Custom Frames

I found this great frame just lying around in the house. The frame needed a new picture, and a new mat. I printed a picture on my epson photo printer, the one that prints 13 x 19 prints, and found some fabric from my stash. This stripe is a fabric my sister sent me. It is pretty awesome. I cut some cardboard from a box I got in the mail, and wrapped the cardboard with the fabric. I ironed it, attached it to the cardboard, and put the picture and the new custom mat in the frame. I had the perfect spot over my desk for the picture. This project was from all recycled materials.

The frame, already had it.

The mat, cut from cardboard that was going to be thrown away.

The fabric, purchased at a garage sale.

The print, well that I printed on new paper.

The scrap from this project is what I used to make the trash bag for my cigarette lighter in my car. (see earlier post).

Back to School

I have been contemplating going back to school. I am really interested in photography and I would like to get more education on the technical side of the photo. Photography has really been my hobby for such a long time. I love to shoot landscapes, but would like to break into the portrait world. I was searching the internet for trade schools who specialize in photography certificate programs. My friend sent me some great info on photo classes online, and I think I will check those out too.
I think photos make people happy, and what better reward from your work at the end of the day is a happy client. Technical schools seem to be abundant on the internet, and most of them have correspondence classes for photography. One of the most appealing ideas of online career colleges is that you can work at your own pace, and don't have to go to class. That would work out great for me, since I will be staying home with baby. I hope that I can find one that works for me. If any of you have taken online photography classes for certification, I would love to hear from you.

Early to Rise

When you get up early and head out to the beach you sometimes are in for a great surprise! That surprise today is that we were pretty close to the only ones on the Air Force beach. We flashed our ID and with in a few steps we were on the sugar white sands of the Emerald Coast. The gulf was beautiful this morning. The water was brilliant greens and blues, just like the water in the Virgin Islands. With no one except the birds wandering the shore line, we had a great time. The water was cool, but once you get your shoulders wet it was no big deal! Plus, the cool water is a nice retreat from the suns 100 degree rays beating down on us.
After 45 minutes in the water we took a little stroll down the sandy shore to take a few pictures. We found some great drift wood formations.

Since we are only 15 miuntes from the beach we stayed for an hour and half, then stopped at the grocery store on the way home to pick up all the stuff we need for the weekend of entertaining the family! Tonight we will head back to Eglin Air Force Beach for sunset after we have dinner.
What an awesome place to live!

Lights, Camera, Action

Researching cameras is something I love to do. I love to read all the latest reviews on both D-SLRS and the every so easy to use pocket sized digital cameras. I spent hours looking at all the D-SLRs when I made my purchase. It is a big decision, and mine weighed heavily on the fact that I had many lens to fit the Sony Digital Camera. I ended up purchasing the Alpha A-100 which I really like. It has been so easy to use, and the photos that I print are fantastic quality. I use the Sony when I am on a photo shoot, whether it is birds in my backyard, or if I am on a hike it is light enough with my 28-300mm lens to carry around all day.

When I am on the go around town I always have handy my Canon Digital Camera, which is the powershot sd500. This can always be found in my bag or in my pocket. This 7.1 mp camera has great quality pictures, and the color is true to the scene.
If you are interesting buying a camera whether it is Nikon Digital Camera or one of my favorites mentioned above, it is a good idea to read all the reviews you can. There are many reasons to buy a digital camera, in order to find the one that best fits your needs you can search by size, megapixel, and what you will be using for. Whatever you choose, make sure you read the manual so that you will get the most out of your new investment.

Happy shooting.

Family Ties

It is summer break for me and I have a project. We went on a family vacation with my parents. It was a blast we went sailing, and everyone had their digital cameras. We would sail all day then in the afternoon we would meet up with my brother and his family and have dinner. The cameras were clicking non stop. The landscape was amazing (I posted a picture back in June). Now that everyone is back to their routines and the sunburns have faded it is time to organize the photographs. Since I am the one on summer break and a macbook with imovie on it everyone has sent me the digital photos to compile. This year I will be making a DVD movie from our video and pictures. Even though Macintosh has made its programs easy to use, the sheer number of photos that I have to go through is unimaginable. There are well over 1300 photos for the 8 day vacation, and I have to edit, sensor, and put the photos into the imovie timeline. The program imovie really is simple to use, it incorporates the photos from iphoto and the music from itunes. Click and drag these digital items to the timeline and add transitions. That sure sounds easy! The project is fun because I get to refresh my memory about the vacation, but it is time consuming. I estimate that it will take about a month to perfect the movie. I hope to finish it before going to visit my parents in Florida so that we can all watch it together!