This past weekend Phil surprised me with an early birthday getaway to Napa, CA with some of our closest friends. We’re having so much fun, it’ll be hard to head back home tonight. If you saw my Snapchat (username MiaMiaMine) or Instagram you could probably tell we’ve been having such a great time! Today I wanted to share something a little different and answer some of your FAQs. Some of the most common questions I get surround photography so I’ll start with those.

1. Who takes your photos: My husband, Phil, takes all of my photos. He’s always been interested in photography, but when we first started shooting for my blog neither of us really knew what we were doing. We watched a lot of YouTube videos and got advice from professional photographers, but the best way to learn was really trial and error. It took us years to perfect our style and now we have it down to a science. Each shoot takes about 2o minutes on average.
2. What camera do you use? We use a Canon 5D mark iii.
3. What lens do you use? We almost always shoot with a 50 mm f/1.2L lens.
4. How do you edit your photos? I download and edit in Lightroom and occasionally use Photoshop.
5. What apps do you use to edit your Instagram photos: I love Snapseed, Facetune and Instagram’s own editing features.
6. When do you take your photos: We tend to shoot in the late-afternoon or evening around sunset “the golden hour.” If we shoot during the day and there’s a lot of ambient light, we’ll almost always shoot in the shade. We rarely shoot after 10Am or before 3pm. The sun is just too high during those hours and photos tend to get overblown.
7. How do you get your photos so crisp? A lot of this has to do with our camera, lens and settings, but the lighting is also a big factor. Phil also makes sure to be super still when he’s shooting because even the slightest movement can result in a blurry photo.

Please feel free to leave any questions below for me or Phil. We’ll definitely share more tips in the coming months too!

xo, Maria

Free People Moto Sweater Jacket (also comes in black) // Shopbop White Lace Off-The-Shoulder Top (wearing a S/M) // Levi’s Jeans (wearing a 24) // Gucci ‘Dionysus’ Bag // Sam Edelman Lace-Up Heels // Quay Mirrored Sunglasses

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