Back in college when I was young and impressionable (I’m still impressionable, now I’m just old), I fell into a 30 days of letters challenge. The first letter was a letter to your best friend. I found it the other day. I re-read it and the only thing that’s really changed is that he’s now my husband instead of my boyfriend. Warning, it’s extremely cheesy. But I still love it. Here’s another 10 year throwback and glow-up.
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Disney Photoshoot Tips
So. You’re headed to Disney. But instead of the same old photos with crowds photobombing your picture, harsh sun and shadows, you want to live out your Pinterest Disney photo dreams with dreamy colors and perfect backdrops. How do you achieve this? Easy. By planning ahead.
Last year, I wanted to up my vacation photo game a little. And not just for Disney. Everywhere. I actually hate bringing back kitschy souvenirs and knick knacks from my trips, but I find that I love looking back on photos a lot to reminisce. So I started investing in nicer photos to have as the ‘souvenirs’ of my trip. I started doing this in a few ways. If you’re here from my Instagram, you’re probably here for information on my Disney photoshoots since I posted my Disneyland photos last week and got a few questions about how I go about them. Before I go over that, I want to go over a few budget friendly tips on how I take my photos for trips. And all these things don’t just apply to Disney. You can do all these things on any trip to get beautiful photos. Or even to just up your regular everyday photo game.
Instagram Husband
Do your friends or boyfriends or family members take bad photos when you ask them to? Do they only take one shot and it comes out bad?
Fortunately for me, my baby sister and I both are each other’s IG husbands. We’re on the same page when it comes to what we want, how far we’re willing to go and make the effort to get the shot for each other. Our patience knows no bounds when it comes to IG hoeing. We will stand there all day waiting for the crowd to clear to get the shot.
But sometimes, she’s not always available to be with me. Sometimes it’s just me and the hubby on vacation or on a date. In the beginning, he would just snap a few shots when I asked him to and I would hate them all. But last year on our Paris trip, I was determined to make the most of our trip in case we never came back. So I trained my husband to take better photos for me. How did I do this? Two ways. Either I would show him examples of photos I already liked and asked him to try and replicate the angle, lighting and pose, or I would line up the shot I wanted with him in it, take the photo of him and show him how I want it to look, but with me in it. And slowly he learned what I liked, my best angles and poses, and the style of photos I preferred. Now when I ask him to take a photo, he’s amazing. He’s patient, takes several shots, tries a few different angles and makes me review them before moving on so I know I have at least one good shot I like.
Invest in a nice camera
Smart phones are getting better and better with their camera quality, it’s true, but sometimes you just need a little more. Like the night shot of the lantern in the Tangled area of Magic Kingdom. My phone takes pretty poor night shots even in night mode. This past Christmas, I asked my husband for a camera so I could slowly start to learn how to take better pictures. He gifted me a beautiful mirrorless Sony with 2 lenses to play around with. Honestly I still haven’t learned shit, but when I took it with me to Disney this spring, I noticed a big difference in that Tangled photo on my camera compared to the garbage shot I got on my phone last fall.
Unfortunately a nice camera is expensive (NOT point and shoot), but I would say it’s worth the investment for better quality photos once you learn it. It’ll pay for itself in the end and is more budget friendly than booking a shoot constantly wherever you go.
City of Light, City of Love
We now live in an age where anything can be instantly reported live around the world instead of reading it in the paper the next day or learning about it hours later on the evening news. We can also view it not only from seeing on the news, but through social media from the locals posting live videos and photos at that very moment. Technology has come a long way since I was in high school. 10 o’clock news is now old news.
Today the Notre Dame cathedral caught fire while undergoing renovations. It was really sad to hear, read about and see on my Instagram and Facebook feed. My husband, my family members and my best friends were all messaging me about it. It’s just a building to some but to me, Paris holds a special place in my heart and Notre Dame is an iconic wonder. The beauty and history of it is an allure within itself. I first learned about it when I was a kid watching Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame. And then in AP European History enriched my love for not only European culture and history but France itself. And then last year, I finally took the plunge and booked my first trip to Paris and went to see it in person for myself. Standing in the hallowed halls of the cathedral is entirely something else from reading it and seeing other people’s photos. There’s just something about being able to experience for yourself firsthand. No VR can take that away. Some things you just really have to see for yourself. I climbed up all the steps, all the way to the top too and it was definitely a long climb but it makes you appreciate the workmanship and everything that went into this historic symbol of France.
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