Photography and the styling of objects is huge -- I thought the trend could slow as more magazines fold but I'm seeing a definite upwards curve with more independent creative types looking to photograph and/or style -- either as possible hobbies to fill a void or as potential income-maker. Regardless of your intentions, no doubt you've been perusing websites and blogs seeing all the gorgeous interiors and food imagery and have thought, "If only I had a good camera, I'd love to take pictures like that!". Well, have you? If so, but you're broke and unable to buy your dream camera at the moment: take heart. I was looking at stylist Deb Mclean's blog, Busy Being Fabulous, this morning when I suddenly realized that the gorgeous photographs she shares, the ones she personally shot herself, well... my dears... I will show you some first and then I'll tell you what I realized. It may just make you rethink waiting for the day when you have your dream camera....

In the photos above she has used her, ready for this... the camera on her iPhone! Yup. If you're at home styling shots, or out and about enjoying something special there is no reason why you cannot quickly style up a vignette and take a photo of it with a good quality phone and upload it to share on your blog. Don't let the lack of having a "real" camera in hand hold you back. No need to wait on that expensive camera, you can start small and work your way up and still have a gorgeous portfolio of photographs to enjoy along the way.

In addition to Deb's blog, you can view her professional styling portfolio online showing some of her most recent work from the pages of top magazines. These photos below were NOT taken with an iPhone but by a professional photographer and of course, there is no comparison - a pro won't show up on a shoot with only an iPhone in hand (ha! can you imagine that scenario!?) and a phone camera lacks sufficient quality to turn out photos suitable for print publications or a billboard. So we need the expensive cameras, the "big guns", too. But I'm just sayin'. If you can do THAT above with an iPhone then the only thing holding any of us back is the excuse that one needs a better camera to take a better photo, right?

There's no harm in learning with whatever equipment you currently have, so again -- don't let excuses hold you back. Any photographer will admit that while a pro camera is vital to shoot professionally that in the end the most important thing is not the camera but the eye of the photographer and whatever they are seeing through that viewfinder that gives the photo it's uniqueness and style. So in the end, it really comes down to Y-O-U. :)

(images: deb mclean)