After many years of editing and practicing, I’m finally in a place where I feel comfortable in sharing this aspect of my work and sharing with you how I edit my photos with presets for the blog & social media. I’ve tried different editing styles to best represent my brand, but just like with everything else in life, styles and practices evolve over time.

During the past year, I think my photography style changed the most dramatically as I explored new styles without hesitation. The result has been a set of presets that I find myself using on the regular, and that through the months you, my audience, responded really well to. You asked me about the apps that I used, specific filters, my camera gear, camera settings, and more.

So here’s my secret sauce! App? Lightroom. Filter? No, PRESETS. It seemed like Iceland gave me the push that I needed to finalize my preset collection. After editing my trip photos, I realized that many of the edits worked for photos taken in Puerto Rico as well. Therefore, inspired by home and Iceland, I created 10 presets of all vibes, colors, and aesthetics! I use all of these on a regular basis and are meant to be used in food, lifestyle, and landscape photography. I am confident that you can use them too!

I’m so excited to share my presets with the world and hope these presets allow you to also create content that inspires you!

Ps. To celebrate the launch of the collection, I’m having it at 10%OFF for today and tomorrow (10.02.21-10.03.21).

[Scroll to the end to see more details and examples.]

Details

Veggiejeva’s DESKTOP Presets Collection VOL. 1

It’s time to take your content to the next level with professional Lightroom Presets designed by me, Karla-Veggiejeva. I’m so excited to share with you how I edit my photos for the blog and social media! Here are 10 DESKTOP Presets of all vibes, colors, and aesthetics, that I use on a regular basis, and are meant to be used both in food and in lifestyle photography.

Here’s my secret sauce!

$25

Shop now

Veggiejeva’s MOBILE Presets Collection VOL. 1

It’s time to take your content to the next level with professional Lightroom Presets designed by me, Karla-Veggiejeva. I’m so excited to share with you how I edit my photos for the blog and social media! Here are 10 MOBILE Presets of all vibes, colors, and aesthetics, that I use on a regular basis, and are meant to be used both in food and in lifestyle photography.

Here’s my secret sauce!

$25

Shop now

Examples

See examples for all 10 presets here.

If you found this post helpful, let me know in the comments below. And share it with your friends and family on social media; don’t forget to tag me @veggiejeva! If you have any questions, feel free to leave it in the comments!

All images & content are protected. Please do not use my images or content prior to permission. If you want to republish this blog post, please link back to this post. Thank you for supporting VeggieJeva!

The post INTRODUCING: VeggieJeva’s Presets Collection VOL. 1 appeared first on VeggieJeva.

And just like that, it’s November! This is so surreal to me, but at the same time it’s kind of exciting because here in Puerto Rico Christmas starts today Yup, you read that right; it starts today, and it lasts all the way up until mid-January. It’s truly the most wonderful time of the year (even with a pandemic). 

Here’s the November 2020 calendar with some of the seasonal produce that you’ll be able to find at grocery stores. Hopefully this calendar printable can help you organize your schedule, and make the most of your time & money when it comes to buying produce! 

You can download it for FREE by clicking on this link: VeggieJeva- November 2020 Printable Calendar

Also, HAPPY WORLD VEGAN DAY! Last August I celebrated my 3rd vegan anniversary, and I can honestly say that it’s been the best decision I’ve made in my life Here’s a bonus freebie for you to celebrate all month!

Download FREE phone wallpaper here: VeggieJeva- Eat More Plants! Wallpaper

Here are more freebies for you!

• The Future is Vegan- FREE Wallpapers
• FREE Recipe Cards
• FREE Weekly Meal Planner

Did you enjoy this post? When you leave feedback it helps me improve and grow, leave me a comment below.

If you have Pinterest, you can find me here and Pin the following picture, if you like.

All images & content are protected. Please do not use my images or content prior to permission. If you want to republish this blog post, please link back to this post. Thank you for supporting VeggieJeva!

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I may make a small commission if you decide to purchase something through one of my links. It’s important to mention that I will never recommend anything that I don’t use myself or strongly believe in. Don’t worry, you get the same price! This will help pay for web hosting, email delivery, domain registration, and other various fees that help keep VeggieJeva operational. I appreciate your support!

The post November 2020 FREE Printable Calendar (with bonus) appeared first on VeggieJeva.

It’s no secret that I love photography, food and landscape. Here’s sort of a photo essay, to celebrate photography day, explaining my journey through photography and videography.

Ever since I can remember, I’ve carried a camera with me.

Even though no one in my family is a professional photographer, I’ve always been surrounded by cameras; from the film cameras, my grandfather used in Vietnam, to the classic polaroid, to those kodak disposable cameras.

Photo: Somewhere 3 hours out of Cusco, 37° F.

Three digital cameras later came the iPhone, and the need for a real camera sort of dissipated. However, taking photos with my phone is what started moving me towards learning more about photography.

Through the years, I fell in love with photography, specifically landscape & food, and blogging has played a huge role in that. When I started VeggieJeva, I was taking photos and editing them with an iPhone 6 (yikes). ⁠⠀

Eventually, I decided to invest in a DSLR with a basic kit lens (2018). Nothing fancy, just a crop camera (Canon EOS Rebel SL2) that came in a Costco bundle with a bag, card and 2 starter lenses (70mm & 35mm). Then I learned about different shooting formats and got a better lens for food photography (50mm f.4).

After that I learned how to edit in Lightroom, make videos, and create stop-motion. Even though the camera that I have is a crop camera, I’ve still have gotten amazing pictures (landscapes, food, product, etc) and video footage. All of those things got me to where I am today, and there’s still so much to learn. ⁠⠀

Photo: Vegan Meatballs

Right now I’m still using the camera I bought back in 2018. So if you’re at the beginning right now, know that you can learn and grow at your own pace.

Happy International Photography Day⁠⠀

The post International Photography Day appeared first on VeggieJeva.

It’s that time of month where I share with you the monthly printable calendar! Download the August 2020 calendar and the Leo Season wallpapers for free.

It’s officially my favorite month of the year: AUGUST. A.k.a MY BIRTHDAY MONTH and Leo Season!!!!

This means that this month’s calendar post is extra special, because it comes with extra goodies. Here you’ll find the August 2020 calendar with some of the seasonal produce that you’ll be able to find at grocery stores. As well as the VeggieJeva Leo Season Wallpaper Collection.

Hopefully this calendar printable can help you organize your schedule, and make the most of your time & money when it comes to buying produce! And I really hope that my Leo babies can enjoy these awesome wallpapers too. 

You can download the calendar for FREE by clicking this link: August 2020 Printable Calendar

Leo Season Phone Wallpapers:

• Leo Season Phone Wallpaper 1
• Leo Season Phone Wallpaper 2
• Leo Season Phone Wallpaper 3
• Leo Season Phone Wallpaper 4

Leo Season Desktop Wallpapers:

• Leo Season Desktop Wallpaper 1
• Leo Season Desktop Wallpaper 2
• Leo Season Desktop Wallpaper 3
• Leo Season Desktop Wallpaper 4

Here are more freebies for you!

• The Future is Vegan- FREE Wallpapers
• FREE Recipe Cards
• FREE Weekly Meal Planner

Did you enjoy this post? When you leave feedback it helps me improve and grow, leave me a comment below.

If you have Pinterest, you can find me here and Pin the following picture, if you like.

All images & content are protected. Please do not use my images or content prior to permission. If you want to republish this blog post, please link back to this post. Thank you for supporting VeggieJeva!

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I may make a small commission if you decide to purchase something through one of my links. It’s important to mention that I will never recommend anything that I don’t use myself or strongly believe in. Don’t worry, you get the same price! This will help pay for web hosting, email delivery, domain registration, and other various fees that help keep VeggieJeva operational. I appreciate your support!

The post August 2020 Printable Calendar & Leo Season Wallpapers [FREEBIES] appeared first on VeggieJeva.

It’s freebie time! Let’s continue to celebrate VeggieJeva’s 3-year Blogiversary with some free wallpapers.  

Happy to launch the first free wallpapers series called The Future is Vegan, designed by me for you. Thank you because it has been 3 years since I started this adventure and it has been one of the best things that has happened to me. I’ve learned so much, met amazing people, and created a community that I would not change for anything in the world. 

I hope you like them and use them in your computer and phone, if so share with me the pictures of your desktops by tagging me on your posts and/or stories, it would make me super happy! 

To download them just click on the links below with the name of the wallpaper and it will automatically download to your computer.

Phone Wallpapers

The Future is Vegan Phone Wallpaper 1, download here

The Future is Vegan Phone Wallpaper 2, download here

The Future is Vegan Phone Wallpaper 3, download here

Desktop Wallpapers

The Future is Vegan Desktop Wallpaper 1, download here

The Future is Vegan Desktop Wallpaper 2, download here

The Future is Vegan Desktop Wallpaper 3, download here

A big hug If you use them remember to share your photos and tag me so I can see them.

Did you enjoy this post? When you leave feedback it helps me improve and grow, leave me a comment below.

If you have Pinterest, you can find me here and Pin the following picture, if you like!

All images & content are protected. Please do not use my images or content prior to permission. If you want to republish this blog post, please link back to this post. Thank you for supporting VeggieJeva!

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I may make a small commission if you decide to purchase something through one of my links. It’s important to mention that I will never recommend anything that I don’t use myself or strongly believe in. Don’t worry, you get the same price! This will help pay for web hosting, email delivery, domain registration, and other various fees that help keep VeggieJeva operational. I appreciate your support!

The post The Future is Vegan- FREE Wallpapers appeared first on VeggieJeva.

I’m adding VeggieJeva’s year 3 to Tom Haverford’s dunzo list (I love Parks &Rec). But before I do that, I’d like to show you the top blog posts, from those years. From recipes to lifestyle posts to educational posts, I covered a lot of topics these past 3 years. And reflecting on it all, it seems like those posts came with a lot of opportunities: meeting new people, learning new skills, lots of creativity and amazing collaborations.

Maybe you’re new and are learning what VeggieJeva is about today, maybe you missed a couple of posts through the years, or maybe you’ve been here since the very beginning. That’s why I decided to do a wrap up: to give you a quick recap of what’s been happening on this blog.

Let’s get started! These are VeggieJeva’s top blog posts:

1. Vegan Traditional Coquito

Coquito is a creamy coconut milk beverage that’s made especially for the holidays in Puerto Rico. The whole essence of this drink is coconut and rum, making this rich & creamy, with hints of vanilla and cinnamon. Let’s just say the Puerto Rican Holidays aren’t the Holidays without a glass of cold coquito.

Vegan | Soy-free | Gluten-free

2. Vegan Cookie Dough Cheesecake

Vegan Cookie Dough Cheesecake has a tangy-sweet cheesecake filling made from cashews, dotted with chocolate chip cookie dough bites and a walnut & cookie dough-based crust. This vegan no-bake cookie dough cheesecake is the perfect vegan dessert. 

Vegan | Gluten-free | Soy-free

3. Vegan Meatballs

Vegan Meatballs made with real food & full of flavors! They also bake up perfectly and won’t fall apart. You can have them on their own as a snack, or with some pasta for a quick dinner. They’re really easy to make, delicious & incredibly healthy!

Vegan | Gluten-free | Soy-free

4. Vegan Mozzarella Sticks

Yeah, you heard (read?) me right. Vegan. Mozzarella. Sticks. Can you tell I am really excited? They were surprisingly easy to make and you can either deep fry them or bake them. But how? A good mozzarella stick starts with the cheese…

5. Vegan Sandwiches de Mezcla

The vegan version of Sandwichitos de Mezcla, which are the most famous Puerto Rican finger food ever! VeggieJeva’s version on this classic appetizer is clean, healthy & just as addictive as the original recipe. With ingredients like white beans, cashews, and red bell peppers, who’s not gonna love them?

Vegan | Gluten-free | Soy-free

6. Vegan Bacalaitos

Bacalaítos are a super popular staple in Puerto Rico. You can find stands of them all over the island, from weekend gatherings to roadside kiosks and street fairs.

Vegan | Soy-free

7. Vegan Chicharrones de Pollo

Here’s another Veganized Puerto Rican for you: Vegan Chicharrones de Pollo. Jackfruit marinated in a savory seasoning, and coated with protein-rich batter, resulting in a crispy golden perfection.

Vegan | Gluten-free | Soy-free

8. Vegan French Onion Soup

Easy & comforting Vegan French Onion Soup, with perfectly caramelized onions, flavorful broth, toasted bread, and the creamy vegan mozzarella. 

Vegan | Soy-free

9. Jackfruit “Pernil”

The crispy, juicy pernil-style jackfruit, slowly roasted until tender. Seasoned with garlic, herbs & spices for a traditional Puerto Rican pernil flavor.

Vegan | Gluten-free | Soy-free

10. Veganized Puerto Rican: Holiday Edition -FREE EBOOK

Veganized Puerto Rican: Holiday Edition- A FREE Compilation of VeggieJeva’s Best Holiday Recipes

What do you think? Have you tried any of these top blog posts? Let me know in the comments!

If you have Pinterest, you can find me here and Pin the following picture, if you like!

All images & content are protected. Please do not use my images or content prior to permission. If you want to republish this blog post, please link back to this post. Thank you for supporting VeggieJeva!

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I may make a small commission if you decide to purchase something through one of my links. It’s important to mention that I will never recommend anything that I don’t use myself or strongly believe in. Don’t worry, you get the same price! This will help pay for web hosting, email delivery, domain registration, and other various fees that help keep VeggieJeva operational. I appreciate your support!

The post 3-year Blogiversary Top Blog Posts appeared first on VeggieJeva.

I can’t believe that it’s been 3 years already Learn about how VeggieJeva started on today’s new blog post. And make sure to check-in every day this week; expect freebies, recipes, a new blog segment, etc.

Today is an exciting day for me, it’s the 3-year blogiversary of The VeggieJeva Blog! I can’t stop saying it: 3-year blogiversary!!! It’s been an incredible journey, and I’m thrilled to say that these years have been both amazing & challenging; personally and professionally. 

I’m also grateful to you for your support over the last 3 years. I couldn’t have gotten to where I am without you, so thank you for all your encouragement, comments, likes, shares, and more. We’re going to celebrate this 3-year blogiversary all week long, so make sure to check back in everyday this week. I also have an exciting new segment, launching this week.

But before I talk more about the segment, let’s talk about how the blog started. At the beginning, I never expected it would be anything more than a hobby. Even though the blog was published in 2017, VeggieJeva started way before. 

Here is how the journey began for me:

It was 2015, I was a college junior in UPR Cayey sharing my day to day life on Snapchat. Keep in mind that for the most part, Snapchat wasn’t really that popular here yet, especially the stories; most people kept that platform to close friends, and I was one of those people. However as time went by, I started getting involved in different college activities, hence making more friends and having more people on Snapchat.

One of the things that I shared on that platform besides campus life & nature outings, were photos of the vegetarian food that I made. Every time I shared a photo or a video of me cooking, I would receive tons of messages asking for the recipes; and I would share the recipes, I would even send them messages/videos with step-by-step instructions because I wanted people to understand that not eating animals wasn’t hard. And that was it… for a while.

As time went by, I started contemplating doing something more; a blog. I mean, why not? I already had the experience from a previous one. But I never really found the time/energy to plan the blog during 2015-2016, mostly because I wanted to do it right and with a certain quality that was kind of hard to achieve with my at-the-time living situation. My friends encouraged me on a regular basis, and even helped me pick out a name. However, in my mind it just wasn’t the right time; but the thought of creating a food blog always stayed in the back of my head.

Now, fast forward to the beginning of 2017, it was my last semester as a senior, and I was vice-president of my graduating class. My Snapchat account had reached close to 2k followers mostly from college, some friends of friends; at the time, that seemed like a lot. And for months the idea of the blog was haunting me, so I decided that I would create the blog and go vegan as soon as I graduated.

Little did I know, that in April of 2017, a 60-day long student and faculty protest would break out at our university system. Students were led by Movimiento Estudiantil, and I had been working with the organization from my campus for months before; so when the protest broke out, I offered to run the marketing aspects & social media accounts. Students and faculty took campus 24/7, we would do everything there: sleep, have meetings, conferences, interviews, and most relevant, eat. The first day of protests, we received TONS of food donations, and the people in charge of kitchen duties made sure there was food that everyone could eat. Everyday the main meal was VEGAN, and that’s how I went from being a vegetarian to being a vegetarian with vegan tendencies. 

Now, since I was running social media and creating content for the movement, that meant I was on my computer ALL THE TIME. By the beginning of May 2017, I was convinced that the blog was the way to go, but I would put no pressure on myself. So I started designing the logo, playing around with Canva, researching how the food blogging world was working, setting up a wordpress/social media account and went against my better judgement by taking the food photos with my iPhone (yikes ). 

And so, on May 25th of 2017, the first post went live, and by July I was completely vegan.

Quick recap to celebrate the 3-year blogiversary

Before September 2017, it seemed so easy to sit down and write off a post about something that I cooked or ate at a restaurant, and share it with you. These past 3 years have passed with some MAYOR roadblocks, but I still managed to create and publish a lot of content. I can’t believe that since then I’ve now published almost 200 posts, collaborated with different brands and get to celebrate a 3-year blogiversary! 

With all that being said, to thank you there’s going to be a new blog post everyday this week! Expect freebies, recipes, blog recaps and the new blog segment: Quick Recipes. This segment starts as soon as tomorrow!

Thank you to all of my readers.

To those of you that are new, welcome, and I hope you’ll stick around and try some amazing vegan recipes!

To all of you who’ve been here since the beginning, thank you for checking in every week for new posts; also for liking, sharing, and commenting. I have enjoyed getting to know you virtually, and hope we can meet at some point in real life.

To all of my real-life friends and family, vegan or not, that have been supporting me from day one, thank you. Your willingness to share my blog to others has been encouraging to me. 

To the friends that I’ve made in the blogging community, thank you for welcoming me in, for sharing my content with your readers, and giving me tips along the way. 

I appreciate your feedback. To celebrate the 3-year blogiversary, in the comments below, please tell me your favorite recipe from my site or one you’d like me to work on!

Cheers!

Did you enjoy this post? When you leave feedback it helps me improve and grow, leave me a comment below.

All images & content are protected. Please do not use my images or content prior to permission. If you want to republish this blog post, please link back to this post. Thank you for supporting VeggieJeva!

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I may make a small commission if you decide to purchase something through one of my links. It’s important to mention that I will never recommend anything that I don’t use myself or strongly believe in. Don’t worry, you get the same price! This will help pay for web hosting, email delivery, domain registration, and other various fees that help keep VeggieJeva operational. I appreciate your support!

The post 3-year Blogiversary of VeggieJeva appeared first on VeggieJeva.

Let’s start this month off with a

I know sometimes the process of making food it can be difficult. People often ask me how I meal plan for the entire week? And most importantly, how I’ve been doing this for almost 2 years? If there’s something I’ve learned through grad school, is that meal planning & prepping is a 1. timesaver, and 2. money saver. This helps you stay on track at the grocery store and takes the stress out of cooking during the week. Just pick one day of the week to meal prep, usually Sunday’s, and cook everything for the week breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks & desserts, on that day. I may sound like a lot, but trust me, once you get used to it, it’ll be worth it.

With a little help of this weekly planner, you’ll be able to prepare amazing meals for the whole week. This document is meant to be printed on an 8.5″x11″ standard sheet of paper, and designed simply to make it easy to print without using a lot of ink.

Also, I thought that this was perfect for this month’s theme, Developing Healthy Habits! Stay tuned, for more of this

What’s included? Mini weekly calendar, grocery list, and space for notes.

FREE Download here: Weekly Meal Planner

The post FREE Weekly Meal Planner appeared first on VeggieJeva.