Blogger Confidential: Three Unexpected (And Perfect) Photo Locations

What does a hospital, a body shop and Chicago hot dog restaurant have in common?

No, this is not the start of a really bad joke. 🙂

While I’m still a blogging newbie, I’ve had a list of tried and true neighborhood backdrops for taking photos for  quite a while.

For you Instagrammers and bloggers, do you ever look at your every day, perhaps mundane, neighborhood spots – the park, the corner store, your neighbor’s black wire gate, the concrete alley, the garage door, in a different way? I do all the time. Whether I’m running errands in the car or walking with the kids, I seem to have this 4 x 4 square image frame in the back of mind, scanning each surface, tree, building or horizon. While it sounds ever consuming, it’s mostly a fleeting thought or image of a potential photo. The benefit is that I’ve become more aware, even hyper-observant, of the neighborhood inner workings and big city around me. So often, I’ve missed interesting details among the hustle and bustle, but now I tend to catch those urban details that make our neighborhood such a lovely and unique place.

What does a hospital, a body shop and Chicago hot dog restaurant have in common?

Back to my original question. Well, the answer is that they all make excellent photo backdrops. Three buildings, which upon first glance, may not warrant a “oh, how lovely” emotion, but have helped to create lovely little blog photos and, even better, the locale of family photo moments. And here they are:

The Hospital

The Body Shop

The Chicago Hot Dog Restaurant

Whether you’re a blogger, a photographer or a savvy selfie-taker, I’d love to know: Where are your unexpected spots for creating lovely photo moments??

XO,

Emily