Cards from MOO

 Cards from Vistaprint

 Left: Moo // Right: Vistaprint

From a design perspective, I chose to upload my own business card design onto both platforms and found both uploaders just as easily to use and navigate, although Moo had a prettier looking interface. I placed both orders on the same day and received the Vistaprint order a whole week earlier than Moo.

Moo uses a thicker cardstock, it’s more durable and bends less easily. Although both have a matte finishing, the cards from Vistaprint looks more pure white compared to Vistaprint’s more creamy tone. If you examine closely, the lines on Moo cards also didn’t print with a crisp finish - you can see specs of “noise” around the text. The colors from Moo are deeper and stronger - the tones did show through richer than Vistaprint.

While I like the deeper colors from Moo cards, my current business card design looks just fine on the Vistaprint cards. If I were printing large images on bigger promos like postcards and only needed to order a smaller volume of promos, I will definitely consider Moo. But with faster shipping, overall fine quality printing, and very affordable price for large volumes, I’m convinced that Vistaprint is a better return for my business cards.

Lately I’ve been photographing a lot of food stories, including my most recent visit to the Toronto Underground Market. Food is an important and integral aspect of traveling - it is a window into culture, it brings friends and family together, it can improve a bad travel day. To help travel bloggers capture great photos of food that looks just as great as the dishes taste, here is a beginner’s guide to food photography for travel bloggers.

The first rule of thumb in food photography is to avoid using your on-camera flash if at all possible. Unless you’re a pro with strobes, the best source of light for illuminating food is natural light. If you’re photographing outside during daylight, find some soft shade and you’re golden. If you’re visiting a restaurant, request a table by the window.

Styling: minimize clutter

Food styling is no easy feat considering it’s its own profession, but you can also manage some basic styling when photographing food on the road. First you want to make sure that the arrangement of the food itself looks appealing and appetizing. Then check everything else. Does the tablecloth look particularly drab? Can you put the food on a differently shaped plate? Should you add a spoon - or take one away? All of these details help set the mood of the photograph. Remember that keeping the image simple and clean is never a bad option, it helps the camera focus on the subject.

Angle: get moving

There are two basic angles that’s my go to: the bird’s eye view and the close up. For the bird’s eye view, I stand on a chair and shoot straight down onto the food. When that’s not possible, I get the shot by standing up and positioning myself directly over the food. For the close up, I get right into the details, focusing on a particular element of the food that I really want to highlight. In contrast to the bird’s eye, the close up requires you to get low and close to the food.

Flash: don’t do it

I already said this but let me underscore it once more: please please please do not use flash in your food pictures. This is one of the most repeated mistakes I see bloggers make. The harsh light from on-camera flash make the food look flat and lifeless. It almost never results in an appetizing image.

I attended a weekend affair at the Toronto Underground Market this past Saturday. The Underground Market is a celebration of diverse cuisine and budding food entrepreneurs in Toronto. This community marketplace took place at the Evergreen Brickworks - the weather couldn't have been better, everyone was hangout out at the patios by the outdoor garden. My favorite story from the Market was the Thistletown Culinary Institue, whose high school chefs were selling meals to raise money for a school trip to Spain in 2015. My favorite vendor was Little Tomato Catering company who served quail and duck egg sandwiches - delicious goodness.

London was a fine city, but it was really the English countryside and the rest of the UK that won my heart. Let me count the ways...

Among Oxford Scholars - A few hours north of the London metropolitan hub is the Oxford University, full of would-be intellectuals. I loved the laid-back university town, completely hidden away from the sprawl of a big English city. I spent hours in the park, on Oxford campus, and by the canal. I wondered what my university would've been like if I were a student there. The possibilities.

24 Hours in Liverpool - My time in Liverpool was limited but just enough time to soak in enough Beatles for the rest of my time in the UK. Liverpool was more quiet - and smaller - than I had realized. I  couldn't really understand the English accent that came from this part of England but I found it endearing nonetheless.



Edinburgh In A Day - I felt like I struck gold in Scotland. Edinburgh felt particularly medieval to me. In the rain, the golden mile felt authentically Scottish to me. My hostel was attached to a popular bar and served great whisky. I searched for the Loche Nesse monster up north - but no luck. Although I was there alone, I became friends with another girl staying in my dorm room. It was a great start to my adventures through the rest of the UK.

Discovering Belfast - The good times kept rolling after Edinburgh. I flew directly to Belfast to get a taste of Northern Ireland. I brushed up on the history of the titanic, learned all about the Catholic and Protestant conflicts, and shut down a few Irish pubs in town. The best part was getting a private tour of the coast from the owner of the hostel, and witnessing a lovely sunset.

Giant's Causeway - Seeing the Giant's Causeway is a must if you're ever in Northern Ireland. I encountered crazy weather that day but somehow, by the time my tour bus pulled up to the Causeway stop, the sun had come out and given me gorgeous light to photograph in. The coastal trip was lined with gorgeous scenery and quaint fishing towns, and of course, standing at the historic footsteps of a supposed Giant was pretty amazing too.



Driving Across Wales  - I'm pretty convinced that a road trip makes everything better, and so off I went to Wales. I don't think there was anything particularly special that I saw Wales that I couldn't find in the rest of the UK, but driving 3 days across the UK made me feel close to the piece of land. I had now scene the United Kingdom from coast to coast, and I felt closer to this continent.

7 Miles in Wales Snowdonia National Park - The road trip filled me with an inexplicable urge - I wanted to become a part of the land. The only way I knew how to do that was to spend a lot of time in it. So began a 6 hour hike through Snowdonia National Park. Led by 2 local guides and armed with a small day pack, my camera gear and a basic survival kit, I took off not knowing what to expect. Across miles with no sign of human life, through backyards and private farmlands which was also part of the national park, I came to a poignant moment in my life - the first time I realized how much I liked the country.