I quite often get asked about what camera I use to take photos and the apps used to edit my images for Instagram. By no means am I a professional photographer, a hobbyist at best!

But I do love to take photos and capture memories! I have had a few different cameras now, and all serve a different purpose in different situations.

As a mum and also a keen Instagram-er I am always taking photos and love to progress my skills and learn more and more about photography every day.

I was lucky enough to recently travel to the beautiful Queenstown in New Zealand with the team from Olympus and spend some time with the best of the best to learn some new techniques and further my skills in photography.

I thought that this might be a great time to answer a lot of those questions I’m constantly asked and also share some great info about the perfect camera for both a mum looking to capture precious memories to a keen content creator!

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Phone VS Camera

I know that phones have come a long way. With features like portraiture etc, it has become very easy to create great images, especially for Instagram when they are only a tiny square anyway. However, that being said, I can absolutely see the difference between using a phone versus using a traditional camera, especially if you know what you’re doing with it.

If you’re wanting to take your game from hobby to professional, then I absolutely suggest considering at least a compact mirror-less camera. You don’t need to spend thousands and lash out on a professional camera of that you’d see a wedding photographer using, but something like the lightweight Olympus OM-DE-M10 Mark III.

A great little camera like this won’t break the bank and has interchangeable lenses that let you capture high-quality images without having to make any complicated operations.

Taking the Photo

To get the best possible photo, I always suggest shooting on manual, or at least ‘A’ on your camera. This allows you to have control on how your image will look, versus what the camera thinks. This is something I have taught myself to do just by playing around with settings and getting to understand the camera I’m using – told you, I am no professional!

The best way to do this is to Google/Pinterest some cheats guides on manual settings and start taking photos, you will soon get used to taking photos in different settings and light and learn what works.

There are also tons of blogs out there tailored to your niche on how to take great photos. Whether it’s landscape, portraiture or travel – my suggestion is to have a look at some blogs or even check out Pinterest for some tips and tricks that suit what you’re looking to do.

Working with Kids

One hot tip I do have for when working with kids is to shoot on ‘multi-shot’. That way when you hit the shutter button and hold it down it will take multiple shots in quick succession. This means when you’re working with subjects who don’t want to sit still you can still get the shots you want. (See below)

I will just usually snap away a few shots and will always be able to find a good one in the pack, rather than spend forever trying to set up that perfect shot. It’s just unrealistic with kids and who wants to be an annoying stage mum anyway ????

The Olympus OM-DE-M10 Mark III also has 5-axis image stabilisation, which reduces camera shake in any situation for blur-free, high-quality images – again perfect for taking photos of kids, moving objects or when out and about.

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Editing Your Photos

Keeping it simple – there are tons of fabulous editing tools you can use on your phone. Especially if you are just intending for your images to be on Instagram. Not to mention the Olympus OM-DE-M10 Mark III has built-in wi-fi capability so you can easily send your photo from your camera to your phone with the click of a button.

Below I have detailed my favourite editing apps, with a variety for all different purpose. It’s important that you edit your images to how you like them. Don’t worry about what anyone else is doing or what you think you should be doing. I personally have no specific theme or style and just edit each photo to how I like the look of it – I don’t just use the one filter or setting.

• Lightroom
• VCSO
• Snapseed
• Word Swag
• Videoshop

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