Blog-wisdom from MadeByGirl and Photo tips from Karen

 There are two things I love doing: photographing kids and writing. Sometimes, it's hard to separate the two! Blogging allows me to dabble in both art forms!  I'm bringing together favorite kid pictures I've taken with some how-to blog wisdom from one of my favorite bloggers, Jen Ramos of MadeByGirl. Jen has been blogging for over five years and has over 13,000 followers. 

 Recently, I sent a request to Jen Ramos to interview her in an effort to gain some contemporary wisdom on effective tips for blogging. I was so surprised and excited that she granted my request. Her answers were so thoughtful, I felt it would be a waste to keep them to myself and to a limited few. So I'm sharing her tips on blogging and my tips on photographing my favorite subject!   

I consider myself, first, an artist who uses the camera to compose beautiful pictures. I love composition: bringing together important elements to form a great picture. Before I take my shot, I consider surrounding colors, an anticipated frame I'm trying to capture, that is what  kind of narrative  i.e. expressive looks, telling eyes. I try to capture a relationship with my subject thats tell a story or an artistic visual commentary. Jen Ramos, of MadeByGirl, http://madebygirl.blogspot.com/ has similar strategies for blogging...she suggest that to build a blog following you establish a relationship by commenting on other blogs and exchanging links with them. Thus creating a "trust factor". The same can be said with photograph, to create or capture great compositions; you must create a visual link that forms a relationship with you and your subject. 

Great photographers all agree, 'practice, practice, practice'; it is an effective tool for perfection and mastery. I am a self taught photographer, and I have degrees in history and humanities with an emphasis on art, but my eye for photography comes from love and passion and regular practice. Sometimes I think, there's no way I can top the last photo I took, but with regular practice improvement and becoming a master of your trade is achievable. The same with blog wisdom; MadeByGirl blogger says keep "people interested" by keeping your "content fresh your photos clear and update your blog". One of my favorite photographers, Dorthea Lange, captured the lives, emotions and labor of depression-era people. Her pictures still reveal love of her subjects and a need to show the humanity of simple, and economically challenged people. http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Dorothea_Lange. I snapped the above picture at a Farmer's Market in Kenwood Towne Center, an upscale mall in Cincinnati. These two children reminded me of the subjects in Dorthea Lange  photographs, but in a updated color version. Again, I love varied expressions of my subjects. You can see from here the little girl is quite a leader while her brother looks a little apprehensive.

This little girl was definitely aware of an interloper...me... taking a picture of her. Many of my pictures are taken when I am participating in arts festivals where I am promoting and selling my designer note cards and fine art photographs from Our Spirit and Soul, \http://www.ourspiritandsoul.com/.  While she caught me interloping, it made for an expressive composition. The colors on her face, the tie die colors from the adult in the picture, and her young friend, unaware, is focused on something else. The girl in the red dress immediately becomes the focus of this picture design. She keeps you looking. Similar to blogging, readers want to see and read interesting blogs that have an interesting design. Jen says "design is one of the most important, since it is the first thing people will see when they hit your page. After that you have to make sure your writing style and content keeps readers coming back for more. "Same with photographs; give people interesting, fun, visual content-laden photos to look at. I love when people tell me they love looking at my pictures that lets me know I am taking images that keeps them coming back for more!

I call this "You can lean on me Big Brother." I actually took this picture at a protest rally in Cincinnati. Yes, I've always been kind of a 60's kid! But I love this picture it reveals tenacity and strength to me. It also reveals tenderness, hanging in there and depending on one another. Sometimes the best picture comes from waiting and hanging in the game! There could be lots of images that you can take pictures of, especially in a crowd of people, but sometimes you just have to wait it out until you see that great shot you are looking for.  I'm not a photographer that shoots lots of pictures. I'm actually a rather slow shooter. I  like to wait and compose the shot I'm looking for. Sometimes, I do miss good shots, but don't all photographers miss them. Nonetheless, that's my formula!  Jen Ramos, tells me from experience that gaining followers is a "pretty simple formula" too, ..."the more that I blogged and the more that I commented on other blogs, the more I grew my blog roll, the more readers and followers I gained."  No matter what your trade, skill or talent is you need to have a formula or plan for pursuing your dream!
 

Just like my photo here of this young lady sitting in a studio chair. But as you can see, this chair isn't for comfort. You can take a short rest; you can sit long enough to dream and plan your actions for your next move. But as Jen says ..."The more work I put into it, the more followers I got." While it didn't happen until "almost a year into" her blogging, before she saw much traffic. She said..."sometimes people want to quit when they don't see comments on their blog, but the thing is if you want to make a blog into a business, you can't quit. You have to keep going."  You can't sit for long. So while I captured my subject sitting, you can tell it doesn't look like she will be sitting there for too long. Keep pursuing your dream!

Keep poised and focused; drink a cup of tea or coffee, but work on bringing your A-game in whatever you do and stay in the game for the longevity! Practice, and take pictures and blog on a regular basis. Look for and take interesting shots; write interesting content. Remember people love interesting content and beautiful images! Share new and interesting topics with them. Like Jen says, "keep them coming back!"

Some little kids just make for the perfect models! This young lady has a beautiful profile look! Cute little, 'pinchable' cheeks! A sweet and precious look. She was sitting to get a temporary tattoo. She is studying what the tattoo artist is doing. I love taking pictures of things that catch me by pleasant surprise. I keep my camera handy for those occasions. I look for simple beauty in the easily overlooked and in the ordinary. MadeByGirl says "people want to read your blog to get to know you and read about other interesting things." One of my aspirations for those who follow my blog is to get to know who I am through my photography and writing style. My viewers, will learn that I love diversity and that I love finding interesting subjects to bring to my blog. It is my desire that you will find some interesting gems and takeaways along your journey.

 

What is your wish? What dreams does your bubble wand hold? What does success mean to you? What strategies or pieces of wisdom do you need to fulfill your dreams? Hopefully, you will find some nuggets of wisdom from Jen Ramos, of MadeByGirl and some helpful tips for taking great photos from my perspective and experiences. Until next time....I hope I keep you coming back for more!

Jen Ramos, of MadeByGirl..http://madebygirl.blogspot.com/