Strange & Charmed

Creating an Eye Catching Composition for your Photos

Time flies when you’re having fun learning photography, right? Okay, cheesy opening lines aside, the third week of my #CharmedDSLR photo challenge and mini course has come to an end. This past week we covered one of my favorite photography topics, composition. Composition is the bread and butter of great photography and is one of the more creative aspects of the skill. Although I am a vehement supporter of getting creative with image composition, I believe it’s incredibly important to first understand the established techniques and visual rules that have dominated image composition for centuries. Although each photographer may have their own unique styles and subtleties, we are all subject to the same overarching principles of good visual design and image composition. So let’s see how my #CharmedDSLR students did exploring image composition.

Day 15: Classical Composition

One of the earliest and simplest forms of composition is classical composition, when you take a single subject and center it in your image. Its the clearest way to capture a subject because there is no confusion or ambiguity about what you are supposed to be looking at as the viewer. With this prompt, I was impressed with how many of my students were able to not only take a single subject as the focus but keep the subject in an environment that was interesting and yet didn’t compete for the attention of the subject.

Day 16: Triangle Composition

When it comes to great composition across all mediums, using an odd number of subjects somehow tends to create the best results. With triangular composition you arrange three dominant objects in a scene so that they form a triangle. Of course, there are a number of ways to achieve this composition using layering and perspective and it was interesting to see how my students would manifest the concept in their own images. There is certainly a good amount of variety within these images that goes to show that even within one single concept of composition, an endless number of unique formations are possible!

Day 17: Rule of Thirds

Rule of thirds is probably one of the most popular concepts of composition. Although you may not be familiar with the term itself, most people are familiar with the Rule of Thirds grid that you can use to assist in taking images on most smartphones and digital cameras. With this composition method, placement of objects in the frame can be arranged in a number of ways, either by dividing the frame into thirds or by placing key objects at intersecting points on the rule of thirds grid. As you look at each of these images, image that grid overlaid on the image to get an even clearer understanding of the thought that goes into well balanced images like these!

Day 18: Negative Space

Within each great image there is always a balance between positive and negative space, meaning the space that is filled with a subject and the space that is left open. With this prompt, students were expected to explore negative space in creative ways and again their variation did not disappoint! There is really no right or wrong way to approach negative space, you can do it a number of ways, by leaving a large portion of the image in negative space or by using the negative space to create a shape in and of itself. The point of this prompt was simply to make my students aware of that negative space and not to think only of the subject of the image.

Day 19: Leading Lines

Leading lines are such a direct way to get the attention of a viewer in an image and guide their eye. I absolutely love the first image in this collection with the painted arrow pointing to the dog because it really illustrates exactly what the concept of leading lines is all about; directing the viewer to look at the subject! Definitely had some creative entries for this prompt that I really enjoyed!

Day 20: Symmetry

Symmetry is such an interesting compositional concept because in my opinion its like the rebel of all composition. Generally speaking, a good composition should have variation but with symmetry, we are making an exception to this rule and saying that its okay to create that mirror image effect with our subjects. I do personally love symmetry when its found in nature or through architecture, which some of my students were aptly able to capture, but symmetrical compositions can really be found and created in so many places. The image of the doorknobs above was particularly striking to me especially with the way it divides the light between a darker and lighter side to the image. As to was I intrigued by the picture of the girl sitting because its not entirely symmetrical, but there is a sense of balance in that image as well that really pushes the envelope in terms of composition. Again, I’m just proving my point here that symmetry is the rebel of composition but everyone does like a rebel!

Day 21: Golden Ratio

The final compositional prompt for week three was the golden ratio, which like its cousin, the rule of thirds, relies on a mathematically proportioned formula to predict and guide strong compositions. Rooted in the Fibonacci sequence, the golden ratio is a naturally occurring mathematical calculation that is known for creating natural spirals. I was glad to see how many students used the concept of the spiral in their images, but one specific image I want to point out is the backyard scene with the foliage. If you look closely at that image, you can really see the formation of the natural spiral in two places. First, the large spiral created by the negative space created by the greenery to the upper left of the image, and then the smaller spiral created by the greenery towards the bottom right. There is a sense of cosmic balance in this image that is not something manipulated by the photographer, instead that natural composition was captured by the photographer who clearly illustrates a great eye for framing the scene! And thats what great image composition really boils down to. You can either style a scene just so or you can see a scene already created and capture it in just the right way so that the natural composition is exposed!

Well, I hope you enjoyed this recap of week three of #CharmedDSLR! Coming up next week I actually have something special planned, a LIVE Photography Webinar event where I will be recapping what we covered in this course and providing some new content and concepts that will help you take better pictures for your blog, business and social media accounts! If you feel like you have been struggling with photography and want to know my exact process for composing, taking and editing awesome images, you won’t want to miss this webinar so click here and request your invitation to the event!

xoxo,

tech wallpaper

It’s Fall, Deer! Tech Wallpapers

Are you ready for some new tech wallpapers, because I know I am! Going into fall, I wanted to create a fun, seasonal set that could carry us through the holidays. Pattern mixing is always fun during the fall and nothing say fun fall pattern quite the way plaid does. Of course, this plaid is in a deep seasonal teal and accented with my signature black and white stripes! A little bit modern and a little bit rustic, this design is sure to delight!

Plaid Deer Desktop — Right Click this image to save the full sized file for your desktop!

Plaid Deer iPad — Right Click this image to save the full sized file for your iPad or Tablet!

Plaid Deer iPhone — Right Click this image to save the full sized file for your iPhone or Smartphone!

I hope you enjoy this new set of wallpapers! If you download them for your devices, please make sure to snap a pic and tag them #strangeandcharmed so the community can see your device all decked out for the fall! Feel free to tag me @Misstrenchcoat as well on Twitter or Instagram and I’ll be sure to like your photos!

xoxo,

organization

5 Kate Spade Office Supplies I’m Drooling Over {Office Oasis September 2015}

In my Youtube video about How to Get a Fresh Start, I explained that one of the ways I like to motivate myself to start fresh is by purchasing a few new accessories for my home office. Nothing motivates me to work like office supplies and decor, and I’ve been eyeing some lovely items that would fit right into my office space. Since you are also equally obsessed with stationery, I thought I’d share these items with you in this months installment of Office Oasis to give you some ideas of some items you may be missing that you could purchase to reward yourself for making a fresh start this fall! Be sure to check out my video here when your done with this post if you haven’t seen it. I give some great tips on how to make the most of the last few months of the year and provide you some actionable steps you can take immediately once the video is over. Enjoy!

1. Chic Happens Notebook: I really love the Kate Spade journals and this pretty light blue number has actually already made it’s way into my home office. It’s currently acting as a bit of decor in my new shelving unit, but I have plans to use it as an entrepreneurship journal as well.

2. Top of the Line Pen Set: If you know anything about me, you probably know I’m obsessed with stripes, so when I saw this pen set, I had to have it. Again, these guys are currently at home on my desk, and I have to admit, they are almost too pretty to use, but I am committed to putting them to work.

3. Telegram Notepad: I admit, I have way to many notepads! This one is just darling though and the perfect size for jotting down notes and thoughts. I am currently using a large jotter style notepad on my desk or else I would totally purchase this one.

4. Crown Point Frame: It took me a white to realize that these beautiful silver frames were actually from Kate Spade, but I guess I really should have known! I plan to upgrade a few frames in my house to this lovely flourish style because I find them to be very elegant and in line with my overall home decor.

5. Start Something New Scented Candle: Hello! Stripes + turquoise + my motto for fall = this exact candle! This is such an adorable addition to any desk or home office space, and I do already own the black striped version of this candle, but the more the merrier, right?

What do you think about these picks? Anything tickle your fancy? Let me know about it in the comments and don’t forget to check out my Fresh Start Video on YouTube for my tips and tricks for ending your year on a high note!

xoxo,

Photography

How to Capture a Story & Subject through Photography!

We have officially come to the end of Week Two of the Strange & Charmed Digital Styling Light Room FREE 30 Day Photo Challenge & Mini Course! This week the prompts got a little tougher as we learned day by day how to capture the visual subject of an image. Have you ever looked at a photo and asked yourself “what am I looking at?” When the subject of a photo isn’t obvious, its hard to understand and relate to a photo. This week was all about learning to find and capture subjects and make them stand out in through visual cues. Let’s see what my students came up with this week!

Day 8: Point of View

Point of view is a very important concept when it comes to photography and understanding your subject because there are so many points of view that you can take on one single scene. Today was all about challenging your standard view and getting yourself to look at the world from a different view point. Some people got clever and showed life through the eyes of their pets, others got way up high or way down low to show us something we wouldn’t normally see from our standard eye level! The results were spectacular!

Day 9: Perspective

There is no better way to highlight a subject than through perspective, and making your subject stand out by framing it just so in your image can really help the viewer to understand what they are looking at. It was great to see my students embracing that and capturing subjects from a perspective that we don’t often get. Often times this means getting up close and personal with a smaller subject or getting yourself to a specific vantage point to provide a good view of a large scene. These pictures really embody the effort that is often required on the part of a photographer to capture their subject.

Day 10: Single Focus Point

Sometimes we take pictures and we want to capture too much in one image and we end up loosing the subject or focus on the image. In todays prompt the challenge was to find a single focus point to draw the eye to one single subject in a larger scene. My students were very resourceful with this prompt and used color, blur and composition to put the attention of the viewer on one single subject.

Day 11: Visual Balance

But what about when we really want to capture multiple subjects in one image? Well, that takes a lesson in visual balance. With this prompt, my digital styling students were asked to capture an image with multiple focus points. The challenge here was to balance subjects in such a way that the image didn’t become overwhelming and still retained a visual flow. I was very impressed with these compositions and how obvious it is to me that my students were now able to build upon earlier lessons to compose a single shot.

Day 12: Cropping

Nothing draws the eye into an image quite the way that cropping does. Often times it is our first reaction as photographers to want to capture the whole subject or scene so that people get the big picture, however, the story and subject is often lost in that scenario. Instead, focus on cropping into the main point of interest or action! These images really have done an excellent job balancing the subject in the image with a crop that really shows just enough to the audience while also retaining a sense of artistic license.

Day 13: Contrast

As we progress through this concept of capturing the subject, another key element of photography, contrast, comes into play as a means to add drama to an image. I love using light and dark to contrast a subject and this can be accomplished through actual light and shadow, color, or even pulling out the subtle details of the sky or a building as shown in the images above. Again, a wonderful selection of images that all play with the concept of contrast in different ways.

Day 14: Details

The final prompt for week two was details, because again, I wanted to teach the students in #CharmedDSLR that capturing your subject is more than just looking at the big picture. These images aren’t just great detail shots, but also excellent examples of cropping as well because in order to get the details into focus, one must crop into the scene. Yet another example of the lessons of this course building upon each other to create some wonderful images!

Thank you so much to those students who participated in the second week of the course! Day by day I can see you are each learning at your own pace and building upon the lessons of skills of the day before to make each of your images better than the last! If you are not yet signed up for #CharmedDSLR and want to participate, I invite you to head on over to this blog post to sign up because you can start this course at any time- it’s never too late to improve upon a skill like photography!

xoxo,

Blogging

5 Lessons Learned from Attending the #rSNYFW Party + 5 Bonus Fashion Week Trends!

Yesterday, I spent the day in NYC to attend the RewardStyle New York Fashion Week Party! It was a fabulous event hosted by RewardStyle, an affiliate network I’m a member of that focuses on fashion, beauty & lifestyle brands, and held on the roof of the Hotel Americano in Chelsea. I had never been to a RewardStyle event before, but when I got the invite, I thought it would be a great opportunity to meet some other bloggers within my network, experience some part of fashion week, and do something unexpected! Of course, I am far from being a fashion blogger, so this whole experience was a new one for me. However, I did my homework, had fun and learned a lot of valuable lessons from the whole experience that I’d love to share with you if you are interested in learning some strategies for breaking out of your comfort zone and fitting in anywhere! And I mean anywhere! A NYFW party was the last place I expected to fit in, but you know what? I did and it wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be!

1. Do your research: As I had never been to this or any similar events in the past, I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect so I did some research. I wanted to find out what the event would be like so I knew generally what to expect, I wanted to know who came to events like this as a reference point for who I might meet, and I desperately needed to figure out what to wear since I am not a fashion blogger. I searched through the #rSNYFW hashtag for images of previous years events, Googled blog posts relating to the event, and spoke to some stylish friends of mine for advice on what to wear. Thankfully, this research helped me to understand what to expect, made me feel comfortable attending the event, and helped me understand what to wear,* which was probably the hardest part of the whole thing for me. A lot of times, things in life are scary or make us nervous because we have never experienced them before. When you know what to expect, it really eases your mind!

2. Connect with new people as soon as possible: Since I was going to an event where I didn’t know anyone, I really wanted to make sure I had a few connections made before I arrived. Thankfully, I had found some tweets and IG pictures of people discussing the event, and made some friends before I arrived. I even met a blogger from my area who ended up taking the same train into the event as I did, which was pretty cool! Although I had no set in stone plans with people, again, it was an ease just knowing that there were some faces in the crowd that were expecting to meet me, which was exciting and comforting. Having a few names and faces worked out before an event like this can make you feel like you have friends waiting for you, which can help you break through any resistance you may be facing.

3. Kindness and a smile (and a glass of Rosé) go a long way: Whenever you do something new or go someplace new, it’s a given that some people there are going to be more experienced and some people are going to be new just like you. I met some girls who had been to the event many times before, and others who were first timers like me, and honestly, you really can’t tell the difference most of the time. Which means, most people won’t be able to spot that you are the newbie in the situation either! So, I found that just moving around, smiling, and being polite was an easy way to spark up conversation. Even just saying excuse me can be an opening line to a whole conversation as I experienced myself more than once at the event! I find that the key is to just start talking, once you have a conversation or two under your belt, its easier to transition to talking to new people who have wandered into your sight line.

4. Everyone is at least a little self-conscious: I would like to say I fluttered around the party like a little social butterfly, but I mostly shuffled around the room bit by bit as the party got pretty packed at one point and navigating was more akin to moving pieces around a chess board! So I ended up meeting people unintentionally based on where I just happened to be standing and where I was able to move to as the crowd shuffled around. While I was making my way, I was honestly surprised at the number of beautiful, well dressed ladies at the party who mentioned being a little self-conscious about their style decisions. It was very reassuring for me that real fashion bloggers had a hard time getting dressed for the event, which made me feel much better about my fashion struggles earlier in the week! The truth is, everyone, even the pro’s, get self-conscious. In some instances, I think the pro’s really have it harder because they are expected to be performing at a certain level, which means the pressure is really on for them. Being a little self-conscious is alright I think, but the key is to own the fact and then find the strength to move past it!

5. You belong: When I first received the invitation to the event, I honestly wasn’t sure I should go. It sounded like it might be fun, it was really not that far for me to travel, and it was a chance for me to network with people I’d never normally network with, no admission fee required! But, I’m not a fashion blogger and I wasn’t sure I belonged at the event! You know what though? I was invited. If I didn’t belong, I wouldn’t have been invited. The truth of the matter was, someone wanted me at the party, even if it was just a computer algorithm, so I did belong there! I met a bunch of new girls and as we sat around exchanging Instagram handles I saw that some girls had bigger followings than me and some had smaller. It was a complete mix without which the party would have been a complete bore! So the next time you are faced with an invitation to an exciting opportunity and you aren’t sure whether or not you belong, YOU BELONG! I promise you if the offer is in front of you and you want to take it, you totally belong and you should totally own that!

BONUS 5 Fashion Week Trends I Learned at the #rSNYFW Party

Here are a bonus 5 things I learned that are fashion and beauty related. I did, after all, attend a fashion party, so I thought you might be interested in some latest and greatest news from fashion week!

1. Rosé is the new “it” drink according to Style It blogger Sarah Conley.

2. Overalls are in this season. I spotted a handful of girls rocking them at the event, most notably Alicia from Cheetah is the New Black.

3. Statement iPhone cases are the best fashion accessory, and RewardStyle Found Amber Venz had the mother of them all with an Absolute Vodka shaped case.

4. Colour Pop lipsticks are fashion week approved! They last all day according to fashion photographer Lydia Hudgens who rocked a bold red lip for the party.

5. Convertible earrings are all the rage, according to style blogger Emily Sklar who wore this pair from Stella & Dot to the event!

What I Wore*

So you are probably wondering what I ended up wearing to the event? Well, after consulting with some stylish friends, I ended up wearing an outfit that was very me and also pretty darn comfortable, which I needed it to be since I was going to be spending the day in the city and traveling by Amtrak. Here is a pic my husband snapped on my way out of the house! I wish I could have gotten some better pics at the party but it’s really hard to take selfies in a crowded room when you are short like me! I wore head to toe Target, which I found to be ironic since I was attending a fashion week event, but my outfit definitely worked. Here’s what I wore:

I hope these tips help you to break out of your shell and take advantage of some fun opportunities that may come your way! There is nothing worse than regretting that you didn’t put yourself out there so I hope you take these tips to heart and let me know any success stories you have with these tips!

xoxo,

books

3 Business Books in my Audible Queue

Many of you have been asking me about the business books I am currently reading as I have made some passing suggestions and mentions of books in my Audible queue in different posts and videos over the past few weeks. Today I wanted to share with you the 3 business books that are currently in my audible queue, because as many of you know, I prefer to listen to audio books than to read. I just get more enjoyment and I feel like I complete more books when I listen to them as opposed to making time throughout my day to stop what I am doing and read. I’ve also gotten a few questions about how I like Audible and if I’m affiliated with them since I do talk about them whenever I talk about books pretty much!

To answer that first, I do happen to love Audible. For a long time I was resistant to the idea of signing up to Audible because it is subscription based and for some reason I was under the impression that any books you downloaded through your subscription to Audible would be lost if and when you canceled your subscription, but I was very pleased to discover that this is not the case. Once you download an audiobook, it’s yours, no matter if you cancel your subscription! This really eased my mind and so I did sign up for a monthly plan where I get two credits per month for something like $22.95 a month and I do find that I use the credits and finish books at a faster rate using Audible. Plus, Audible ends up having lots of sales on specific books and genres all the time, so not only will I get the two credits a month to use on my account (they do roll over as well, it’s not use them or loose them on a monthly basis) but I do buy one off books at discounted prices pretty frequently. I use my credit towards books that are newer or cost more than $11.50 (as thats essentially the price I am paying for a book with my credits) and if there is a sale and a book I want is $5.99 or something inexpensive like that, I will jump on the price and save my credits for a full price read. It works out pretty well for me!

I am also not directly affiliated with or sponsored by Audible. I know some people have direct relationships with Audible and have special membership codes to distribute where they get a cut of sales when people sign up, but that’s not me. I do, however, get a small commission from Amazon because I am an Amazon Affiliate and Amazon owns Audible. I’m not exactly sure how it works out, but when you sign up for a free trial through one of my links, I do get a few dollars, and if you buy a book through audible (I believe at face value price, not using credits) I get the same Amazon commission I would get if you purchased a physical copy of the book! So I am affiliated by proxy with Audible, but this isn’t a situation where I am sponsored or work with them directly to promote their services. I share about Audible because I do use it (and pay full price for my membership) and I only tell you about books I have read or purchased and I think are worth your time to check out as well! And that’s what I’m here to share with you today because I know many of you are like me and are on a quest for as much knowledge as possible, especially when it comes to business and personal development!

The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber

So this book is one that I have recently just finished in my Audible queue and I knew you would want to know about it because it’s often touted as being a must read for entrepreneurs and I definitely agree. The book begins with the premise that a staggering number of small businesses fail in their first year of business and more fail even by the five to ten year mark as well. Gerber explains that the reason for this is that entrepreneurs start businesses out of a desire to work for themselves but then end up creating businesses where they are an employee and have to take on a tremendous amount of work to keep the business going. Eventually, these employee minded entrepreneurs burn out and close up shop. So, Gerber outlines the key business strategies that differentiate successful entrepreneurs and business owners from their failed counterparts and outlines the changes you can make to ensure the solvency of your business for the long term.

The E-Myth Revisited deserves all the praise it’s received and then some! I was so glad to find that I myself was at least approaching my business from the right mindset, however, hearing Gerber’s suggestions for running a sustainable business really helped me to clarify some big picture questions I had been struggling with recently in my own business.

Essentialism by Greg McKeown

Essentialism is an audiobook that I am currently in the middle of listening to so I have not finished the book to the point where I can give a full review, but if the second half is as good as the first half, I can rest safe in my opinion that this book is also an essential read for not just business owners, but anyone who feels overwhelmed with their life. If you haven’t already heard about this book, it explains that in order to do our best work and perform at our highest levels of productivity, we must only do those items that are essential to our life and work. McKeown goes through some great examples and case studies supporting why less is really more and squashes some terrible business myths that have really been causing workers to underperform due to job stress which could very well be costing a tremendous amount of money to our economy in lost productivity.

If you come from a traditional corporate business structure, you should really read this book and hopefully free yourself from some self-imposed shackles that are most likely eating away at your time and your life. But I also believe that even an overwhelmed stay at home mother can get benefit from this book, it’s not just for a working professional!

Louder Than Words by Todd Henry

Louder Than Words is the most recent book on my Audible queue, and I haven’t actually started on this one yet, but I still wanted to share this with you. Todd Henry has written a few other best sellers like Die Empty and The Accidental Creative which have received heaps of praise. Personally, I haven’t read his previous works, however, the concept of this book really spoke to me as I am always trying to learn the best way to communicate with my audience and spread awareness of my products and services in a natural and engaging manner. I honestly can’t wait to finish Essentialism so I can start on this book. I guess I could start on this book now, but I have found that I do get more from these books when I listen to one at a time because my mind doesn’t have to remember which book discussed which topics.

If you have read any of these business books, I’d love to hear your thoughts, especially if you have some feedback on Louder Than Words. In the meantime, if you would like to sign up for Audible, I do have a special sign up link that gives you two free audiobook downloads as opposed to one when you sign up for their 30-Day trial. Again, just sharing this with you because you’re my friends and I want to make sure you get a deal!

xoxo,

Photography

How to Become a Master of Digital Styling!

Week One of my FREE Photo Challenge & Mini Course, the Strange & Charmed Digital Styling Lightroom, has come to a close and you all are off to such a great start! I wanted to highlight the progress that my students have made this week by featuring some images that I thought were really moving in the right direction. It’s truly a rewarding experience when I check the #CharmedDSLR hashtag and see all the hard work and effort you are putting into the challenge and course, so let’s recap the week and applaud each other on our success!

Day 1: Camera

Although the name of this challenge is Charmed DSLR, I honestly didn’t expect that most people would own or be shooting with a DSLR camera, but I was pleasantly surprised to see how many of you did own one and were so thrilled for the opportunity to learn how to shoot on one! Of course, this challenge and course does not require you to use a DSLR (the name is an ironic acronym) and so I have equally as many students using the best camera they do own and use, which is proudly a smartphone! To me, it really doesn’t matter what camera you use, because a good photo is a good photo no matter which camera you use to capture it. I have seen DSLR photos that were terrible and I have seen iPhone photos that could be hung in a gallery, it’s all about technique and the eye of the photographer!

Day 2: Natural Light

Right out of the gate, I was so pleased to see how ambitious and downright clever (do you see that gorgeous shot out the airplane window??) my students have been with these prompts. As many know, natural light is some of the best light to shoot in, and I really wanted my students to experiment with this light source to really understand the difference that lighting can make in an image. As these shots demonstrate, good lighting can really take an image to a whole new level!

Day 3: Studio Light

To be honest with you, studio light is probably one of the most difficult prompts I put into this challenge and course, and it was probably a little unfair of me to use it so early in the course, but you all took the ball and ran with it! You all got very clever with your light sources indoors, creating light boxes, using reflectors, lamps and even smartphone flashlights to bring additional light to your images. This work and your ingenuity is truly to be applauded!

Day 4: Portrait

Portrait day was a fun day because I got to see behind the camera to the photographers themselves! With the portrait prompt, there were two ways I expected my students to go, either the literal portrait direction or to the portrait orientation by composing a tall and narrow shot. It was interesting to see that so many of you were open to the self portrait and did a great job infusing your personalities into your images which is a skill that is often takes photographers years to accomplish!

Day 5: Landscape

The landscape images from day 5 were equally as impressive as the portraits and you used this prompt to really introduce us to the beauty of your world. From city skylines to desserts, rolling hills and plains, the diversity of these landscapes was an unique as my students themselves! Thankfully, a recent Instagram update made it very simple for my students to upload shots in the landscape orientation without compromising the composition of the image!

Day 6: Color

I had a feeling that color was going to be a fun day and boy, my students did not disappoint! Many of you focused on the beautiful colors of nature, but I also saw some great home studio styled shots as well that were very clever! Overall, the purpose of the color prompt was not necessarily to force you to shoot in raw color, but rather to get a feel for your personal preference when it comes to color. My personal use of color tends to be very minimal in my photography, I use it mostly as an accent, but others prefer shots filled with saturated color and those differences really help us to define our personal photographic style!

Day 7: Black & White

Black and white images really tell a very unique story. When color is removed from an image, all that is left is positive and negative space and I really saw some great shots that demonstrated that concept. For me, seeing images in black and white often evokes a vintage feeling that was shared with some of my students who chose to style some retro items into a shot. Others took the role of street photographer and gave an almost documentary feel to their images. There really is no right or wrong way to shoot in black and white and as these images show, black and white can be a powerful way to evoke emotion!

Thank you so much to those students who participated in week one of the course! You have all shown such great talent, I think more so than even some of you expected and I’ve been thrilled to hear your stories of personal triumph and success as you make your way through the course. If you are not yet signed up for #CharmedDSLR and want to participate, I invite you to head on over to this blog post to sign up because its not too late to join us and I do have things coming up that you won’t want to miss!

xoxo,

Productivity

How to Be Productive when Working from Home!

Working from home is a concept I am all too familiar with. Even before I left my job to go full-time for my own business, I was a home based employee. Working from home has a certain allure that many office goers are often curious about and sometimes envious of, but trust me, working from home is no cake walk! I’m often asked about how I stay productive when I work from home because to be completely honest, working from home can be a total productivity killer. Unlike working in a structured office setting, home based workers are faced with many different obstacles that often cause them to be less productive. This may not translate to all at-home workers, but I know I have experienced challenges working from home and I know others who have as well. The way I see it, there are three main issues that home based workers face.

Isolation: Working from home often times means working alone and this issue often caused me a lot of grief even when I did work for a Fortune 50 company and technically had co-workers. When I worked in an office I often felt like my co-workers were a major distraction to me because they would pop in and out of my office all the time, but when I transitioned to working from home I realized that those interruptions actually forced me to take a break from my work every so often. You see, when you work from home you don’t have the same pressures and excuses to get work done that you do when you work in an office. There is no “Oh, I really need to finish up this report quickly before my co-worker stops by to chat about our project.” Although many of us dilly dally when we work in an office, we also have some institutional pressures that actually help us get our work done!

Lack of Accountability: Depending on the type of work you do and whether you work from a home for a company or for yourself, you may feel a lack of accountability looming over your head to keep you productive. This is something I felt as a home based employee and something I struggle with now that I work for myself. When your supervisors or co-workers aren’t watching, you feel like you can slow down your pace, engage in more distracting behavior (like turning on the TV or doing the laundry) that can waste much of your time when you should be working.

Distractions: As much as a formal office setting has its own unique set of distractions, nothing is more distracting that working from home. Seriously, your bed in never more than a few steps away from you at all times which is a very tempting trap I often fall into! Working from home gives you a lot of freedom, many of us think that if we work from home we can get all our work done and clean the house and make dinner as well, but in my experience that isn’t the case. Unless you are highly disciplined it’s going to be hard for you to get your full 8 hours of work in and then a bunch of extra personal items as well. Other than the time you get back from your commute, you really don’t get anymore hours in a day when you are a home based worker!

So, what can we do about this very common issues that at home workers face? I have a few tips that I use to keep myself productive and I suggest you put these into practice for your own home/work balance!

Create a defined office space: It’s very important as a home based worker to have a defined office space. Your bed cannot be your office! Get a desk and a chair, set yourself up an area of your bedroom or home to be your office. I am lucky enough to have a dedicated room in my apartment that I use as my office space and I feel drastically more productive when I work from it. Make sure to add personality and decor to your office or workspace as well by adding inspirational artwork to your walls, keeping a supply of stationery and office supplies on hand and of course, having all the necessary office gadgets you need to get your work done like a printer, fax machine etc. Now, although you may have a defined office space, I also find it helpful from time to time to get yourself out of your space and work from another location. Take your laptop and some paperwork and head over to a local cafe or library to get some work done at a remote location. I have a very close friend who actually books a private room at her local library to work from about once a week just to shake things up and to give herself a distraction free space to work from!

Engage in a morning routine: For a long time I woke up, got out of bed and went straight to work in my office. Since I didn’t have to get ready to go into the office, I thought there was no reason for me to establish a morning routine, but I find that having a morning routine and getting dressed and ready in the morning is a major boost to my productivity. Although no one sees me when I work from home except my dog and husband, I find that I actually get more done on the days where I actually wake up, put on a cute but comfortable outfit and do my hair and makeup just a bit! The ritual of getting ready establishes a sense of accountability for me that really helps me to stay focused and productive during the day.

Connect with other at home workers: To combat the isolation that comes from being an at home worker, I highly recommend connecting with other at home workers to create a support system. These workers could be other home based employees as your company, or friends and family members that also work from home. I think it’s a great practice to have an instant messaging application open on your computer and connected with these individuals so that throughout the day you have people to talk to. You can even schedule lunch dates to meet up with a friend during your lunch hour or have a Skype date during lunch time with another virtual co-worker!

Set a consistent work schedule: Another issue I have is that since I work from home, I end up working at all hours of the day and night. Usually I do this when I haven’t felt particularly productive all day and feel like I need to make up for my laziness by working well into the night to complete a project or tasks, but it is a terrible practice that I highly suggest avoiding. To combat this, I think it’s important to set a work schedule for yourself. Set your start time, breaks, lunch and end time for the day and try to stick to it. It will be hard at first, but if you can set yourself alarms to remind you to start and stop working that may help you build the habit.

Define an end of day routine: Like your morning routine when you get up to go to work, I realized that as an at home worker part of the puzzle I was missing was also an end of day routine. When I worked in an office I had this end of day routine where I would stop working on my projects, organize any in-progress information for the next day, clean up my workspace, and then shut down my computer before I left. As an at home worker, I think it’s very important to establish an end of day routine like this that works for your own situation. It will help you prepare your mind to shut off from work for the day, and leave your space ready for you to pick up and get back at it again in the morning!

I hope these tips gave you some inspiration and ideas for how you can be more productive when working from home. Being a home based worker isn’t always as easy and care free as you might think so if you are an office based worker that is considering transitioning to home based, I highly suggest giving this some thought before making the leap and establishing good habits from day one that will make your transition easier! Of course, let me know if any of these tips helped you or if you have any more tips to share with the community!

xoxo,

Photography

Get Shooting with #CharmedDSLR

It’s September 1st and my #CharmedDSLR Photo Challenge begins today! If you are not in the loop and have no clue what I am talking about, head on over to this blog post and read all about it and get yourself signed up asap for my FREE photography mini course! I’m so excited to be hosting this challenge for you all and helping you along the way to up level your photography skills for your blog, business or social media platforms! Here is the challenge graphic once again in case you haven’t yet posted it to your Instagram account! Just right click the image to save it to your camera roll or computer and then upload it to IG with the hashtag #CharmedDSLR!

Happy Snapping Friends!

xoxo,

Filofax

Get Your Free September Printable Planner Dashboard!

Hey friends! How was your August? Mine was epically productive, which was a great primer for me to jump into autumn with some new energy and fresh plans! One of the best ways that I find helps me to have a great month is to organize my plans for the month before it begins and layout everything I want to do, goals I have laid out, books I want to read and important dates I want to remember for the month. That’s why I created my monthly dashboard printables that I share with you all!

Since September is now upon us, head on over to my shop to download your FREE September Printable Planner Dashboard available in both A5 + Personal Sizes! Once you have your dashboard printed out and in your planner, I want to see how you are using it to plan your key plans for the month so make sure to tag me in your photos on Instagram @MissTrenchcoat and use the hashtag #CharmedGTD so that others in the community can find your pictures and get inspiration from you as well!

I hope you have a wonderful month ahead!

xoxo,

P.S. You’re joining in on my #CharmedDSLR Photo Challenge & Mini Course for the month of September, right?