If you'd like to see more of my photos, follow me on Instagram @thetechnomaid. I'm currently working on my first 365 project and I upload all my photos to Instagram.

photo credit: sue elvis

I have a job where I get paid in spoons. I’ll explain.

Last week after we filmed Imogen's latest music video (Hallelujah), we went second-hand shopping. We hoped to find some clothes or jewellery we could use in one of Imogen's videos.

While everyone else looked at the clothes, I got distracted. Sitting in a corner of the shop was a rack of spoons. Little silver old-looking spoons.


"They'd be an amazing prop for photography," I commented.

Imogen looked over at me and then down the spoons, but she didn't say anything.

Soon, we finished looking around the shop. As we were heading over to the counter to buy our treasures, Imogen turned to me. "Would you like three of those spoons?" she asked.

My mouth dropped open.

"Think of it as payment for filming my videos," Imogen told me. We walked back to the rack.


I ran my eyes over the unique spoons. It was hard to pick, but I finally selected my three favourites and passed them to Imogen to buy. "Thank you so much!" I cried, wrapping my arms around her.

Imogen smiled at my excitement. Even though she doesn't do photography, she understands my love of it.

So yes, I do have a job. I film music videos for my sister Imogen. And I did get paid in spoons. I can't think of a better payment!

I've just uploaded a video to my YouTube channel. It’s about Imogen's music. I hope you'd like to watch!

There are many things to think about when composing a photo. You have so many options to consider. You could use the rules of thirds or maybe a centre composition. You could take the photo from above or even below your subject. The list is endless.

Today I’d like to share some articles I’ve read recently to do with composition. I hope they help you. All these articles talk about a different aspect of composition.

How Leading Lines Will Improve your Photos

What are leading lines? They are visual lines in a photo that lead the eye from one point in the image to another. The most successful lines lead from the bottom corner(s) or the bottom edge of the frame but there are many possibilities as photography is not an exact science! click to read more

Who are your favourite photographers? One of mine is Beth Deschamp (otherwise known as Bethadilly). I’ve been admiring her photography for a long time. Today I want to share what I’ve learnt from her photos with you.

Beth is a natural light family photographer. She also writes a blog, Bethadilly, where she shares her photography tips.

golden hour. ✌🏼️ #TheStyledPhotographer

A photo posted by {beth} a-dilly ✌🏼️ (@bethadilly) on Mar 9, 2016 at 1:03pm PST

Take Photos Regularly

Beth is a big encourager of 365 projects. A few years ago, she created her own version of the 365 project called the Bethadilly challenge.(Learn more about that here.)

Inspired by Beth, I've been taking a photo every day since January this year. It’s amazing how my photography is improving. Doing a 365 project requires dedication, but it's worth it.

Even if you don’t have the time or dedication to do a 365 project, try to pick up your camera as often as possible. It doesn't have to be for long. Just take a few photos.

a little lensbaby love from my kitchen. 💛 #lensbaby

A photo posted by {beth} a-dilly ✌🏼️ (@bethadilly) on Feb 11, 2016 at 1:10pm PST

Less is Sometimes More

Beth’s photos are simply composed; the backgrounds are clean and the colours compliment each other. With so little in the photo, your eyes are immediately drawn to the subject.

Unlike Beth, my photos used to be very busy. Recently, I started to pay more attention to this problem. I've started simplifying my shots and my photos are much more pleasing to look at.

puppy cuddles portrait. ✌️ 210 | 365 #thebethadillychallenge

A photo posted by {beth} a-dilly ✌🏼️ (@bethadilly) on Jul 30, 2015 at 6:28am PDT

Don’t Hide Behind Your Camera

Some of my favourite photos of Beth’s are self-portraits. Because photographers are always taking photos, they don’t often get to be in them. Beth solves this problem by taking her own portraits.

I love how Beth’s self-portraits aren’t traditional. She will purposefully make her photos blurry, experiment with angles and sometimes not even include her face in the photos. You can have a lot of fun with self-portraiture.

Those are some of the lessons I’ve learnt from Beth Descamp. What’s something you’ve learnt recently? Have you heard of Beth before?

While we’re filming my sister Imogen’s music video, she spots the location where she wants to sing her next song.

"It's a big tree, close to where we filmed the first verse of Long, Long Ago," Imogen tells us. "It would be the perfect place to record Scarborough Fair."

So a couple of weeks later, we head back down to the nature reserve before breakfast. I set up the cameras and we start recording Imogen's third music video.

Then we move the cameras to get some different angles and I hit the 'record' button again.

By the time we've finished filming, we're all tired but happy with what clips we have.

"It's amazing that you can make a video with only a tree as your setting," Mum comments later. She's right. The location was very simple, but early in the morning everything looked beautiful.

Would you like to see the music video for Scarborough Fair? I hope so! It's the best video we've recorded yet.