Category Archives: Photo Walks

March 6, 2013

iPhone Macro Love

So recently I had to upgrade my iPhone.

My phone was pretty old school (a 3Gs) and I didn’t think it would be that drastic of a change to upgrade it but oh my goodness….each day I discover something new about how the camera works. I’m falling even more head over heels with it all the time.

Last week was the typical grey and rainy winter weather here in Vancouver. One of my favourite ways to brighten my spirits on these rainy days is to take photos of water droplets and focus in on the little bits of beauty of the rain.

This was the first time I’d tried this with this new phone was surprised to realize how this new phone has some pretty wicked Macro capabilities…I was totally in awe. I feel like it is actually pretty close to the kind of macro shot you’d get with a DSLR and a Macro lens…which is kind of mind blowing. In these shots I’m not using anything extra like those lenses you put on your iPhone (though those look cool) or any sort of app. This is just using the basic camera on the iPhone5.

Here are a few things I’ve discovered while experimenting with shooting macro with this phone:

Crop In

This was one of my favourite tricks with shooting macro with a macro lens…that often after we take the photo we might notice that there is a part of the photo that we didn’t even see in taking it that has some amazing qualities to it (like an unexpected awesome water droplet). Some of these photos aren’t their original size but are actually cropped in to focus on one part of the image! Macro invites us to look at the little things and I find once we take the photo we can look even closer!

Autofocus Lock

This biggest change that I think allows us to capture rockin’ macros with this phone is the Autofocus feature. It allows you to lock the focus on that one spot so you can move your camera around without it trying to refocus again and again…which ROCKS (and more about this in another post this week as the autofocus lock rocks for even more reasons).

Shoot without Looking

This is one of my favourite tips I share in the Tips and Tricks for taking Dreamy Photos E-Book. Its a trick I use for getting my creative juices flowing (and getting out of my left brain)…to take the camera away from your eyes and take photos without composing them. So often this makes for beautiful unexpected photos. I especially love doing this with shooting macro…to just get your camera as close as you can and just experiment and with the iPhone it does help to do a shot close up and set the Autofocus Lock and then just have fun with it!

Here are a few more macro shots from the iPhone this week:

February 20, 2013

Dancing into Life

I wandered down to the beach on my own.

Camera in hand, on a beach I know well.

I’ve probably taken hundreds of pictures there before.

The tide was rising and there was no where to put down my camera, so I just settled into the feeling of feet on wet sand, sinking in.

Living in the moment.

Until there it was.

A perfect sized, dry rock was suddenly awaiting me, as though it had saved me a dry spot for my camera to rest.

A bit of respite, an invitation to take a few photos and see this place in a different light. See myself in a different light.

So I put it on the ground and just went for it on this busy beach. Just danced in the moment.

Of all the photos I took this weekend away on the Oregon Coast with an incredible collection of compassionate, open hearted creatives, it is this one that I feel is the one I needed to take. That I need to look at.

To remind me of the feeling of dancing into my own life, armed with a heart full of hopefulness.

January 23, 2013

Why Take Self-Portraits of Your Feet?

And if this makes you want to dabble in self-portrait fun, ponder joining me for one the upcoming self-portrait online class: Be Your Own Beloved!

January 17, 2013

How to take Amazing Jumping Photos {in 9 Playful Steps}

Step One: Find a spot to prop your camera! Then decide if you are going to shoot your feet or your whole body and compose your shot. Use your tripod if you have one. If you shoot your whole body, remember that you can always crop it later so don’t delete photos where you’re making a silly face (cause its kind of natural to do when you’re jumping)!

Step Two: When you’re ready to get started, press the timer on your camera or your remote. You definitely don’t need a remote to do a jumping shot, but it does make it easier! If you are using an iPhone to get a jumping shot, try GorillaCam or Camera+ which both have self-timers!

Step Three: If you don’t have a remote you may need to tell your camera where to focus. Try setting the focus on something nearby where you plan to stand!

Step Four: Experiment and get playful! Be silly! Try different ways of jumping. Jump off of something. Jump forward. Jump sideways. Jump on one foot! Jump lots of times in hope one of them will be captured in air. You don’t even need to get a lot of air, just a small jump can look big. Just go for it!

Step Five: As you are jumping, you’ll discover that one of the biggest things that helps is to get to know the timing of your timer. If you’re using the timer on your camera, get to know when the shutter actually clicks in relation to the countdown (for me it is a few seconds after the last red light goes off). It may not be exactly when you expect it to be, so its great to just slow down and notice when that shutter clicks and try to aim to jump at that time!

Step Six: Don’t get discouraged if you don’t get the perfect jumping shot right away! Be prepared to take lots and lots of outtakes until you get one that you love.

Step Seven: Be ready to change things up! Change the setting or where you are aiming the photo. Sometimes a change in scene or perspective makes all the difference!

Step Eight: Keep playing until you get your amazing jumping shot! You’ll get it. The more you experiment with jumping, the easier it will be to get that shot where you are in the air (and know what style of jump works for you) but don’t get discouraged if you don’t! Even if you’ve taken lots of jumping shots, it still takes us all many tries to get the one that works!

Step Nine: Don’t delete your outtakes before you upload them to your computer! You might see something different once you see them on a bigger screen! Remember that you can crop out a part if you’d like! Sometimes I might crop a photo down to just the feet or legs if I am making a funny face or feel vulnerable about the top of it. Often we get so focused on our feet in these photos that we might not think about our hands or face (thats always the case for me). Don’t get hard on yourself if there are some you don’t like, just seek out the one that you do and let it be the one that tells the story of this photo adventure! Share your photo!

Let’s get jumping! If you have a jumping shot or take a few minutes to try one today, please share a link to it in the comments section or use the hashtag #beyourownbeloved on social media. I would SO love to see your jumping shots and cheer you on!

If you are craving a playful yet powerful self-portrait journey…come join me for the upcoming session of Be Your Own Beloved!

January 11, 2013

Flee to the Wilderness

Today was one of those days. That I just needed to flee to the wilderness. To clear my head. To breathe wide open air. To soak up this January sun.

To tell you the truth of today, it was one of those where fact that I am 35 and not yet a Mom has me walking around with a mighty tender heart. Its these days that I find myself needing to avoid my regular cafes where moms gather. Needing to get offline big time. So that I did.

I headed out to a town just outside of the city called Deep Cove and went for a photo walk that turned into a big beautiful hike to a lookout and back. It was exactly what I needed to clear my head, to be in my body and to just be grateful for the life I have now, with space to create, to do my creative work and yes, to go on afternoon hiking adventures when I need them.

I bet at some point I’ll look back at this time and wish I had this kind of freedom. So this seemed like the best way to try to be in the beauty of life right now. To flee to the wilderness.