Thank you all for submitting your questions and welcome to session 1 Q&A!
Q1. Hnu Lo: My questions are, how are your lighting set ups? Natural light? I see that you have a speedlite. Do you use it often?
A. If you study my images, I typically use a lot of harsh shadows and high contrast. To achieve this lighting I use a lot of direct sunlight-- which is great because LA has tons of that! I only use my speedlite at night.
Q2. Christine Lee: Which app do you use to apply photo filter, and if it involves steps (I.e. VSCO), please be details in your instructions.
A. I use VSCO, SE3/HB1 filter, -1 exposure, +5 sharpen, +2 contrast, -1 temperature.
Q3. Summer Moon: Hi karen,
I love your photo and your clean website!
To created your website, which program did you use?
You're website is responsive. Works on desktop and iphone. So im wondering! Thanks!!!
A. I love your name! & thank you, this website was created on Squarespace.
Q4. Jennifer Chiu: I'm always on the hunt for a great eyeliner that stays in place (especially with Asian monolids). I notice your eyeliner game is always strong. Would you be kind to help a sister out and share your favorite eyeliner? Pencil? Gel? Liquid? Anything that won't irritate contacts while stays on great!
A. Thank you! I currently use the Stila Liquid Eyeliner. It's the best thing ever. I prime my eyes with Urban Decay Primer first because I have oily eyelids and my eyeliner stays on all day!
Btw, do you still have your 50mm? I have a t3i + 50mm and find it to be tight when shooting indoor (not a pro, just takes photo of my daughter). Do you have a favorite indoor lens for asp-c camera? Or perhaps I should upgrade my body to a full frame so the 50mm is a true 50mm?
A. Yes I still have my 50mm, I love how little and compact it is. But if you have a cropped sensor the framing can definitely be very tight, especially indoors. I recommend upgrading to a more versatile lens like the 24-105mm (especially if this is to take photos of your kid, it'll be good for events as well). It's about the same cost as upgrading to a full frame camera, and even on a crop sensor now you have a 38mm+ to play with.
Q5. Emilie Yang: Hi! I was wondering which editing tool/software/app you use and anything that you would recommend for a beginner. I love all your work <3
A. Hi Emilie! When I first learned photography in high school, my friends and I would all share the bootleg version of photoshop to play with. I started out learning how to photoshop my acne and moved on to color editing from there! Nowadays, I still recommend PS, or Lightroom because the interface is a little more straightforward. I would also recommend playing with the filters on the iphone app VSCO to get a feel of what color toning you like!
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Happy Thursday everyone! & follow me on snapchat (@karenrosalie) to see behind the scenes of my shoot today!