Weekends Like These

Lately I’ve been in a tad bit of a creative funk…coming up with photo ideas is a hobby of mine and sometimes it comes easily and others my mind is just blank. One of my cousins recently has gotten into photography and so I thought what better way to get the juices following to help her learn than to just go out and shoot. No photo intentions, no obligations of promoting something, just plain old fashioned in the moment shooting. So that’s exactly what we did this weekend and it was so fun!

It’s easy when you have subjects who are completely oblivious to a photo being taken to get those adorable “action shots” (the girls) but in the same token it’s a challenge because they aren’t always the most cooperative when a neat idea does come to mind 😛 lol. But practice, practice, practice, is the way to go when you really truly want to be good at something and so instead of focusing on the elements of simply just getting a neat shot, I’ve been trying to focus on learning more about my camera in general, getting those settings just right for the shot, and looking for little things that are near me in the moment that could help add a little more character to the scene.

In the photo above for instance, where Siena and I are on the bench, I simply grabbed us two free paper books gave her one to look through, pretended to be reading mine, and had my cousin take multiple shoots to capture the feel I was going for. This all happened within 10 minutes of sitting there and is sometimes just how ya gotta do it. Get out there and play around with a cute scene or setup, don’t force anything, just go with the flow in the moment.

My main inspo lately has been around more of old vintage photography (if  you stalk my Pinterest you’ll see what I mean) which just seems so effortless and timeless. Granted, my fashion sense these days is a little limited being pregnant haha, but these are just a few things I think can add that extra POP to your photos…Props, Fashion, Shoes, Old-School Environments (i.e. Coca-Cola signs, neat wall murals, Soda Shops, old telephone booths, and etc.), and of course Sunglasses.

Whether you are shooting pictures for fun, advertising, or to build your brand, the one thing to remember is to stay true to yourself. Be original. Not every photo will resonate with others and that’s ok. Find what makes you happy, be inspired by your environment and the ones you love, and your creativity will shine.

XOXO