I have finally been able to do a decent photo shoot of my niece in her newest hat that i've made for her. It originally was suppose to be the lamby hat, But I loved the vintage vibe I was getting from the design that I just left it as is.

I bought her a prop (aka the soft spiky ball)  and she LOVED it. It was mostly in her mouth the whole time she had it, I finally had to take it away so I could get some decent photo's in. I honestly think I could only get maybe 15-20 minutes in with trying to take good pictures. She was wiggly, distracted and cared more about touching grass and putting bark chips in here mouth.

Can you tell she loves to swing?

I love the fact that you can easily dress up the hat with a clip on flower. Instant Glam. I'm going to be working on the crochet pattern for the hat soon, I'm making a big girl one too (for myself of course!) You can find the pattern for the flower in my shop here.

The Perfect Setting. Learning lessons in taking better pictures Part 1

One thing about being a small online business owner is that I've had to try on and wear many hats. Two of these "hats" have been photography and modeling. I've been slowly learning this for the past 3 years, and I've had growing pains around this skill of point and shoot. Because a good photo is beyond point and shoot.
 I've finally gotten to the place of not complaining about it and just embracing it. So what if you are your own model and have to rely on other people to take your photos? What do you do? What if you have to take your own picture?

Here's what I'm talking about:

After many attempts of trying to take a picture of myself in the scarf I made, I finally caved in and asked one my neighbors, who had been walking by, to take a picture. This picture. Its not the guys fault. I could tell he didn't know much about camera's by the way he was holding the camera. His finger was over the flash( good thing my flash wasn't on). Lesson learned. Don't ask random neighbors (or strangers) to take a picture of you. Unless you are at Disneyland.

Here I am trying to take a picture of myself in a crocheted headband I made. Its pretty hit or miss for me when it comes to taking my own picture. I personally don't like it because I have to overcome certain obstacles like outstretched arms, awkward posing and little boys playing in the background. I could ask my husband, but I know he doesn't like to do it, so I just let it be. Note to self: buy a tall tripod.

Here's what I do 

Luckily I have a couple of family members that know how to work a camera, but I still try my hardest to make the picture as best as possible from the modeling side of the camera. I have to be knowledgeable in both photography and modeling in order to set the stage for a picture I want to display in my shop. Here are some pictures of a recent photo shoot at the beach. Amazingly perfect weather for picture taking. Over cast yet very bright because we were on the sand. 

I feel silly in saying this because I'm not a professional in any of the arenas of photography or modeling, but I do take posing seriously. So I think that counts for something. I know that I look good in some angles and better in others. It all about making the picture as visually interesting as possible without taking away from what I am trying to show off, which is, my crocheted headband. This is the beach setting on my Cannon, edited by iPhoto.

Find a interesting background. Now when I say interesting I mean "not distracting".You don't want your backdrop to steel your thunder, good or bad. Something that has texture is nice. I chose this green foliage because I knew that it would really complement my hair, eyes, and sweater shrug.  I used my foliage setting on Cannon and edited it on iphoto.

Can you tell the difference between the Beach setting and the Foliage setting in these pictures? 

Links to help and learn

Being photogenic

Taking better outdoor photos

Pose a little better

If you know of a good link on posing or photo shooting. Please share! via comments.