Photography Notes: Pictures Taking 1

So today I'm continuing with my little series of photography. Next week was supposed to be photo editing, but I think I'll make it part II of picture taking.  This week will be about lighting and next week will be about layout.

So Lighting.  Lighting is a pretty big deal, of course.  Without good lighting you won't have a good picture.  My first essential advice is Turn Off Your Flash.  Even if you have a point and shoot.  Once you do this you will find you like your pictures better immediately.   I almost never ever use my flash unless I'm in a very dark place and want to document something family-wise just for memory's sake.
 

Now if you don't have a flash you need a light source from somewhere.  

Of course you can go outside, which I often do. 
 

 For really lovely lighting I take pictures an hour about an hour before sunset.  This the time I've done all my photo sessions for Everyday Photography.

 

 Except for this session, which I did about midday.  Midday light can easily be too intense and cause harsh lighting and shadows on the face, but we took all of these under the shade of a tree. 

 

 But then, we can't take all our photos outside. Memories are being made indoors all the time! So we need to make the most of the natural sunlight we get inside of our home.  No lamps, in my opinion, as they will make your pictures unnaturally yellow.

Start by observing what time of day you get the best light in every room in your home. 

Once you know this you can plan picture-taking around this. 

For example, I know I get good light late morning from my South-facing windows.  So I when we made cookies together, I had us do it late-morning around our table, scooted close to the window. 

I planned a tea party near the South facing windows in our Sunroom.

 Because, my kitchen counters are mostly in the shadows, I often take my food pictures out near these South-facing windows as well.  Are you shocked?

 I also love the Northern Light.  I don't have big windows, so I open my front door like I did here to brighten this indoor photo of my front entry.

In this photo I put the chair right next to our open front door.

Wide open front door for this picture too.

I don't have any West or East facing windows, but this was taking at a client's home with the bench pulled up close to their large West facing window about an hour before sunset. 

I hope this is somewhat helpful!   Feel free to leave a question in the comments and I'll try my best to answer.  

Next Wednesday I'll share some layout tips to make your pictures more dynamic and visually pleasing.  Until then, I hope you get out your camera {and turn off the flash!}, and capture lots of lovely moments. : )

First Part of this series {HERE}

My Home Paint Colors

Well, it's a Monday.  And while Monday's can feel a bit daunting {i.e. it suddenly feels like I mush have twiddled my thumbs all of last week, the to-do list is a so long}, I'm trying to focus on the fact that it's a Fresh Start at a brand new week - another chance to do well and be cheerful while I'm at it.  So here's to a fresh 24 hours - all the time we need to do everything that's truly important.

I hope to share more about the truly important later this week esp. as it can be defined in a Family Purpose Statement, something Tsh in her book Simply Organized strongly encourages and helpfully walks you through.

In the meantime, I've been getting questions about the paint colors in my home and thought I'd just put them all together in one place.  I'm pretty passionate about finding just the right color and have been known to try dozens of paint samples and even repaint a room three times  - this was before babies ;).

First, the Front Closet.   I painted this Valpar's Old Gold and used Churchhill Hotel Hazy Yellow for the stencil.

And I used Valspar's Churchhill Hotel Hazy Yellow for the stencil. 

Valspar's Churchhill Hotel Hazy Yellow is also in the Entryway and Living Room Walls.

Just a nice mellow yellow. 

 

The Kitchen is also Valspar's Churchhill Hazy Yellow.  The Table is Fish Story in High Gloss.

 

One darker shade of yellow on the same color swatch as Churchhill's Yellow is this Oatlands Gold Buff in our Living Room.  It is a great yellow - not too buttery and not too mustardy.  If I go yellow again in our new home, I'll use this again. 

My Yellow Bed is Valspar's Golden Yellow.  The wall color is Toasting Tan.

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Toasting Tan is also the color in our Master Bedroom. 

Finally, the nursery is Olympic's Fairy Dust.  Pinks are really hard to get right, I think.  They can so easily go too pastel or too Pepto Bismal, but this one is just perfect.  I will definitely take this color with me to our next home. 

Hope that's helpful, and hope you have a merry, fresh Monday.

{Linking to Bowl Full of Lemons}

Giveaway Winner & Other Ramblings

Good morning!  Well, today I've got a bit of randomness and at the end I'll announce the giveaway winner.  

First off I wanted to show you this cute little alarm clock from LLBean.  I've never ordered a thing from LLBean, but got their catalog in the mail and was immediately smitten - isn't it cute?  It comes in four colors.

As you may know, I set out on a little quest to find a useful and aesthetically pleasing clock for my nightstand last spring and ended up choosing this one from Pottery Barn.  Alas, I must report to you that I am not very happy with it, the problem being that the dots next to the numbers are the only part that light up and if you're far-sighted it's very hard to see what time it is in the middle of the night. Oh Well!  Because I am certainly not acquiring any more things at the moment.  I am PURGING.

 {Purging Proof - yuck}

In support of this cause I have successfully avoided target for a whole month Target.  

This is an accomplishment.   

It seems impossible for me to get out of there without A. spending more than $50 and B. buying some sort of clearance "decorating" item.  Not to mention that it's probably not too soon for me to begin the withdrawal process as the closest Target to our new hometown in Iowa is....50 minutes away.

On a related note, this drawer is on my tackle list for today.  Do I really need a whole drawer of cloth napkins???? Surely not..... Oh dear.  Looking forward to sharing my progress and how I put together with my Master List for our home next week.

In addition to these purging projects, I'm going to be at my desk doing my bookkeeping job.  My sweetheart has kindly offered to watch the kiddos, so I hope to get a lot done.   Wouldn't it be lovely to do bookkeeping in this little office?

 

This one would probably be more maintainable.

 Alright, completely non-practical to do real office work- but so pretty.  I love these colors.

 {Lonny magazine}

Alright, enough day dreaming.  Finally, the winner of the little everyday lovely giveaway - this 2012 Anthropologie calendar/tea towel and my favorite JR Watkins soap.

Result: 82 Powered by RANDOM.ORG

 #82 is Miss Karen H!

Please contact me, Karen, at everydaylovelyblog@gmail.com, and I'll get your teatowel and soap off to your home quick-quick!

Hope you have a very lovely {and pleasantly productive} weekend! : )

Photography Notes: About My Camera

A few of you have asked if I would share a little about my camera and some tips. I'm by no means an expert, but I love my camera and the satisfaction of taking a good picture, so I thought I'd put together a couple posts about photography and post them over the next three Wednesdays. First, about my camera.  Second, photo-taking.  Third, photo-editing.  I hope it will be helpful!

First, let's talk about what's in my camera bag...which is kind-of a joke because I still don't have an actual fancy camera bag.  I just use big Vera Bradly tote and try to pad with something or other - if you have a bag recommendation that would be so great!

This is my camera - a Nikon D90.  I got it a couple years ago - it was a huge investment.  Yikes.  But it seemed like the time to take the plunge when our kids were small, and I hoped to get photography business-wise eventually.  

 

 I decided on Nikon over Canon primarily because was I was completely smitten with The Pioneer Woman at the time and she uses Nikon.  Although she now uses a super fancy, full-frame model, her photography tips work for anyone with a DSLR.  You can find them {HERE}.  Sister got the Canon equivalent of a Nikon D90, I've noticed some minor differences and of course, I prefer mine since I'm more used to it.  However, Canon lenses seem to run less than Nikon ones, so that's a point in favor of Canon.

 Since I started, I've fallen in love with the Ashley Ann's blog.  I love her!  I love everything she does.   She uses a full-frame Canon.  This summer I took her online SnapShop class.  I didn't realize it was quite so beginnerish, but I still got a lot of helpful tips out of it and it would be PERFECT to take you from out-of-the-box-new to using your camera in Manual mode.  Also a good reason to buy Canon as all of her demo pics are of Canons.

If you're not thinking to do a full-on DSLR camera, I've heard the Canon Rebel is really good, giving you some ability to manipulate settings without getting too technical. 

 

  Anyway, I bought my Nikon D90 with the kit lens - an 18-105mm zoom.  It's the lens I consequently learned with, but now I hardly ever use it, mostly because you can't set the aperture very low, so you it's harder to get nice bokeh.  Really the only time I use it is if I want to photograph a whole room in my home like in this example.

 

So about 99% of the pictures you see on this blog were taken with my Nikon 50mm f/1.8D Lens. 

I use it for all the pictures I take of my kiddos and professionally as well as pictures of my home and food. It's a great portrait lens and allows you to get lovely bokeh - love it. 

The best part is that it's relatively cheap compared to other lenses - around $100. 

 

The only thing you have to keep in mind is that since the 50mm is a prime lens - not a zoom - your legs have to do the zooming,  so if you want to get a group pictures, for instance, you have to back way up. 

My next lens will most certainly be this beauty, and 85mm.  I've been saving for awhile an am about ready to take the plunge - so excited.

Let me know if you have any other questions and I'll try my best to answer them. Next Wednesday, I'll share some photo-taking tips.  Hope you have a lovely day!

The Pursuit of a Simple Life: Part 1

Last year I gave myself a challenge to purge 40 areas of my home in 40 days.  Feeling the drain of the clutter and disorder in our home, I set out determined to reclaim one area each day.   It wasn't a bad idea and I certainly made some progress, but I admit that I often was guilty of just rearranging my stuff....instead of actually chucking it.   

 Last October, while I was doing the challenge a second time, I started reading this book, Simply Organized by Tsh Oxenreider.  The book kind of took the wind out of my sails - her words resonated with me, but they showed my present organizing/purging efforts to be pretty lame... pretty superficial.  

Tsh gave me a vision of the Simple Life I craved for our family, and I quickly realized that to have that Simple Life I was going to have to get a lot more serious about my commitment to our family's priories and purging the clutter that was keeping us from living them out. 

"[Simple Living] is about choices - about saying no to the things in your life that aren't the best so that you are free and available to say yes to those things you truly want." Tsh Oxenreider

Since it was October and the holidays were on the horizon, I decided to shelve the book and the project for the fresh new year...which is here!   I've been rereading the chapters and making a game plan, and I. am. so. excited.  

Of course, the timing is especially perfect as we start gearing ourselves up to move this summer.  How wonderful it's going to feel not to haul a bunch of needless stuff with us to Iowa!  Instead I'm determined to take only what we use and truly love.

"You're not a victim.  You allow each item in your home to be there.  Do you love it all?  Do you find it useful or beautiful?" 

Tsh Oxenreider

Good stuff, right?  The whole book is extremely practical and wonderfully inspiring. I'm excited to chronicle my progress here over the next month or so and share what I learn along the way - it would be lovely to do it together! 




{Linking to Life Made Lovely Monday}

New Cheer for the Kitchen - And a Giveaway

{Welcome, friendly readers from Southern Hospitality!}

 Today I want to tell you about a couple new items that are making my kitchen feel very special indeed.

 Sister and I each picked out a set from the lovely variety available at Anthropologie with  unsuppressed glee, and my mum sweetly presented them to us for Christmas. 

For $5 a piece they add so much refreshing fun and color after years of my white Martha Stewart bowls for Kmart.

And I must say soup, cereal...any food for that matter tastes especially good in these little latte bowls.  Most of all I love using them for breakfast for a cheerful start to the day.

Second is this Anthro tea towel...which I gifted to myself. ; ) Having it out does wonders for my enthusiasm to keep a fresh, clean kitchen all. year. long.  Really it almost does. 

I love Ric-rac.

And see how helpfully it doubles as a calender!

So I was thinking you might like a 2012 tea towel/calender with Ric-rac, too?  {promise I'll send you a new towel, not my used wrinkly one} Perhaps some my favorite soap would pair with it nicely?  Time for a little Giveaway. : )

Leave a little comment to be entered.  I'll announce the happy winner next Friday. 

Happy Weekend to you, friend!

 

Just Passing Through

I never expected to feel so settled so early in life.  My family moved over a dozen time during my childhood, so I was somewhat used to transition and change.  But about three years ago we moved back to Colorado, into our present home – a bi-level home built in the 70s.  Not quite the charming old cottage of my dreams, but with a wonderful floor plan that works so well for our family, and a nicer kitchen than I thought I’d ever have in this lifetime.  This home’s real asset, however, is its location – two houses around the corner from my sister, brother-in-law, two nieces and two nephews.  I'm around the corner often three times a day.  It's pretty wonderful.

When we were young, my sister and I would take walks in old neighborhoods and pick out quaint little “starter homes” - and some grander versions too - where we would one day live right next to each other...after we found a charming pair of brothers to marry, of course.
 

****

What do you do when it's time to move on, but you rather feel as if you’ve already reached the promise land?

 

For the past three years, here in this Colorado home, my husband has been working to finish his doctorate.  He’s also been working as an oil/gas well pumper and has been teaching adjunct classes at the local university.   Since he is about to graduate {so proud of him!}, this fall was the time to start applying for jobs.   The job market for English grads is extremely tough....so though he sent out dozens of applications, we both knew it was very unlikely that any of them would come to anything.  He applied just for experience and hoped at most to get a little positive interest here and there.  In my heart of hearts I thought and hoped we would just wait it out here in CO for a local job.

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Any interest wouldn't likely manifest until January, but the last week of November he got an email from a Christian college, followed by a phone call, followed by a phone interview.  And before I knew it, he and I were on a plane to Northern Iowa for a campus interview.

When we left, he was told that they would let him know before Christmas.   I answered the phone our first day back and it was the provost, calling to offer my husband the job.

{yellowsongbird.blogspot.com}


Of course, I was happy for him - thrilled.   We expected no job, and God gave him one.  And not just any job, truly the ideal job - every detail seemingly perfectly designed just for him. 

 I wanted to object, but I found I couldn't.

When God does something like this - gives your husband his dream job - how can you say 

 "no, thank you" ?


{yellowsongbird.blogspot.com} 



So the long and short of it is, we're getting ready to put our house up for sale and plan to move to Northern Iowa this summer!  Yikes.  
It's been a lot to digest...and I'm reeling a little bit...

I had a few little weeps, and I know I will have some more. 

It's been a good time to trust that God is good.  

He knows the plans he has for our little family, and they are better than mine.

So trying to hold loosely even to the things I hold dear...

and remember that after all this world is not our home, we're just passing through.

Bit of Redecorating Fun

 

 Look!  It's a wee little Everyday Lovely button!

{not fully activated yet...getting to that part momentarily}

 So yesterday you may have noticed I did a bit of redecorating.   Quite thrilling as I had been hoping for something just so ever since making my original header in Picnic when I started this little blog last March.   

My new header was made by the talented Jenna of q.a.designs.  

 

Up until now I had done all my extremely basic blog design myself.  I wanted something more reflective of my taste {not my design skill level} but I was a bit skeptical how well working with someone via email on a design concept would go.  

Jenna was so lovely to work with.  I was rather particular and had a rather specific idea in mind, and she was so patient and altogether forbearing.  Early in the process, I knew I wanted some kind of curvy frame for the title and Jenna directed me to istock.com to look for one.   I showed her an idea that I wasn't very sold on and she replied in an email that "yes that will work great but i definitely want you to find one you love."

Knowing that she was dedicated to coming up with something I loved - not just was contented with - encouraged me so much early on in the process that by the end I would have something that really fit me.   So yes, she was wonderful to work with.

For now I just did a new header and this little logo/potential button, but I very much look forward to doing a bit more in the way of a header and perhaps wallpaper? with Jenna as time {and funds} allow.  ; )

You can find Jenna's site and all her lovely designs {HERE}.

Two Guidebooks for the New Year

As we are on the brink of 2012, I wanted to share a two books I plan to use as guides into the new year.  The first, I am so excited about.  I actually started reading Organized Simplicity last October during my last 20 Bags in 20 Days challenge.  It actually took the wind out of my sails a bit, as I saw that this book was asking me to take my humble attempts at organizing and purging to a whole other glorious level.

I read all the wonderfully laid out theory and vision part and then stopped at the halfway point - the point where the real work began - and put it aside for the new year...which is now HERE!  I'm tired of the disorder and the time I waste taking care of things that are not useful, necessary, or beautiful.  I'm so excited to begin the Big Purge and give my family a fresh start at clutter-free, intentional living.  So you'll be hearing more about my progress and what I learn in the next couple months especially, and I'd love to have you join me!  You know you won't regret it. : )

*****

My second book is one I'm sure most of you have heard of.  Ann Voskamp's One Thousand Gifts. I also started this one a couple months ago and then reluctantly gave my copy it away as a gift.  It is so strongly stirring and uniquely beautiful, after the first few chapters you feel desperate to share this treasure of a book with someone else quick-quick.

So I will start this year rereading in earnest, accompanied by a little journal to record my own list of one thousand gifts.  It will be a lovely compliment to my Organizing venture, and encourage you with all my heart to get your copy today.

As the new year hasn't started yet, I've been indulging in an old favorite. Though I've read Little Women nearly half a dozen times - about every two or three winters - it always feels fresh and never fails to encourage my heart and inspire me for vigorous home living.  I've already had a good cry over it and sweet Beth hasn't even died yet. 

Oh my, I am looking forward to the new year.  

Life is not picture perfect and change along with the great unknowns can seem threatening, but after all there is great cause to be hopeful and merry.

So once again, Happy New Year to you, friend!