Anonymous asked: What do you usually bring on your bag?

Well there’s the boring stuff that I always bring; cellphone, wallet, keys. I almost always have a big pair of headphones with me so I can tune out all of the subway noise. Also, lipstick, sunglasses, and usually a bunch of starburst candy wrappers that always end up in the bottom of my purse.

i----i asked: Hello Elle! I am so in love with everything you do, especially your photography. As an inspiring photographer, I know it's also important to be able to edit pictures WELL. I have a bit of trouble with this part. I do have photoshop, and I often play with curves and colour balance, but I am always scared my editing looks too unnatural or weird. I also have trouble recreating what I do on different pictures (for seamless editing). Would you have any suggestions? Thanks!

Thank you ♥ I really recommend watching tutorials on youtube to learn more about advanced editing techniques. If you watch the “you suck at photoshop” videos, they start out super basic and get more complex as the series goes on, and there is a lot of useful information. Practice as much as you can, and with curves don’t be afraid to experiment or try new things. Just make changes in tiny increments. Learning how to use actions will help you recreate anything you did on a previous photo. All of that should be available in tutorial vids online. I hope that helped!

Anonymous asked: Is that all your own hair? Or do you wear extensions? Because it is impressive

Thanks! It’s all my own hair, I’ve never had extensions.

Anonymous asked: Do you do your model's hair and makeup for your photo shoots?

Sometimes, but usually they do that themselves. If you are a hair stylist, makeup artist, or a clothing stylist/designer living in NYC, send me an email! elleriberaphoto@gmail.com

I could always use the help on shoots.

Anonymous asked: How do you get your bangs to stay so nicely on the side, and not fall in your eyes? :) Your hair is lovely.

Thanks! I just part my hair like that while it’s drying and keep them trimmed so they are slightly above my eye. Though, any time the wind blows from the wrong direction my bangs blow into my eyes and I become instantly blind. 

Anonymous asked: Are you still friends with Jessie? I saw her on the street the other day, not to sound creepy. Just recognized her friend your photos :)

Yes of course! :) We just spoke yesterday actually and we’re planning on getting together soon and doing some photo shoots again.

Anonymous asked: do you think only skinny, tall and pretty girls make it big in NY like you?

There are far more successful people than me and appearance has nothing to do with it. Also, I’m only 5’5”. I have yet to make it big in NY. I am about to graduate school, I’m almost $100,000 in debt, and I am unemployed. So to answer your question, no.

Anonymous asked: Hi there Elle! I was just wondering, when did you first start getting into photography? Also, did you get into fashion photography straight away or was it something that happened later?

I started getting into photography my freshman year of college. I was dating someone at the time who was a photographer so we spent a lot of time in the darkroom and I became really interested in the whole process. The summer after that I changed my major to photography, and then I shot a lot of conceptual self portraits, which weren’t really fashion related, but a few months later I discovered lookbook.nu and decided to try taking photos of my outfits for the site. That’s when I became interested in fashion photography and then started working with models and shooting for brands.

Anonymous asked: wait, there's shampoo that turns your hair a light purple? Where can I find this?

It’s meant to tone brassiness out of blonde hair; the purple tones cancel out the yellow tones making blonde hair more white, but if you leave it in for a while it can make your hair slightly lilac. I use Clairol Shimmer Lights :) I think you can find it at most beauty supply stores.

Anonymous asked: you're losing followers and you never answer questions and i used to love u but u just dont care about fans GOODBYE

okay sorry bye. when I first started this blog I was 19 years old and had lots of free time and now I’m 22 and I have all of these grown up responsibilities. I graduate from school next week so I’ve been pretty busy working on my senior thesis and I haven’t had as much time to blog lately, but after next week I should be back to posting as usual. 

Anonymous asked: When you used the purple shampoo once, and it gave your hair a bit of a purple tinge temporarily, how long did you leave it in for?

I left it in for about 2 hours, but the purple tinge was very faint. I’d recommend leaving it in overnight. I think it will only turn your hair purple if your hair is already white blonde though. I’m going to try this again soon actually :)

Anonymous asked: I wanted that spring festival dress from Again apparel for a while but it's so expensive!! How do you afford such cute clothes?

That’s the first new dress that I’ve gotten in a long time and it was a gift from my mom for my birthday :3 I’m going to be looking for a full time job this summer though and then hopefully I’ll have a bit to spend on clothes, even though most likely it will all be going to pay off my massive amount of student loan debt.

Anonymous asked: do you have a crush on anyone?

I kind of have a big crush on Tony Stone from lookbook.nu, but I have a crush in real life too, so yes.

Anonymous asked: Do you think shyness is a burden?? I'm sick of people saying stuff like 'your really shy..' Or 'why don't you ever talk??' likes its a disease or something

I think shyness is only a burden if it stops you from doing things you really want to do. I’ve been too shy in the past to stand up for myself or to talk to people who could be really helpful to my career, so being shy has been a bit of a burden for me at times. Being a quiet person isn’t a bad thing, and only speaking when you have something really important or interesting to say makes whatever you say get taken a bit more seriously than if you talk non stop all the time. As long as your shyness isn’t getting in the way of your life I’d say to not mind what people say. 

sleepinginonsunday asked: how high are the heels on the boots you sprayed? x

4.5 or 5 inches I think.