TALLER AND DENIM

It takes a bit to learn those small tricks for the perfect shot or at least a better shot. With serious blogging now for almost a year, I have learned some tricks and ways to make my pictures look better than they did before, but also having a hubby that stands out with taking pictures of me several times a week is a big plus. It actually doesn't matter what outfit you wear, how perfect your hair is or the makeup you have applied, if the photographer doesn't know the best angles to capture the best of you, your pictures will still not have a good appearance. I actually told my husband once that there is a reason there are photographers getting payed and ordered for special occasions, his answer was that the same applies for models and bloggers. So you could imagine the chit chatting we have while making these different shots :). Well there is a cooperation between the two I would say. So how do I make sure my legs and I look taller in the photo.  

I'm 170 cm, 5.6 Feet, so I'm not short but not very tall either. Apart from wearing heels, having bottoms until the ankle and high waist, the magic of looking taller is how the picture is taken, in order to look taller in a pic the camera will need to be in same height as your neck or bit lower, normally they recommend the camera to be at face length, but doing that, will make you look shorter, also lowering the camera more, will make your face look less attractive.
Another important fact, not even related to any photography, is to wear mid or high waist bottoms as your torso will look shorter while your legs will look longer.

Below are two different shots, the one with the OTK boots is taken lower down than the one with the double denim pic, you can clearly see the difference even though OTK boots normally make you look shorter.

XOXO
@taghridhodroj
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FLATLAY AND FALL COLORS

The beauty of fall and winter is not the cold itself but the colors it brings. I love warm colors more than cold, I rarely wear turcos, pink (even though I wear blushed pink), yellow and other cold colors. I love the nude colors and khaki, and with the fall and winter I could just enjoy wearing those. This season I'm totally obsessed with burgundy, khaki and mustard as well as marine. The flatlay below contains those colors and probably my most used garments for this season. So the question is how to get that beautiful flatlay, the steps below will get you if not there, pretty close.

1. Make sure your background (floor) is clear or well defined, I bought a white paper ruler, and yes it is worth it as you will get a clean background, if you prefer floor, that's also fine as long as it has a soft appearance
2. Make sure you have good light, I never use lamps in my pics as it destroy the color of the pieces, I try to take pictures in the daylight.
3. spend time on ironing and/or fold the garment properly (I should have ironed more my pants ;))
4. Find your style, I love having simple and structured flatlays,
5. Place the different pieces in line with each other
6. Take the picture straight up and don't take it in a strange angle (side-wise,leaning angle,etc.)

XOXO
@taghridhodroj
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WESTERN BELTS

One of my favorite places here in LA is Melrose Avenue, you can find everything from vintage, Nastygal to Rag&Bone and Helmut Lang. It's the best place for variety of brannds, styles and ambiance. Also one of my favorite restaurants or fast food is Taeem Grill, love their falafel dishes. You can also find those best brunch places, even though I have tried couple of brunch places at Melrose, my absolute favorite is BLD on Beverly Blvd, a place you must try while here in LA. While out shopping this week, I decided that I wanted to find that western belt that I have wanted for a while, with lots of western shops on the street, I tried them one by one until I found a little shop on 7418 Melrose Avenue, they have a big range of western belts, black, brown, vintage, different styles, shapes and sizes. I bought the one below for just 32USD.
I have also listed some alternatives online for both low and high budget.

XOXO
@taghridhodroj
Bloglovin

FOREVER21, 6USD, LINK

SAINT LAURENT, 445USD, LINK


BOOHOO, 14USD, LINK

BRIGHTON, 95USD, LINK

MONOCHROME GOALS + A GIVEAWAY

Playing with colors is one of my favorites, both when it comes to my different silhouettes but also when making changes to my pictures, I always try to keep as little yellow nuance in my pictures as possible as it actually make big different how your saturation and colors appear in a photo.

You could of course just use lower saturation to remove the yellow nuance in the picture but that will affect all colors in the pic, green, red, blue, pink, you name it.

Bellow I have used the Hue/Saturation function in Photoshop to get a more monochrome look of the picture

1. Select 'Hue/Saturation' from the bottom right 'globe'. 

2. A popup window will appear and you can then select Yellow instead of the 'Master'.

3. In the Saturation, drag the arrow to the left as much as you think you need to, here to -40

4. In the Lightness, drag the arrow to the right, here up to +48

You could of course play with the other colors as well, but this gives you an understanding of how you could color correct your picture, if it has too much red, yellow, blue etc. by selecting the appropriate color to play with.

  Today I’ve teamed up with some fabulous bloggers to giveaway $500 to Nordstrom! One lucky reader will receive a gift card to spruce up their fall wardrobe. How great is that prize? 

 

Simply enter below by completing the rafflecopter and make sure you are following me on Instagram @taghridhodroj and Bloglovin. You'll receive one entry per completion. This giveaway is open internationally and runs until 10/11. Winner will be announced here. Good Luck!

Hosts: Live More Beautifully

SheShe Show // Chic Talk // Living in Style OC // Dress in Sparkles // My Boring Closet // Style in a Small Town // Sophisticated Whimsy // Primp & Proper // Adaleta Avdic // Southern Anchors // The Black Blazer // A Mix of Min // Fashion Fortune Cookie // Lauren McBride // A Taste of Koko // Twentyeightvia // City Peach // Sugar & Something // Mae Amor // Little Styled Life // Style is Everything // Style Me Twice // Taghrid Hodroj // Fashon and Frills // Pretty in the Pines

a Rafflecopter giveaway

LESS BLUR AND COLOR APPEARANCE

Have you ever took that picture and thought, if the light was less/more, the angle was just a bit different and if I just could look more tan or bright, well you could in easy steps in Photoshop do those very simple changes to have your pic from being good to being great or even amazing. I have during my blogging period tried learn how to take that perfect shot and how to make few changes to my pictures to make them more interesting and appearing for my followers. Below is one example of my pics where I easily played with Curves and levels in Photoshop. You have to make sure you don't exceed the darkness of the pic nor the lightning.

In Photoshop, on the bottom right panel, there is a 'globe' picture.
1. Select 'Levels...', move the dark arrow to the right, just where the pic's dark spots are dark enough and where you don't lose the details. The pic below has a value of 34. I left the left arrow as is '255', as my pic is way to light.
2. Now to play with what and how dark/light some of the colors you want to be, select 'Curves...' from the 'globe' on the bottom right. In 'Curves...' anywhere on the line, you can click and adjust the brightness verses the darkness. I pulled it slightly down, closer to the right to make sure I keep the brightness of the pic but make sure the overall silhouette has the right light on it.

Below is before and after, the change isn't huge but the quality is way different. You can better see the color of my Stuart Weizmann boots as well as the beautiful color of my Chloe Faye bag.

For more inspo and alerts of new posts follow me on @taghridhodroj and Bloglovin

BLACK AND BLUES

Leather pants and a simple shirt is the perfect outfit for daily work or a night out as it dresses you up but you still have that simple and elegant look. I always search for the leather pants that don't have that very edgy leather feeling as I could find it too appearing. the once below are from Asos and have a nice fabric. The shirt is from Monki and love how the stripes are merged in color. For more inspiring pics, visit my Instagram page @taghridhodroj

xoxo
Taghrid

DOUBLE DENIM AND STATEMENT NECKLACE

Sometimes I just want to feel comfortable but still keep my style interesting, for that reason small details could make big difference, a unique bag with interesting style or colors, shoes with certain detail or even an accessory that could lift up the entire look. Necklaces are one of my favorites apart from rings. This summer the statement necklaces have been one of the most important accessories to wear and nothing could be better than combining it with a touch of Boho and denim, this one is from Mirina Collections. For 20% of on your order on their website www.mirinacollections.com, use code 'taghrid20'

Don't forget to visit my Instagram account for more inspiration @taghridhodroj

XOXO,
Taghrid