Sage, Naomi – Author at Plaster & Disaster

A few weeks ago we were looking up a project by a favorite blogger that Sage had remembered seeing a few years ago and wanted to include in a roundup on our blog. When we finally found it in her archives, we were shocked — it wasn’t at all the way Sage had remembered it. The photo of the final reveal was so small and dark, with a distinct yellow tint. And this is a big-name blogger, one who we know is a talented photographer and takes gorgeous photos. So what gives?

We spend a lot of time trying to take nice photos of our projects and homes. It’s one of the most time-consuming parts of blogging besides actually doing the projects, and we know all you other bloggers reading this would agree. But in the pinterest-fueled world of DIY blogging, taking gorgeous photos is an absolute necessity. It can drive a person crazy (getting a submission on craft gawker rejected because it isn’t taken on a perfectly white background is so infuriating), but it’s also hard to believe/remember that it wasn’t always the case. Yet this tiny dark photo staring at us from the archives was a stark statement about how much the industry and our expectations are changing.

We all know blogging has changed a lot as it’s moved out of its infancy — we’ve seen big shifts in how many people are bloggers, the ways we make money, how our readers consume and interact with our content, and on and on and on. As an emerging industry, naturally it’s changing. We’re not going to write a long post today about all those changes, but we thought it would be interesting to focus in on just one piece: photography.

Rather than drone on and on, we figured we’d have some fun comparing old and recent photos from some of the big name bloggers many of us know and love, and who we know take awesome photos. We went hunting through their archives (generally 2007 – 20011) to pick out some old photos they’d each posted — these are the photos they were posting as their blogs were gaining popularity and moving them into the spotlight. This isn’t about picking on anyone for their photography — to prove it, we’ll start with an old photo of Sage’s from her first blog (did you know she had a blog before we met? It was called Beacon Street Manor. Little did she know what the future held!). Instead it’s just meant as a stark demonstration of how much our norms around photography have changed.

So here’s Sage’s comparison, on the left a photo she posted in 2012 and on the right a recent photo she shared of her living room. It’s not like she’s become a professional, but it’s definitely a pretty big change. After all, we both invested in a DSLR and now spend a ton of time trying to get the “perfect” shot. (Be sure to check out our tips for shooting with a DSLR as a newbie.)

But let’s move on to a lesser known blog: Young House Love. Just kidding obviously, you guys remain an inspiration AND WE MISS YOU SO MUCH! On the left is a photo from a project they did in 2007, and on the right is a recent photo from instagram AND let’s keep in mind that they aren’t even actively blogging anymore (like we could have forgotten). Seriously, look at these photos next to each other.

The major changes in blogging photography -- Plaster & Disaster

Photo credit: Young House Love

Next we have the ladies who we’re pretty sure invented perfectly-styled crafting photography: A Beautiful Mess. It’s nice to know that even they took less perfect photos back in 2008. It’s a totally fine photo, but compare it — on the left — with a recent photo on the right that was taken for a post about searching for a new house. DIY blogging photography has gotten so intense that we now have styled shots to accompany non-DIY projects, and we don’t think twice about it.

Photo credit: A Beautiful Mess

Next up is Mandi at Vintage Revivals, an extremely talented DIYer who also takes gorgeous photos. But look at how much her photography has changed over time — compare a project from 2010 with one from this past spring.

Photo credit: Vintage Revivals

Lastly we have Centsational Girl, a staple in the DIY blogging world. She’s a very talented photographer with a lovely home. You can see it in the two photos below, both of bathrooms that she made over — the left one taken in 2011, the right one this year.

Photo credit: Centsational Girl

When you see all the photos side-by-side like this, it’s kind of crazy. We now expect bloggers to produce magazine-worthy photos of their projects and homes plus churn out content on a daily basis — and yet it hasn’t always been that way. It wasn’t that way when many of us got interested in DIY, and yet we still fell in love with the industry enough for it to experience the boom that it has. But today, bloggers could never put out the kind of photos that were commonplace even a few years ago.

Obviously we think it’s fascinating, and would love to hear your thoughts! Why have our expectations changed so dramatically? Are we being too hard on ourselves and on each other? Or is this just the natural evolution of an industry that’s maturing and getting more professionalized, and where creative people who love DIY are also learning to love photography?

Young House Love | Vintage Revivals | Centsational Girl

(Sharing at Weekend Retreat Link Party, Think and Make Thursday, and Thrifty Decor Chick’s October Before and After)

You may know that Sage and I met at work. It was in our first post, and you guys read everything that we write…. RIGHT?

What you probably don’t know is that Sage recently DESERTED ME for an exciting new job. After much sulking and waffling, I begrudgingly agreed to continue this blog with her and maintain a tenuous creative partnership and friendship (albeit one now tinged with betrayal).

Photo taken several weeks *after* the desertion/betrayal — can you see the guilt in her eyes?

Since we are supposedly going to remain friends, I also had to throw her a proper goodbye party. In true Sage fashion, I decided to use this opportunity to make all of our co-workers do a craft with us. I picked painting tote bags because it is affordable, quick, and accessible for people of all skill sets. I brought in tote bags, fabric paint, brushes, painters tape (for taping off designs), and some stencils of leaves and letters.

It was a blast, ifidosaysomyself. It was so fun to see our co-workers engaged in a different sort of task, and we were really impressed by some of the creations.

DIY Painted Tote Bags - Plaster & Disaster

Bags by Jessica, Stephanie, Lauren, and Lucy! (clockwise from top left)

Sage made a simple and chic diamond design, and I (as usual) went a bit crazier with color and texture.

However, amidst all of the festivities, I got a little of the fabric paint on my skirt. Who wears a light colored skirt to a painting party anyway?!

It isn’t a fancy skirt by any means (I think it was $30) and I’ve gotten good use out of it, so I didn’t really mind. However, it still fits, and I had leftover fabric paint from the party, so I decided to try to salvage it. I mean, what do I have to lose?

DIY Watercolor Skirt

Fabric paint can leave a pretty rough texture which isn’t fun to wear, so I decided to try a watercolor effect in hope that that would help the fabric retain some of its softness. I also thought that this would lead to a pattern that would be realistic for me to be able to replicate over the full skirt.

Watercolor Skirt Supplies:

fabric paint in 4-6 neighboring colors
light colored clothing item (can have a small or light stain)
4-6 brushes of similar size
water
cups
thick paper or cardboard (for lining the skirt to prevent bleed through)

First, I cut a piece of paper to the silhouette of the skirt, and put it in between the fabric and the liner to prevent bleed through. Then, I selected some paint in neighboring colors. I decided to go with a palette of “cool tones,” with a bit of yellow to tie it together.

For each, I made a mixture of about 1/3 paint with 2/3 water.

As I went, I tested each on a piece of scrap fabric. Some took slightly different ratios to get to a tone that I liked. For example, the navy blue was very strong and was probably 1/4 paint to 3/4 water. The turquoise was very light, and even my half and half mixture remained very watery.

I painted small sections at a time, working pretty quickly so the fabric remained wet to get that “watercolor bleed” look in a few places.

As I went, I fell into a reliable pattern. I started with purple and green, making long streaks of each that mostly didn’t touch (as they’re not next to each other on the color wheel). I then added the navy blue, using it to bleed together some of the purple and green areas and unify them. The turquoise came next, and I applied it pretty liberally. It was so light that it isn’t super visible, but it helped bleed and tame the edges, getting to a more watery watercolor look. Finally, I filled in the remaining gaps with yellow, which really made it pop.

As I went, I tried to retain consistency in size of the pattern and proportions of colors.

I painted the front, let that dry, and then painted the back. Once it was fully dry, I rubbed it lightly with the bristly side of a sponge to take off any roughness.

To be honest, I’m only so-so on how it turned out.

On the one hand, it totally reformed the stained skirt into something wearable. The stains are not visible any longer and I could absolutely wear this in public (and did to capture these pictures).

I’m also pretty happy with the way the pattern looks up close. I love the colors together, and the bleed along the edges gives it a great softness.

Also, diluting the fabric paint in water made it much less stiff, so while the fabric isn’t as flowy as it once was, it is still totally wearable.

However, from afar, the pattern is a little tight for my taste, and the watercolor-bleed and softness don’t necessarily come through. I’d like to use this scale of pattern to make a purse or something else small-scale, rather than an entire piece of clothing.

I wish I had used much bigger brushes, and perhaps wet the fabric first so the colors would fan out farther.

But, all in all, I feel like this was a great recovery from a stained skirt, and only wet my appetite for painting fabric. I’d love to try more methods to get the effect I’m looking for!