ANSWERING ALL YOUR QUESTIONS

I recently put out a story on Instagram as well as a feed post asking you lovely folks if you had any questions you’d love for me to answer in a blog post and I got quite a number of questions which I hope to tackle in this post. If you’re curious about my photography equipment and editing technique, I’d suggest having a look at my FAQ page on the blog where I share those details. Right! Let’s get to answering all your questions!

How did you start photography and how did you learn?

I shared in detail how I started photography as well as learning it in my most recent blog post titled “Back To Humble Beginnings”. You can read all about it here.

How did you find your style?

I found my style by doing a lot of experimenting. It took me a couple of years. They say you never really quite know what you like until you try it. That is sometimes true. In my case, I found that I was drawn to classic pieces which I could use to tell a visual story.

How do you build such a well balanced feed? Is it all in the presets when editing? Do you have an idea while going into the shoots what colours you want to be surrounded by?

Love these questions! I build a well balanced feed by doing a lot of planning. From outfits to locations to colour palettes and most importantly, the visual story I hope to tell. A preset is a good starting point but won’t help you achieve a well balanced feed if everything else I mention above doesn’t come along together. All you’ll end up with is a mere filter on an image as opposed to a strong image. I have a private Instagram which I use to plan my feed posts. There are lots of apps that do this but I prefer using Instagram.

Are there ever any photos you enjoy but don’t make the cut?

Very rarely as if they don’t make it unto Instagram, I make sure to share it on my blog.

Would love to know how you scout for such unique locations!

We usually tend to visit a lot of historical places. Museums happen to be one of our favourites as they hold a lot of history. Parks and gardens tend to have a lot of hidden treasures too. You’ll find us googling museums and places to visit in Manchester. We also tend to keep an open eye out for treasures we might accidentally stumble up and make a note of it for future shoots. The locations I’d say aren’t unique themselves but more so how we make it relevant to our style if that makes any sense.

There’s always a lot of details in every picture you post. How long does it take you to plan a post? From the location to the props to the colours you want. And how do you find the best spots for photos?

Well, thank you. The last question I’ve already answered above. As for how long it takes for us to plan a post, it usually takes a couple of hours and in some instances days or weeks as we strategise and think about it. We tend to make sure that the outfit matches the location both in style and tones. It does tend to come to us a lot more naturally now as we do this everyday. You know what they say; practice makes perfect!

How many different locations around Manchester have you guys used?

It’s hard to keep track but off the top of my head I’d say at least 50. I’ll be sharing a list of all our favourite places to shoot in a Manchester in a future blog post.

How often do you shoot? Do you shoot one look in a day or multiple?

We shoot everyday. We tend to shoot one look a day and might occasionally shoot a couple of looks a day but this is rare. I shared in detail why we do this in a blog post titled “My Creative Utopia”.

What are your top tips to stand out as a fashion blogger?

I have just one tip that encompasses all others that if you apply will see you stand out. My ultimate tip would be to embrace your uniqueness. Stop looking for things you share in common with every other bloggers and focus on what makes you different from them. The moment you identify it, hone it and work with it. Your uniqueness is what will set you apart and make you stand out in what might sometimes seem to be a saturated space.

Your photography is always on point. Any tips on taking photos of myself by myself?

Thank you! Yes! I have a couple of tips for you following my own experience. Get a tripod and practice shooting yourself. That was how I started out. A lot of cameras have inbuilt self timers and remote control features which you can use to take self portraits. It will start out as a tedious process, but the more you do it, the more you’ll get better at it. You’ll learn to discover your angles which is great. There’s a lot of tutorials on YouTube detailing how to take self portraits. I’d encourage you to watch them and put it into practice.

How much can a blogger like yourself charge for and Instagram post and a story?

My agent usually handles most of my collaborations. Without giving too much away, Instagram posts tend to be in the thousands and story in the hundreds.

How many requests do you send to brands and how many say yes to you?

I’ve been quite lucky as I rarely contract brands. I’d say 99% of my collaborations have been as a result of brands contacting me. I’m always quite busy with work so I genuinely don’t feel the pressure to reach out to brands.

Do brands pay you less for your numbers even if your work is INCREDIBLE?

No. I have always maintained charging based on the quality of the content I produce as opposed to the number of followers I have. The fore happens to be within my control and the latter not so much. I am a photographer first and want to be paid for the work I put in. If you hired a photographer for your wedding, you wouldn’t pay them less if they had 10 followers so why should I be paid based on my numbers? That’s basically the approach I take. I always say, brands will pay you what you think you’re worth so make sure you know your worth.

Do you think today earning as a blogger is much more difficult?

No, I don’t think so. The spend on influencer marketing has gone from $1.7B in 2016 to $6.5B in 2019 and this number is looking to continue to rise in the coming years. Brands are utilising influencers more and more each day and are paying for their services.

How much time do you spend engaging on IG everyday? How much time do you also spend chilling on IG?

I can’t quite put a set time on it. A lot of the people I follow don’t tend to post very often but I try my best to engage with the people I already follow. I don’t tend to engage with random posts. I don’t watch IG stories either as I don’t want to get held up on the app for too long. As for chilling on IG, I wouldn’t say I go on there to chill. I spend more time on my private account organising my feed posts which I intend to share on my main account.

Do you reach out to hotels yourself or is it done through your agency?

My agency have a lot of hotel contacts so they tend to arrange all of this for me most of the time.

How much is it important for a blogger to be signed to an agency in today’s world?

I wouldn’t say it is that important as I know a lot of people who successfully blog full time without having an agent. However, having one does have it’s benefits as they tend to have a lot of contacts and can get you work. But this isn’t always the case as different agencies operate differently. It all depends on your needs. For me its been very useful having an agent as they deal with a lot of the admin work freeing up my time to focus on content creation.

What do you think about the new algorithm?

It’s hard to know exactly what the new algorithm is as it seems to be ever changing. I try not to focus on the algorithm itself mostly because it affects everyone and I can’t be bothered with it too.

When is your webinar? I’m ready and it’s time for people to hear a woman of colours’ perspective on how she dominates IG the way you do.

I agree! Your question has led me to think more about this and I hope to put together something very soon as I feel a lot of folks will find it very useful. I’ll get to work on this pronto!

And the final question… Do you think if Instagram crushed and burned, non traditional creatives would still be successful out in the real world?

My answer to this would be many will be unsuccessful especially if Instagram was their only outlet for expression and they failed to acquire transferrable skills as well as build relationships in the real world. I do touch on this a lot more in a piece I wrote titled “The Age of the Robot Influencers” which you can read here.

That’s it! I believe I’m done answering all your questions. Thank you for taking out time to send them in. If you have more questions, feel free to leave them in the comment box down below and I’ll do my best to get to it.

Thanks for reading as always. Feel free to follow me on Instagram where I post daily and subscribe to my YouTube channel for weekly videos.

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