Photos

4 Creative Ways To Use Styled Stock Images

December 1, 2017 by Lindsay Teague Moreno 3 Comments

If you run a business, by now, you’ve probably heard of stock images, yeah? Businesses have been using them for years to market their products because they are easier to use than shooting your own photographs all the time.

The latest trend is styled stock or you might know them as flatlays. I love these because they have a nice, clean look.

If you’re new to this you’re probably thinking “how the heck do I use stock images for my business?”

Don’t worry because I’ve got you covered!

Here are four ways you can use stock images to promote your brand and business:

Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter posts: Have a great post you want to publish, but you don’t have the right photo? Grab a relevant, pretty, stock image and slap it up with your words! I’m big on using your real-life photos most of the time, but I also love using stock when it’s appropriate!
Facebook cover image: Needing a pretty image for your profile, or group cover? Stock is great for this. Just crop it to fit and you can put your group name text on there too.
Blog header and posts: This gives a really professional feel to your website. Pick something that’s on-brand and will attract people who are in your target market.
Pinterest posts: Pinning links from your blog and social media? Stock images give a visual pop to make your posts stand out.

There are tons more ways, but I wanted to give you a few easy ones that you could start implementing right away.

Speaking of…want a FREE pack of styled stock images that I shot to share with you?

GET YOUR FREE STOCK PACK HERE!

Make sure to check out the Terms of Use and FAQ which will explain what you can and can’t do with these images.

I hope these help your business and make your marketing a little easier!

XO,

Our Weekend in Black and White in Project Life

August 21, 2017 by Lindsay Teague Moreno Leave a Comment

I realize that I never shared my 2016 Project Life page for my Weekend in Black and White project I do throughout the year.

I love capturing the girls in their natural environment. Just being who they are at this moment — doing normal things. On this day we played dolls, we went for pedicures, we played in the basement, we hit up church and sang in the car. Completely us on a Saturday.

Here is a close-up look at both sides. I like to mix bright quotes and elements with a little bit of story and really contrast-y black and white images. As always, i build my pages with Project Life kits and Ali Edwards elements.

Right side:

Left Side:

Don’t freak out about being behind on getting your photos into your albums. I am behind too. Just start where you are and work backwards.

Quick and Dirty Black and White.

August 4, 2016 by Lindsay Teague Moreno Leave a Comment

I said I’d share my black and white conversion tips for you guys and I’m making good on that. I’m going to show you a very quick and dirty way to get your photos out of the color mode and into a simple black and white that looks decent.

Mind you, this isn’t going to be my favorite black and white but I know it will look better than simply hitting that greyscale button.

For this conversion you won’t need any actions and you wont need any special features. Just photoshop.

Here’s what we’re going to be doing.

And here’s how to do it:

Quick & Easy Black/White Photo Conversion from Lindsay Teague Moreno.

Seriously, it’s that easy. Levels are the key to fast and poppin’ conversions.

Can’t wait to see what you do. Tag me on IG when you post them!

Our Weekend in Black & White

August 1, 2016 by Lindsay Teague Moreno 16 Comments

I used to be awesome.

I used to take my trusty Canon 5D MarkIII out with me all over the place and capture my girls being who they are. The great thing about that is that they got so used to me taking pictures, they stopped posing. They just went about their business and pretty soon, I was just a fly on the wall. It has made for some great photographic moments. Like this one…

Look at her tiny little crying face so mad because she couldn’t have something. She doesn’t really do this anymore because she’s older. She’s 7 and not 2. She doesn’t make the same sounds. She doesn’t have the same cheeks. She doesn’t hang on my leg like she used to. And this one…

There’s still chubby in her hands. She was wearing my scarf on her head because she wanted long straight hair like me. Oh my gosh I miss these days. I can remember them because I took these pictures. It almost makes me lose my breath because, moms, how is it possible to miss it when all we wanted was for it to be gone? Is that not the most unfair and confusing feeling? To look back and miss what you only wanted to make it through alive? How? It’s a question I have for God because I cannot make sense of it.

In 2013, I stopped carrying my camera everywhere and started working everywhere. Isn’t it a cruel thing to do something for your kids at the expense of time with them? It’s turned out to be the right thing but as I was sifting through my old hard drives trying to organize them, I realize how much my creative eye has missed. I haven’t watched them though my lens and I see them the best though that tiny eye-piece. I see them as a beautiful piece of art, as a moment gone forever and not as a kid who’s whining and won’t be getting her way anytime soon. I see them as subjects and not my kids who must be “mommed.” I’m better with my face smashed into the back of my camera.

As I did more sorting, I decided now is the time to get back into it. To see them though my lens again and not just through the snap of my iPhone shutter button. It’s not the same, for me at least. God gave me the love of photography for a reason and I think it was to be able to give my kids the gift of their story before they were old enough to tell it.

So this weekend, I decided to do what I used to do and capture it. I used to call it “Our Weekend in Black and White” and that’s what it shall continue to be called. So here it is…

I challenge you to see your kids though your lens this weekend coming up. Just observe them and take pictures of what they do at this age. I’ll give you my black and white conversion tips this week so you’re fully prepared. It’s easy as pie. You’ll appreciate it in a couple of years when they’re 2 years older and 2 years closer to not being around to document.

Here’s to the hardest job I’ve ever had, Moms! This is just one step we can take in the name of doing the best we can.

A Child Bride

October 21, 2015 by Lindsay Teague Moreno 7 Comments

Here’s something you should know about me up front, I’m not a birthday person. I think it’s great when other people are, it’s just not how I was raised. So birthday parties are always an afterthought for my kiddos. I much prefer to celebrate Christmas in a big way. I do try to give my kids a little family celebration with a cake and a theme. Each year, I decorate the table after they go to sleep so they can feel special when they wake up.

This year, for her 5th birthday, Addy (her name is Kennedy but we gave her the nickname Addy so people wouldn’t shorten her name to “Ken”) wanted a wedding theme. Yea, you read that right, she wanted to be a bride. A visit to etsy while on the road, a party store and hobby lobby back at home and we were set. She was going to marry her daddy and “it would be cute,” I thought. I didn’t expect the kind of emotion it pulled out of this self-proclaimed cold mom. I’m not really “cold,” that’s dramatic, I think, but I’m not in-touch with them feels that many women carry on their sleeves. Not on this day, though.

It’s little unexpected moments like this that make me breathe deep and know that I am so blessed to have the kids I do. Sometimes they drive me straight to the loony bin (and I’m not sugar coating that…sometimes I don’t like being a mom) but every once in a while I feel so overwhelmed with love and pride I can’t breathe. Today was one of those moments. As I took this picture I cried into the back of my camera.

How is she mine? How is she so grown up? How will I make the most of the last 13 years I have with her in my house? How can I keep this feeling?

I can see myself in 20 years pulling out these pictures of my little baby as she’s about to get married (if she decides she wants to…no pressure from me). I can see me crying then just like I did today as I watched her pretend to be grown up. I saw a glimpse of my future today and it was so sweet and beautiful.

Here are the pictures from the day. We tried to do everything a real bride would do on her wedding day:

I See You, Woman!

October 19, 2015 by Lindsay Teague Moreno 21 Comments

Yesterday was one of those days. The one where you just want to throw in the towel. The day all of the work and intentions and negativity shows up at the door and demands to be paid in their currency known as attention. On days like that, you can’t escape the sadness and the curiosity gets the best of you.

Why am I doing this?

Why am I working so hard for this?

Why am I spinning my wheels?

Then you find yourself saying the one sentence you have been avoiding: THIS DOESN’T MAKE ME HAPPY. I’m not alone. I see women on the life treadmill everyday and while my treadmill is work, I see it in stay-at-home mom’s all the time because that was me.

I see you. Never sitting down. Jumping in the car for this or that. Running out to help the kids. Running around to organize for the next day. Constantly putting something away. Saying “yes.” Finishing this. Starting that. Thinking. Constantly thinking. What’s next? How late are we? I forgot this. I have to be here and there at the same time. What’s for dinner? How will I still be awake at the end of the night for that?

I. See. You.

You’ve put aside the little things you love for the household, the family, the clean house, the charade that your family has it all together. Let’s be honest, ain’t nobody got it all together. That’s true no matter how many perfect Instagram photos of perfectly packed lunches (in shapes and with all food groups accounted for) or freshly-bathed children sleeping soundly at 7:30pm or spotless kitchens in the background you scroll through every day. Those are lies. Yea, I said it. If that’s you and you want to email me with pictures to prove it, I’ll save you the time–you’re better than me, I get it. For the rest of us that don’t live in Stepford, it’s time to own the mess. I sure will celebrate with a picture when sleeping kids at 7:30 happens to me but it’s still strangely absent from my feed…hmmm.

Let’s get back to you. I need to get back to me.

The things I let go of? Photography, scrapbooking and reading something besides business books. I’m no longer a professional in photography or scrapbooking (that was a past life) but that doesn’t mean I don’t still love it passionately. I miss it. My real life and my profession as a leader have overtaken my time dedicated to these two things because I haven’t made me a priority.

Recently, I picked up my big girl camera for a couple of occasions and it felt so good…like riding a bike. I’ll post more pictures of both of the things I photographed in other posts but I want to make a couple of recommendations to you based on what I remember as I sat down in my familiar seat at the computer to start on my favorite part of the photo process: editing. Loud music, pen in my hand, hot drink sitting on my desk. It’s so zen. It’s so…me.

Here’s what I think:

#1. If you don’t make time for the things you love, they sure won’t make time for you. Your kids will eat it up. The person in your life will eat it up. Your friends. Your co-workers. Your job. Your obligations. Your everything will eat up your time unless you don’t let it. It’s up to you to carve out the time without the guilt that surrounds that kind of activity. I know you have kids, responsibilities, jobs, commitments, things to do for others, a kitchen to scrub down. I know. Me, too. Spoiler alert: those things will all be there in an hour or two. As women, I don’t think we make enough time to do the things we love and I want to change that. We need to take back the us we were before we said too much yes. It’s our fault, guys. We did this to ourselves and we have the power to get ourselves out.

#2. I recently saw Jessica N. Turner speak about her book The Fringe Hours at a business event I put on in Scottsdale, Arizona. Why would I bring someone to talk about not working at a work event? Because it’s integral to sustained, high-quality work. Jessica talks to women about making time for the things we love. Something that we let go of so easily and yet can make such a big difference in our happiness. We have to do it. Read this book. It should be on every woman’s must-read list.

So, let’s do this, yea? Read the book. Pick up what you miss the most. Find something for you.