Things that ruin an outfit photo shoot
If you were to listen in on one of my outfit photo shoots, you'd probably hear me ask: "Are the pictures turning out? Am in in focus?" alternating with me exclaiming: "OMG! I hate my hair! I want to chop it all off!" or "I HATE WIND!!! It's the worst!" That pretty much sums up every shoot, LOL. (Seriously, though: wind is the WORST.)
I've done this style blogging thing for going on five years, and there's a few things I've learned over the years that can result in a ruined shoot (and in extreme cases, I won't use the photos).
- Wind / It messes up my hair no matter which direction I'm facing, and don't even get me started on what it does to skirts, dresses, and swingy tops!
- My hair / You know how all of the popular, full-time bloggers have perfect hair in every photo? How? I assume it's because they have a third person with them that is specifically fixing their hair because mine never lays exactly how I want it to, and I can't ever tell what's happening until I look back through the pictures. See: the above photos and all the random strands of hair everywhere. (This probably frustrates me the most, if it wasn't obvious. Haha.)
- Loose hairs / I shed fairly regularly and try to catch what I can before walking out the door, but sometimes there's a stray hair or two hanging off of my arm or back that I don't notice until I look through the photos. Sigh. I suppose cat hair can be lumped in with this too, but it doesn't annoy me as much as when it's my own hair.
- Food in teeth / I'm going to be honest and say that I normally don't brush my teeth right before a shoot, because we typically shoot after I get off of work. There have been a few times where I didn't realize I had arugula from lunch wedged in there. I've been better at checking before we go out (and I'm flossing more because of it).
- Stains / Oh man, these are the worst! $#!+ happens during the day and sometimes I spill or drop something that stains. In most cases, I can photoshop the stains out with no real issue but every once in a while I won't shoot an outfit if it can't be fixed.
- Clothing mishaps / If my tuck isn't just right, if the hems or cuffs are a little lopsided, if my shirt ends up gapping in the bust and I don't notice, if I forgot to zip up one boot, or if my outer layer isn't laying quite like I wanted, I end up really annoyed. I put so much work into my blog that I want the photos to look just right, you know? I know that in the end that all the mishaps are real life, but sometimes I'll opt out of sharing a particular batch of photos because of them.
I didn't include things like poor lighting and camera issues that result in blurry photos because those are fairly obvious and don't happen too much anymore (though I have deleted quite a few shoots because of blurry photos, but that was when we first got the camera and were learning how to use it). I can think of one recent shoot where the light was too low, so the shots we got came out blurry and then the camera battery died halfway through. Ha! That was the first (and last) time that happened. ;)
Now that I got all that off my chest, let's talk about the outfit! When I put this outfit together, I didn't realize it was almost a direct copy of one of the outfits I wore in my summer 10x10 last year. Guess I have a thing for blue vertically-striped tops worn with these pants and gold flats! It helps to have some go-to outfit combinations for groggy mornings, and this is definitely one of those. Bonus: This shirt is "unstainable", and I know I waxed poetic about this when I featured it here the first time, but it still impresses me! (Also, it has snaps at the bust the keep it from gapping. Seriously genius!)
OUTFIT DETAILS
Elizabeth & Clarke shirt / exact
J.Crew pants / old; similar by LOFT or Caslon
J.Crew flats / old; similar from Target or Nordstrom Rack
Gorjana necklace / exact
Moorea Seal sunglasses / old; similar by Le Specs
Dior Addict Lip Glow in pink / exact