What type of camera and lens do I have?

Camera: Nikon D750
Lens: Sigma 24 mm F 1.4 Art DG

Are all of my photos shot with my Nikon camera?

No,  I shoot with my camera whenever I can, but I do enjoy posting an iPhone picture whenever I am out and about to post a  more “in the moment” picture.  The left picture is shot with my iPhone and the right is shot with my Nikon.

 

Who shoots my pictures?

My husband shoots about 90% of them, the rest are shot by friends.  I have only hired a photographer once and it was @kvcphotography during NYFW last year.  Katie was amazing and makes you feel super confident when shooting. The pictures below were shot by Katie during NYFW.

What presets do I use?

My presets originated from the Pastel Pop preset from Josie’s Preset. I now have tweaked it to my own.  *DISCLOSURE: Not every presets work on every person.  I would find a preset used by someone with a similar skin and hair color as you. I am darker complected and have blonde hair so I had to find one that worked based on that. I ALWAYS tweak my photos even after I apply my own preset based on various factors such as lighting, background, distance from camera, etc.

What settings do I shoot with my camera? 

I prefer to shoot darker.  Usually I set my F-stop to 1.4, exposure to a -0.7 and my ISO to 200 and start from there.  This ALWAYS changes depending on lighting but that is where I start with.  I try to keep the ISO as low as possible to keep my photos crisp.  I hardly put my exposure above a zero. I have my camera set to “A” which means automatic shutter speed.  I will set my camera to “M” (Manual) When a photo is too bright or too dark so I can control the shutter speed to make a picture lighter or darker.

Once I edit my photos I then brighten them up by increasing the exposure.  It is easier to add light than to take away light.  I also have noticed that color keeps when you shoot darker.  The minute you overexpose a photo to light you lose the color.

For full body shots I shoot at a lower angle.  For half body or closer shots I like to shoot straight on.  For sitting down shots I shoot at little higher, but not TOO high.

See below for before and afters:

What apps do I use to edit my pictures?

I use Lightroom mobile and desktop to edit all my pictures.  I used to only edit my professional camera pictures on my desktop (due to quality purposes), but ever since my friend Josie introduced me to a SD card adapter I can now upload all of my RAW photos onto my phone and edit the RAW versions on my iPhone.  In short version a RAW file is much better quality that a JPEG file.  All photos shot on your iPhone are JPEG.  This adapter has been a game changer because it keeps my photos in RAW version and now I can edit on the go.  You can shop the adapter HERE.

I also use the Retouch app to take out objects I do not want in pictures.  Sometimes I will have a random person or sign in a picture that I do not want.  It is super easy to use and cleans up your pictures.

The last app I use is the Facetune app.  I only use this to whiten up any “white things” such as sidewalks or buildings in my photos.  I also love using the “details” feature to bring out jewelry or objects that I really want to show off in the picture.  Below is an example of when I used the “whitening feature” to brighten up the sidewalk.

How do I edit my videos on my stories?

I film whatever I want on the video camera on my iPhone and then I edit using the Splice app.

 

That is it for now.  Leave in the comments below for any other questions you may have. 

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