This page will be continually updated. If you have a question for me, feel free to comment on a relevant post or get in touch. If the answer needs a certain amount of depth, I may answer it in a post all of its own or in my newsletter.
What camera do you use? Can you recommend a lens/tripod/lighting equipment/a place to hire a live raccoon for my photoshoot/editing software?
I’m afraid I can’t help you with the live raccoon, but please send me a link to your pictures when it’s done: I want to see that. As for equipment, I use an old Canon EOS 450D I bought in 2008, and my go-to lens is the very affordable 50mm f/1.8. I also have the 18-35mm kit lens, which I use for short-distance shots and close-ups of small things. I’d like to upgrade to a 5D at some point, but the 450D has and continues to serve me well, and it only has superficial damage after seven years and a tumble to the floor from a great height courtesy of my darling kitty.
I haven’t tried any other equipment in depth, so I can’t suggest anything else.
In the battle between ‘super low shutter speed on a tripod’ and ‘lighting equipment,’ buying a tripod won. I have a Velbon and I recommend it 100%. If you shoot at night, it may not do the trick, but I don’t and I can’t be bothered to set up a lighting tent. I can barely be bothered to take out the tripod half the time. It’s the law of minimum effort with me. At least the tripod doesn’t scare me, which can’t be said for lightbulbs.
I use Photoshop CS4 for all my editing.
Who designed your blog? What platform are you on?
I designed it from scratch, and developed the design using the Genesis Framework theme Divine by Restored 316 as a template. I’m on WordPress and hosted by Dreamhost. I recommend all of these things, including hiring me for custom work if you like my style. PS: these are affiliate links.
So where do you live now, exactly? What’s the timeline here?
I live in my hometown, Ciudad Real, Spain. I lived in London from April 2014 to April 2015, and spent a few days there in early September 2015. The current plan is to stay put until May 2016 and work on building my blog and my design business, then move to London/Estonia/Paris* for a few months, then come back and keep building the business until it’s sustainable and the thought of relying on my income to keep a roof over my head doesn’t make me break out in hives.
* London = photography and blogging opportunities and contacts; Estonia = my best friend; Paris = just a dream of mine.
Why the hell do your subscription buttons say ‘Hell yes!’? No one is that excited to sign up for a mailing list. No one. For any mailing list. Ever.
Okay, first of all, you don’t know what people are thinking. They could be really excited and/or really high. Also, my newsletters are awesome. (They will be. I haven’t sent any out yet.) But it says ‘hell yes’ because I’m an irredeemable obscure-reference lover and I was smitten with the way Harriet from the web series Emma Approved (yes, that’s Austen’s Emma!) said those two words. It’s adorable and full of fake-it-till-you-make-it gumption, and who can’t use a little bit of that in their lives? No one, that’s right. You’re welcome.