Wow, what a year 2017 has been, especially in terms of my photography and the type of photos I put up on social channels. I’ve become obsessed with Instagram this year and I’ve used it as a great way of sharing outfit posts and other ideas with you guys alongside my blog. I was very interested to see what my ‘best nine’ on Instagram would be so I headed over to 2017bestnine.com and had a look. I thought I’d share my top nine and a behind the scenes for each post.
I’m incredibly proud of each and every photo, but for each picture perfect shot there’s a whole load of other shots which didn’t go as well and most of them were more than likely followed by a frustrated cry or an embarrassing moment where a member of the general public was staring at me wearing an overly dressy party dress in the centre of Birmingham at 4pm on a Sunday. What I’m trying to say is that even though I may put out aesthetically pleasing photos or pretty photos of me smiling in a fancy dress, my life is definitely not that perfect. It can be hard to forget that the influencers and bloggers you see online don’t always look like they do in that posed shot of them outside Peggy Porschen or nonchalantly adjusting their bag on a picture worthy marble staircase. I know I’ve definitely let myself get carried away comparing myself to these people, when in reality those photos are simply that, they’re photos.
This photo took me posing in a position that was not natural (and really hurt my non existent abs) while my mom stood on a stool and took the photo. The fire is fake (though I’m sure you guessed that) and in my hands I’m not even holding hot chocolate, it’s actually just chocolate milk!
I really don’t know what happened here because I’m not that tanned (and I don’t think I ever will be) so I have good lighting to thank for that. I remember posting this because of how tanned I looked because like most people I thought ‘people will see how tanned I am and think I’m having a fabulous time somewhere hot’. In reality, tanning really doesn’t matter and in fact it does a lot more harm than it does good! It’s a lot safer to just use fake tan and slather yourself in sun lotion. Also, I’m tilting my hips backwards to make my legs look slightly slimmer, and the heels make them look a lot longer than they actually are.
This photo was taken in about 10 seconds as we passed this chair on the way to to finding our seats to watch Nativity. There were lots of people staring at me because I was practically in the middle of the queue and my sister was moaning because I was slowing us all down to take a photo. You would never be able to tell from the photo though!
This is my dining table with a blanket thrown over it because I don’t have any white surfaces in my house. At first glance I look absolutely minted because there’s lots of Pandora jewellery, a Lipsy watch and Ted Baker makeup, but in fact every single one of these pieces I’ve received as gifts from friends or family. I would never be able to afford this all myself!
I don’t really know why this photo is here! It’s simply a screenshot of a photo planner app, which is a bit strange as it’s received more like than my actual photos…
This was taken in a busy foyer of a hotel which, embarrassingly, some teachers from my school walked into just as I was taking this. The green dress I’m wearing I don’t actually own as I couldn’t afford it myself but I so desperately wanted to share it with you guys. Despite what my hauls and posts may suggest I’m not overly rich and I don’t have an endless stream of money. My blog takes a lot of budgeting and it can be very, very hard work.
My boyfriend took this for me while we were out for a walk. I was actually freezing as I posed for this photo as I had to take my cardigan and coat off to show off my top – which isn’t fun in October! I didn’t actually like how I looked here and posted it primarily because my boyfriend loved it so much – I often hate the photos I take because I don’t like what I looked like, a side which you don’t often see many bloggers showing.
If you’ve ever been to Peggy Porschen then you will know that no photo will ever be calm and stress free. There are about a million people all trying to get the same shot as you and there is a forever ending trail of people coming in and out of the doors. I almost cried taking these photos, no lie.
This was taken in a busy shopping area in the run up to Christmas, which means that obviously it was extremely busy. I had lots of people looking at me whilst this was being taken, which can be pretty nerve wracking. To make the day even more stressful I was actually asked to leave the premises after taking photos as they weren’t happy with certain photography!
I hope this post has shown you a little bit more of the reality of my blog and my Instagram account. I’m not a model, I’m not a professional photographer and I’m definitely not perfect. I want to showcase the most authentic photos whilst creating stunning work and sometimes the reality of it can get a bit lost in my aesthetic dreams. I hope that I can show you the real me a bit more in 2018!
Love Chloe x
Love the reality of this post but the posts are lovely and great to watch x keep up the good work xx