Beautiful sunset off Highway 90, near the aptly named hamlet of Utopia, Ontario. Saw this one on the way home grocery shopping, so made a turn-off on a side road to get this shot on my iPhone.📱 When you first get started in photography, it can be hard to know “what a good photo looks like. This makes it more difficult to spot photo opportunities, whether you’re out-and-about or on a dedicated photo session. There tips to help with that: Follow 👉 @my_togblog for tips on photography, video, and social media. 1. Study composition first as your base foundation for everything else. 2. Practice, practice, practice. The more photos you take and see the results from, the easier this gets. 3. Spend time checking out the work of other photographers for inspiration and to help “train your eyes.” Writers have to read; photographers have to see the photos of other photographers. Bonus tip: be patient! It takes time, but you will get there! 😀🙌 . . . . . #photographytips #photographytipsandtricks #photographytipsforbeginners #photographytips101 #photographyhobby #photographyhobbyist #photographybeginner #phototips #phototip #photoblog #mytogblog #sunsetsky #sunsetview #sunset_captures #sunset_hunter #igsunsetshots

A few people have asked how I edit my photos, so here's the dish on that for mobile! The program I use is the Snapseed app. It's a free download from the iTunes (for iPhone) or Google Play (for Android). My workflow is: - select photo - crop to square - check filters for different looks / ideas - select filter or fine-tune image - then add filter (or not) - export / save as copy - ready to post That second last step is important. You want to save the image as a copy, in case you want to have the old original back to reedit for another purpose or platform. It's a lot better to start with a "blank slate" again that way. The process is essentially the same for desktop, only there I mainly use the simple Windows Live Gallery editor (sometimes combined with IG filters). Hope you find this helpful! Save for this one reference, and follow @my_togblog for more tips on photography, video, and social media. . . . . . #photographytips #photographytipsandtricks #photographytipsforbeginners #photographytips101 #photographyhobby #photographyhobbyist #photographyblog #photographyblogger #photographybloggers #mytogblog

The sun rises on week two of 2022. Time to get at it! I'm feeling rested and ready to go today. Hope you are too. 👍 We know there are going to be ups and downs this year like any other, so you've got to enjoy those up days when you can. And maybe try to keep them going! 😏 How's your week looking? Let me know in the comments, and follow along @my_togblog for tips, ideas, and stories relating to photography, video, and social media. . . . . . #chasingsunrise #sunrisesky #sunrises_and_sunsets #sunrisesofinstagram #sunrisephoto #sunrisephotoshoot #sunrisephotographer #winter2022 #photoblog #photoblogger #photoblogging #mytogblog

If you want to find success with Instagram or any goal (or resolution) for 2022, there's one question you absolutely need to answer for yourself: why are you doing this? There's a good reason why many books or articles on goal setting will recommend that you start out with determining the answer to this question. It's because any long-term goal worth pursuing is going to involve challenges along the way. And once the initial enthusiasm for your goal has worn off and those challenges arise, you're going to need that "why" to refer back to in order to help keep you on track. Beyond that, this is also not a bad exercise to do for yourself anyway, if only as a way to help you make sure your time is being well spent. If it turns out you can't define the why, then that'll let you dig into this further to see if you can figure it out. Or, if the why is not that important upon closer examination, that'll free you up to do other things. But ideally, you'll come out with a strong rationale for why you want to do this, which will help to strengthen your motivation and consistency throughout the rest of the year. Furthermore, it will also help you in better aligning your content creation strategy and efforts with your underlying why, which will be good for you, your account, and your audience! Hope you found this helpful. Even though I thought that I had a good "general handle" on the why behind my account, I did find it useful to go through this exercise to articulate that in a specific way. So I'd encourage you to do the same! Drop a 🎯 in the comments to let me know if you're going to give this a try, and don't forget to follow 👉 @my_togblog for more tips and strategies for content creation and social media. . . . . . #goals2022 #socialmediagoals #socialmediagoals2022 #socialmediastrategytips #socialmediastrategy #socialmediastrategy101 #socialmediatips #socialmediatipsandtricks #socialmediatipsforbusiness #socialmediatipsmarketing #socialmediatips101 #carouselpost #instagramhacks #socialmediamarketingtips #mytogblog

I lost my lens cap getting this photo! Photography lovers probably can relate. I was walking along the abandoned CN tracks in Angus, Ontario, and came across this old "Junction 10" sign when the bird landed in what would be the background of the frame. "Perfect!" I thought. This could look really cool. So I quickly removed the lens cap, got low for the angle, and set the lens cap down in the snow somewhere (vs putting it in my pocket). Then, I walked away, continuing on my journey. I came back later, but couldn't find exactly where I had put it down. Two things we draw from this: 1. As you start to bring more stuff with you, it's good to have a compartmental 𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗮 𝗯𝗮𝗴 for lenses, gimbal, and other accessories. Part of the reason I forgot the cap was that I had so many other things to gather up after the shot. It would have been good to have a central place to put and carry everything. 2. This is another reason why it's good to have a cheap polarizing 𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗶𝗹𝘁𝗲𝗿. In a pinch, these can serve as "replacement lens caps." If one of these gets scratched, it's $5-10 to replace. That's a lot better than replacing the glass on your ~$200 or more lens. Oh well, the photo did more or less turn out with the vision I intended. I was going for an "album cover" or "fine art" vibe. Let me know what you think in the comments 💬, and follow 👉 @my_togblog for more tips. . . . . . #signphotography #provinceontario #angusontario #barriephotographer #simcoecountyphotographer #simcoecounty #photoblog #photoblogger #photoblogging #photographyblog #photographyblogger #photgraphytips #photographylovers #photographytipsandtricks #mytogblog

With this being the New Year, it's time to push the envelope a little further and try something new! So in that spirit, this is my first set of still shots for the Instagram feed with me in the scene.😀 These are behind-the-scenes photos from a session I did yesterday at the abandoned CN tracks in Angus. You can see I was "really going for it" in striking the pose for the photo on slide 3. Lol! 😂 It can be kind of fun, once you get into it. Selfies aside, I also did get some decent shots from tracks and surrounding trails. Look forward to sharing some of those in future posts. I also have a Reel coming up on how I made this particular set.👍 Follow 🎯 @my_togblog for that and my other tips on photography, video, and social media. Thanks again for all the support on this platform over the last year! Hope your new year is off to a great start! 😀🙌 Try something new in 2022! 😉 . . . . . #photographytipsandtricks #photographytips #photographytipsforbeginners #socialmediaphotographer #socialmediaphotography #photographytips101 #photoblog #photoblogger #photoblogging #photographyblogger #photographybloggers #mytogblog

It's that time when many of us are reviewing the progress of the past year and thinking ahead to the next one. So this post is about the "lessons learned" of my 2021 goals. But more so than just thinking about what worked or didn't, I thought this might be a good opportunity to consider the nature of goal setting itself. See slides 6-9 for my thoughts on that. Beyond those takeaways, I can also count the following as "wins" from this past year of posting on Instagram: - improving my photography, - learning a tonne about IG and other social platforms, - adding a profile photo and getting more comfortable on camera, and - creating video content for the first time. So all-in-all, falling short of the "numbers objective" almost ends up being beside the point. Check out the carousel and let me know how your 2021 went on Instagram. And for more tips and ideas, also check out my profile and follow @my_togblog. . . . . . #instagramgoals #instagramgrowth #instagramgrowthhacks #instagramgrowthtips #instagramgrowthexpert #socialmediamarketingtip #socialmediamarketing101 #socialmediatipsandtricks #socialmediatipsforbusiness #socialmediatips101 #socialmediamanagers #mytogblog

Candy Shoppe Snow Plow, Highway 400, near Orillia, Ontario. This plow caught my eye coming back down the 400 towards Barrie early one morning. I also thought the Candy Shoppe Sign and site were pretty cool as well (see other slides). Unfortunately, I don't have a good shot of the building. As you can see, it was kind of early. I was tired. And, probably most importantly, I wasn't thinking in terms of the end goal of the post while on location at that time. I just saw something that I liked, and took some random photos on the scene. 😜📸🤣 That led me to this 𝗸𝗲𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁: when possible, it is good to try and think about the end goal (or caption) for the post that your photos will go into while on location. It's kind of like when you're writing, you want to start from the end purpose of your report or the resolution for the main character in your story, and then work everything back from there. That will make your production processes a lot more efficient and effective. 🔑👀👍 The one caveat I'd add here is just don't let this practice interfere with the fun of what you're doing. Think of it more as "another lens" you can apply to your photo shoots to help you produce better photos and posts. 😀🙌 . . . . . #photographytipsforbeginners #photographytips101 #photographytips #photographytipsandtricks #photographybeginner #photographybeginnerclub #photoblogger #photographyblogger #photographybloggers #roadsideattraction #roadsideattractions #mytogblog #orilliaontario

Might still be a few more barriers for us to traverse in 2021, but we'll get there! Looking forward to spending a bit of time relaxing and planning for 2022 over the holidays. Wishing you a great holiday season! . . . . . #shoephotography #footwearphotography #winterphotography #winter2012 #photographyblogger #photographybloggers #photographyblog #ontarioblogger #photoblog #mytogblog

Cross-posting to other platforms could be another way to grow your main social media platform. Or maybe not? It depends on how it's done and how the cost-benefit analysis works out. In this post, I look at why or why not it might be a good idea to cross-post re-purposed content to different platforms, and assess three examples based on the research I've seen and my own (albeit limited) experience with these other platforms so far. I initially worked through this for my own purposes, as I've been looking at incorporating this approach to my overall Instagram strategy in 2022. Then I thought that it would be interesting to share the results and hear your thoughts as well. Have you tried re-purposing content to other platforms? What's been your experience with that so far? Would you recommend this strategy? Let me know in the comments 💬 and follow 👉 @mytogblog for tips and ideas on photography, video, and social media. . . . . . #socialmediatipsandtricks #socialmediatips101 #socialmediatipsforbusiness #socialmediamarketingstrategy #socialmediamarketingtip #instagramtip #instagramtipsandtricks #instagramtips101 #socialmediamarketingexpert #socialmediamarketingstrategist #socialmediamarketing