The English Mademoiselle Diaries: photography

Showing posts with label photography. Show all posts

The other weekend I attended a Health Blogger's Community photography workshop, something I only found out about the day before through Eleanor from Green + Aquamarine who is a part of the community. The afternoon was hosted by Wellicious in their wonderful HQ, taught by Anastaija of Grandmother's Figs, and run by Fab.

As a blogger photography a huge part of what I do on this space, and as I have branched out from outfits, to food and books this workshop was much needed to hone my skills for more close up photography. As I very rarely feel like I have perfected my shots, I was grateful for the chance to attend the workshop.

So here are my top three tips I learnt from the 3hrs workshop:

Natural Lighting:
We all know lighting is important, but the most important type of light is by far natural light. But as the days get shorter and we have less and less time to get those perfect shots, there are a few ways to maximise the amount of light, Anastaija recommended to use a type of reflective sheet, e.g. white fabric or a white board to increase the amount of light on the objects you're taking photos of. As well as this she suggested that 10am and late afternoon are the optimum times to takes photos as the light is not to harsh or to dim thus avoiding those weird shadows you get at certain times of day. But that is not to say to avoid shadows completely, use them to your advantage to create more depth in your photos.

Using Manual:
The second thing I picked up on was that you should 100% switch from Auto to Manual on your camera, and really get to know what your camera can do. Get to know every setting possible, but the keys ones are ISO, Aperture, and Shutter Speed. I am still getting to grips with these settings so I am in no position to give advice here however, Eleanor who I mentioned earlier has written more about the final details in her post (here) about the workshop so head over there for more info on these settings.

Props:
This is the fun part, you can do anything you want here. I loved playing around with all the props available, you can change so much about an image just by altering what surface it is on, and its surroundings. I personally prefer more clean cut simple images, so I tend towards white surfaces, with more modern and simple props. But some people prefer a more rustic look so tend toward more wooden surfaces and a more crowded images making use of ingredients and props as well.

I hope you enjoyed this somewhat different post from me.

XO, Miriam

(Clockwise: Smith Magazine, Moleskine Planner, Hair chalks, Taylor Swift Polaroids, necklace, another Taylor Swift Polaroid and a disposable camera)

Smith Magazine:
A recent discovery while picking up a copy of a couple of my favourite magazines in WhSmiths. I guess it is more of a "book-azine" as one of my publishing lecturers would say, the articles are not only well informed and interesting but is one of the few magazines where it tells the stories of extraordinary people without critique. There is not question of what the scientists who were watching Mount. St. Helens were wearing when the volcano erupted or if the authors who crticised and inspired each other had regular fall-outs or sabotaged each others work. It is a stunning magazine, I hope to see this Australian magazine again on the shelves.

A Moleskine Planner:
This is more of a semester favourite this is the sole reason I have actually met all my deadlines on time, because quite frankly without it I would forget. It has also become the place of scrawled shopping lists and blog post ideas. And can I quickly mention that it is pink, which means I feel like Elle from Legally Blonde while sat in my lectures and seminars.

Hair Chalks:
I have been experimenting with these for a few months now but I think now that my hair is longer the effect it more subtle. I am currently sporting some purples ends where I am normally blonde, and quite frankly I feel pretty damn fabulous with a little bit of colour in my hair, and these are great because I don't have to commit to maintenance or the cost of permanent colour. These probably aren't so great for those with darker hair than I but if you do have lighter hair and are prepared to be called "indie", "hipster" or "a my little pony" for a day or two they are worth it!

Taylor Swift Polariods:
And her album 1989. If you have read this blog for longer than a year then you will know that I love Taylor Swift as an artist having seen her live in concert twice so far and again next year... Not only is the music great on this album but the sets of Polaroids that came with the physical album were just a beautiful. I cannot wait until my Polaroid camera arrive now so I can experiment with the different films and lighting!

The Necklace:
I am including this because I wore this necklace at least twice a week last month without fail. Enough said.

The Disposable Camera:
A little shout out to my friend Jaimie for giving me this idea! I have been taking a disposable camera out with me for the last two or three weeks capturing the events, but because I cannot look at the result and edit out photos I don't like it gave me time to actually enjoy the moment I was experiencing rather than looking at a screen.

What were your favourites last month?

XO, Miriam

While I was in Jaipur I was in one of the many fabric shops in the Old City, when I spied this lovely block printed fabric which I proceeded to barter for and buy. When I bought it I though about using it as a wall hanging at university, but after assessing the space in university halls I chose to create a duvet cover out of it. So I headed out to the local fabric shop to find some fabric suitable for a bed linen, I ended up purchasing this wonderful blue material. Having measured up current duvet cover and adding 2 inches for seam allowance I pinned the two fabrics together and began to sew. then I added buttons and button holes by hand for want of a machine that can do button holes! Next up a quilt!

Please ignore the mess around my bed...

Would you make your own bedding?

XO, Miriam

My Sister and I jumping of a cliff into some of the warmest sea water.

XO, Miriam

So last week I accidentally took part in The Great Blogger Bake Off by posting this recipe for Molten Chocolate cakes. Now this week I am going to willing take part. The idea is that you bake something on Tuesday ready to post a picture of you eating it while watching The Great British Bake Off on the Wednesday. The only catch is what you bake is determined by what they are baking on the GBBO that week.

This week is biscuit week and I made Strawberry Cookies. Duh.

Ingredients:

//110g of Butter//3/4 of a cup of Sugar//1 and 1/4 cups of Plain Flour//1tsp of Vanilla Extract//
//200g of sliced Strawberries//1 Egg//1tsp Bicarbonate of Soda//

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C fan and line two baking trays with greaseproof paper.

2. Using an electric mixer beat together the sugar, butter, and vanilla extract.

3. Now beat in the egg and the flour into the mixture.

4. Pat the sliced strawberries as dry as you can and gently stir them into the mixture.

5. Drop the mixture on to the trays, leave room for spreading.

6. Bake for 10-12minutes and eat warm.

XO, Miriam

P.S. Try not to let your pets eat them...

So people so that traveling is about experiencing different cultures and soaking up the views. And others say that it is about the people you travel with and the people you meet while traveling that make it special. I think it is about both so in honour of both opinions, I have separated my posts about Menorca in to what I like to call the scenic shots and the people shots.

XO, Miriam