Thursday, October 25, 2012

Lessons Learned



despite the rain, today was a lovely day full of photo shooting for the new header. actually it was a good day until I changed the header on my blog and couldn't get it centered on my page. oh well, that is what comes with a free blog template I guess; you can edit but within certain boundaries. left aligned header it is. now that I am talking about it; do you see borders around the images on my blog or not? I know they don't show on every computer, but they do on my own and I don't like it. has any one of you has this issue and know how to solve it? tips are welcome.

back to what matters: the blogging conference last weekend. I won't bother you with information on using different social media and blog traffic issues. Instead, I would like to share a few ideas on photography. 
Ana and I signed up for a micro session on food photography by Gayla Trail, who among other things, told us that there is a current trend of more loose of photo styling in the food world. I think that Aran from Cannelle et Vanille is a good example of that style. tablecloths don't need to be ironed, food may be touched to make it look more real. makes sense right? I think this trend might be applicable in the craft world too. to make our makes look real, it is ok to show work in progress, it is ok to show failed projects, it is ok to show a messy but lightly color coordinated work space. if not, I might have a problem haha. 
edit: I just found this food blog too - great styling, amazing pictures and getting me very hungry!

another tip we got from Gayla was not to compare our pictures with the ones in magazines. they can inspire us, but we don't have to think we can copy them, since those pictures were made by a complete team of professionals who have all tools available. now there she has a point. although, there are a few tips to help you get closer to the dreamy magazine pictures. you probably know this already, but it can't hurt to repeat them: taking pictures in daylight is key, use white boards to reflect the light and overcome dark shadows (can be easily made from white painted card board), and harsh light can be diffused with a white sheet.

by the way, if you are on Instagram, cannellevanille is a lovely feed to follow
I hope this was helpful


16 comments:

  1. Just to let you know, when I look at your two header photos there is no problem at all! There are no borders around the edges. The third photo, with the blue chair and yarn, is not centred, but that is probably the way you decided to put it in.
    When there is something on a photo, like a gap you don't want, I just crop that part off in my editing software before using it. I don't know if this is helpful!
    The photos above are lovely. Those old scissors are charming and I love the drops glistening on the autumn branches!
    P.S.
    Your word verification is very hard to read and tiring on the eyes.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hoi Maaike,
    ik zie je probleempje met de blog header, heb zo 1-2-3 geen oplossing. Misschien ga ik er binnenkort zelf mee aan de slag, dan hoor je het nog.
    Die kaders om de foto's weet ik zo ook even niet (zie hierboven).
    Ik geloof dat ik mijn blog ook maar weer eens moet gaan 'opfrissen' ;-)
    Had je de foto met jouw dekentje in Nepal al gezien? Laat me even weten dan kan ik hem misschien mailen.
    Groetjes, Anne-Marie

    ReplyDelete
  3. Als altijd, prachtige en inspirerende foto's ! Dank je wel !

    ReplyDelete
  4. Maaike,

    Bedankt maar weer voor deze inspiratiebron.
    Grtz,
    Chris

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hoi Maaike,

    bij mij staat de header ook links uitgelijnd en staan je foto's inderdaad in een kadertje, maar echt storend vind ik dat niet hoor. Je foto's zijn altijd super!
    Bedankt voor deze info.

    Inez

    ReplyDelete
  6. Your header is a little left ;) but not too bad! And I don't see any borders on it, but on the pictures within your posts you have borders (they look nice). I have to agree with Sandra about the word verification - it really is a pain. Have you tried turning it off and seeing how you go with spam? I get maybe 3 or 4 spam comments a month and Blogger has caught every one of them, so they don't get published.
    Great photo advice - but then your pictures have always been beautiful, that's why I'm here because goodness knows I can't crochet!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Dank voor het delen. Ik ga meteen kijken en misschien krijg ik daar weer inspiratie van.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Not sure why you need anyone to tell you what to put in a blog or how to do it. Surely it is the individuals domain and as such SHOULD reflect their personality. Having people telling you how photos look is all a bit beside the point. If I wanted a magazine I would buy one but to me they are sterile. Please don't hide the reality on a blog, yes show it's best side as surely we all do that but contriving to get a particular sense over is not really a good way of doing things. Readers like natural and uncontrived. Where is a person's own sense of themselves if they are just trying to conform and regulate themselves into an acceptable public persona? It is a very stale idea. The best blogs stand out because they dare to be different.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Love the header and yes, is centered with the post's. ;) (i'm always designing and changing mine as well). And the colors of this photo shoothing... oh my God, beautiful! Congrats to everything. Your blog is lovely.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi there
    Hate the verification. I took it off. And I put it back. i just can't stand all the spam. I don't think there is a way around it.
    Great advice on taking pictures. I try to use daylight but inside my house it is almost always quite dark as it is an old house with small windows. It makes it difficult for great picture taking. I do like the approach of more relaxed and less styled pictures. Right up my alley! Simplicity rocks. Always. Talking Blogger... Well I suffer sometimes as I am used to QuarkXpress and Illustrator and PhotoShop where you can do ANYTHING. Here you are more limited with the boundaries of your template. Sometimes Blogger do act up. I have found that it sometimes works out better if you try again later or the day after. Suddenly you can do what you couldn't do just before.
    Your borders? Yes I can see them. Not on the header but they are still there on the pictures. I'll check it out to see if I can find a solution for it and get back to you as I am a bit of a graphic design hacker. :D
    And some sweetness from me to you:
    LOVE the first picture. The chair, the tossed ribbons, the piled yarn... the faded background of your.... kitchen is it? Love IT!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi Maaike, I quite like your header aligned to the left actually, but if you want to center it I think the way to do it is this. Using picmonkey, put an overlay over a photo completely so it becomes a blank white photo. crop it to make it narrower and longer more like your header. Then add your photo's back onto the blank white header as overlays. It doesn't always work out putting them in the center, it's trial and error. I haven't got it quite right myself yet! but basically you have a blank photo behind your header so the pictures appear to begin further in! If you decide to hope this helps! Heather

    ReplyDelete
  12. thank you so much Heather for explaining that. I know, I do this all the time with my headers and it always takes me 3 or 4 turns before I get it right. But this time it seems the header is really supposed to cover only the left part of the blog, not the sidebar. I can not even get my header from yesterday to be the same again. Oh well, I have accepted it. But thank you, highly appreciate your help!

    xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  13. Your header is a little to the left. I altered mine by adding some CSS in the template designer, as follows:
    .header-outer {
    margin-left:-12px;
    }
    You will see that I had to set the number as MINUS 12px to get mine centred, but you can keep trying with different numbers until it's right. By the way, I absolutely adore your photos, they are always lovely!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hi Lilli, thank you SO MUCH for giving this CSS tip! It really did the trick for me. Thank you for sharing, you made my evening!

    xo
    Maaike

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hey Maaike,
    Leuk weer om te lezen! Altijd leuk om met fotografie bezig te zijn he.
    Is het jouw nieuwe stijl om je tekst zonder hoofdletters te schrijven? Het lijkt alsof je dat heel bewust doet.
    Ik lees persoonlijk liever mét hoofdletters.
    Liefs Renske

    ReplyDelete
  16. Ha Renske, ja foto's vervelen nooit :). Klopt, ik houd niet van hoofdletters en ook niet van punten en komma's. Maar ik wil wat meer tekst op m'n blog, dus moet ik de zinnen aan elkaar gaan plakken in plaats van onder elkaar zetten. En dan ontkom ik er toch niet helemaal aan. Dit is een tussenoplossing, maar wie weet verandert het binnenkort weer. Fijn weekend! xx

    ReplyDelete

~ sweet thank you for your lovely words ~