s for fun, these tips by super talented photographer and blogger Lucy of Capture by Lucy will be very helpful to you. Lucy’s tips will not only show you how to grow your Instagram following but also how exactly to use Instagram to get the most out of it for you and for your followers.

I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Lucy once but have also been a long time follower of her happy and incredibly engaging photography. Lucy has a way of putting the ‘extra’ in to ordinary every single time she takes a photo. By her own admission she loves her Instagram space and it shows. Her instagram feed is the story of her everyday life which is bursting with inspiration, colour, cheer and joy. You can’t help but want to be a part of it and I know I can’t wait to see more from her each day. I’m so delighted to have her here today to share exactly how she does this and how you can do it too so over to Lucy now!

Thank you so much for having me Nomita; it’s such a pleasure to share how I have grown my following on Instagram since I joined just over a year ago. I am a total Instagram addict! I love the community spirit, the inspiration and the fact that it’s so easy to join in. Everyday I can’t believe so many people follow my ‘mini blog’. It’s my fastest growing social media channel by a clear mile and I see my gallery as a way to share everyday moments that help my followers get to know me better, where I can let my creative side go wild and where I enjoy practicing my styling and composition. So I am really excited to be here today and to share my top 8 tips on how to grow your Instagram following:

1. Be yourself
Being authentic is key. If you aren’t a fan of staged or styled photography, no problem! Share the photo’s of what you love to photograph because it’s hard to keep up something you aren’t passionate about. I’m all about colour and although I sometimes try a more minimalist style, it’s really not me. I love sharing a mix of everyday life, our home and vignettes. A vignette is a styled photo so I am often found with a sheet of scrap paper or wallpaper, arranging a few flowers and props to create a still life image. I find it so therapeutic to share lovely photos and even if it’s pouring with rain and my boys are arguing, I can take two minutes out to create something beautiful.

2. Embrace the community
Instagram is a wonderfully positive platform. I have experienced nothing but great community spirit and encouragement. I love the interaction, the way replying to comments is so easy and the engagement between my followers just amazes me. It’s a way to be part of a community and to create a community. Do join in with collaborative hashtags – it’s a great way to find other accounts with similar interests. I host the hashtag #capturingcolour where each Monday morning I announce a new theme for the week and then I share my favourite picks on my blog. I love to take part in various themes including “competition” themes just for the fun of it and also to be involved in the Instagram community.

My favourites are:
Monday – #mymondaymoodboard
Tuesday – #gatheredstyle
Wednesday – #itsamoodywednesday
Thursday – #byarrangement
Friday – #floralfridaycompetition and #fridayfaffingcompetition
Weekend – #frommykitchencompetition
Weekly and monthly themes – #natureinthehome, #stylingtheseasons, #lovelysquares, #nothingisordinary, #at_diff, #its_my_week
Family themes – #jj_its_kids, #mom_hub, #kids_of_our_world

3. Be consistent
I like sharing lots of photos but I know it can easily overwhelm my followers and I begin to see people unfollow if I blast them with too many photos. You don’t have to share a photo everyday but being consistent and having a regular presence is key to growing any social media platform. Some people check their Instagram feed throughout the day while others may only check it once a day or less – so either way if you post a number of photos in quick succession, you are likely to take over someones news feed!

4. Be selective
Instagram is all about sharing snippets. While on facebook you may well share 100 photo’s of your recent holiday, Instagram is more about moments that tell a story. Give people a reason to follow your account on Instagram – keep it interesting! I often follow the same bloggers on every platform, but find it frustrating when they share the same photo across all their accounts and then a few days later it appears on their blog too. By that point I might have seen the same photo 4 or 5 times, and I am less likely to engage with it.

This doesn’t mean putting pressure on yourself to think of different images for each social media platform, it’s more about what you choose to share. So for example – if we are at a play park I might share a photo of my boys to Facebook (where people are more interested and respond to family photos) and a picture of the trees or a close up shot of a little detail to my Instagram account. Twitter on the other hand is a very fast moving medium so I often share my Instagram photos on there too.

When you are being selective about the photos you share, you want to share your best. I recently wrote this post on Real life vs. Insta life to show that even in the midst of a normal chaotic family life you can still create beautiful photos.

5. It is not cheating to edit your photos
There is nothing wrong at all with editing your phone photos for your Instagram account. 99% of the photos I share are from my iPhone and occasionally I will share a photo from my Canon DSLR. But I always tweak my phone photos so they are the best quality they can be. People often comment on how bright and light our house is but in fact we live in a 300 year old cottage farmhouse with low ceilings and small windows! So in comes one of my absolute favourite apps – PicTapGo. I often use their ‘lights on’ filter to help brighten my images but I steer clear of the heavy traditional Instagram filters which distort the colours and saturate the image because it’s just not in keeping with my style. But Instagram does have a sharpening tool which can really improve those evening shots that look a little grainy and the tilt shift tool is wonderful for giving you a sharp focus point and a lovely blurry background emulating the Aperture settings on a DSLR. So do experiment with those editing tools to improve your photos and make them the best they can be.

Remember that Instagram is a square configuration so use the square setting on your phone camera to compose your images. I prefer to fill the whole frame instead of posting landscape or portrait images. Taking a little extra time to compose your images, thinking of things like what’s in the background that might distract from the subject can make a big difference.

6. Make it easy to find your account
It’s no good sharing lots of lovely photos if people can’t find you. Make sure your account name or handle is consistent with your other account names on your site, blog or twitter for example. Do share a link to your Instagram account on your blog and consider displaying your latest IG posts in your blog sidebar. You can use a plug-in in your sidebar as I do, so it automatically displays your most recent IG posts. Let your followers know you are on Instagram too – why not create a collage of your most recent images and share to your Facebook page or write a blog post about the accounts you like to follow.

7. Connect and engage with like minded people
Instagram is a place to connect with like minded people. You don’t have to follow everyone back and you can choose whether to make your account private or public. If you go for a private account followers have to request your permission to view your photos so you have complete control over who sees your content if you choose to. I have a public account because I want people to be able to quickly scroll through my gallery to see if it’s something they’d like to follow or not.

I follow a whole range of accounts that appeal to me for various reasons. Some for their lovely family snaps, some who I have followed since before they were pregnant through to their second and third children, some for styling inspiration, some for food photos, some for travel. They all engage me in different ways and no matter what the time of day is, whenever I check my newsfeed there are always lots of new photos to admire. And I tell them so. If you like something, if something makes you smile or if someone needs some words of support, don’t be shy – leave a comment and engage with people. It’s a wonderful community to be part of and I have actually made some real life friendships with people I have met through following each others accounts.

8. Have fun!
Remember the most important thing is to have fun. If you don’t feel like posting, don’t post. The worst thing with any social media is when it feels like hard work. And also when it’s forced, it shows to your followers as well. Find what you love photographing and share that.

Thank you Lucy for these fabulous tips on how to grow your Instagram following and also for sharing in such detail exactly how you do it. I have recently gotten more in to Instagram but I definitely needed some help and these tips couldn’t be more useful. I love how Lucy depicts everyday life but in such an inspirational and uplifting way. Its inspired me to do better now that I know how and I am sure it has inspired you too. Do make sure you check out Lucy’s Instagram and also her beautiful blog. Also Lucy has kindly offered to help any of my readers with questions you may have – just find her here.

There is still more to come from my photo series but in the meantime why not check out the previous articles:

How to take great iphone photos of your kids
The best phone photo filter apps
How to photograph kids on the move
A mini photobook you can make in minutes

A mini photo book + a giveaway (win 5 of these books)

April 1, 2015

It’s Wednesday and that means it’s time for the next installment of my photography series. Over the last three weeks I’ve shared some useful and actionable tips on photographing kids as well as some of the best photo filter apps to help turn those ordinary photos in to something special. I’ve had some fantastic feedback on the series so far – so thank you all for that. Today I want to talk about a really quick, easy and inexpensive way to do something with all those beautiful photo’s you’ve learned to take! And there’s even a giveaway in today’s post so keep reading to find out more.

I’m not the most organised person when it comes to printing the photos I take especially the thousands (yes thousands) of photo’s I’ve collected on my iphone. While I love the idea of creating amazingly big and beautiful photo books, I don’t always have the time to spend compiling these. So when I recently found out about a brand new app called Pop book, I had to try it out especially for this series. Pop book is an app that allows you to create little mini photo books in minutes, using pics from your iphone or ipad. I’ve made a couple of books and it literally took me a few minutes. You can do some basic editing in the app (like cropping, adding text or borders) and then you’re good to go, all for just £4.99 delivered to your door. The books are square, small and very cute coming in two sizes of 10×10 or 13×13 cms, each consisting of 21 photos.

I can think of so many reasons for making Pop Books. Firstly, that ever growing instagram feed. You can turn your entire feed in to a series of mini photo books. The square format of the books is perfect for this. The other thing that sprung to mind was my mum-in-law and other family members (especially the older generation who aren’t on facebook) that constantly ask me for photos of Anya. Instead of emailing one photo here and there, I’m going to start sending them these cute little books every few months. Also, because these books are small, I like the idea of having two or three perched on my desk instead of a static frame or even in my kitchen where I might put up a string and hang a load of these mini photo books. Yet another thought I had was to have these printed after your child’s birthday party and give to the parents of the kids who came – what a great party gift and lasting memory that would make. So many ways to use this book.

You can do whatever you wish with these books but the absolute best part for me is the convenience of creating a book in minutes so that you have actual copies of your photos. You never have to worry about photos being lost or deleted or wiped from your phone because you will have at least a small little hard copy. And I also love the easiness of gifting these to family or friends. All you need to do is download the free Pop Book app and you can start creating little photo books now.

THE GIVEAWAY: Now the best bit – I’ve joined with Pop Book to give 5 lucky ebabee readers the chance to win one of these books. To enter leave a comment on this post and follow my facebook page to stay in the loop. Five lucky winners will be chosen at random. Giveaway closes on Wednesday 8th April at midnight (UK time). Any entries after this time will not be counted. Sorry, this giveaway is only open to UK readers.

This is my new, go to quick, easy and inexpensive solution to printing your phone or instagram photos but there will be more ideas coming on what you can do with all those beautiful photos you take. Lots more to still come from my photo series but in the meantime why not check out the previous articles:

How to take great iphone photos of your kids
The best phone photo filter apps
How to photograph kids on the move

This post is brought to you in partnership with Pop Book. All ideas, words and images are my own. Thank you for supporting my work with carefully selected partners that support this blog.

This giveaway is now closed. Thank you to everyone who entered. Congrats to Sarah, Stephanie, Natalie, Sam and Alice – our winners. If you want to find out about more giveaways, follow our facebook page.

Best tips on how to take photos of moving kids

March 25, 2015

It’s Wednesday and that means it’s time for another photography tips post. Last Wednesday I shared the best photo filter apps and before that it was tips on taking better iphone photos of your kids. This week it’s about taking photo’s of your kids who cannot sit still! I know from my own experience that Anya is constantly moving and the more I ask her to stay still, the more she jumps around while I’m trying to snap pictures. I also know I’m not alone because since starting my photography series, many of you have said the same and quite a few have asked for tips on how to take photos of moving kids. So today I share top 10 tips on photographing those fidgety kids by super talented photographer and mum of four – Abigail Fahey.

I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Abigail for a while – both on and offline. I was first drawn to her through her absolutely amazing family photography. Abigail’s style is distinctive and beautiful. All her pictures tell a story and really draw you in. I know my words are not doing justice to her photography but from the pictures below you’ll see exactly what I mean. I am so excited to have her here today sharing her photography secrets and handy tips to capture those kids that never sit still! Abigail’s tips are geared towards DSLR users however there are lots of tips in here which can be applied to any kind of camera you use including phone cameras. Now over to Abigail!

It wasn’t until my babies became toddlers that I truly realised how much ground they covered each day. My two sons in particular rarely sit still and are generally on the go from morning until night and sometimes even throughout the night! I tried hard at first to get them to pose and found it so frustrating when they would not sit still whilst I tried in vain to recreate some gorgeous shots I had seen online. I quickly realised that posing and fidgety children are not a happy match, so I decided that if I was to get any decent shots of my children I needed to embrace the action and just learn how to photograph them on the move. So here are my 10 tips for photographing fast moving children!

1. Don’t be a poser.
Kids don’t always cooperate so it’s best not to try too hard. Instead go for natural shots of them moving or interacting. If you want them to slow down, a great way of doing this is to give them an activity that focuses their attention in one place. Something like a board game, a toy, sitting them on a swing or simply asking them to find worms outside will do the trick.

2. Lets go outside.
The best way to maximise the amount of available light is to shoot outdoors. More light means faster shutter speed which means less blur.

3. Change your camera mode.
If you shoot in Auto then turn your settings to Sports mode and your camera will automatically increase it’s shutter speed in anticipation of an action shot. If you shoot in Semi Auto then turn the dial to Tv (shutter priority mode also marked as S on some cameras) and set your shutter speed at 1/500 or above. You may need to compensate by raising your ISO to get the correct exposure.

4. Be ready.
Keep your finger on the button and if possible use a continuous shooting mode. If you want an action shot then short bursts of the shutter will increase the chances of getting the shot you are after.

5. Anticipate the moment.
Look at the scene before you and get yourself into a position where you can concentrate on getting one good shot rather than chasing children around taking hundreds of pot luck ones.

6. Steady yourself.
Use a wall or something to lean on to steady your hands whilst holding your camera. The more you can reduce camera shake, the less blur you will create.

7. Talk to the hand!
Not all photographs have to show a childs face. Often I will take shots of busy little hands or quick little feet. Or even photos showing the back of the child. These can be equally cute and take the pressure off having to get a shot with the right facial expression.

8. Use a zoom.
This will allow you to sit further away and take shots without interrupting their games or encroaching on their space. Children will quickly get fed up of a constant camera in their face and will start to react. If you can sit quietly some distance away and snap without them being too aware, you will achieve far more natural results.

9. Get creative.
Don’t panic if you get some blur. Occasionally blur in the photos emphasises the movement and makes for a more interesting shot. If you get some unwanted blur turn your photos to black and white; it’s amazing how much better they look.

10. Don’t miss out.
Remember to put the camera down occasionally and get involved. So often I have waited for the perfect shot only to miss the moment. Pick your time to take a worthwhile shot. For e.g. when you go to sports day as great as it is taking shots of your children running, the best ones are of their faces when they have completed their race and are full of pride. And better yet you were there cheering them on from the sidelines not squinting through the viewfinder.

Thank you Abigail for these great tips on how to take photos of moving kids. I look forward to experimenting with these tips and hopefully capturing some great motion shots. I especially found the tips of using a zoom and turning blurry photos to black and white very useful. Abigail has recently started photography workshops in Surrey for beginners, bloggers and intermediate photographers so if you’re interested in learning more check them out at A Happy Capture.

And don’t forget to check out my previous posts in this photography series. There’s a load of practical and useful information in them – how to photograph your kids using an iphone and the best photo filter apps out there.

*I’ve linked up to Honest Mum’s brilliant blog posts.

The best photo filter apps

March 18, 2015

Last Wednesday I started a new photography series on my blog and today it’s time for the next feature. Last week I shared lots of great tips on how to take better iphone photos of your kids. This week it’s all about the best apps for adding filters and effects to your photos. With so many photo filter and editing apps out there it can be really confusing to know which ones to use. So here I’ve picked the ones that I would say are easiest to use and are great to tweak and enhance your everyday photos. I have focused more on getting quick effects with a range of filters than on editing functions as I’m not a pro photographer and this series really is about enhancing our everyday photos, not about turning pro! With the right app and the right filter an ordinary photo can look extraordinary and a good photo can look awesome. Here are my recommendations for the best photo filter apps around:

1. VSCOcam
This is my favourite app for adding filters to photos. VSCO has the largest range of filters that I have come across and they are fantastic. The filters are the most natural looking of any app and are all quite beautiful as you can see from the range above. With VSCO you can also take photos within the app and then experiment with the filters. It also has loads of other editing functions like adjusting brightness, adding a grainy effect, sharpening or fading and lots more. This is definitely the photo editing app I use the most but one word of caution – it’s addictive! I can spend ages playing around and trying out different filters as there are so many. The basic filters are free but to get all of them it’s paid but most definitely worth it.

2. Retrica
If you are into your selfies, you’ll love Retrica. It’s a simple app that allows you to choose from a range of filters and effects to keep your selfies interesting and different. What I especially like about Retrica is that any filters and effects are done before taking the selfie. So you get a live preview of exactly what your photo will look like before you click. Once you click you can instantly share or send wherever you want including Instagram of course. The free version is more than good enough unless you hate seeing ads on your apps, then you’ll have to go premium.

3. Dash of Colour
This simple app does what it says on the tin and it’s free. Strictly speaking this isn’t an app for adding filters – there are some basic editing functions and filters but the main purpose of this app is to add a colour effect. Or what I most love it for is that I never manage clean, crisp white backgrounds to my photo’s and this app helps me get much closer to that. You simply convert your picture to black and white and then add the colour bits back in by using your finger as a paintbrush. This allows you to make a certain part of the picture pop like the example with Anya wearing those blue glasses. And also as you can see from the leggings photo – my original picture was quite yellow so I turned the photo to black and white and added back in the bit of pink tape. So much better!

4. Simply B&W
I’m a big fan of black and white photo’s and this is an easy to use app to apply black and white filters to your photos and again it’s free. While there are many apps that will convert photo’s to black and white, there are normally only one or two pre-sets to choose from. With this app, you can not only play around with a bigger range of black & white filters but also within each filter you can adjust the effects like the strength of the filter and more. So the same black and white photo can look completely different as you can see in the pictures above – from giving it a really old, dated feel to a much sharper looking photo.

5. Afterlight
Afterlight is a filter lovers dream. It offers an in app camera too but I don’t really use this – my iphone camera seems just as good. What I do like about Afterlight is the big range of filters and that they can be layered on top of each other to create even more effects. Too much of this and your photo will end up looking very unnatural but if you did want to create quite distinct effects you can. My favourite bit of this app is the fun shapes which can be filled with your photos like the examples above which I love. From bold capital letters to script letters to shapes like hearts, stars, sun and more. You can be so creative with these without needing to learn how to do it from scratch. Afterlight isn’t free but costs just £0.79 or $0.99 so it’s definitely worth it for what you’re getting.

These are my most useful phone photo apps for being easy to use, for creating a range of effects and adding lots of different filters. And the best part is that most of them are free. They help easily take an average photo to a fab one without getting in to the technical side. The best way to use these apps is to experiment with them and try out different filters and effects – you’ll soon learn which are your favourites and you’ll also discover all sorts of tricks to make your photo’s really stand out.

Do you have a photo filter app you love ? Do share in the comments so we can all try it out.

P.S. Don’t forget to check out last weeks article on taking beautiful iphone photos of your kids.

How to take great photos of your kids with an iphone

March 11, 2015

Want to improve your iphone photography? This post has so many handy tips for anybody who wants to improve their iphone photography. This is part of a whole series of photography posts so do check them out – there are some links at the end of the post. But for now, if you want to improve your iphone photography skills, read on.

I am so excited to have the super talented photographer Julia Arif sharing her tips on how to take better photos with your iphone of your kids. Many of us want to learn to take better everyday photos of our kids and this is exactly what Julia is showing us how to do. All of Julia’s tips are easy to action and you can start trying them out today. Julia is a professional portrait and lifestyle photographer who is also mum to one adorable little girl. It was when I discovered Julia’s beautiful instagram feed that I knew I had to ask her how she does it. All the photo’s on her instagram are taken with her iphone only which is quite unbelievable when you see the stunning photo’s. Julia has agreed to share her top tips with my readers so if you want to learn to take better photos on your iphone get reading these tips. After reading we can all get more creative with our iphones! Now over to Julia.

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