Isn't it amazing what you can learn from other photographers' work? Today I'm sharing what I've learnt from two of my favourite photographers, Amy and Jordan Demos.

Amy and Jordan are husband and wife wedding photographers. Not only do they take beautiful photos, but they're also very inspiring. If you'd like to learn more about them, click here to visit their blog.

Ooooh guys. I can't wait to share this one next week!! We don't have a wedding today, but we've been busy little bees all the same! Started our day with a great coaching session for an awesome almost-husband & wife team, then met with one of our new sweet couples! Now we're off to an engagement and will spend the rest of the weekend prepping for our next #ajworkshop that's just around the corner! Can't wait to meet our attendees tomorrow night! Phew! Running on coffee and prayer (not necessarily in that order!) but feeling so thankful for such a busy and productive start to 2016! And okay! Can we just talk about this beautiful #ajbride for a minute?! Calyn, you're straight or of a magazine!!

A photo posted by Amy Demos (@amy_demos) on Jan 23, 2016 at 2:31pm PST

If you scroll through their Instagram feeds you'll notice that all their photos match. Even the ones taken on their phones.

What does a day in my life look like? A few days ago, I took the 'Day in my Life' photography challenge where I photographed everything I did in a day. Today I'm going to be sharing my photos.

A long time ago, I read an amazing story about a photographer. Sadly, I don't remember all the details of the story, or even who the photographer was. But I'd like to share with you what I do remember.

The photographer was ill. She spent most of her days in bed. After a while, she started to get bored, but no hobby which she could do in bed sparked her interest.


Then one day, someone suggested that she take up photography. At first, she thought this was a stupid idea. What could she photograph from her bed?


But eventually, she did pick up her camera. She looked around her room and snapped a few photos. Then she took a few more photos.


Before she knew it, photography was her favourite hobby. Every day while she lay in bed she took photos.


At first, she was worried that she'd run out of things to photograph. But as she took more photos, she started to get more and more creative with her shots. She never did run out of inspiration because she kept finding new ways to look at the world around her.


Last week while I was off my feet due to a sprained ankle, I remembered this story and it inspired me. I decided to challenge myself. My challenge was to take one hundred photos without leaving the sofa I was sitting on.


The photos in this post are the photos I took. I don't know if they're very interesting, but this challenge has taught me a lot. I've learnt that anything makes a beautiful photo, you just have to photograph it right.

Have you done any photography challenges? Are there any I should attempt?

What are your favourite tools in Lightroom? Is there something that I should be using?

I collect photography articles. Most of what I read on the internet ends up saved in my Evernote notebook. This is useful when I want to look back and refresh my memory with some of the things I've learned.

Mum and I were talking (as we always seem to be doing) and we came up with an idea for a new blog series. In each post, I'll share my favourite articles on certain (photography) topics such as full frame cameras, composition, flat lays etc. Today I'm starting this series off with some articles about natural light.

Not owning an external flash means that I completely rely on natural light in my photography. This can be more than a little frustrating at times. Natural light is unpredictable and always changing. You never know quite what to expect before you take the photo.

I hope these articles help you as much as they've helped me!

6 Simple Ways to Light Your Subject Around the House at Night
by Bethney Backhaus

This article shares six things you can use to light your subjects. They're items that aren't usually used in photography and will add a story to your photos.

13 Tips for Doing Action Photography in Bad Light
by Jim Hamel

This article tells you everything you'll need to take amazing action photos in low light. It covers everything from composing your shot, planning your settings and editing the finished product.

5 Ways to Make the Most of the Natural Light in Your House
by Dana Lauder

This article has some great advice on how to get stunning photos when you can't leave the house. It also has some tips on how to stop all your photos from looking identical.

Are You Practicing These 5 Natural Lighting Tips?
by Mitchell Kanashkevich

This article tells you what you can do to understand light better. They're (mostly) easy practices that don't take much effort to perform.

6 Things You Probably Didn't Know About the Golden Hour
by Megan Squires

This article tells you SIX things that you most likely don't know about the golden hour. They're things that you wouldn't normally think about, but could really help your photos.

Those were my favourite articles on lighting. Would you be interested in me writing more of these posts? What subject would you like me to share links on next? Also, what are your favourite photography websites? I'm always looking for new ones so that I can add more articles to my ever-growing notebook.

You won't believe what's been going on recently! A lot of very unexpected things have been happening, most of them involving my photography.

Today I wanted to share some of these experiences with you.

credit: Sue Elvis

 Mum and I have a new 'toy'. It's a mirrorless camera. An Olympus OM-D-E-M10 to be precise! It was really unexpected. One evening out of the blue, Mum asked me what the benefits of a mirrorless camera are and what they cost. After a lot of research, Mum decided that it was worth buying us one. So she did.

credit: Sue Elvis

Since it arrived, I've been teaching myself how to use it. Mum and I have discovered that it's a great camera for video. It has inbuilt image stabilisation so we can do handheld clips and its continuous auto-focus is nearly silent. I think I'm going to be filming most of my videos on this camera from now on.


While I've been playing with the Olympus, I haven't been ignoring my Nikon D3100. I took it on a photo shoot with my younger sister, Gemma-Rose. When Mum first published her novel, The Angels of Abbey Creek, I took some photos of Gemma-Rose and the book for Mum to use on her blog. Since then Mum has updated the cover of the book, so I decided I'd take some new photos for her.
  

I was really pleased with how the photos turned out. It's surprising to see how much my photography has improved since the original shoot. That was an unexpected discovery.


Earlier this week we had a heat wave. The temperature was constantly above 30c. But I didn't let that stop me from doing a Fitness Blender workout.

"Be careful!" Mum called as I entered my room to exercise. I didn’t think I needed to heed her warning, but something unexpected happened.

Half an hour later, I hobbled out of my room again. "I need a seat," I groaned.

"What's wrong? Are you feeling sick?" my sister Charlotte asked, thinking I'd overdone it in the heat. But I hadn't.

"My ankle!" I explained. "I tripped on a dumbbell and twisted my ankle."

My ankle was swollen and bruised. I had to walk around on crutches for several days. Luckily I’m off the crutches now, but my ankle is still sore.

credit: Sue Elvis

I haven't been bored while I've been off my feet, though because something else unexpected happened. Mum surprised me with a present that is keeping me entertained. Well, to be honest, she bought me TWO presents. They're Tony Northrup's photo editing books, Lightroom Video Book and Photoshop Essentials

The Photoshop one hasn’t been published yet, but as soon as it is, we will have it because we pre-ordered it.

credit: Sue Elvis

The books come with hours and hours of video training. Once I've read a chapter, I can watch the videos that go with it. The videos help me understand everything more clearly.

So that's what has been happening in my life. What's been going on in yours? Has anything unexpected happened to you recently? Also, would you be interested in me making a review of our camera?

Over Christmas, I decided to take a break from making YouTube videos. I wanted to give myself time to come up with some new video ideas and also learn how to use my video editing software better. (I’m using Photoshop Premiere Pro.)

Now I'm back and much refreshed from my break. I'm ready to jump into video making again. And how better to do so than with an updated 'About Me' video?

My friend Clare @ Clare's Spot, tagged me for the One Lovely Blog Tag (thank you Clare) and I thought it was the perfect oppotunity to tell you all a little bit more about me.

Once again, I didn't do things the normal way. Instead of writing a post for this tag, I decided to make a whole video on the topic.

The rules for this tag are:

List seven facts about yourself.

Tag fifteen other bloggers.

Please watch my video to find out what my facts are.


Sadly, I don't know fifteen other bloggers to tag, so I'm cheating and only tagging six. They are:

Charlie @ She Writes
Julia @ The Barefoot Gal
Eve @ Eve of Womanhood
Sarah @ Trusting in the Lord
Paige @ The Joys of Being Paige
Emily @ Lynde Avenue

Once again, thank you, Clare for tagging me! I had a great time thinking up these facts and telling everyone about them.

And thank you to anyone who watches this video. Do you have any more ideas on what you'd like to hear me talk about? Please tell me in the comments.

Ever since I started to learn photography, I've been studying every photo I see. Isn’t it amazing how much you can learn from looking at other photographers’ work?

Other photographers’ work is the inspiration for my new blog post series. In each post, I will talk about one photographer and tell you what I've learnt from their photography.

Today, I'm taking a look at Amber Bauerle (a.k.a Frosted Productions), a child fashion and portrait photographer. If you'd like to learn more about her and see her photos, visit her website here.

Onto what I've learnt from Amber Bauerle's photos.

I’ve been thinking about my blog. Perhaps I need to make some changes.

"I write about everything and anything on my blog," I told Mum one night. "The Techno Maid needs a focus. It needs to have its own niche."

Mum nodded. "What about photography?" she suggested. "You could turn The Techno Maid into a photography blog. You already post a lot of photos. You could write more stories to go with them.”

I thought about this. It sounded like a good idea. Over the next couple of days, I mulled the idea over in the back of my mind. The more I thought about it, the better the idea sounded. The Techno Maid could become a photography blog.

After I’d made that decision, ideas about what (photography related) topics I could write about, started pouring into my brain. I scribbled them all down in a battered notebook so that I can remember them.

Here are some of my favourite ideas:

@thetechnomaid Sophie your kitty is so cute!!! So glad you like my music! Much love to you!! #hollensfamily

— Peter Hollens (@PeterHollens) January 5, 2016