Zara Mint Swiss Dot Shirt | Frankie B Wide Leg Jeans | Forever 21 Suedette Belt & Gold Cuff | Jessica Simpson Dany Shoes | Jeffrey Lazaro Shell Print Clutch | Louis Vuitton Transparent Monogram Inclusion Translucide Pendant Necklace | Banana An Turquoise Ring

Finally!! The post I keep promising you guys is finally here lol 🙂 thank you so much for your patience!

As I mentioned before, I had the pleasure of enjoying a fun photo shoot with Michelle Hayes Photography when she was visiting Southern California a few weeks back (all you New Yorker’s are lucky to have her!). I’m among the many bloggers that are guilty of taking the same shots, with the same backgrounds and the same poses. It wasn’t until around the time I shot with Michelle when I finally started to get out of my comfort zone (on a regular basis) and try to change things up a bit with every outfit post. While shooting, she shared some fun tips that I wanted to share with all of you! Some of you may already practice a lot of this but hopefully others can learn from these tips, too! I know I sure have 😉

I figured it would be easiest to include the tips in the photo captions so, enjoy!

This is what I'm always guilty of; just straight forward shots. I used to always stick with one shot straight forward, one profile or side shot and then accessories. My idea of it was that as a fashion/style blogger, my job was showing the outfit. Well, although this is true and there's nothing wrong with it, the photo still looks nice.... It's, frankly, boring after a while. If we're in a rush, I still will, but trying different angles, movements and poses really makes the photos more interesting and enhances our outfits!

Try different angles and don't be afraid of not showing every piece of clothing and accessory you're wearing in each photo, you'll show it in a different shot! Here, Michelle stood slightly above me shooting down instead of at the same eye level. A minor change but makes it a little more interesting.

Now this shot, I'm posed pretty much the same as that previous one but Michelle is now shooting up towards me instead of down. A slight change in angle like this makes for a different look and feel. Using stairs as a background not only looks interesting and fun but makes shooting at different angles easier, too! Also, see how she had me pose with one leg higher than the other? It's something you might do naturally anyway but if you're aware of it when posing, it makes the photo more engaging.

Don't be (too) afraid of busy backgrounds. I would always look for a flat wall for photos because it was comfortable - ahh, white wall, perfect! Yeah, no. I had to get that out of my head asap. Look for fun settings like this house we found. Though, I don't always suggest taking photos in front of a stranger's house lol 😛 This one was in a fairly busy downtown neighborhood and we worked quickly. I love how Michelle shot me off-center in front of such a cool doorway. Backgrounds like this can make your photos so much more appealing and still shows the outfit well.

Use those hands! This shot was among a bunch where I had my back towards Michelle and would turn, moving my waist, sort of twisting. I instinctively used my hand to move my hair from my face but it adds a cool, subtle, natural movement to the photo.

Get creative with detail shots and again, use your hands. We've all seen cool arm party shots with hands in different angles, do the same with all accessories. Play around a bit!

The same goes for shoe shots - try different angles,and poses.

And last but certainly not least, don't be afraid of movement. It's definitely frustrating at first. Between changing your camera settings and shutter speed to accommodate the movement, getting the right angle at the right time can drive a girl crazy. Just keep doing it, take lots of shots, try walking/moving and looking in different angles. This is definitely something I still have a hard time with but it makes for such fascinating photos, I'll continue to try until I get it right! Walking and movement shots in general are my favorites when I'm reading through other bloggers posts.

A couple more tips for those of us that use dSLR cameras (if you’re an amateur like me!):

• Ideal lighting is usually early in the morning, late afternoon before sunset or when it’s overcast out. Direct sunlight when it’s bright out looks great to the naked eye but with photos, especially if you’re a newbie like me, can be a nightmare casting shadows everywhere (around you and on you – there’s nothing more annoying than a dreaded dark shadow under your eyes, nose and neck). Those aforementioned ideal lighting situations create for a great glow in your photos, showing better outfit details and color.
• Aperture – When shooting outfit looks, having your f-stop at 3.5 is probably ideal so that it focuses on your entire outfit, not just a part of it, but still leaves the background out of focused or blurred for better depth of field. For detail shots and accessories, lower the f-stop to 2.5 or 1.8 if your lens allows you to (or as low as it will allow you to). This will focus on your accessory, like just your ring and the background will be completely blurred.
• Shutter Speed – If you’re going to do a shot while moving (walking or jumping) bump your shutter speed to a faster setting like 1/500
• ISO – is my best friend, the darker/shadier it is, the higher I set it to. So when it’s really grey/gloomy or getting dark, my ISO is usually set to 3200 or 6400. Brighter out? Lower your ISO – if we’re at the beach in the middle of the day, my ISO is set to like 100.

Special thanks to Michelle Hayes Photography for such a fun day out, awesome tips and all these great photos!

Hope these tips helped some of you as much as they helped me! Any tips you’d like to share? Leave them below in the comments for us all to read 🙂

Thank you so much for visiting, reading and leaving comments 😀 hope to see you back here again soon.

Xox,
An

Shop:

• Zara Mint Green Dotted Swiss Blouse (sold out online, check in store! Similar gorgeous Equipment version here and ALC via Intermix blouse here)
• Frankie B. Wide Leg Jeans (similar here and here)
• Forever 21 Suedette Belt & Gold Cuff
• Jessica Simpson Dany Shoes (by far one of my favorite styles but they’re sold out everywhere, Jeffrey Campbell Foxy is a great alternative and still constantly being produced)
• Jeffrey Lazaro Shell Print Clutch (by special order at Hauskrft)
• Louis Vuitton Transparent Monogram Inclusion Translucide Pendant Necklace (SS’10, visit Louis Vuitton stores or see new necklaces online here)
• Banana An Turquoise Ring (sold out, similar here or here or, if you have eight big ones, here)