Photography Inspiration

With the holiday colors, the beautiful decorations and lots of family activities, I have plenty of reasons and motivation to get the camera out and use it this season! Lately I have been trying to further develop my technique and expand my abilities, so I've been following tutorials and reading lots of websites. Once I pick up the camera I use many things as inspiration: my surrounding, colors I love, people (strangers and friends), and a lot of random items. Mostly I use what means the most to me. I loved taking pictures of the cotton field a few months ago. Why? I've always been a huge fan of history and cotton's a big part of the south and it's history, so it felt magical to me (corny, I know!). I've always known about cotton, but it was never RIGHT THERE for me to see...or touch...or photograph! I guess my imagination took over and I used that to motivate myself to take those photos. It may seem silly to some, but it worked for me!

If you remember, one of my 12 by 2012 goals was to complete one photo session with PEOPLE. Although I really enjoy taking photos of nature and stationary items, I definitely want to take more photos of people. There's so much to learn about capturing people and what better way to learn than to DO?

I'll admit that I'm definitely a little scared that once I try, I won't be able to capture those important, sweet moments that other photographers are able to capture. And I know it takes practice to get to that point, but I would feel goofy if I didn't think I was capturing at least SOME of that right from the beginning. Hopefully one day I'll get to know a professional photographer so that I can learn more from them and ask lots of questions! A girl can dream big, right?

Here are some photos that inspire me to get out there to take more photos and to practice.

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What's something you'd like to get better at? Do you practice a lot?

P.s. If you read through my recent posts, you'll see that I've been making Christmas wreaths lately. Because they're becoming popular with people I know, and I've been making a bunch, I thought I'd offer to make them for anyone who might be interested! If you are interested, check out my NEW etsy shop!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/ampars01

Blogger Field Trip : Story of My Life

Better late than never, right?? Yesterday I talked about catching up and I wasn't kidding! I had a ton to do and when I got home, it didn't get any better so I'm still a teeny bit behind. Regardless, here goes!

Today we're visiting Jenni from Story of My Life. She's another blogger who has inspired me to keep up with my writing and posting. She’s consistent (it's important!) funny (her introduction includes words like sarcasm and sass-of course I was hooked from day one!), stylish and she can take a mean picture (on either side of the camera)!

Jenni blogs about everything from home decorating to Twilight (and everything in between!). While I enjoy reading most of my favorite blogger’s stories, her short ones about her neighbor are pretty funny. She’s also got a really cute love story--believe me, you want to read this one : )

I love her style!

 Jenni is also an inspiration to me because I see her meeting her fellow bloggers and having a blast! She does blates (here, here and here) and gets to know the girls she is friends with in the blogging world! Of course I want to do that too, seeing as one of my main goals of blogging is to meet new people and build friendships!

P.s. Not only does she have a seriously cute blog, but she also has an Etsy shop where she shares some of her pretty photos!



One of her beautiful photos for sale in her Etsy shop!

Be sure to hop over and check out her blog! She always has great reviews of her sponsors too, so maybe you'll find more than one new blog to read : )

Inspiration Friday

Happy Friday all! Today I started off on the wrong foot and I've been feeling a little down since arriving to work (I spilled my coffee, shrunk my new pants, and the people I work with seem to have woken up on the wrong side of the bed). Needless to say, I need a little inspiration to get through the day.

One of the best things about the blog world is that you can share your story, right? I was taking a little time to scroll through some blogs that I keep up with, just to take my mind off of things for a short time, when I came across Ben and Katie's blog. I've been reading their posts for a few months and each time I bring their page up my heart sinks a little. It's a terribly sad yet inspirational story. Check out Ben & Katie's Story and Ben & Katie's Blog. Be careful, you might need a tissue the first go around.

Their story helps me to overlook my bad moments and to see the bigger picture. I try not to get caught up in little everyday issues, but sometimes I just can't help it. Today (at least) I will try to be different. Thank you, Ben and Katie for the inspiration and the reminder to look up and take notice of the good GREAT parts of my life/day! Here's to Ben & Kaite and their journey!

P.s. Stop by and offer words of encouragement :)

Don't forget to smile, enjoy your day, and worry a little less!



Via Google Images



Via Etsy



Via Etsy



Via Pinterest

Via Pinterest



Nashville Skyline

As I mentioned before, I am currently job hunting...that means I've had some extra free time on my hands lately. We have been working on getting our apartment set up and I have been using this as an excuse to try my hand at some craftiness. We did a wall of miss matched (yet matchy :]) frames for the living room wall and we refinished the frame of a second hand mirror to use as well. While those are only slightly crafty, I went a step further and surprised Ryan created a Nashville skyline painting! 

It was a lot easier than I anticipated it to be! It is pretty time consuming, but well worth it (you could take breaks if needed). 

A few months ago I saw a similar project on a blog I follow and I tucked the idea away to use down the road. 

 You can see their version of the artwork over on the The Gaines Gang blog.

STEP BY STEP

I purchased a 'back stapled' canvas at Michael's. It was 40% off (reg. price $17 or $18)...they are usually on sale or you can use one of their coupons.

Grab a photo you have or a Google.com image of the city you love. Free hand the lines or blow up a photo and trace. I free handed the outlines.

 

Trace the absolute outside lines with a sharpie.

Use black craft/acrylic paint to fill in the outlines!

I used a large brush to fill in the large parts of the canvas, and I used a 'script' brush for the detail. You will definitely need a small brush for the details/windows, etc.

Just keep trucking on! It gets a little tricky to keep the paint off of the white so you could paint the top half before you start the tracing, etc. if you want to add some extra color.