Nora & Brad's Engagement Shoot

i got a chance to do some engagement photos for aj's cousin nora and her fiancé, brad, over the weekend.  we had fun catching some evening sunlight and i'm really happy with how the photos turned out!  you can see more here.

Blogging + Photography

throughout my years of blogging, this space has changed and grown a whole lot.  i've been thinking lately about things that i've done intentionally to try to make this blog better, and focusing on putting together good posts has been instrumental.  

one thing that i think makes a post good is the photos you use.  your photos are your quick visual:  if a reader doesn't have time to read your whole post, or if they're trying to decide whether to spend the time reading it, your photos can either convey the content of your post or draw them in and convince them to give you their time.  

here's an example of a featured post image that helps draw a reader in and gives a clear expectation of what they will learn from the post:

(bonus:  if someone happens to pin this photo (original post found here), it will tell them exactly what it's going to link them back to)

i have to be completely honest here:  crafting great photography for posts takes time.  and personally, i'm not great at making that time.  i happen to own a really nice camera and a bunch of lenses that i love (check out what's in my camera bag here), and i actually run a photography business on the side, so i should have no excuse.

but if you're like me and blogging isn't your full time job, you know that oftentimes, it happens late at night or on your lunch break or even early in the morning before you've become a real person aka showered.  in a perfect world, i'd be able to take tons of awesome photos on some cute brick alleyway in a hip city with perfect magic-hour daylight and a rockstar outfit.  but that's not my life and sometimes a lot of the time, i'm crafting a post with zero daylight in my bedroom in my pjs.  

so, i've learned to take good pics with my iphone.  turns out that thing has a pretty great camera and it can really get the job done, depending on what you're trying to do!  (check out my fave camera apps here)

here's an example of a featured image that i used my iphone to create:

i cropped and added the text in adobe illustrator, but that pic was taken with my phone after a run one day.  in fact, i often use my instagram photos in my blog posts.  (original post here)

that's not to say that you never want to break out your big-girl camera.  heck, i'd be lying if i said that i wasn't really proud of myself when i can blog some good photos that make me proud to show them off.  but again, sometimes, you have to make due.  ya know, fake it til you have the time to make it….or something like that.

of course, your photography do's and don'ts will definitely differ depending on what you blog about:  food bloggers have different priorities than fashion bloggers who have different needs than diy bloggers.  so you need to figure out what makes your particular blog or post jump out.

for example:  you'll care more about your background and depth of field in an outfit post, like so:

and care more about really close-up details in say, a decor post, like this:

ultimately, like with any other aspect of blogging, you need to figure out what works for you.  these are just some things that i think makes a post feel a little more polished and a little more thought-out.  

here's a quick list of my few rules of thumb when it comes to blogging + photography:

- use good, clear, interesting images!

- make sure every post has at least one image.

- if you didn't take an image, then make sure you credit your source. (link with love, people!)

- choose or create a compelling featured post image.  it should be something that catches your reader's attention and gives a snapshot idea of what the post is about

- make all of your images in your posts the same width.  i read this advice somewhere once and started doing it immediately.  it gives your posts a more sleek and put-together feel!  (all of my images are formatted to 600px wide, with varying heights)

- add text to some images!  i like to add text to my featured image (the first one in my post) that has the post title or a quote from the post.

- if you're on pinterest and gain exposure from that particular site, try to think about what will look good and be eye-catching in someone's feed!

- when you're short on time or just can't get great images with a "real" camera, don't underestimate your trusty smart phone!


what did i forget?  what would you add?  what are your rules of thumb?

Life Lately // According to Instagram

last month was kind of one of those whirlwind ones.  you know, the kind that goes by super fast and it's here and gone before you know it?  i organized a huge event that took place at our church and aj came home for a long weekend to help/celebrate valentines day/celebrate our two year anniversary and then i went to boston for a week.  so here are some instagram photos from the past few weeks!

styling touches of gold for a coast to coast challenge // philadelphia

snapshots of aj & i

post-nap hair // ollie

snapshots from my desk // playing rummy

my bro's bday gift // animal prints

mark turned 21 this week // snow piles in our driveway

my boyfriend makes me breakfast // a night out with covenant friends

quotes in the office // snow piles in aj's neighborhood

the anthro displays on newbury // the rocketboys

more snapshots of aj & me

one republic // snowy, icy scenes from our lane

Ice, Ice, Baby!

well, after an eventful week here in pa…10 inches of snow on monday and another inch or two followed by an inch or two of ice yesterday…the sun has finally shown it's face!  i have to say, i'm a bit jealous of those i know who are vacationing in warmer weather at the moment.  we were without power from yesterday morning to today (which is far shorter than our usual 3-5 day outages with a storm like this, so i'll take it!), but despite that, i couldn't help but be amazed by the beauty that this storm left behind.  

the temp didn't get out of the twenties today, so that meant an extra day of enjoying the sparkle that the ice-coated trees gave off on my drive home.  it truly is a winter wonderland right now, and while i'm sooooo ready for spring, i just had to take advantage of this weather and snap some photos.  

ollie tagged along with me, but he was more interested in finding and chewing on frozen sticks than he was in my photography.  but of course, that also meant snapping a few photos of that cutie.

if you haven't yet, make sure to enter my current giveaway, ending this sunday, february 9th! 

My Best Friend's Big Day

i shared some iphone photos from jen's wedding a few weeks ago, but i actually did get a chance to take some photos with my camera as well!  jen's photographer was arriving a little later in the day than we could wait to start getting ready, so i brought my camera along so that she'd at least have a few photos from that part of the day.  

getting ready was so much fun.  we spent a few hours doing our hair and makeup, and getting more and more excited for the afternoon to come.  i've been in other weddings and i've photographed weddings, and have loved every part of each of them, but there's just something so special about your best friend getting married, you know?!

so here are a few photos from the morning of january 4th…didn't she look gorgeous??

Photos from a Chilly Day

i've been feeling that itch to get out and use my camera this week.  i feel like this urge always hits right when everything is brown and dead and kind of boring.  and to be honest, sometimes i'm a little lazy and i just don't feel like driving somewhere to take photos for a few minutes. (anybody else feel that?  i can't be the only one….)

anyway, this morning i decided to challenge myself to find something to capture in the area around our house.  i took ollie out with me, and he kind of ended up becoming the subject of the day, which was fun since we really don't have many photos of him that weren't taken with an iphone.