Thankful

Oh hey there! It's been a while. Life has been a little busy lately, and unfortunately this blog has taken a back seat. I'm sure none of you have been crazy busy with the holidays, right? ;) I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. Mine was full of pie, baked brie and of course turkey and family, so I would say it was a success. Oh, and having this view while enjoying all that deliciousness wasn't bad either!

The next few days are going to be a whirlwind because I'm starting a new job on Monday! I'm really excited to start a new chapter and dive into something completely new. Black Friday marked my last day in retail, and I'm thrilled. I worked at Macy's as a Clinique consultant for the past three years, and while the experience overall was great, I needed something new. So, on Monday I will be starting my new job as a social media assistant for a local soap making supply company, Bramble Berry. I'm excited and nervous, but oh-so ready. 

It's funny to think that while my college degree certainly helped, this blog gave me a lot of the skills needed for my new position. When I started blogging, I really had no idea what I was doing. I didn't know how to use my camera, I didn't really know what I wanted to blog about, and I had no idea how awesome the blogging community was. I have learned so much through blogging, and I'm so glad to have found a hobby that I can be really proud of and passionate about. 

I know I'm a few days late, but I wanted to say how thankful I am for blogging. Yeah, it sounds a little corny, but it has opened up doors that a few years ago were closed to me. It inspires and pushes me to try new things. It provides a platform to share with others and connect with people all over the world. I'm so glad I made the crazy/scary decision to share my thoughts, ideas, creations and my life online. It has been an amazing experience so far, and I can't wait to see where else it takes me. 

My 5 Favorite Food Photography Props

I think we can all agree food photography doesn't "just happen." Most images of food online are staged to make the food look as pretty as possible. If my food photography was "real" pictures of my food, you'd probably see a lot more images in bad light, on the couch with maybe a glass of wine nearby and Parks and Recreation playing in the background. Real life.

In order to make food look as delicious as possible, it helps to have some props! Props can get spendy pretty quickly, but most of my favorites are probably already in your kitchen! Of course there are tons of fun props to use, but these are the five I find myself using constantly. This post from Pinch of Yum is full of more great ideas! Also, if you're looking for some very basic food photography tips, this post might help.

Now, my top 5 food photography props!

1 // Cutting board Definitely my most used prop. My kitchen doesn't have great lighting (it's horrible actually), so taking pictures on my kitchen table doesn't really work. So in order to get the light, I photograph my food outside on my back deck. I use the cutting board to give a nice clean background, and to kinda give the allusion of a kitchen table. The bigger the cutting board the better!

White Chocolate Chip and Almond Matcha Cookies

Blogging: The Great, Good, Bad and Ugly

It's crazy to think I've been blogging for a little over two years now. What started as motivation to learn how to use my new camera, has evolved into so much more. While I love blogging for many reasons, I will admit that constant exposure to the "blogging world" may have some negative effects.

I have wanted to write a post discussing these things for awhile, but have put it off because I don't want to seem like I was bashing blogging. The good definitely outweighs the bad, otherwise I wouldn't be blogging! I love it, but of course it's not all sunshine and rainbows.

The Great // My favorite thing about blogging is the supportive community of awesome, creative people. It can be really scary putting yourself out there, but I'm convinced bloggers are some of the nicest people out there. Since day one, fellow bloggers have always ben supportive, positive and friendly. This blog started as a style blog, and I was super nervous about putting outfit pictures online...it just felt so strange. But the supportive feedback was amazing! We bloggers are in this together, and I love that sense of community.

The Good // This blog has taught me so many things! It has motivated me to learn more about photography, try new recipes, make more diy projects and try new styles. I love that blogging inspires me to be more creative and pushes me to create more consistently. There is so much to be inspired by in the blogging community, and being apart of that is a lot of fun. If I hadn't started this blog, I would have never discovered my love for photography.

The Bad // The blogging world moves quickly. A lot of blogs post every single day, and it can be really overwhelming to create quality content at that rate. Trying to juggle work, relationships and blogging can be really difficult, and when I can't keep up I feel guilty. I often have to remind myself this blog is a hobby and if I can't post as regularly as I'd like, there is no reason to feel bad about it. It's supposed to be fun!

The Ugly // Sometimes blogs are inspiring because they depict a fantasy, an unrealistic representation of life. You probably know what I mean by this. Simply scroll through Pinterest and you see pages of beautifully decorated rooms with no clutter, perfectly styled hair, food that sits upon the prettiest plates and expensive outfits outside Fashion Week.
This isn't everyday life, which in fairness is kind of the point. We read blogs because we like pretty things! These images inspire us, but it's not always attainable which can be discouraging. Let's be real, our homes get cluttered, our hair is not thick enough to braid it like that, and the outfit outside Fashion Week is awesome but unpractical. The constant exposure to unrealistic beauty in all areas of life can lead to feeling inadequate and wanting more material things.

Whether you just read blogs or write one, what are your thoughts on blogging? What do you love about it, or maybe hate? If you write a blog, how has it changed you? 

Five Simple Food Photography Tips

When I started this blog, I planned on it being primarily a style blog. Since then, I have found it slowly growing into more of a food blog with style and other topics on the side. It's funny how blogging changes and transforms along with you!

I have learned a lot when it comes to taking pictures of my food, but I am by no means an expert. There are so many gorgeous food blogs out there, and I hope one day my photos might look similar! But there are some really easy tips I wish I had known when I first started taking pictures of my recipes. I hope these help you when it comes to capturing your culinary creations!

1. Shoot your food during the day (golden hour if possible!). The most important thing when taking any kind of picture is the lighting. In general, the more light the better. Even though your food isn't in motion (probably) it's important that your photos look crisp and a high shutter speed is crucial. Placing your food next to a window with lots of natural light will provide a natural, sharp, and bright look to your photos.

This can sometimes be difficult when you want to share pictures of dinner because your light is often little to none. Unfortunately, my advice is to make your dish earlier in the day and reheat it for dinner. Yeah, it sucks. I have tried so many times to take photos of a dinner dish only to have turn out really blurry, shadowy and icky. Bottom line, it doesn't work unless it's summer. My Eggplant Parm recipe was the first dinner recipe I could share for a long time because it was still light out when I made it!

2. Take it outside! What's the best way to get lots of natural light? Get outside! I take most of my pictures on my front porch. I don't have any windows in my house that provide enough light, so outside I go! I live right on a busy road, so this often means people can see me taking pictures of things like Nutella Mini Pies in mismatched socks and sweatpants. Whateva. Outside is where all my favorite pictures happen. I recommend a shady, but still well lit area. We don't want direct sunlight! This will result in harsh shadows and over exposed areas.

3. Invest in a few props. My must haves? A large wood cutting board, white dishes, a few cute dishtowels and a large piece of a neutral (I like white) fabric. I recommend only using these props for pictures (except for the dishes) because once you stain your dishtowels or muck up your cutting board...they are done. Stained towels and a well used cutting board just don't make for pretty food pictures. It's not just about the food, it's about the different layers, textures, and colors around the food. In the photo below I used a large piece of textured fabric, cutting board, cute little white plate and a white bowl.

4. Shoot a lot of photos with different angles and depth of focus. I take a lot of photos for every post I do. There is nothing worse than going through all that work of setting up your picture, taking the shots and then not coming up with a picture you love! In general, I like to show at least two pictures of the finished product (one close up, one showing the entire dish) and one shot showing the process. This can mean taking around 100 photos and having to narrow it down to three or four. I feel it's always better to have lots of options rather than not enough!

5. Not every cookie is a supermodel. You know how sometimes when you make cookies, and one batch is perfect, one is undercooked, and one might be kinda burned? Yeaahh, it happens, but you don't have to photograph all the cookies...choose the prettiest! Not every cookie is worthy of internet fame, even if it is just as delicious as the others. Put your best cookie forward.

 I hope these simple tips might help you in the future! If you have any additional tips or tricks, I would love to hear them!