Photography Tips from Instagram Babe @lyssielooloo

We recently caught up with one of our favourite Hawaiian babes, Alyssa Shreeve, who's built a massive following online (@lyssielooloo) and takes the most amazing photos! So we just had to ask her for her top tips when it comes to photography.

Tell us a bit about yourself.

Well hello there!

I'm Alyssa. I'm from Idaho but I'm based out of the beautiful island of Oahu! I absolutely love exploring the world and meeting new people.

When I'm not snapping pics or filming,  I'm probably falling on my skateboard, reading in a comfy bed or eating frozen yogurt.

Hawaii must be an amazing place to live, what do you love most about living here?

It truly is! The most amazing thing about living there to me is being able to surf during the day and then skate during the sunset and eat yummy food in between (-: Exercising is so hard for me if I’m not having fun, so surfing and skating are perfect for getting me in shape while having a blast!

Tell us a bit about how you got into modelling and photography.

I never really had aspirations of becoming a model until some of my photographer friends were hitting me up to do little projects with them. I started posting the photos from these little projects and then businesses starting reaching out to me asking me what my rates were and I was honestly like WOW YOU CAN GET PAID TO DO THIS?

The companies I worked with in the beginning are people I still work with, and they are absolutely amazing! I guess ,y passion for photography came when I started modelling. I would see the pictures and be like OH YES, this is magical. I want to be able to create something like this too. So I bought a camera and practiced, practiced, practiced.

What camera do you use?

I use a canon 6d for photography and a Panasonic GH5 for filming! 

What are your top 5 photography tips?

1. Take photos of everything! Then go through them, get a feel for what you like and in which style you like to edit them.

2. Make lots of mistakes, then learn from them. It took me a solid 2 years for me to understand what kind of style and lighting I liked. I still don’t know, but I am defintely learning.

3. Get to know every part of your camera. There are so many hidden features of my camera that I didn’t know about. I use them every time I shoot now and they really help!

4. Aim for a lower aperature to make photos and portraits really pop! I always use an aperature around 1.4 to 2.0 to try and focus on the subject of the photos.

5. Always straighten the horizon line of your photo when editing

What lighting do you prefer when taking photos and why? 

I used to think that I liked shooting really bright photos, but I have discovered lately that I like shooting the photos a little darker and then editing them brighter, the colors pop more when I do this and the photos seem much easier to edit! You can correct a dark photo, but it’s much harder to correct a photo that is too bright!

What programs/apps do you use to edit your photos?

I use lightroom and made my own presets for editing. Sometimes I will bring the photos to my phone and edit them on VSCO.

How do you edit your photos?

I have my own little presets on Lightroom and almost always work with the hue, saturation and luminescence of the colors first before anything else. I desaturate all blues, green and yellows, then I usually increase their saturation.

What do you use to edit your videos?

I use Finalcut for editing my videos! It works great because with Finalcut, I can use my color presets from Lightroom so that my photos and videos have a similar look. I mostly always edit all clips in my videos to be slo-mo, it adds a more emotional and dramatic effect.

You have so many amazing photos in so many different destinations. What are some of your favourite places that you have been to?

I think one of my absolute favorite places to go was Ibiza! Just walking down the little, all-white corridors was a dream for me. Another favorite is definitely Kauai, that little island is insane! It’s seriously incredible how beautiful everything is there.

Tell us something most people don’t know about you.

I went to a “nerd school” in high school, and there were about 60 people in my graduating class. We took a program called International Baccalaureate, an international system based on developing intellectual, emotional, personal and social skills. It was seriously one of the hardest things I’ve ever accomplished, but it was so worth it!  I also can lick my elbow!

What is something you are passionate about/loving at the moment?

Man oh man, I have been so into reading lately. Specifically books on spiritual awakening and self-realization. I was never one to be into this kind of topic beforehand, but once I opened myself up to it, I found I really liked it! It definitely helps me overcome the adversities in my life. Lately, mediation has been really important to me as well. It helps me to calm down and stay grounded in my day to day life.

Do you have any tips or messages for girls aspiring to make their dreams come true?

Just start working on it, right now! The simple act of working on something, even if you don’t know where to start or what to do, will eventually allow you to have greater insight on how to make it happen. We don’t always do something because we are motivated, we are motivated because we do something! So go start doing something for your dream, the answers will follow.

All photos by Alyssa. Alyssa wears our Blushing velvet bikini and our Isla bikini top and Isabella bottoms - Shop them here.

To see more from Alyssa, find her on Instagram @lyssielooloo

For more Q&As, read our interview with Cali Beach Babe @_gypseaa