Guess what? This week I get to share the technical side of what I use to produce this blog!
1. What technology do you use in blogging? I keep it as simple as possible. I don’t even use a lens filter or hood. I have a filter but I pretty much belong to the school that believes a lens filter is an extra piece of glass between camera and subject, and more glass leads to more distortion, which results in less sharp images.
- camera: Canon Rebel T1i, 35mm ƒ/2 lens. I have a 50mm ƒ/1.8 but that’s not as practical for me (although it does take fantastic photos) and the kit standard zoom lens, too. But both my prime lenses are leaps and bounds above the zoom.
- Yes, I’ve got freckles! Who knew?
- tripod: SLIK or Neewer, the Neewer is taller but less stable
- remote: Canon RC-6
2. What computer and online technology do you use?
- CMS: WordPress hosted with BlueHost.com
- photo storage: my hard drive and my trusty old external which is a Seagate 500 MB. I also have a Flickr pro that I upload a lot of my photos to.
- photo editing: Aperture 3 on a late 2009 MacBook Pro. However I use GIMP for all my blog graphics like the header and background. GIMP can be kind of unwieldy but for a free app it’s extremely powerful and a damn good alternative to Photoshop CS5. I tortured myself earlier this week by checking the price at Staples– yeah, still $699.
I’ve also used Poladroid to make some photos into Polaroids. I’ve tried Picasa too and think it’s a good program, but just started with iPhoto and decided to run with Aperture. I’ve used Lightroom 2 as well but I really just think Aperture runs more smoothly on a Mac.
3. What is your process for taking pictures? I have a very structured system, actually, which surprises a lot of people. It goes something like this: (1) run around like crazy looking for lipstick/gloss/stain/cream blush in a pinch, (2) attach camera to tripod while indoors, (3) carry camera + tripod + remote outside, (4) asses available light and background obstructions, then choose location, (5) set down tripod, make necessary adjustments, (6) run in front of camera, point remote, and snap snap snap, (7) breathe, check photos on camera LCD. Repeat 4-7 as necessary if background and/or photos are deemed insufficient.
4. When it comes to backdrops for your photos what do you consider? Available. Light. I also like many small sources of light for bokeh if possible. And I like to blow out the background if I can and leave the subject really defined. Light is the most important for me though, followed by a background that’s not too busy. I tend to like trees and fences. Do you scout locations or shoot the same spot daily? I tend to shoot in similar spots, I have about seven different ones that I usually rotate depending on the time of day and the weather.
I wish I had some tall city buildings or plains/forests/mountains/beaches but unfortunately I’d have go kind of far for them. I’ve always wanted to shoot in a local cemetery that dates to the Revolution, however it’s surrounded by a high traffic area and also I really wouldn’t want to disturb anyone paying respects to family or friends buried there.
5. If you could splurge and get one new piece of equipment what would you be buying? A good zoom lens, 70-200mm or something like that. They’re $2000+ unfortunately, so maybe someday? I could probably justify it if I decided to do photos on the side but that’s a very long time coming.
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Ok, so that’s what WordPress looks like..
Love how well you have described everything here…People that aren’t familiar with personal style blogs must think that we’re a bunch of freaks..posing in front of a tripod, hehe!
Yes, that’s what WordPress looks like, although I don’t know about wordpress.com, it might be different?
And I think I was a freak long before I was standing in front of a tripod :) hahaha
Love how you illustrated this post! And I am so going to look into a remote when I upgrade my camera. That must save so much time and hassle. – Katy
Thank you! Yes, definitely definitely get a remote, and invest in a good one ($20-30) because I wasted so much money on so many of the cheap ones that didn’t work right/broke within a month of getting them!
I belong to the school of thought that I will put my camera into my purse. The lens cap will fall off. My keys/nail file/pen/random evil object also in my purse will attack my lens. I’d rather replace a filter than a lens :)
And I’m using photoshop cs, because my father bought a legit copy of it in 2005 or however long ago that was, and he’s since upgraded, but adobe doesn’t care that I have it licensed on my machine as well. They care about things newer than cs, so I leave well enough alone.
And I got the MOST EVIL SPAM yesterday. It looked like an email from apple, advertising a crazy awesome sale on photoshop cs5, for $109. I was practically drooling when I realized it was a fake. Jerks.
I’d rather replace a filter than a lens too but I just don’t like my filter, it’s completely irrational and inexplicable. I should probably get a hood if I want to forego the filter though. I’m terribly jealous you have CS! That was a seriously evil spam, can you report an email address for being evil?