Sometimes, the problem lies within.

This is a pictorial depiction of how I see the interaction between man and society.

1. The box within which society places us.

2. The way we close our eyes to the inconsistencies that come with playing to the gallery.

3. Us holding firmly to society’s expected image of us.

4. The bigger picture and all its imperfections.

5. The despair which comes with restrictions.

6. Us finally letting go of the box and being happier for it.

In conclusion, we are the problem. Break free from expectations and live your dream life. It’s yours for the taking.

Just me then? 

On a lighter note, here’s a photographic depiction of June.

It is the dream of every social influencer with a visual appreciation of life to curate the perfect Instagram feed.

Hopefully, today, I'll be able to help with that.

This has been highly requested since I did a post on how to theme your Instagram feed and edit your photos to perfection. You could check that post out, this is basically an updated and more personal version.



But first, some FAQ's:

-Who's your photographer?
Usually my friends who aren't photographers. I also take pictures of myself using a self-timer. The other pictures like flatlays and nature pictures, I take myself.

-Do you edit your photos yourself?
Always.

-What apps do you use to edit?
I use VSCO to colour correct and Facetune to fine-tune.


-Do you use pictures from other sources like Pinterest and Google on your Instagram page?
Nope. They're all mine. Although, I think I have about three pictures of shoes from brands I was lusting after in 2015 and a picture of my #wce on my page.

-What is the actual theme of your Instagram feed?
I like to think it's a mix of the minimalist & grunge aesthetic.

-Where do you get inspiration from?
Random places. Vsco, magazines, YouTube, random objects, PicsArt, People watching, Instagram, prints & patterns, blogs, movies and so on.



-where do you take your pictures?
I'm lazy so my room and my school (College of Medicine of the University of Lagos/UNILAG)

-Are you actually IN Nigeria?
Yes. Lagos to be precise.

-What's the ".o" for at the end of "@miralabelle"?
Honestly, it's because all variations of Mira La Belle were taken so I had to put something as a suffix. "O" stands for Osuji.

If you have any other questions (related or nah) Leave a comment or send a DM.

SHOOTING 

The first thing I do is gather props. I'm generally disorganized but not when it comes to my creative side. All my potential ideas are written with the appropriate backdrops, props and styles included. I then set my camera and take these pictures keeping in mind my personal aesthetic.

After achieving my written ideas, I then play around a little and let the creative juices flow.

EDITING

I use VSCO first then Facetune when necessary. Facetune is mostly for my white pictures.

My most prominent editing steps on VSCO are:

The reduction of "exposure"
The application of the A4 preset
The increase of "tint"


My most prominent editing steps on Facetune are:

The application of the whiten tool
The application of "tones"
The application of the smoothen tool.



The above steps are my recipes for vsco edits. All I do on facetune is smoother and whiten basically.

To see the actual process of me shooting and editing these pictures (plus some additional info) watch the video below, I think it'll be helpful.






If you enjoyed this post, follow me (@miralabelle.o) and leave me your questions, suggestions and requests in the comments, I'd love to hear from you!

Also, share this post to friends who might find it helpful: Pin it, click on the facebook share button, tweet it, and so on.

Don't forget to subscribe to the blog, subscribe to my you tube channel and follow me on Instagram, let's connect!

As a crisp clean background is visually appealing, it could be very frustrating when you take a picture of a subject with a white backdrop and there are dark spots and odd shadows. Am I right?

Catering to that need, a variety of apps have included the whitening effect to their editing options. Editing apps such as Facetune, Snapseed and even Unum (in their editing section) have incorporated the whitening tool.

However, I've found that sometimes, these apps reduce the overall quality of your image. Being a stickler for quality, (har), I found a way around this which I'll be sharing. I'm not a photography guru or anything of that sort but I do hope this tutorial will be helpful.





Before we get on with it, if you'd like to know to whiten your photos on your mobile phone with Snapseed, read this post


1. Edit your photo 



As you can see, there are odd shadows and this ruins our crisp bright effect unless this is the kind of look you're going for. To fix this, we'll simply click on the paint tool, select the white colour and run our paintbrush over shadows not very close to the subject. We want this as natural looking as possible.

2. Remove distant shadows

3. Remove more sensitive shadows (shadows close to your subject)

Since we've cleaned up a bit, time to get rid of the more dangerous shadows. That is, the parts of the photo that if tampered with would make the picture look like some sort of joke. After all your hard work, I assume you won't find it funny.

We repeat the same process but you'd want to add a new transparent layer first. Select "add new layer" then paint over the more sensitive shadows. You'll understand the need for the layer soon enough.
Once this is done, you're going to click on layer properties then select the opacity. We don't want the cleaning up to look too obvious so this helps give a more natural look.
And you're done!

Another example...


Repeat the process above. First edit your picture to your satisfaction then proceed to cleaning it up by using the paint tool and applying a new layer (if necessary) then adjusting the opacity..

Won't you pin me, pretty please?

-Basic editing: How to fix a bad photo

-How to remove unwanted objects from your photos using Snapseed

-How to take good pictures with your mobile phone

Hope you enjoyed this post! If you did, click those very visible sharing buttons below because sharing is caring. You care, don't you?

jk.


Don't forget to subscribe to my blog, my YouTube (new videos every Friday!) and follow me on Instagram, let's connect!
Cheers!xx

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Seeing as things don't work out exactly how we plan in life, it just so happens that sometimes, unexpected and unforeseen things occur in our pictures. Like the time you thought the car in the background gave your picture "character". Or when unwanted cookie crumbs in your flatlay suddenly became visible. Or you when realized there was a fly in your eye in that selfie.

Hi guys!

It's been two weeks! This is the longest I've been away since I took my consistency vow. It was actually just supposed to be one week which turned into two (I sort of fell ill) and here we are.

Some women leaving their owambe locations, well dressed for the occasion