With Easter right around the corner, I thought it would be fun to round up some of my favorite looks for the big day! From egg hunting to Sunday service, here are some outfit inspirations for your littles. ~Please see below for sources~
My husband had his 15 year reunion in Durham, NC so while we were out there, we decided to make a short road trip over to one of my favorite cities in America. Charleston! And it is as darling and lovely as I remembered it.
The city is just so charming and each and every block is overflowing with history and character. We loved walking down the city streets and I swear I have never been to a more picturesque city–the vibrant and colorful homes, the mature trees, the over abundance of pretty stoops, resting areas and window planters…I could just spend a whole week walking around downtown Charleston.
Many of you have asked me for tips on how to take photos and more specifically, how I take my photos. This is such a broad question that it is impossible to cover in one post. There are so many aspects to consider when taking a photo–lighting, styling, location scouting, flattering positioning of the subject(s), editing, story telling, and so so soooooo much more. When taking photos of a toddler or a dog (or even BOTH, like I do!!) there are even more factors to consider and little tricks you can pull out of your hat to make things go (somewhat) more smoothly. I promise to eventually go over all of them (you can comment here if you would like to read about a particular topic more so than others).
I am by no means a photographer and I do not pretend to even be one! I have far too much respect for professional photographers and their knowledge of their craft to call myself one. What I can do, is just speak from personal experience on what worked and what didn’t. I also take all of my photos on my iPhone, so everything I am going over here is iPhone specific. And what I learned is that lighting is EVERYTHING.
Natural light is your best friend. I believe that everyone and everything look their best in natural light. With that being said, you want the right kind of sunlight depending on whether you’re inside or outside. When you’re inside, you want maximum sunlight. So if your home is always flooded with light, you’re golden. It’s also nice to know which part of your house gets the most sunlight throughout the day and take photos when you know that area will be at its brightest.
When taking photos outside, it is ironically the reverse! I realized that on those bright, sunny and perfectly blue sky days, taking a good photo is nearly impossible. People are always squinting, their skin looks too shiny, there are sharp and distracting shadows everywhere, and anything in white or subtle colors are completely lost or destroyed. So I found that my favorite days to take photos outside is on a warm, overcast or cloudy day, or even better, right before the sun settles for the day. They call this the “golden hour” for very good reason. The sun casts that perfectly soft golden hue everywhere and all photos just turn out magical and enchanting. It really is the best, best, best time to take photos outside.
Sunny day – lots of sharp shadows, colors are washed out, lots of shiny highlights.
Cloudy day – softer lighting and colors.
Overcast day – minimal shadows and highlights. Soft lighting and colors. Details and colors aren’t washed out.
Photo taken during the “golden hour”.