LIFE: CAPTURED masterclass with Ronnie

Ever since I heard about their new venture, I've been so excited for Ronnie and Trish. These two women are seriously motivated and it's inspiring to see. After running several LIFE CAPTURED workshops they've just launched a beautiful website, LIFE: CAPTURED Inc. I love their mission and their tagline, 'The modern school of memory keeping.' On October 17th, I will be attending Ronnie's masterclass, Photo Organisation with Lightroom, and I cannot wait!

In her own words:

This masterclass is perfect for anybody who feels overwhelmed by all the photos and other media files that they have. Together, you will learn how to consolidate, re-name, organise, manage, and keyword every one of your photo files - from the past, present and the future. "No file left behind" will become your mantra. You will leave this masterclass feeling confident in your own ability to keep your photo library well-organised.

- Ronnie

I'm looking forward to learning from Ronnie; she is the most organised and efficient person I have ever met, and if even a little bit of that rubs off I will be grateful! As I take on professional photography work, I find that I'm documenting our lives less, and I'm not very happy about it. I'm hoping that establishing a really solid system will help me in my own memory keeping efforts. And I have to say that I'm also quite keen to catch up with Ronnie (it's been a while) and have a day on my own in the beautiful Northern Beaches…

If you're interested, they're offering a $75 discount for this first round of masterclass. You can sign up here or email ronnie@lifecapturedinc.com

I hope to meet some of you there!

keeping up with social media

It all started with vine, the new app I'm sure you've all heard of by now because it seemed to spread like wildfire. Curious, I immediately created an account and then proceeded to do absolutely nothing about it. I haven't posted anything, or checked out what other people are posting.

Vine got me thinking and I did a little inventory... I currently have 4 email addresses, 2 blogs (one's inactive), 1 website, 1 facebook page, 1 instagram account, 1 flickr account, 1 twitter account, 1 Vine account and 1 pinterest page. That's a lot. It's a lot to maintain - managing not only my own online activity, but also feeling like I'm keeping up with other peoples' social media.

A few days ago, a friend who is approaching the end of her pregnancy posted on her facebook page that until her baby is born, she'll be taking a facebook time out. Then a couple of nights ago my husband randomly announced that he would go internet free this February (with the exception of work).

This made me think about what I can do to manage my time more wisely. I'm not planning on going completely internet free, rather I think these events have led me to the conclusion that I want to be more careful with how I spend time on social media. For example, I took forever to get a twitter account and once I did, I never really got the hang of using it. I haven't tweeted in months. I just don't get it. Instagram, however, I love and use often. So perhaps I'll get rid of twitter, but keep instagram. Vine seems like just another thing to steal my time, so that may not make the cut. I also think that I'll deactivate my facebook account for a while around the time baby's due.

What social media do you love and what could you live without? Do you, like me, sometimes feel overwhelmed when new things crop up? How do you try to use your time wisely?

photo of me instagramming by Ellen Arthur

who takes your blog photos?

photo by Ellen Arthur

My husband takes mine, though somewhat reluctantly, truth be told. Lately I've been thinking that behind every great blog is a partner who's been roped into being an unofficial photographer. 

And I'm not even a style blogger! I honestly don't understand how style bloggers get such great photos day in, day out. Are they all married to photographers? Or do their partners just really enjoy having stumbled into their roles as accidental fashion photographers?

My husband doesn't particularly like taking photos, so generally I have to ask very nicely, set up the shot I want with him playing model, then quickly swap. I also have this unfortunate habit of becoming incredibly self-conscious if there's anyone around while we're taking photos. And living in a big city, there is always someone around! This has been particularly true the few times we've taken bump photos. On this day, for example, I was hungry, tired, and hot but I still insisted on getting some quick shots. I was also feeling super awkward because there were people everywhere, so it was no surprise that within 5 minutes I was snapping at my poor husband. He really is a good sport.

So I'm curious... who takes your blog photos? And do they like doing it? Do you get embarrassed when there are people watching you have your photo taken? Or do you like playing model?

Edited to add: I just wanted to clear up 2 things... I take all of the photos on my blog with the exception of the ones that I'm in. My husband takes those. He also wanted me to point out that I don't always set up shots for him; he does a lot more than I gave him credit for. Fair point :)

p.s. I'm going to see David Byrne & St. Vincent tonight, so excited!