I get multiple s.o.s. emails everyday asking questions about product photography. It is a subject that I have had to become well versed in and that I still struggle with so my heart always go out to the distressed people that write to me.  I have been meaning to put up tutorials for some time now but I get easily side-tracked.  I do have a pretty good tutorial on shooting in low light/no light situations, which is how I often have to shoot, it’s just easier for me when I can get even light and not have to work so hard on cleaning up my white backgrounds (which to me is the hardest part of product photography).  I am not writing this today to let you know that I have been too lazy, busy to create tutorials but to tell you to hurry up and take Kim Thomas’s SkillShare Class Make Awesomer Product Photos.  Yes, I am passing the buck. Kim used to be the head photographer for the PhotoJojo shop so she has plenty of experience, the classes are pre-recorded so you can watch them at your leisure and the BEST part?  Kim is offering the class for free!!!  Yes, you read that right, free!  You should be able to still join in as it just started.  I have gone through four videos thus far and have already learned some new techniques that I can’t wait to add to my repertoire. Kim has a nice, easy going style of teaching like she is talking with a friend. I feel like there should be a tip jar so I could thank her for the time + effort she put into the class. The class is aimed at beginners but she does discuss lights a little bit which is a little more advanced. You don’t need a shop to benefit from the class, I shoot for this here blog all the time and I am even doing a tutorial for a wedding blog and so happy to be able to utilize some of the new tips I learned from Kim’s Class.  I hope to see you in class!

photo via Best Made Co.

Well, I am back! Not for long, I have a trip planned for New Orleans soon, a quick jaunt, that has been in the works for over a year, my poor husband, or lucky husband, I know he loves himself some alone time. Then from there I am on packing detail 24-7.  I have already broken down half my studio, it’s interesting how when you have space you are able to fill it so quickly and weird, me being a minimalist and all. I have not made up my mind where we will be moving, which is the most difficult decision of all not knowing where we will be headed.  I think it would be easier if I didn’t have one very, very expensive and regretful move cross country under my belt. My next move I feel needs to have a lot of ‘pro’ boxes checked.  Honestly, if I was able to get my old apartment back in Los Angeles I would move back there in a second, but I tried to offer the tenant moving money and he basically told me to kick rocks barefoot.  It was a prime location, with many amenities and the rent was below market value, I should have sub-leased, hindsight is 20/20, right? Sigh. He’s never moving out.  I saw so many beautiful neighborhoods in the Bay area thanks to my lovely tour guide Maybelle (love her), but I haven’t had much luck on Craigslist, maybe one of you lovelies may have some alternate suggestions?  I loved Berkley (which I didn’t think I would, so much for pre-conceived notions), Lake Merritt was beautiful and unexpected, Rockridge had the most charming little shops, Hayes Valley (so out of our budget) was like a little slice of Paris in the city.  Michelle, my co-professor on Souvenir Foto and one of my favorite people took up the Seattle part of my tour, thank goodness!  What’s not to like about Seattle?  It has everything San Francsico has at a fraction of the price.  Wherein the bay area we would live like paupers, bohemians, in Seattle we could have it all (maybe even a view of the water!) There is that weather detail to contend with, but seriously nothing could be as harsh as the weather I experienced here in the South East; either intolerably hot and humid (add a bunch of bugs into that equation) or super stormy and rainy.  I think Seattle would be a piece of cake. Please note, I am a Californian born & bred so I have had no prior experience with weather extremes, this was all new to me. The people in the South are warm and friendly and I do currently live on one of the prettiest plots of land this side of the Mississippi.  So it has not been a total bust.  I am isolated, very isolated (axe murderers, please note not that isolated) and that doesn’t work for me.  Who knew I needed interaction with people?  I didn’t.  I miss civilization, I loved seeing people walking on the streets and driving their cars this last trip, it was delightful.  I am up for hearing any advice or taking in any tips, this move will not be taken lightly as we have plowed through a majority of our savings and well, we kinda, sorta need to make a very good decision, no oops allowed.

Speaking of moving, I of course will not want to pack a bunch of inventory for Besotted Brand as I want to make sure my offerings are pristine and I don’t trust a cross country move to be conducive to that.  I won’t be ordering anything new or replenishing until we land in our new abode and I can set-up my studio (we are moving in May).  The good news is that I have many, many new offerings, plus an entire new section being added (that I am out of my mind excited about). I think you will be pretty excited about it as well!  I am going to be giving a lot of way before I go and I am going to start with some alphabet sets!  I have the one above and an alternate version that I will be sending off to one lucky winner! In order to enter to win please answer the following question by Sunday, April 1, 2013:

What are three unique/odd things about you?

I thought since I am in social butterfly mode, it might be nice to get to know you better.  Some unique/odd things about me are that I am legally blind (without corrective eyewear), you see how that doesn’t stop me from venturing into visual fields such as design or photography?  I cannot go to sleep at night without reading a book, impossible. I was once nominated by Vogue + W magazine as having one of the top 10 cult fragrances in the world.  Your turn!

This is one of my shots from the morning of the Jen Huang Workshop.  I never acclimated to West Coast time my entire trip so I woke up at un-Godly hours but was able to watch the sunrise on multiple occasions due to my jet lag.  I really loved the photo-ops I had throughout this trip and of course being a California girl I will always have an affinity for my home state. I promise I will write more about the workshop and the trip, but I think there is something I need to address stat.  In my haste I did not announce any winners for the Hand Lettering Bestowal.  I did have a lovely young lady email me and of course I have lost her email (so organized with the emails), but because she was kind enough to gently remind me I would like her to be one of the winners (if she hasn’t given up on me).  I would also like to bestow some lettering on the following lovelies that entered to win and who patiently sat by whilst I neglected to announce a winner:  Karolina, Lori, Rebecca, Mary Macleod and Kathy.

To all the winners, please email me what you would like and I will get right on it! By the way, I chose so many winners for selfish reasons, I haven’t practiced my lettering for at least 14 days and I am anxious to get back to my practice and it is so much more helpful if I have a specific directive.  I am happy to be home, albeit my temporary home, but really my home now is where my husband and girls are, that being said I would prefer my home be on the West Best Coast. Sorry, I read that on a billboard and think it’s quite cheeky, so sorry to boldly rip it off.

P.S. One of my very favorite blogs + photographers, Caitlin of Roost asked me to do some lettering for her amazing beauty giveaway (gasp!) you would be remiss if you don’t go check it out (pinky promise). To say I was honored for the invitation is a complete understatement. To have my lettering on one of my fave blogs? It’s like winning the Lotto!

I have been to more than 14 cities in less than 10 days.  To announce I am exhausted would be a slight understatement.  I am still on East coast time whilst in the midst of my West Coast, Best Coast travels so I have been waking up at ridiculously early hours and wanting to go to sleep just when they are serving the Early Bird Special at around 6 p.m. I have powered through this knowing that at my final destination there would be a bathtub with my name on it.

For those of you with bathtubs (and I am pretty sure that must be 99.9% of you), this little soliloquy might seem unfathomable.  By my moving to the country I had forfeited the one luxury I had in life– a bath.  I want to let you know this was not an intentional sacrifice, if I had known I would have put the kibosh on the lease in a New York minute but I didn’t so I signed my name along a dotted line that ensured I would be bath-less for the better part of a year. I wasn’t without a tub, I did and I suppose since I am going back Tuesday I do have a tub, but there are three main deterrents. One is that our bathtub is fiberglass, but might as well be plastic.  Before I lived in the country I did not not know fiberglass tubs existed, I assumed all tubs by nature of being tubs had to be porcelain.  Fiberglass tubs should be relegated for one purpose only and that is for use in a trailer.  There I said it, I mean it and if you own a fiberglass tub and don’t live in a trailer my heart goes out to you. Second, we are on well water, so even if I had a porcelain tub I would have used more than my fair share of allotted well water for the day and thus be fined. A great bath would be worth the fine, but the third obstacle stood in the way and that was hard water.  Hard water is interesting, it makes your skin feel like it will break in half since it depletes all hydration but makes your hair super soft, completely lifeless and unmanageable. It’s a wonder they let me into Los Angeles with my hair suctioned to my scalp and my skin so taut if I sneezed I would break in half.

On the last leg of my scouting tour I checked myself into a hotel that I knew had beautiful deep porcelain bathtubs, balanced water and strong water pressure.  It was my only requirement and all other design elements could be overlooked and forgiven. When I emerged from the bath at the end of the day I felt like a Phoenix rising from the ashes.  I couldn’t remember the last time I felt so privileged.

What is one thing you couldn’t dream of giving up for a year?  Do you have a fiberglass tub?  Does it bother you too? Or not so much? Any comments on my potential move?  I am pretty 50/50 between the Bay area and Seattle both offer equally amazing opportunities it’s going to be so impossible to decide!

photo by Corey Amaro

I am well aware that many of you don’t have the time or inclination to try film out, but still would like to achieve the look in the digital darkroom.  There are many ways to do so, but I am going to just go over the ones that I feel are the most authentic looking and the easiest to use.

I have been shooting with the VSCO app on my Iphone pretty much since the day they released it to the public.  I had been following some photographers that were in beta testing with the app and It was killing me to not get my hands on the #VSCO that I kept seeing.  This is a nominal investment for such a simple app with stunning results. The more lofty investment is the Lightroom presets, which I do own.  I had waited until they had improved the .jpeg conversion as I don’t shoot in RAW.  It’s one click, filmy goodness.

I mentioned 9 Lives Photoshop actions last year, but it deserves another mention. The designer of the actions, photographer Kim Miller has introduced more sets and is working on Lightroom versions  Kim has made her actions very affordable and they truly emulate film.  My only complaint is that the layers are not grouped, but you can always record that into the action if you know what you are doing. If you work with actions often you’ll understand why a grouped set is ideal, it may not bother you.

One of the signs of film is grain.  In digital photography we are usually trying to avoid this at all costs, but for the sake of emulating the film look you could shoot in lower light raising your iso almost as high as it can get.  I feel this produces lots of fine grain and when the photo is converted to black & white you get a very film like effect. This would be the most cost effective route to play with film effects in the digital darkroom.  Or you could always start in film by picking up a disposable camera like the talented Amy Merrick has done and try your hand at getting beautiful shots like these.

Photo by Eleanor Petry