For those of you who missed out on the Notting Hill Carnival this year, you missed out on an absolute corker! There was the odd bit of trouble, drunken behaviour and an alarming number of butt cheeks on display - and I don't mean the performers. That said, the sun came out, the food was good and the music and performers had most people dancing until the end. Luckily for me and my crew (can I carry that off?) I went along on the Sunday - whence some pretty sparkly, rain free pictures. Yes, we missed out on a few feathered headdresses and sequinned bikinis, but we were also able to forego the plastic rain ponchos too.
I knew the day would be pretty intense. Striking the balance between getting good blog content and having a great time is is not always easy. Here are a few #bloggertools and #bloggertips I put in place...
1. Safety - I made sure I synced my phone with Dropbox so every photo went straight into a cloud. This meant my carnival shots were filed separately and were easy to download later. Also, I have had my phone stolen before, what hurt the most was the loss of my photos and videos (I cried). You can sync your phone using an app. I used If This Then That (IFTTT). This particular app uses 'recipes' to trigger actions on your phone.
2. Equipment - I loved my iphone, but I have since got the LG 3G which has a kick ass camera and the screen is bigger so easier to use. I saw a few pro photographers with huge cameras and equally large lenses at the carnival, they were obviously working and looked extremely uncomfortable lumbering along with backpacks. That said, I could also tell who the bloggers were, they were the ones getting into strange positions, laying on the floor and using extendable selfie sticks to get the best camera phone snaps for their blogs!
3. Clothing - I almost wore heels...am I mad? Luckily I decided to give them a miss. The plan was to bring along some foldable flats that I had found on Ebay but seriously, changing shoes mid-carnival and then having to lug them around is no way to spend your time. I ended up wearing snakeskin sandals which I picked up from H&M for under £20...I also brought along a poncho but found I didn't need it. *smugface*
That's pretty much it. Got any blogger tools and tips of your own to share?
All photos: Kiesha Meikle