A dewy morning {photo tip about aperture}

I thought the japanese maple tree in our yard was particularly stunning one morning with all its drippy dew! So I snapped a few pictures with the 35mm prime (fixed lens) and played with the aperture setting (dial A on your DSLR camera). When you turn it to lower numbers, your letting more light in and creating more blur which gives the drama to a picture. Here's my examples:

iso 100,  f/1.8, 1/400

iso 100, f/2.5, 1/400

iso 100, f/3.2, 1/320

The f is the aperture setting and the fraction number is the shutter speed. As you can see the greater the aperture number goes the darker the picture becomes and the less blur in the background you achieve. The aperture number is the number I moved higher in each picture and I typically move the shutter speed lower if I raise the aperture because when you make the aperture number greater the picture gets darker so by moving the shutter speed down I let more light in through that setting. This is how you control your camera when shooting in manual. Its alot of give and take! You can give this a try just by moving your dial to the A setting on your camera and will see how you get more blur and how the image gets lighter! Have fun.

Favorites Friday: Umbrella needed

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It's the weekend and our Valentine's date will be had on Saturday, hip hip hooray! Husband's gonna surprise me, love surprises. Also squeezing a newborn shoot in and maybe splashing in some puddles.

Some rainy day links:

A grown up nursery

Rainy day makeup

Inspiring snow pictures

Enjoy!

John 12:49

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I have found myself on more than one occasion doing something, thinking something, or saying something that I know is not from me, but had to be the Lord. Seriously, the thought of Him using me in someway shape or form floors me. But just recently I realized its even in scripture, 

"For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it." Johns 12:49

What comfort and reassurance that where we end He is just beginning. 

I read this a couple of weeks ago and can't stop thinking about that fact that there are ways of doing things and thinking about things that haven't been done. God is the ultimate source of inspiration and ingenuity. Here's to God ideas!

Happy Love day

Hubs and I celebrated Valentine's Eve yesterday with flowers and some great conversation, what more could a girl want? But of course a little dinner date will be in order for this weekend and were gonna shoot for a late night and head out after the baby goes down, so smart right? 

It was a lightbulb idea for me!

Happy Valentine's Day dearies!

Huge news: My sister published in Yoga Journal magazine!

So I thought it was quite the scene when my sister strapped her Manduka yoga mat to the back of her Harley motorcycle to go to yoga practice. What a pairing, so I took a picture. That picture made it to Facebook and with the suggestion of a dear friend was sent into Manduka, who contacted us quickly and wanted more of her! So naturally I thought we could take a picture of my sister doing yoga on railroad tracks, ya know where everyone practices yoga! Little can you tell by the picture that it was a brisk freezing cold morning (30 degrees) and my baby was strapped to my back as I lay down on the railroad to get the shot, hysterical. Shoot, if I'd known that throwing my sister on the railroad tracks doing a yoga pose would have landed her in a magazine I would have done it alot earlier!

A sweater blanket weekend

It was cold and even snowed a bit this weekend, but my trusty new sweater blanket took care of all my heating needs. Also it doubles as a nursing cover and blanket for kiddos; I love multi-tasking garments!

p.s It was on the clearance rack at Old Navy because of all the swimsuits they have out now despite our snowy weather!

Favorites Friday: Handstands & giveaway winner

Back when I was a gymnast (I was crazy obsessed with the sport) I used to be in the 1 minute club, meaning I could hold a handstand for a whole minute, pretty sure my sister, the yogi has stolen that title now! So when I saw this room with a handstand in it, I about died. LOVE. Whimsy in a room makes me do a happy dance. And so does announcing the giveaway winner.....

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The winner to for the Shabby Apple giveaway is:

 Gina M Maddox said...

I love the teacher's pet skirt.

I like them on FB -- Crave to Save

gina.m.maddox (AT) gmail (DOT) com

Congrats Gina, Ill be sending you an email shortly!

Other happy dance links:

These drool-worthy rooms

3 Valentine outfits

Pork chops never looked so good

Now go do a handstand, it's the weekend!

He will not delay

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I tend to err on the side of late for most things, I'm working on it. But God, 

He never delays. I heard a sermon once that talked about waiting even until the last five minutes. I love that, those last five minutes can be a crucial test of faith. So hold fast He will come through always, help is on its way just around the corner. And here's the song to carry you through.

"My help comes from the Lord, maker of heaven and earth."

Psalm 121:2

p.s Giveaway winner announced tomorrow, thank you for all the entries!

So I went to Old Navy yesterday

They are "killing it" by that I mean, "got it going on"! I went to return some items yesterday and had a hard time resisting some of their new things. Check out these goodies!

A Valentine studio session

Posting over on the photo blog today and I'm pretty behind at posting sessions, but had to share this one. For you photogs out there, these images were captured with natural light coming from my sliding doors on the left side of her face, which wasn't bad but I"m strongly considering studio lighting for my studio shed. Studio lighting has the distinct advantage of controlled light which is much easier to utilize. However, no one can argue with the beauty God's given natural light!

Head here for the rest of this darling session.

Help me design the studio!

Husband and I had some good chats this weekend. My favorite talk was over fleshing out an actual shed studio for my little photography biz! One side would host the backdrops and lighting equipment but the other would be a small seating area and the little loveseat would pull double duty as a prop for family pictures. So here's two inspiration boards I whipped up, which do you like better? 

Favorites Friday: Little moments

If my 6 month old could speak he would say, "I got it" in other words I can do everything by myself....sit, stand, and eat! I'm just left to watch in awe and wonder, but also reminded to revel in these little fast moments.

Moms and their babies in pretty homes.

A great explanation with pictures of different lenses

Man food for the superbowl and the walking taco

Ikea dresser hack

Our new bible study has been life-changing.

Wishing you a sweet weekend!

A Valentine's day dress for you {shabby apple giveaway}

The kind and generous people over at Shabby Apple boutique are offering you a lovely dress, perfectly in time for Valentine's day. I knew you had nothing to wear and figured one of their darling dresses or skirts would fit the bill.

To enter the giveaway there are two requirements:

1. "Like" their facebook page

2. Leave a comment here on my blog telling me which dress or skirt you would like!

Good Luck, giveaway will be open until next week.

Baciami

Bali Hai

Nothin' like a dame (my fav)

Pineapple princess

Spanish steps

Teacher's pet skirt

Who's Rv'd before?

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2012 is gonna be a year of firsts, I hope. So to kick that off I'm thinking a Rv trip to NY to see my Mom and attend my cousin's wedding is in order. I have been Rv'ing a few times before as a kid and its with fond memories minus the time my dad backed that thing into a rock and broke off the step!

With two very hyperactive boys who have a undying love of the outdoors, an Rv might be the perfect solution. Thoughts, opinions, advice? Go.

Casting vision #2 {I need an allowance}

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Sometimes its good to return of the teenager years of allowances and accountability. I'm very good at spending money without batting much of an eye and need to put a stop to that stat. So my solution is putting myself on an allowance, where I have an actual card that has a set amount of money on it per month and when its out of money then I'm out of money! Of course my card is cute and pink every little bit  of encouragement helps! My husband always says we need to spend less so we can give more, so true.

Favorites Friday: Relaxing

I've earned a slew of nicknames during my little lifetime. I was affectionately called "spunky" on my first job as a nurse in Washington D.C! It was most likely due to my bubbly personality but also the speed at which I moved! Relaxing and slowing down doesn't come natural to me, but I'm working on it.... like starting this weekend!

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Thanks for the marital encouragement, you guys are inspiring.

Living colorfully

What a Valentine's photoshoot

I will never tire of kale

A lesson in layering

Have a relaxing one, dearies.

Wanna see some cute valentines?

Aren't these darling? I wanted something sweet for Gideon to pass out a school and the talented Rebecca of Pedaling Designs whipped these up in a day, she's amazing.

  Shoot her a message if your interested in these, I love mine!

The secret to marriage

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My husband and I are currently listening to a series called Love & Respect and its been a game-changer for us. He shares about how women just need to be/feel loved and men need respect and if neither needs are met a vicious cycle ensues.

Its been 8 years of marriage and I finally just learned the secret to not just a mediocre marriage, but a great one. Do you want to know too? 

Everything you say or do unto your spouse you do unto Him. So when your in the middle of a spat and tempted to stonewall or say things in anger, remember you do it unto Him. I thought, really? But yes its true if we do everything for the glory of God and to please Him then it makes perfect sense that how we treat our spouse matters to God. This was heavy and convicting for me friends to say the least. 

Here's to going deeper in our marriages and remembering whatever we do, we do unto Him. 

Bring on the life change.

My favorite kind of pictures {mommas & their babes}

We just passed about a year for our little photography adventure and I learn something new every time. I've learned that my favorite picture hands down is mom's and their babies. Also, lifestyle photography (candids of families being themselves) is my niche and love.

My Mom sent me a photo album and most of the pictures included my siblings and even my Dad, but not my Mom because she was taking the pictures. I know this is the case for most Mom's or they don't like getting their picture taken. But I promise you will treasure and stare at the pictures of you with your children for a lifetime. It is the fiercest of bonds and should be captured on film. So mommas get in the picture by learning to use the self-timer on the camera or have an older sibling take the picture, you need to capture the beauty of what you do every day....raising your precious children.

Here's my little photo session with baby B that hubs captured.

 Also, one Gideon (my 5yr old) took for me, not a perfect picture, but perfect moment captured.

Now, go get in the picture, Mommas!

Favorites Friday: White

If January had a color, it would be white, don't you agree? We've only had one dusting of snow here, but even without it the sky is white. Frankly, I think its quite beautiful.

(this is my obvious attempt at embracing winter!) 

I'm putting the finishing touches on my winter wreath today, its simple and pretty with touches of white!

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White chicken chili, thanks Mom.

White done right in a room

White on white outfit

Who needs flowers for their winter wedding, pick these!

Dear friends, thank you thank you for the amazing scripture you sent my way regarding fear. I've tried to personally email some of you back, but emails aren't provided at times on the commenting format. So I would love to keep the conversation going or at least thank you here! You can also friend me on facebook because commenting is much easier there then in blogland, click on the "f" on my right hand column of my blog. Thanks and happy white weekend.