Archives for September 2017

Sep 28 2017

Tips For Photographing Food At Home For Instagram

Yesterday I was making an orzo salad to bring to my co-working space’s monthly member lunch. Before I packed it up it occurred to me I could be photographing it to use on Instagram! I make it a habit to incorporate photography into my every day life. ⠀

Since it was a Greek inspired dish I wanted to use some blue in the shot so I found a blue and white tea towel in the kitchen drawer which just so happened to be new and clean! Woo Hoo!

I set up in my dining area right near the window to get the natural light.

I have a few boards that I keep in my closet for simple backgrounds and also have a few white bowls that I use for photographing food. The simpler the better that way the focus is on the food and not the bowl.

I wanted to incorporate some of the ingredients that were in the salad – tomato, cucumber, parsley and lemon. Designing in 3’s is more visually appealing so I took 2 lemon wedges and one tomato wedge and placed them on the board until I got something I liked – then randomly scattered diced cucumber and chopped parsley.

The image was a bit dark and had some shadows so I used a white foam board propped up by the napkin holder (very technical!) to fill in the shadows and brighten up the image a bit.

I took a shot from my iPhone and “real” camera using my DSLR. These 2 are straight out of phone and camera – no editing.

I decided to use the one from my camera and brought it into Photoshop to make simple tweaks. I chose Photoshop because I use it all the time and I’m the most familiar and comfortable with the program but you could definitely edit images with an app on your phone.

This is what I ended up with for my Instagram feed…

I got this slightly different shot by varying my angle and will save to use at a later time in my Instagram feed.

If you want to get a look at the behind the scenes of how I shot these images you can watch the video below.

So remember…

Photograph near a window
Simple backgrounds and bowls, plates, etc
Design in 3’s
Use a white board to fill in shadows.
Vary your camera angle

Pin It!

Hit me up with your photography questions – happy to help! I did a live Q&A about Photography as part of my Help Desk Tuesday segment in my private Facebook group. If you want to check it out here’s the link to join.

Sep 26 2017

Create Your Own Opportunities

If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.

Sometimes you have to create your own path, take charge and not wait around for things to just happen to, or for you.

When my daughters are at summer camp one of their favorite activities is to play gaga. Don’t feel bad if you don’t know what it is – I didn’t either! Think dodgeball in a big round enclosed pit. My younger daughter especially was hooked. She was great at it and the more she played her confidence grew and grew.

She was beyond excited to find out her new middle school had a gaga pit in the recess playground! She couldn’t wait to start school just so she can get back to playing gaga. Even though it was a new school for her, she had something she enjoyed and was good at to break the ice with the new kids she would be meeting. Every afternoon at recess she heads straight to the gaga pit and usually ends up being one of the last 2 remaining players.

She came home one day and said “I want to create a gaga team!”

My older daughter told her she wouldn’t be able to because no one ever did it before.

I, on the other hand told her the exact opposite. If she wants a team she could be the first to create it!

Here’s what happened:

We spoke to the gym teachers – they loved the idea and after only less than 2 weeks of school already knew how great she was at gaga.

They suggested she start by creating a club – collect names from kids that would be interested, then present the idea to the principal.

I created a simple sign up form for her to get the names during recess. This is where you have to know your strengths. She’s the idea person and the athlete, not the public speaker. She collected a few names but knew she’d need help in getting the rest. While she was playing, she got another friend to collect the names of the kids as they got eliminated. Teamwork!!

They got over 20 names AND she got the commitment from her gym teacher to oversee the club.

With the list of names and the commitment from her gym teacher, she went to the principal’s office to present her idea.

I’m happy (and so proud of her) to say there’s going to be a new gaga club in her middle school starting in October! Woo Hoo!!

Lesson learned – when you really want something, go for it. You can absolutely create something from nothing. All you need is a strong desire, be hyper focused on the outcome, not worry about how it’s going to happen, surround yourself with positive supportive people who believe in you, cheer you on, AND hold you accountable!

What’s something you’ve been wanting to create?

Sep 22 2017

Fall Freebies For Instagram

Hello first day of Fall!⠀
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Are you as excited as I am? It’s my favorite time of year for so many reasons – cooler weather means I can wear cute sweaters and boots and have great hair days. I can drink hot apple cider, take my girls to pick pumpkins and drive up to the country to see the magical colors of the foliage.⠀Plus there are lots of celebrations – Halloween and Thanksgiving (my 2 favorite holidays) along with lots of family birthdays (including mine in November).
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So much natural inspiration – great backdrops and locations for photo shoots and photo walks.⠀
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Now’s the time to start integrating some Fall images into your Instagram feed. To get you started I added 3 new Fall graphics and 3 new Fall photographs into the LHN Creative Resource library.

You can download , post as is, add text or your favorite motivational quote.

Some suggested hashtags for this time of year are #fall2017 #firstdayoffall #ilovefall and #fallfoliage. If you use any of the photos or graphics use the hashtag #lhnfreebies so I can follow along and see how creative you were with your posts.

If you’re already a member head on over and if not, just sign up below for access.

While you’re there take a look around at the other helpful resources – my recent faves are the Instagram Content Creation Worksheets.

What about Fall most excites you?

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Sep 16 2017

8 Tips To Create Amazing Content For Instagram

Do you love scrolling through Instagram but struggle with creating content of your own? I know – it can definitely be frustrating and overwhelming but if you have a plan it makes it so much easier! Here are my top tips for creating amazing content for your business account on Instagram.

1 – Know who you’re speaking to

This is the starting point for everything – not just Instagram!! How will you know what to post if you don’t even know who you’re speaking to? First figure out who your ideal client is. A few things to think about… What are you selling? Whether it’s a product or service, who will benefit most from it? What solution are you providing for their problem?

2 – What makes you you?

What are things that light you up and get you excited? What takes up most of your thoughts? What can you do all day if you could? What brings you joy? What are some key areas in your life? You don’t only have to post about business! Let your clients get a peak into your world.

3 – Days of the Year

There’s always something to celebrate! National Doughnut Day, Guacamole Day and Talk Like A Pirate Day are a few “holidays” that you can create posts around. I head over to the Days Of The Year website to find these offbeat funky days to get ideas for my posts. I choose things that are both of interest to me, and what I think would resonate with my audience.

4 – Mix it up

To make things more interesting, try mixing up the type of content you create – that way your account doesn’t look like a flat one note. Instagram is visual so make it visually appealing. Photographs, videos, graphics and short blocks of text like an inspirational quote can all be used o create a dynamic looking grid.

5 – What’s happening in your own life?

Are you learning something new and interesting from a course you’re taking or a book you’re reading? Did something happen in your day that your audience could relate to?

6 – Snap happy!

As a photographer, taking photos throughout the day is second nature to me but if you’re not, it’ s something you can make a habit. Pay attention to what seems interesting whether you’re at home or out and about. Use your phone or whatever camera you have on hand at the time. If it inspires you, take a pic! You can create a library of images to have on hand when you’re getting ready to create your posts.

7 – Plan it out

Now that you have the different elements to a post, plan it all out on a calendar. For each day write in the type of post you’ll create and the general theme for the caption. Set a block of time to create the visuals and write the captions. And don’t forget to research the best time of the day to post along with the relevant hashtags.

8 – Feature others

One way to create other content is to feature your clients, colleagues or someone that inspires you. You can also repost an image from another account but make sure you give photo credit in your post.

As an example, this is my thought process for my @life.happens.now account:

1 – I’m speaking to female creatives and mothers that need help starting their business. A few of their struggles include not knowing where to start, not having an action plan, feeling like they don’t have time and juggling the demands of motherhood.

2 – I’m passionate about photography, love to read mindset and success books, do a lot of cooking for my family, love potato chips, I’m both creative and technical (constant battle of left and right brain), I live in NYC. This is some of what makes me me and I choose elements of these things that can relate to my audience.

3 – Since I read a lot, it was relevant for me to do a post on National Read A Book Day

4 – I mostly switch between photographs and graphics. The graphics include blank colorful background with short blocks of text – usually an inspirational quote. Don’t forget to include photos of yourself. It’s a great way to connect with your followers!

5 – I may post about something I learned from a book I’m reading or a new recipe that’s easy to make that my girls really like

6 – I take photos wherever I go – on my morning walk, in a store, at home when the light is right, when I see a beautiful sunset, etc.

7 – I look at my stats to see when the best times are to post and I use Later.com to plan it out.

8 – I love doing shout outs to other creatives that inspire me – like my brother-in-law and his handmade soaps.

Are you feeling better now about creating your own content?

To make things even easier, I created this worksheet to help you map things out. Just click below to download iand start creating!

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Sep 12 2017

Help Desk Tuesdays

I decided to do something new in my Life Happens Now facebook group – Help Desk Tuesdays!

Back in my 20’s when I was doing techie work as a programmer then systems analyst, I decided to start a gift basket business. I needed something creative to offset that left brained techie job and I also knew I wanted a more flexible schedule, make more money and work for myself. I wanted my business to be my full time gig but also needed an income while I got it going.

I quit my full time job and did flexible freelance tech work including software training, website design and something called Help Desk.

I set up my schedule perfect for my life at that time – single and living in the city. I worked on my basket business during the day from 9am to 3pm then headed to my help desk gig from 4 to midnight. In NYC there are law firms that work 24 hours around the clock and need tech support . This was great because even though it was still tech- I was surrounded by other creatives and making more money than at my previous job. People that did this shift work focused on their main passion during the day. I worked with an opera singer and a Broadway actress just to name a few.

We were there to answer any tech questions from the attorneys and support staff – and believe me there were plenty!!

When I was journaling this morning I got the idea to offer Help Desk in my facebook group. My plan is to go live on Tuesdays at 12:30pm NYC time, have a different topic each week and hopefully answer those questions that you’re spending way too much time trying to figure out on your own. I know what it feels like – so frustrating!!

My group is for female creatives so if that’s you and you need some help, come and join us!

We’re starting off this week with Instagram so get your IG questions ready. There’s a post in the group to ask your questions ahead of time and I’ll answer them live. If you can’t make it live, you can still post your questions then watch the replay for the answers!

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