photography – Francois et Moi

DIY Glam Camera Strap

francoisetmoiblog@gmail.com — Thu, 10 Nov 2016 14:00:33 +0000

Ken and I recently took a little babymoon to Boston and Nantucket in early October. While we were there I was lugging my camera from place to place either carrying it by hand (so it was convenient to snap a photo) or in my saddle purse, and I came to the realization that I needed a camera strap. Badly. Why the heck had I never gotten one?! They make life so much easier, whether I’m on a trip or at home snapping photos for a blog post. So when we got home, I set out to make one. The original idea was to use vintage ribbon, but while at the craft store, I came across this glam faux leather strap trim that practically jumped off the shelf and said “pick me instead!” Okay maybe that last part didn’t exactly happen, but it was the perfect material for a camera strap so I went that direction instead. If you’re also in need of a camera strap or have a photographer/blogger/travel-obsessed friend on your Holiday list, this glam camera strap tutorial is calling your name. Hop over to Sugar and Cloth for the full tutorial! And don’t forget to pin this project […]

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5 Tips for Bright & Vibrant Instagram Photos

francoisetmoiblog@gmail.com — Wed, 03 Feb 2016 16:34:53 +0000

I’m frequently asked how I make my Instagram photos bright and crisp, so decided to simply share my entire editing process for creating bright, chromatic Insta-worthy shots. My Tips for Creating Bright & Vibrant Instagram Photos Shoot in Natural Daylight: I always, always take photos next to a window during daylight hours. The truth is with all the technology out there, any photo can be edited to look bright and white, but what’s super difficult to remove is the grainy-ness that you get when taking photos in low light. So if I’m at home, I’ll also use a white foam core board on the other side of my worksurface facing the window to bounce light and reduce shadows. Wipe off your iPhone camera lens with a soft cloth (or even your shirt!) to remove figure prints and any dust it may have collected in your bag. This seems like a no-brainer, but yours truly wasn’t doing this until recently, and it makes a big difference! Brighten & Liven Up: A Color Story App is fantastic for brightening up photos in ways you never thought possible! My main goal is always “light & bright” so I only downloaded one filter that […]

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Inkdot Instagram Art

francoisetmoiblog@gmail.com — Fri, 29 May 2015 12:42:09 +0000

It was a sad Thursday last November when my laptop decided it was the end of the road and crashed, taking with it about 6 years of travel photos, most of which my tech guy couldn’t recover. (A painstaking lesson in backing up, if I do say so!) Luckily, I also use my iPhone quite a bit for snapshots when we travel and some of my all-time favorite photos are ones captured through Instagram. So I was really kind of pumped to find Inkdot, a group of fellow Mid-westerners (Chicagoland), who are turning those favorite Insta snapshots into art, getting them off your iPhone and into your home where you can enjoy them in a more meaningful way. Surprisingly, iPhone photos an be blown up to any size so you can even create large scale, focal art with your snapshots if you like. The other cool thing is they print on innovative materials like wood and metal, which add another layer of depth to the prints. The carousel shot we captured near the Eiffel Tower in Paris is printed on the wood substrate and the ink is slightly pearlized. It’s tough to see in the photos, but it’s so pretty […]

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Diana F+ Retrospective

francoisetmoiblog@gmail.com — Mon, 27 Jan 2014 14:48:01 +0000

I received this throwback Diana F+ Retrospective camera for Christmas and was excited to be able to test it out for the first time over the weekend at the St. Paul Winter Carnival. The Diana camera first made it’s debut in the 1960’s as an inexpensive, plastic-bodied, box camera using 120 roll film that was used to take soft focus, dream-like photos. The Diana F+ Retrospective camera, recently launched by Lomography, is a loving recreation of that original legendary cult camera. Though it was a silly cold day, Ken and I bundled up and headed out to the Winter Carnival in St. Paul on Saturday to check out the impressive ice sculpture display, listen to the live band, sip hot cocoa, hang by the bonfire, and people watch. I hadn’t been in almost 10 years–since college! And, as you may remember, it’s on my Winter Bucket List for the season. Check out that list here. Before we left for St. Paul, I spent the morning learning how to use the manual features on the camera–everything on the Diana F+ is manual, and I now have a new-found appreciation for my digital, auto-focusing, PowerShot camera. I snapped a roll of film at […]

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