A blogger’s best friend is the camera! It captures moments that last a lifetime, and beyond. But before you shoot, remember one thing; The Camera Doesn’t Lie!
Camera’s and Bloggers
I am a Food Blogger, a Lifestyle Vlogger and a Film Producer of stories I love to share. Lights, camera, action? Hardly! “It ain’t that easy y’all”! If I am filming something I plan to be in, it takes as much time to prepare me, as it does the set, the food and every other aspect the camera will capture!
Remain Disciplined For The Sake Of The Camera
I am in my sixties. I have learned to be disciplined about everything I eat or drink. I swim everyday throughout the warm months (and have ever since my twenties), and use the treadmill and rower throughout the cold months, along with floor work and weights every dang day. Truth be told, I detest indoor exercise!
Fitness Pays Off – Just Ask The Camera
My daughter was the honest person in my life to put a fire under my butt to step up my physical fitness as I grew older. For several years she was a personal Pilates trainer and during those years I learned so many things from her, things I never knew about my body.
But it didn’t stop there in the fitness studio. Since her education was in public health and nutrition, she challenged me to carry the knowledge she taught me, into the kitchen and keep a close eye on what I cooked and why. “It can’t just taste good, mom, it has to be good for you, because I need you around for a long time”! And so, I have evolved in my lifestyle and cooking since I started my blog and camera work in 2015.
Who likes to have their photo taken, or see themselves on video?
Hah! Just as I thought. No one does, not even professional models or actors, who actually are the most critical of the outcome. Their livelihood depends on it.
Mirror First Camera Second!
Before I ever stepped into this adventuresome world of blogging, vlogging and camera work, I was a hairdresser for over 30 years.
My eye was trained to see the slightest blemish or flaw in a client’s appearance and fix it. A better hair color. Enhance a feature or change their makeup. Brows, lips and skin all became something I noticed in a split second on other people and could perfect it in a gazillion different ways.
And then, I turned the camera on myself, back in 2015. OH GOOD GRIEF! What the heck have I gotten myself into!
I would switch on the camera to tell stories about the food I was about to prepare, made sure the food, props and scenery were as spectacular as I knew how to make them, but when I went to playback what I had filmed, there “I” was.
When did my eyebrows seem to disappear? Why does my hair look so flat, when it is wild and unruly ordinarily? Why do I appear to have blubber at my waist and arms that aren’t reflecting the hard work I do with weights? Where did my cheekbones go and what the heck was I thinking when I put that blouse or lipstick on??
Camera BTS (Behind The Scenes)
This, my friends, is much of the work that goes on behind the scenes of nearly every blogger or vlogger you follow no matter what their subject matter is about! And so, I thought I would fess up, be brutally honest and share an entire segment dedicated to ‘behind the scenes’ readiness for that dang Blabber-Mouth Camera!
How does any of this apply to you or your life? Hah! Our world has gone ‘Selfie’ mad, and ‘Photography’ crazed, and there might be a few tips in this segment that will apply to you and camera-ready hacks you never thought about, so let’s have some fun with this and yes… I am going to be daring and post some of my ugliest, most self-care revealing private moments with you!
Note to Self: NEVER PHOTOGRAPH FROM BEHIND!!
I believe the table... that place that draws people to gather, is the most powerful symbol of togetherness. All that happens before the table is set, the planning, the gathering, the preparing, are all an intricate part of the dance that create the mood of celebration to share with friends and loved ones.