Style That Kid! Yes, please.

I'm really excited to be on the virtual book tour for Alida Makes's new 'Style That Kid!' e-book today.  Styling (or lack thereof, haha) is something I really struggle with in my pictures.  I've a made a real effort in the last couple of years to up my photography game- everything from a new camera and lens to photography courses and workshops- but although I can say my pictures have improved technically I'm still disappointed a lot of the time with the results.  I'd even go so far to say that's one of the reasons my blogging has slowed down as the internet can take only a finite amount of my family standing in our garden being basic.

Go get it here.

Alida to the rescue!  This is a great book that supplements technical photography skills with the more amorphous harder-to-learn (for me, anyway) understanding of how to make your photography more compelling and stylish.  She covers everything from the pre-shoot prep stage like choosing locations and props, to all the things you should consider during a shoot like positioning and contrast, and even post-shoot photo editing.   So armed with my new insight, I stepped out of my comfort zone to shoot one of the Shandiin tanks I made for summer.

Just kidding, still in my comfort zone / garden.  This is a picture to illustrate how I would normally take an outfit shot.  Straight on, clean outfit lines, conscious to show the pattern and fabric uninterrupted.  Nothing terrible, but also not very interesting.

Same for the back view- standard fare from me.

Except! With Alida's section on texture in mind, rather than throw her hair up into a messy ponytail as I would normally I introduced some visual interest and contrasting texture with double braids.  I think it better highlights a back as awesome and unique as the Shandiin's.

Okay- real talk.  This is going to sound ridiculous, but making Maia do anything other than stand was hard for me.

(Inner monologue) Why would she sit like that in the garden?!

But you can't see the lines of the top!

You can't see the outfit at all!  

This book really challenged me to think about things differently and opened me up to trying new things.  Breaking out of a long-established-and-safe photo routine is a big achievement for me, even if it's baby steps from the outside.

Next up is to try using some props (well, after acquiring said props).  It's something I really love when others do but without the book would've been too scared to try.

A massive thank you to Alida for writing a great book and having me on the tour!

You can purchase your copy here but Alida is also offering five copies of the e-book in a giveaway:
 a Rafflecopter giveaway 

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