Independent Fashion Blogger Conference

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The Independent Fashion Blogger Conference was such a great time! The best part of the event was making connections with other bloggers! I met so many nice women.

The panels were amazing! I learned so much! They were filled with bloggers and industry professionals with plenty of invaluable information for fashion bloggers.

Amy Levin of The College Fashionista advised us to think outside the box when pitching companies. She a did DIY Truck collaboration with Michael’s at South by Southwest. That sounds like a blast and something I definitely would love to do at a festival.

Tina Craig of Bagsnob worked in fashion for MTV Asia. She started Bag Snob with her best friend 8 years ago. The website had a cult following of editors which ended up launching the site into the big time. Tina’s advice is to answer every email you get and to reach out to people and tell them how you can help them. The site has about 10 revenue streams. Tina said she starts and ends her day with social media.

My favorite collaboration that she told us about was that she openly spoke about how she disliked DKNY bags and somehow that turned into her designing bags for DKNY. Way to turn a negative into a positive! She told us to write a list of our favorite brands and how your would work with them if you had an opportunity. Constantly be think of ways to collaborate with brands. If you have a special talent, use it. The first things that came to mind for me is styling and DIY craftiness.

Photographer Lydia Hudgens gave some great tips on fashion blogging photography. She takes photos for some of my favorite blogs including iSpyDIY and Atlantic-Pacific. Here are her tips:

Focus on the outfit not the person. Shoot the photos like a look book.
Look at blogs you like and try to emulate those photos. What do u like about the pictures on those blogs?
Plan ahead and set a time to take your photos.
Lens to look into: 85 mm f 1.2 lens canon; portrait; looking for one that will blur out background. 1.2 to 1.8
50 mm lens for close ups of details
Pancake lens; 40 mm Canon to get close to the subject. This is her fave right now.
No need for telephoto
Snow days are Great light.
Take about 20 to 30 minutes per outfit
Take more pictures 100 to 300 to get a few good ones.
Quick trick is to use sunglasses to cover tired eyes.
For Instagram it is all about the lighting.
Shoot lower if you are shorter.
Shoot in open shade to get no shadows.
Drive around to find: Bright walls, beach, brick wall, white wall, graffiti, blur background lens can be anywhere.

Nik of Thread Conscious did a presentation on the legal aspect of fashion blogging. The best way to protect yourself is to be the photographer/writer/videographer, get permission in writing, and give credit (industry standard).