Photography Archives - With love from Lou

Living Arrows – 2/52 {2019}

14/01/2019 by Louise 7 Comments

Hi and welcome to my second week of the Living Arrows project. I was overwhelmed by the number of views and comments I got on last weeks post, so thank you to every single one of you who read it. I really appreciate it. Lots of you have been messaging me throughout to ask how Oscar was doing. And I’m pleased to report that he’s much better, thank you. I think he was just a little overtired after Christmas and New Year.

In case you’ve never heard of Living Arrows before, I’ll tell you a little bit about it. It’s basically a series about celebrating childhood through weekly photographs. The project originally took its name from a poem by Kahlil Gibran, “You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth” and every Monday many bloggers share a moment from their week and invite others to do the same as part of a link-up.

Every blogger does their Living Arrows post a little differently, and the way that I decided to do it was to share three pictures from our week – one of Stacey, one of Oscar, and one of them both together. And tell you a little bit about each photograph as well. I hope it’s something you guys will enjoy having a read of, and I think it will be a nice little series for me to look back on at the end of the year to see how much my children have grown. So, are you ready for this week’s snaps? Then let’s go!

On Friday, we headed into Nottingham to see the Pantomime before it ended. It was Peter Pan and featured the hilarious Joe Pasquale, Only Fools and Horses star, John Challis, and the lovely Jack McNeill (whose voice you might recognise if your kids are fans of Little Baby Bum). We had a great night and didn’t stop laughing from start to finish. I think I’d go as far as to say it was one of the very best pantomime’s I’ve ever seen. And I’ll be writing up a full review of it later this week.

Then, on Sunday, we visited my grandma in the residential home where she lives. She’s suffering from dementia and can get super confused about things when we’re talking to her. But she loves us being there anyway, so we try to go as often as we can. Anyway, on this particular visit, my nephew and his girlfriend also called in to see my grandma, and they brought their beautiful twin babies in with them too. Here is Stacey having a cuddle with Noah, the oldest of the two …

… and here’s Oscar with Erin, the youngest. You probably won’t believe me when I tell you this. But the twins are actually going to be one next month! They only look about three months old, don’t they? They shouldn’t have been born until the end of May last year and had a very traumatic entrance into the world. We’re very lucky to have them and are super thankful to the staff at the neonatal unit who cared for them in those critical first few months of their lives. They’re really coming on now and we love spending time with them. I think you can see from Oscar’s face here just how proud he is to be their cousin!

And there you have it, my Living Arrows post for week two. I hope enjoyed it, and I can’t wait to read through some of the other posts in the link-up. Be sure to let me know in the comments below if you’ve taken part this week. And if not, I’ll pop the badge below so you can click through to find out more about it.

Thanks for reading guys.
Until next time, take care.
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Living Arrows – 1/52 {2019}

07/01/2019 by Louise 22 Comments

Ooh, this is exciting! You may remember a couple of days ago I published a post on my aims for 2019. And one of the things I said I wanted to do this year was publish more personal posts here on my blog. So I thought what better way to kick that off than by joining in with the Living Arrows linky for the first time ever!?

If you’ve never heard of Living Arrows before, it’s basically a series about celebrating childhood through weekly photographs. The project originally took its name from a poem by Kahlil Gibran, “You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth” and every Monday many bloggers share a moment from their week and invite others to do the same as part of a link-up.

Each week I’ll be aiming to share three pictures from our week – one of Stacey, one of Oscar, and one of them both together. And I’ll tell you a little bit about each photograph too. I hope it’s something you guys will enjoy having a read of, and I think it will be a nice little series for me to look back on at the end of the year to see how much my children have grown. So, are you sitting comfortably? Then let’s go!

The first picture this week my daughter Stacey actually took on Snapchat when her and Oscar were messing around at my mum’s house one afternoon. And even though it’s not the best quality, I felt I had to steal it to feature in this weeks Living Arrows post as I think it shows just how close they are as siblings. Don’t let them fool you though – they fight like cat and dog just as much as they get along! LOL.

On Saturday, the kids and I headed into town so they could spend some of their Christmas money. But while we were out, Oscar started to feel unwell and kept falling to sleep. I thought having some food might make him feel a bit better, so we headed to Pizza Hut for tea. But as you can see, he fell asleep there too and didn’t want any food. I felt like such a bad mum for not realising he was under the weather before we left home.

Luckily, Stacey was feeling just fine. And we managed to demolish most of a pizza, some cheesy chips and a pudding between us. Once we’d eaten we went straight home so Oscar could go to bed, and I’m pleased to say he was feeling much better by Sunday morning. Phew!

And there you have it, my first ever Living Arrows post. I hope you all enjoyed it, and I can’t wait to read through some of the other posts in the link-up. Be sure to let me know in the comments below if you’ve taken part this week. And if not, I’ll pop the badge below so you can click through to find out more about it.

Thanks for reading guys.
Until next time, take care.
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8 Tips For Your First Family Photoshoot Session

11/12/2018 by Louise 20 Comments

Getting the right shot can capture so many memories. Here’s how to survive your first family photoshoot!

The mental image of a family photoshoot seems relatively simple and enjoyable on the surface. You turn up on the day of your shoot full of smiles, have a few snaps taken with your loved ones, and return home, right? Actually, when you’re not comfortable in front of a camera and you’ve got energetic youngsters running around, the actual taking of a photo can make you squirm with nerves.

A family photoshoot gives you the opportunity to capture the moment; the laughs and the humour within your family as well as the love you all share for one another. Getting it right is essential for a great quality picture, and professional photographers are well trained in capturing your family in the best light. To banish those worries completely and to give you a little peace of mind before booking a shoot, I’ve teamed up with family portrait photography professionals, Nousha, to bring you some tips to keep in mind for your first family photoshoot.

01. Wear the right clothing

Not only is comfort incredibly important for the whole family when having a professional photograph taken, but you need to ensure that what you’re wearing is attractive and will look great in print! If you’re struggling to find something suitable, talk to your photographer who will give you some advice and discuss the overall look you want to go for.

02. Get a good night’s sleep

To make sure your photographer doesn’t capture those baggy eyes or your child yawning from lack of sleep, make sure the whole family gets a good rest the night before. An early night means you’ll all wake up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed ready for your photoshoot. Your children will be much more cooperative too, and not to mention better behaved!

03. Give yourself plenty of time

If you’re in a rush, it’ll show on your face. You need to be totally relaxed when you arrive at the studio, not flustered and in a tangle. Allow yourselves plenty of time to get ready and arrive at your booking with time to spare. You’ll have time to talk to your photographer beforehand too to ensure all your questions are answered.

04. Eat!

Moaning children are not the best people to have a photoshoot with, and rumbling tummies are definitely a distraction. Make sure the whole family has a decent breakfast and lunch to help keep their concentration levels up and to stop the complaints before they even have the chance to start.

05. Keep children occupied

It can sometimes be a nightmare to keep young children engaged in something like a family photoshoot – even the thought of it may give you nightmares. To help the session run as smoothly as possible, take a toy or game to keep them occupied in between shots. You never know; your photographer may like the idea of it being included in some of your photos, and you may get some great shots too.

06. Act natural

Posing for the camera can be a scary thought for some. The image of an aching jaw and an overly enthusiastic smile can be a haunting thought. The key to a great looking photo, however, is the natural look. Your photographer may ask you to interact with your family as you normally would to capture genuine emotions on camera. These shots work the best!

07. Leave the kids to it

As parents, you’ll want at least a few of your shots to be of your children interacting with one another, or with a toy, game or pet! Your photographer may ask you to help keep their attention on their activity to get the best shot, or to encourage them to look in a certain direction. They may even ask you to leave the area completely in order to get the best possible results, without a distraction.

08. Speak to your photographer beforehand

It’s a good idea to give your photographer some examples of the kind of shots you’re after before you begin. Book a consultation appointment with a professional such as christophertoddstudios.com/ the week before or arrive a little bit earlier than planned to give yourselves time to chat. The more prepared you and your photographer are, the better your shots will be.

For a perfect family photoshoot, be prepared!
Hopefully, our tips will be a great help for you when planning your family photoshoot. Have you ever had a shoot before, or are you planning on having one with your family in future? Let me know your experience in the comments below!

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Top Tips for Taking Awesome Instagram Photos

09/12/2016 by Louise 23 Comments

Over the years Instagram has become one of my favourite social networks. I love nothing more than snapping away with my iPhone and then uploading the photos online for the world to see. And I know I’m not alone in this – these days, there are millions of people in the UK alone who use this particular platform to share snapshots of their lives with their followers.

Some are even to make a living out of doing this, and those who wish to imitate this may buy Instagram likes to give their profiles a little boost and help them to grow their following so that it gets to the level where they are able to start making money from it. For most of us, however, Instagram is just a hobby, and a way for us to show what our world looks like at any given moment.

Recently lots of my Instagram followers have been saying that they love the new look and feel of my feed, so I thought I’d share some of my top tips for taking awesome Instagram pics and tell you how I’ve been editing them too. I hope you find it useful.

01. — USE THE REGULAR CAMERA APP ON YOUR PHONE

One thing I always, always do when I’m taking Instagram pics is use the square feature on the regular camera on my phone instead of the one on the Instagram app. Using this not only gives me a better quality of photo overall, but also means I can take several different shots and then choose my favourite to upload.

02. KEEP YOUR PHONE STEADY (ESPECIALLY IN LOW LIGHT)

I’m the first to admit that I don’t have the steadiest of hands, and this often results in blurry photos that I just wouldn’t share on Instagram. As most of my feed is made up of product shots I get round this by resting my elbows on the table, or using a tripod to keep my phone steady. It’s amazing how much of difference doing this tends to make!

03. CHOOSE YOUR BACKGROUND CAREFULLY

I think one of the most important things to consider when sharing photos on a platform like Instagram is the background. For example, if you’re taking a picture of that gorgeous cake you just made you don’t want to spoil it by having a load of dirty dishes in the background!!

As I mentioned before, I take a lot of product shots, which means the majority of my Instagram photos are flat lay. This means I need a nice looking surface to photograph them on.

At the moment I’m working on improving my Instagram aesthetic, and have chosen to have a feed full of beautiful pink, orange and gold colours. So I’ve been using some pink PVC I picked up on eBay for my main background. But I also think things like wooden table tops, bed linen and fluffy rugs make brilliant backgrounds too.

04. TAKE YOUR PHOTOS IN A WELL-LIT AREA

Taking your photos in a well-lit area is just as important as getting your background right! I love looking at nice, bright photographs, and find myself scrolling straight past anything dark without really looking at it. It’s always best to take your pictures in natural light (so outside or in front of a window) but this can be pretty impossible to do during the winter here in the UK. I mean, it barely gets light now! To fix this I use some studio lights that Nathan bought me a couple of Christmases ago. They light up the area I use to take my Instagram pics perfectly, and they don’t take up much room for storage either. I don’t know what I’d do without them!

05. AVOID USING FLASH

Using flash photography can lead to one area of your picture being overexposed. I would always recommend working with the light you’ve got rather than using the flash feature.

06. AVOID USING ZOOM

OK, so we’ve already established that the iPhone camera is great, but it’s not the macro lens that professional photographers use. Using the zoom feature will only reduce the quality of the final photograph. Instead of trying to zoom in with your phone, try moving in closer instead. You’ll notice a huge difference!

07. TAP THE SCREEN WHERE YOU WANT IT TO FOCUS

Did you know that if you hold down on one area of your screen it locks the focus? Playing around with this when taking photos can lead to some really interesting pics!

08. TRY NOT TO OVER-EDIT YOUR INSTAGRAM PHOTOS

And finally, try not to over-edit your Instagram photos. If you do, your pictures could end up looking like they were low quality to begin with. Even if they weren’t.

I use the VSCO Cam app to edit my photos, and it doesn’t take me long at all. Here’s my editing process …

1. Open the photo you want to edit in VSCO Cam and add a filter

From what I’ve heard most people like to add their filters last. But I actually prefer to add mine first. This is because it keeps all of my photos looking nice and consistent. And it very often results in me having to do less editing than I would if I put it on last.

For the last year or so I’ve been using the HB1 filter for all of my photos. To get this I had to download the HB (Hypebeast) collection from the filter shop, but all of the add-on filters are actually free at the moment. So make sure you go and grab them while you have the chance!

2. Adjust the filter and exposure

Next I turn the filter level down to around a 7 to make it less harsh. Although I will leave it higher if a photo is particularly dark or yellow-toned. But usually I go for a 7.

I then lift the exposure as much as I think it needs, which is usually somewhere between 1 and 3 stops. You can see that I bumped the exposure by 2 on the photo I used in my example.

3. Adjust the contrast and sharpen the picture

I usually bump up the contrast by 2 or 3 stops, and then lift the sharpness by 7. I find if I go any more than this it starts to make my photos look a little too heavily edited, so I always stick at a 7!

4. Adjust the colour

For me, the most important part of the editing process is to get the colour correction right. So this is probably the part I play around with the most.

Firstly, I take the warmth (or temperature) down a few stops, usually by 2 or 3 bumps. But again, this all depends on how warm the original shot is. At this point you’ll notice that the picture looks a bit washed out and very blue toned. So I bring the saturation up to a 4 or 5, which makes it all bright and colourful again. You’ll notice it still has a slight cool tint to it, but I personally think this looks fab!

And that is pretty much all I do! Sometimes I’ll try to straighten my photo a little more before I upload it to Instagram, but this is a rarity if I’m honest. Especially if I use the square camera feature on my iPhone in the first place.

Below are a few more examples of before and after shots of pics I’ve uploaded to my Instagram since I discovered the HB1 filter on VSCO Cam:

And there you have it – my entire editing process. It literally takes me 2 minutes from start to finish! It really is amazing what a filter and a bit of fiddling around with some colour settings can do to a seriously mediocre shot.

I hope these tips helped you if you were looking for a little advice on how to improve your Instagram photography. It’s taken me years to finally produce a feed I’m happy with, but I’m over the moon with it now. Especially with all the lovely feedback I’ve been getting from you guys. You rock!

Do you have any other tips to share for taking awesome Instagram photos?
Be sure to let us know in the comments below!

Until next time, take care.
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