Changes..

... they're a comin'!

A lot of things have been happening for me lately. Some things are in the works still, but I'm excited about them. I'm nervous at the same time though, if everything goes as planned, my life will be extremely chaotic for a while! Hopefully I can handle it.

I know I'm being cryptic, but don't worry, you'll get the details soon :)

I've been a very busy girl lately, so I've been neglecting my photography challenges and my Day Zero list. I have a few weeks worth of photo challenges that I'll hopefully get posted this weekend.

As for my Day Zero list, I haven't completed anything new, but some new things have progressed:

The Husband and I have been talking a lot about our kitchen remodel lately, and I'm hoping this weekend we can hammer out some of the details. My Seattle trip is a little less than two months away and I'm getting VERY excited. I've also been looking into cake decorating and jewlery classes - which if I'm going to get to those, I need to do it now!

There's more too, but you know, I think I'll continue being cryptic for now!

Lesson Three: White Balance

This lesson from Two Peas covers White Balance settings and how they can affect the color of your photos.

What you're photographing and your location determines every single one of your cameras settings. This is a great thing about DSLR cameras - you can adapt to any situation. Learning to properly choose your White Balance setting can change the entire look and feel of your photos.

Before I went through this lesson, I wasn't sure how to customize my White Balance. It's actually a really quick and easy process, but it's unique to each camera, so I won't get into details. After seeing what a difference it makes, I think I'll be customizing my setting more often!

Here are my example photos - I decided to try two different things to see how the Custom White Balance can change between items/subjects....

Shutter Speed: 1/250; Aperture: f/5.6; Focal Length: 135mm; ISO: 800

AUTO WHITE BALANCE

Shutter Speed: 1/250; Aperture: f/5.6; Focal Length: 140mm; ISO: 800

TUNGSTEN

Shutter Speed: 1/250; Aperture: f/5.6; Focal Length: 110mm; ISO: 800

CUSTOM WHITE BALANCE

And here are all three side by side so you can really get a good look at how much of a difference the White Balance setting actually makes (click for larger):

In this case, I think I prefer the way the Auto White Balance looks because it's most true to the actual colors in person. But that's all a matter of personal preference.

Shutter Speed: 1/250; Aperture: f/5.6; Focal Length: 190mm; ISO: 800

AUTO WHITE BALANCE

Shutter Speed: 1/250; Aperture: f/5.6; Focal Length: 200mm; ISO: 800

TUNGSTEN

Shutter Speed: 1/250; Aperture: f/5.6; Focal Length: 200mm; ISO: 800

CUSTOM WHITE BALANCE

Again here are all three side by side (click for larger):

With the different subject, I prefer the Custom White Balance for this shot.

For any photo shoot, you just need to pay attention to your lighting. With the correct settings from the beginning, you will have a lot less editing to do on the other end. With practice, you should be able to get great shots straight from your camera!

Book Review: "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo"

"The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" by Stieg Larsson

BOOK SUMMARY from GoodReads

Mikael Blomkvist, a once-respected financial journalist, watches his professional life rapidly crumble around him. Prospects appear bleak until an unexpected (and unsettling) offer to resurrect his name is extended by an old-school titan of Swedish industry. The catch - and there's always a catch - is that Blomkvist must first spend a year researching a mysterious disappearance that has remained unsolved for nearly four decades. With few other options, he accepts and enlists the help of investigator Lisbeth Salander, a misunderstood genius with a cache of authority issues. Little is as it seems in Larsson's novel, but there is at least one constant: you really don't want to mess with the girl with the dragon tattoo.

MY RATING:

MY THOUGHTS:

This book definitely lived up to the all the hype it gets! Short review: Read it. Just do it.

While it's slow going at first, it starts to pick up around 175ish pages or so in. The first portion of the book is a lot of lead-up, seemingly random information about Sweden and how Blomkvist got to where he is now.

It almost felt to as if there were three different stories all crammed into one massively long book. And I mean this things is a monstrous 644 pages in the small paperback version. Anyways, back to my stories... I felt like there was..

1. Mikael Blomkvist's personal struggles

2. Lisbeth Salander's dark past

3. The Vanger family mystery

Some how, some way, Larssen ingeniously meshed all three of these together to write an amazing story. Let me just say that the climax of this book completely blew my mind. I had my predictions, yes, but there was one thing that I just did NOT see coming! Want to know what that is? Read the book! 

Lesson Two: Shutter Speed

This lesson from Two Peas focused on Shutter Speed. These images are shot in the TV (Shutter Priority) mode on my DSLR camera.

Your shutter speed controls how fast your shutter will close in order to capture your image. A faster shutter speed with freeze motion, where as a slower shutter speed will appear blurred. The higher your number.

(excerpt from TwoPeas:) When you set your shutter speed on your camera, you’ll see numbers like 60, 120, 250, 1000 and so on. These actually represent 1/60th of a second, 1/120th of a second and so on. So the higher the bottom number on the fraction, the faster the shutter speed. The smaller the number, the slower the shutter speed. You will also see shutter speeds for seconds, indicated by inch marks ("). For example, if the display says 1"5, that indicates a shutter speed of 1½ seconds. If the display says 30", the shutter will be open for 30 seconds. If you are below 1/60th, you should use a tripod.

Here are my example photos:

Shutter Speed: 1/1000; Aperture f/4.5; Focal Length: 50mm; ISO: 3200

Shutter Speed: 1/60; Aperture: f/7.1; Focal Length: 80mm; ISO: 1600

Here are a few more examples, these were taken with an external flash (the above were not). Take note of how the water stream appears more detailed as the shutter speed increases....

Shutter Speed: 1/2"; Aperture: f/25; Focal Length: 140mm; ISO: 400

Shutter Speed: 1/40; Aperture: f/5.6; Focal Length: 140mm; ISO 400

Shutter Speed: 1/100; Aperture: f/5.6; Focal Length: 145mm; ISO: 400

Shutter Speed: 1/200; Aperture: f/5.6; Focal Length: 145mm; ISO: 400

So the basic thing to take from this lesson is this: "The faster the shutter speed, the faster the camera will take the photo. The slower the shutter speed, the slower the camera will take the photo."

PS: I recommend doing this lesson somewhere that offers a lot of natural light. I did this on a crappy, snowy day - as a result the photos were craptastic!

Super Moon

Saturday night brought us a great view of the moon. Also known as the "Super Moon".

It's classified as a Super Moon because "It will appear larger as it makes its closest approach to Earth in 18 years. Scientists estimate the “supermoon” rising in the east at sunset will appear 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter at its peak."

I know it's not that fantastic or anything, but I felt the need to photograph it anyway :)

Lesson One: Aperture

Aperture: In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture of an optical system is the opening that determines the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane.

This lesson was quite easy, but I didn't want to skip it. Week One in 12 Weeks to Better Photos focused on Aperture, which is defined above.

So, here's my lesson! If you want to learn more of the details, check out the 12 weeks link above.

Photo 1 Settings: Shutter Speed: 1/15; Aperture: f/4.0; Focal Length: 35mm; ISO: 800

 

Photo 2 Settings: Shutter Speed: 1/4; Aperture: f/8.0; Focal Length: 35mm; ISO: 800

Photo 3 Settings: Shutter Speed: 1; Aperture: f/16; Focal Length: 35mm; ISO: 800

Photo 4 Settings: Shutter Speed: 2.5; Aperture: f/29; Focal Length: 35mm; ISO: 800

The main thing to take note of in these photos is the background. The higher the F-Stop number (f/4.0 - f/29.. etc), the more clear the background becomes.

So the easy way to remember what aperture does is this:

Low F-Stop, low focus background. High F-Stop, high focus background.

So for those of you that want that desirable blurred background in your photos - crank that f-stop down as low as it will go and shoot away!

On a side note, the higher your f-stop/aperture is set, the longer your shutter will take to close. This means you need to hold your camera still for a longer time. If you notice in my fourth photo, it's a bit blurry and out of focus. With the longer shutter time, I couldn't quite get the photo clear. If you're shaky, like me, you might want to use a tripod or set your camera on a stable surface when shooting with a high f-stop/aperture.

Mardi Gras Invites

I recently had the opportunity to create an invite package for a friend of mine, for her daughters Quinceanera. I did a lot of items for her wedding last year as well, and I was happy to help out with this too!

Hours were spent creating these from scratch in Photoshop. This is the first time I've used Photoshop exclusively to create artwork, I normally use Illustrator for artwork and leave photo editing to Photoshop. I don't like to brag, but these turned out pretty damn good if I say so myself!

I normally don't share my design work on my blog, but I just fell in love with how the final product turned out. I had to share!

All of the personal information and the photo has been swapped out, but here is the final design...

INVITE:

RECEPTION:

RSVP:

Challenge: Week 4 & 5 (and a little extra)

I've fallen behind, what the hell. Time keeps getting away from me!

WEEK 4: SYMMETRY (last one!)

The weather didn't cooperate the way I'd hoped, so I had to turn to my trusty back-up: Mr. Pink Tiger stuffed animal. Yep. I need some human models, stat.

WEEK 5: SIGNS

Or in this case - sign shop! This photo depicts the fast pace of my workplace on NCAA Bracket Monday.

In addition to this weekly challenge, I'm planning on doing something else as well. Best known as the "Two Peas" photo workshop, it's basically 12 weeks to better photos. So I will be sharing my results for those as well once I get started. I may not do all 12 weeks in a row though, I'll just go with it as time allows.

I also want to use this post to plug an artist that I came across at an art fest last weekend.

Check out the awesome work of Dick Cooley (website link), who does Sculptural Metal Designs using everything you can imagine!

Book Review: "The Murderer's Daughters"

"The Murderer's Daughters" by Randy Susan Meyers

BOOK SUMMARY: from GoodReads

Lulu and Merry’s childhood was never ideal, but on the day before Lulu’s tenth birthday their father drives them into a nightmare. He’s always hungered for the love of the girl’s self-obsessed mother; after she throws him out, their troubles turn deadly.

Lulu’s mother warned her to never let him in, but when he shows up, he’s impossible to ignore. He bullies his way past ten-year-old Lulu, who obeys her father’s instructions to open the door, then listens in horror as her parents struggle. She runs for help and discovers upon her return that he’s murdered her mother, stabbed her sister, and tried to kill himself.

For thirty years, the sisters try to make sense of what happened. Their imprisoned father is a specter in both their lives, shadowing every choice they make. Though one spends her life pretending he’s dead, while the other feels compelled to help him, both fear that someday their imprisoned father’s attempts to win parole may meet success.

MY RATING:

MY THOUGHTS:

This is very well written book. The author used her real life experiences to tell a great story that is very intriguing. While I'm not normally drawn to books like this, Meyers was able to draw me in right from the beginning with her writing style. A serious plot with humor thrown in, and getting to see two very different points of view kept things interesting.

Throughout the book, I found myself wondering how Merry could so easily let her father into her life. In a way he ruined her, even if she doesn't want to realize it. Lulu thinks everything is her fault, even if she doesn't admit it. The women in the book have no one, except each other, to help them see what's actually going on . And when both of them are living in denial, the truth takes a long time to surface.

Overall, the story was fast paced and kept things interesting. The only reason I opted for a three star rating was because of the ending, which was a disappointment to me as I felt there was not enough closure.

I would recommend this book for a quick read.

Finished Quilt!

It took me a little while, but my chenille blanket is complete. I LOVE how it turned out.

About halfway through the sewing, I started to doubt my choice of using brown flannel on the back, but I'm happy to say that I was wrong to doubt! I kept telling myself I should have chosen green instead, but now I'm glad I didn't. I love the "pattern" the brown gave the chenille... so pretty! And so soft!

Here are a couple other shots:

Is is bad that I really want to make another one? Anyone need a blanket? :)

Challenge: Week 3

Three weeks in and I've already fallen behind!! I've been busy lately, so I'll make up for it this week with a two-for-one.

WEEK 3: SYMMETRY

This first one looks best at full size, where you can see all the color variations more clearly

And the bonus photo is two very fluffy, very dirty, but oh so cute puppy paws :)

I have this weeks photo all scoped out, I'm just waiting for the weather and sky to cooperate. What I have in mind calls for some specific natural light. We'll see if Mother Nature decides to cooperate or not!

Quilt Binding

This morning I was able to pin and sew the binding on my quilt. It went a lot faster than I thought it would! Thank God for that, because nothing about this quilt has gone quickly. Maybe I'm just impatient!

I used Wrights Satin Blanket Binding in Seal Brown. I bought two packages, but ended up only using one. I'll figure out a use for the second one eventually.

The part that took the longest was ironing the satin to the shape I needed it to be, but even that wasn't too bad. Once I had everything ironed, the pinning and sewing when fast!

As I type this, the whole thing is in the wash and will then head to the dryer for the finishing touch. Here's to hoping it doesn't fall apart while it's in there!

Quilt Progress

I haven't had much time to work on my quilt lately, mainly only on the weekends. Meaning that it's taking me a lot longer to complete than I thought it would!

Oh well. I managed to work on it pretty much all day today, so I got a good chunk of it done!

I was able to finish the diagonal quilting portion, which was the most time consuming - I'd say about 5 hours worth of stitching:

Then it came time to cut through the channels on flannel on the back - which will eventually become the super soft chenille. The Olfa Chenille Cutter (use a 40% off coupon online) was fab for this. Some people use scissors, but I couldn't even imagine doing that - it would kill your wrist!!

After the back was all cut, then I squared off the edges:

With everything squared off, I used a dinner plate and a washable fabric marker to mark and cut the rounded corners:

Use that first rounded corner as the template to cut the other three corners:

Now all I have left to do is the binding! I'm hoping to work on that tomorrow morning so I can toss this thing in the wash and see the finished product. I hope it turns out half as good as the one from the tutorial!