Photo Blogging: Para Para Paradise

Aqua ocean tones paired with electric green palm trees make for a totally captivating color palette!

Bright and fresh, I'm on location near Largo, Florida for the second Cousin Creative Circle Retreat. 

I pulled out a bunch of my necklaces, the pairing inspired by the colors I'm seeing.

Silver for the water sparkle, gold for the sand, blue for the waves and sky.

Loving layered necklaces, I'm mixing various lengths, textures and metal colors. My "Favorite Things" necklace paired with bright blue gems, gold chains, rhinestones and a long pendant necklace completes any outfit and adds major glam. 

Be inspired anywhere you go; find a color palette, interesting shape, unusual texture or pattern and let your artistic side take over. Wherever you are, there is always something that you can find a bit of art in!

All photos copyright Allison Beth Cooling. Do not post or share photos without crediting and linking back.

Day 4: A Beach Animation and a Wallpaper!

Today, a beach animation!

Animations are so cool to make, especially to capture a certain mood. Here, I couldn't pass up the rainbow umbrella sitting idle on the beach!

Plus, a wallpaper. I loved this photo of the beach I took because of the simplicity. I mixed it with modern font but a vintage photo filter; summer should always last forever!

Free to download, just click the image below and set as your background!

Day 3: Photo Journaling and Photo Tips

Today was a day of sightseeing.

Of course that included some cool shades.

And palm trees, AGAIN.

Some glitz (here, rings from Generation Bliss) and of course, Chanel shoes.

And as always, coffee; here is a latte with soy milk!

Some tips for taking travel photography:

1. Focus on the small things. Instead of trying to get the WHOLE scene, focus on one item that's the most interesting. Your photos will be unique. Anyone can take a picture of a beach coastline. Try to find a unique spin in your image, maybe by tilting the horizon, or using bokeh (see tip 3)

2. Set the mood with the color. It's easy to use Photoshop to change colors; me changing the color on the coffee picture from the dull brown it was to pure black and white makes for a more sophisticated picture. Think about the mood you want to convey.

3. Bokeh images. Like the palm tree image above, I love bokeh photography. It really gives all your photos an artistic vibe, and makes them more interesting to look at. Some great tutorials are on the net, but I've found that they make the technique seem harder than it is. All you have to do is put your hand about a foot in front of your camera lens, press the shutter halfway down to focus (on a Canon, or focus however your camera does if other brand), and then point your camera at your subject; it should be blurry in the viewfinder. Take the picture! If it is too blurry, try to focus on something a couple feet away, say like a tree trunk or light post. Then find the subject and take the picture. The amount of blur will depend on how far you are away from your first focusing subject, then the real subject you take your image of. The best way to judge is to just practice!

4. Document specific things. Specific outfits, accessories, places, things that are unique to that place or your situation. I love posting a mix of what I am wearing, eating/drinking, and seeing to form a full snapshot of the time!

There you have it, some simple tips!

All photos copyright Allison Beth Cooling. DO NOT use these images without linking back or giving credit to me!