Have a great weekend!

Hope your weekend is filled with some beautiful meals and time well spent.

Kitchen of the Whaley House, San Diego

San Diego: Desert Garden, Balboa Park

Ah yes, I'm taking you back to San Diego today, for a visit amongst some wild specimens. At the Desert Garden at Balboa Park.

Come and smell the roses with me...

Labor Day Long Weekend: Block Island, Rhode Island

Long weekends are for ferry rides, champagne celebrations, mass production of breakfasts, petting zoos, wishing rocks, pink lemonade, outdoor showers, badminton and croquet tournaments and lots of photo ops. 

10 Tips On How to Make Your Instagrams Better

I don't know anyone who's not addicted to Instagram, do you?

With more Instagrams taking up our Twitter feeds, I thought I'd share a few tips on how to make your Instagrams better with some examples from my own feed (@hoggerandco) to illustrate some things I've noticed since I started using the app. And if you're on Instagram, give me your handle so I can follow you!

1. Minimalism. Less is more. This is a common theme of many Instagrammers I follow. The negative space around a subject often times proves more interesting. This is common in landscape shots. More sky, less building.

2. Self-portraits. Adding one or two self-portraits in your feed gives your followers a glimpse of YOU. I enjoy getting a glimpse of what the people I follow look like. Of course, that's to say, not dedicating your entire feed to a self-portrait party. And if you prefer to remain annonymous, more power to you.

3. Good lighting. Good light is important in getting the attention on what it is you're taking a photo of. If you're in a dark restaurant, you're not likely to get a good shot of what you're eating. But with more light, the easier it is to showcase your subject.

4. Good shadow. Shadow is equally as important as good light. The two work well together in creating interesting compositions.

5. Speaking of which. Composition. Composing a shot into an interesting array of subject matter can elevate the mundane. Remember the rule of thirds, that not everything has to be in the center of the frame. Having a focal point and having everything else in the shot direct your eye to the focal point is a good place to start.

6. Shoot from above. Many of the people I follow have some of the best Instagram photos because they shoot from above the object. Give it a try...you'll look silly doing it at the time, but you'll love the result.

7. Crop. Don't be afraid to crop your shot down. Getting rid of distracting objects on the outskirts of the shot make it more interesting (here I cropped out the cabanas).

8. Don't zoom in. Don't zoom into the subject before taking the photo. You'll end up with a pixelated shot. Instead take the photo and then crop it. If you're too far away from your subject, you're better of forgetting about the subject altogether rather than using an overly pixelated shot just for the sake of it. (Here I got up close instead of zooming into the fish, I decided to keep the cooler in the shot).

9. Blur is your friend. If used properly, the blur tool can really highlight your subject. The "spot" blur is great for really focusing on something, whereas I like using the "bar" blur for creating semi tilt-shift scenarios.

10. Silhouettes. Sometimes a silhouette is all you need to tell a story.

Was this helpful? Would you like to see more photo tips on the blog?

August: Art to Inspiration

This month's A2I post features artist Lara Harwood's "...now imagine all the thick birdsong thick as a forest"

Harwood's watercolour paintings are sublime, the type of work that could enhance any space with their bright, vivid colours, illustrative nature and minimal subject matter.

This jungley image from Harwood's sketchbook of watercolours from India, 2009, is a piece that really took me back to my own journey through Kerala's backwaters in Feb 2010.

The composition of heavy greenery vs the simple silhouette encapsulates the very nature of Kerala's scenery.

Today, Harwood's watercolour has inspired me to reminisce...

Last month's Art to Inspiration featured my own work (thanks Sups!): July

Want to join Art to Inspiration? Just click here!