.jpg)
Readers are always asking me questions about my blog from how I get my photos, why I started to blog, how I travel, and so much more. Today I thought I would answer some of those questions (like what camera I use listed in number five) by sharing five truths about the Live Lovely blog.
One.
Although I started my blog many years ago for just sharing my photography, lifestyle and travel blogging has become about 75% of what I do since this past year and a half (wedding photography fills the other 25% and I am so happy to be doing both!). I quit a toxic job to pursue my passion. Although I do blog (and take pictures!) on a full-time basis, I also work a part-time job as a secretary for steady income until I build up a little more business.
I named my blog “Live Lovely” because it is my life manifesto. My goal is to live a simple, happy, and healthy lifestyle and to create my own idea of success and happiness. I wanted to inspire others to do the same.
Two.
Although I absolutely love fashion and clothing, I feel very strongly about not pushing a sales agenda, which is why I am not a fashion blogger. Being a fashion blogger would conflict with my blog’s core values; appreciating what we have and simple living. Even though I deeply enjoy some fashion blogs, I believe that fashion blogging puts pressure on women to overspend to keep up with the Jones’s. I feel that it goes against my “live lovely” message. And although I will buy new clothing every once in a while, especially for travelling to specific places, I never want to fall into the trap of feeling the need to always buy new clothes for blog posts or make my readers feel the need to buy more to keep up.
You’ll notice that I often re-wear my favorite clothes over and over again in my blog posts. That being said, I really do love clothes and you’ll see plenty of my favorite styles on the blog. If I really do love something and would highly recommend it to my friends or my sisters, then I have no problem sharing it on the blog or Instagram. For those reasons, you won’t see many affiliated links or sponsored posts for clothing, but I will definitely collaborate with a brand if I really truly love them. I want to be honest with my readers and treat them as I would my own friends and sticking to my values is one way of doing that.
Three.
I plan all of my own travel. The itineraries, rentals, and experiences have been handpicked by me. Although I am happy to collaborate with companies for travel (and you will be seeing a lot more sponsored travel posts this year!), you will not find me going some place I do not want to go or following someone else’s wish list when I travel. My husband and I both love to explore new places and try new things so everything you see on the blog is an authentic look into our personal adventures.
Four.
My apartment isn’t perfect. I love reading blogs like apartmenttherapy.com and looking at lovely homes on Pinterest, but I actually live in a 600 square foot loft apartment in Connecticut. I have no power over the ugly carpet in our rental, the fixtures, or the kitchen cabinets, but I am happy living small. I talk a lot about simple living and sometimes minimalism too, but I do have clutter from time-to-time and I have an extensive collection of books (nothing minimalist about my bookcase!). Sometimes I wish I lived in a cute house with a yard. I think about all the home blog posts I could make “if only I lived in a house with…” That being said, I have made a vow to be tidier this year because I want to share my modest space on my blog. I am working hard this year to rearrange my apartment to make it the best it can be so that I am happy and comfortable in my space, no matter how temporary it might end up being. I do not need to live in a gorgeous house to have a beautiful home and I want to share it because I feel that many people believe you have to live in a pinterest-perfect house to be worth seeing. Not the case! Life isn’t perfect and I don’t want to pretend it is either.
Five.
All the photos you see are my own! Every wedding photo, every self-portrait, every travel picture. I do not hire a photographer to take photos for me, except for my wedding. What you see posted here is all by yours truly because I am a professional photographer first and foremost. The only time you will see a photo that is not mine will be in a guest post or vendor interview where the guest writer has shared their own images and I always credit them in the posts.
When I first started blogging I was afraid that it would take away from my wedding photography, but on the contrary it actually helped me to connect more with my couples and in the process I have become an even stronger photographer. For my blog and for wedding photography I have switched completely to the Fujifilm X Pro camera and lenses. It is smaller, mirrorless, super sharp, and works like an old film camera. Although I loved my DSLR, it was bulky, heavy, and it made me a target for theft when I traveled. I switched to Fujifilm just for my travels and fell so in love with the quality that I made the switch completely. Every photo you have seen over the past year or so was taken with that camera alone.
So what about all the self-portraits? I realized pretty quickly that to have a blog I also had to be seen in the blog! This was scary for someone who is used to always being behind the camera, not in front of it. I started carrying a tripod with me and many of the photos you see are taken with a remote or a timer, especially the ones you see with my husband and I together.
Every once in a while I will ask a friend for help (or even a stranger when we travel). And when my husband is with me, I will set up and direct the camera and the shots and he will take photos for me. He has actually gotten really good at composition, creative ideas, and helping me pose! I owe him a lot. All of the drone photos you see are also his, although I do direct him for the wedding and engagement drone images to capture exactly what I want. He is a great drone pilot and I am so fortunate to have him team up with me for occasional weddings and photo shoots. As I travel and blog more, he is going to be helping me more often because he loves to travel with me.
