Happy Fall Weekend Y’All!
It’s been a hectic one around here. I had pottery class half of the day yesterday and then we zoomed up to the lake. My dad and step-mom are snow birds and they are flying south real soon. So we all headed up there to see them before they head out…
One thing I’ve been working on over the past few weeks is pumping up the quality of my photos. That includes how I load them and how they load to Pinterest. Who knew this would be so hard y’all? Certainly not me. Since there’s no sense re-inventing the wheel, I wanted to share what I’ve figured out or tracked down so far…
Shelley’s Photography Tips & Tricks
Tip #1: Photography Cheat Sheet from Our Fifth House. I’ve know that since I decided to go big on this blog, that I needed to finally learn how to use my Mrs. Big Shot camera that I’ve had longer than I care to admit. So I’ve been reading and reading, and then testing out what I’ve read. I came across this cheat sheet on Our Fifth House. I have to say, her blog may be my all time favorite. What I love is that she too loves color! Nothing against those beautiful homes full of neutrals. I just know this one could never stay that clean! We are mucking around inside and outside all year long. Those fabulous looking cremes and taupes would be covered in garden dirt or craft paint in a day. Plus, color just makes me happy. Not just me, I know. Its a proven fact color influences mood. I want my house to say happy and healthy and welcome!
Tip #2: Pump Up the Pinterest Photos. This was a trial, error, trial, error, swear and kick then ask for help kind of thing I learned the hard way. I was loading my photos to my site at the “Medium” size. I had my photos all set up so you could automatically pin any one of them. Then I noticed when you click on them on Pinterest, they don’t enlarge. They would just stay that little, hard-on your eyeballs size. I dug around on Pinterest. I Googled it. No solutions. Nada. So I emailed a very nice blogger named Kelly from Typically Simple. I could tell my her site she knew her way around Pinterest. Sure enough she knew the trick!
- You have to load your photos in “Large” or “Full Size”
- Then use the re-sizing tool (those little squares that pop up around your photo when you click on it after it is loaded). That lets you decrease the size to something that looks better on your blog but still be large for Pinterest. Thanks, Kelly!
- Side bar on this one… the code on my template was written to not let the resizing tool work. #Bummer And that took some doing to get fixed, but the fine folks at Copyblogger support got it done for me!
Now I’m trying to go back through my whole blog and fix every photo. #Ugh #PatienceIsn’tOneOfMyVirtues
Tip #3: Limiting Photos in my WordPress RSS Feed. Since I already have a few subscribers (yeah!! thank you!!) I wanted to figure out how to only have a few photos load to the RSS article that you get in your email when I post. That encourages folks to check out your site! I found this great article on the topic over at WPBeginner. Hope it helps you and saves you a little time!
Next on my list –other than practice, practice, practice– is to find a wide angle lens and a tripod. I will be sure to share the ones that get the best reviews in case you are looking, too.
In the meantime, here’s a look at my practice photos while I was getting ready to head to the lake with some snacks… #WorkInProgress
Enjoy the fall y’all…it sure is colorful!
XO
Shelley
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