I shared this on my Instagram Stories yesterday, but it is only available there for 24 hours. I had a lot of positive feedback from it, so I thought I’d replicate it in a permanent blog post.
This weekend’s prompt for Instagram’s weekend hashtag project was to be spontaneous. I laid in bed thinking of how to be spontaneous for such a long time that it felt impossible anymore to be spontaneous. Then I had a eureka moment. Why don’t I go outside in sub zero temperatures, while wearing my threadbare vintage dress, lie down in the snow, hold flowers in my face and take a photo? That sounds perfectly reasonable. If it was anything it felt spontaneous. And cold.
While I’m not expecting a lot of you to want to replicate this photo, some of the steps are relevant to editing any photo, so I’ll share the process.
First, I found a spot where I could tape my phone to a broom to function as an overhead tripod.
The sheet is there to block the shadows from the rail. The blue tape is where I taped my cell phone- the green stick is a broom handle. Super high tech.
This highly unflattering photo is real life. It takes real love to share this online, haha! Anyway, I held the remote shutter in my mouth as it would be hidden by flowers.
I used a handheld mirror to make sure my hair was right before taking the photo.
First, I used Photoshop Fix (the phone app) to remove distracting flecks and the turquoise fleece I had been using for warmth.
Next, I used the app A Color Story to make a few adjustments to the curves, brightness and color balance (I am planning to do a thorough post on in-app editing) I also used my favorite filter Sophie from the Stardust pack at about 80% opacity.
My last step was to use my favorite finishing filter on the VSCO app: HB2.
So here is the before and after:
I hope you enjoyed seeing the process behind an image. If anything, it serves as a reminder that what we see on social media is not always real life.
Thanks for sharing. Your photography tips are so insightful and honest. So glad you mention about the ‘real life’ phenomena. We tend to forget that when we try to make everything so beautiful.
Thank you! Yes! It is super easy to forget that life isn’t always what it seems. I enjoy photography and I like it to be beautiful, but I like showing how photos are created rather than assuming it is everyday life.