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Playing with Shutter Speed & Studio Pics

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Today’s post for 31 Days to a Better Photo dealt with shutter speed. It seems to me from my reading that most people understand shutter speed before they understand aperture. I had the opposite experience. Before I started shooting in manual this year, I almost always shot in aperture priority. Occasionally I would play with shutter speed, usually while shooting water in a fountain or a waterfall, but I rarely got what I hoped for. After today’s exercises I feel more comfortable with shutter speed, and know that one of the problems I’ve always had in the past is not using a tripod.

I’ve been planning a post about my new studio for a while, but have had trouble getting the shots I wanted, primarily because of the lights in the studio. Although this room has more light than my last one, our house is generally dark, and we need artificial light most of the time. Today I put the camera on the tripod, and practiced two techniques (in addition to changing shutter speed) that I picked up on Kent Weakley’s blog:  depressing the shutter button with almost no movement with your index finger, and using the self-timer set at 2 seconds. Although I got good results with both, I much prefer the self-timer. So here are the photos from the shutter speed experiment.

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Shutter speed 1/125

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Shutter speed 1/30

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Shutter speed 1/8

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Shutter speed 0.4

The best of the lot is #3, and I would never be able to get a sharp picuture hand holding the camera at that speed. Although the last photo is very washed out, it has an artsy feel to it that I don’t mind. These photos show the main work space in my new studio. The corner desk actually divides the room into two area. The TV in the corner in on a wooden stand Tracy made years ago to hold my wooden stamps. The shelves hold paper, supplies, notebooks, embellishments, alphas, and paper pads. Using lots of baskets maximizes the space there.

This room also has a built-in desk. I gathered all my books from around the house and brought them all into the studio so I have a shelf of books about scrapbooking/cardmaking, a shelf for photography, writing, computer manuals, and a few favorites. I also have room to display some photos and special treasures I’ve picked up in our travels. My sewing machine has been set up in this room for over a year. The drawers now house all of my sewing supplies as well as some office supplies.

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At the same end of the room is a reading and die cutting station. I’ve had my Cuttlebug and dies in this room for nearly a year as well, but I purchased a lateral file that matches my desk to create a die cutting table. My Slice sits on top, and the Cuttlebug, dies, impression plates, and embossing folders are on the open shelves. In the file drawers are all my paper scraps filed by color, alpha stickers, and some patterned papers. In the corner is my wonderful red chair from LL Bean that folds out to create a single bed if needed.

ReadingCorner
Behind my desk and between the door to the room and the closed door is my fold-up table from IKEA. It was one of the best $19 I ever spent. It’s mounted to be counter height so if I want to stand to put together a layout I can, but it doesn’t take up much room when collapsed against the wall. Above it is a printer’s drawer I refinished a year or so ago where I house most of my wooden sentiment stamps. The table isn’t centered under it because I wanted to be able to open the closet door when it’s up. I now have an Ott clamp light for the table, and keep it up most of the time.

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Really, I can’t believe I fought this move for so long. I absolutely love everything about it. It’s so easy to find everything, and very quick to put away the terrible mess I always make when creating. The best part is that both Tracy and Matt come in here to visit much more frequently now. It really is a very inviting place.

World Card Making Day & Caardvarks C&S Challenge

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It’s been the second day where everything I do seems to take twice as long as I allotted. I needed a wedding card, so I did get one card made during World Card Making Day. This fits the Caardvarks Clean & Simple Challenge as well.

WeddingCard2

 

Supplies: Cardstock: from stash; Dies: Diamond Impression Plate
(PTI); Scrap-Mart Exclusive Square/Oval Nestability; Pearls: Zva
Creative; ribbon: Midori; Stamp: Delightful Dahlias (PTI)

Today for my photography project, I set up my new tripod and ball head. I think I’ll enjoy using it. I ended up getting the lighter of two tripods I considered, giving up some stability. I know myself well enough to know I’m not going to want to haul a heavy tripod out in the field. I also got out the neutral density filter and figured out how to get it on the camera. Friday we’re planning a little photography road trip so I can put some of this into practice.

I also spent too much time this morning reading photography tips and watching videos on Kent Weakley’s Blog. It is definitely worth checking out. His explanations are clear and his photography is wonderful. I particularly liked a series of five videos on getting sharper focus. I’ll be trying all of them soon, and the tips are good for any camera. Another great post was the Top 5 Reasons for Getting the Shot Now. Great practical advice here.

Moxie Fab #2 & Papertrey Pixie Challenges

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Here’s another card for the Moxie Fab Off-Set Scallop Challenge as well as for the Papertrey Pixies September challenge. As usual, I’m getting this in just under the wire for the second challenge! Pat’s inspiration piece was an ad from a Macy’s catalog. It was truly a challenge; so much going on here. 

September Challenge - Inspiration

Pat identified six Papertrey colors she saw in the ad: white, kraft, Ocean Tides, Terracotta Tile, Orange Zest, and Plum Pudding. There are, of course, florals, diamonds, and repeated patterns as well. I finally decided to go with just the colors. They aren’t ones I would typically put together, but I incorporated all of them and am pleased with the outcome.

AutumnWishes 

I started with a Kraft base, used the Woodgrain Impression Plate, and coated it with the Tim Holtz Antique Linen Distress Ink. The image, colored with Prisma colored pencils, and sentiment are from the Friendship Jar Fall Fillers. The cork tag came in one of my Scrapbook Circle kits. and the border punch is an EK Success punch. The purple twill from my stash is a bit more purple IRL.

CPS 186

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It’s been a long time since I participated in a CPS challenge. They’ve always been one of my favorite challenge sites. This week’s sketch is a bit challenging, but I had some new Jillibean papers on my desk and a new Spellbinders Nestability so I decided to take it on. Here’s the sketch:

186 

And here’s my take on it:

CPS186
Cardstock: Chartreuse (Papertrey) & Core’dinations Core; Patterned paper: Pasta Fagioli (Jillibean); twine, canvas flower, journaling sprout, cardstock sticker: Jillibean; button from stash

Papertrey September Blog Hop Challenge

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I love the Papertrey Blog hops and feel lucky to have gotten this card done in time! Here’s the challenge:

One of the most fun things about this hobby is the people you meet,
whether in person or online, and the things you learn from them.  Now is
your chance to show off any skills you might have learned from a fellow
stamper, and perhaps even give them a little shout out to thank them
for the inspiration they have provided.  Create a project using one of
your favorite learned skills and perhaps after a little blog hopping, we
will ALL learn some new tips and tricks and continue to pass on the
love of this hobby!

Nicole Heady, one of the owners of Papertrey Ink, inspires me every month with her creations for the monthly release parties. One of the techniques she uses frequently  that I have always admired is drawing a frame around her main focal image. I have tried occasionally to master this technique, but my ability to draw a neat, well connected frame around an image is far from masterful. Now with the new “Framed” set of stamps, I can replicate this look with ease.

BirthdayWishesPTI
For this card, I stamped the leaves from “Turning a New Leaf,” masked some of the leaves and then stamped the frame. The butterfly is from “Butterfly Dreams” and colored with Twinkling H2Os. The sentiment is from an old PTI set, “Faux Ribbon.” One of the things I love the most about Papertrey stamps is how they can be mixed and matched. Sentiments from this older set fit beautifully into the break in the frame of this brand new set. The cardstock is Select White and Enchanted Evening, and the gems are from Creative Imaginations.

Moxie Fab Offset Scallop Challenge

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I love scallops and Moxie Fab issued a challenge for
projects with offset scallops. It was a perfect opportunity to get our my
Papertrey Ink scalloped border dies. 
I started out hoping to use some of my new Teresa Collins papers, but
ended up with just cardstock and a chipboard star from her Celebrate
collection. I also used my Tin Type Impression plate for the first time and
just love it.

MoxieScallop
Cardstock: Spring Rain
and Pure Poppy (PTI); Chipboard start: Celebrate (Teresa Collins); Stamp:
Fillable Frame #5 (PTI); Dies: Medium Scallop and Mat Stack #3 (PTI);
Impression plate: Tin Type (PTI); ribbon from stash; white Filigree Embossing
Powder (Superior)

Here’s a layout I did for our California album that also uses scallops. These remind me of Minnie Mouse, although we don’t have any photos of Minnie.


DisneyFunw

Cardstock: American
Craft, Chipboard alpha: AC Thickers “Sprinkles;” Patterned papers: Chicken Noodle “Dried Egg
Noodles” & Soup Staples “Red Sugar” (Jillibean)


Sunday Creative: Timeworn

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I’ve wanted to participate in the Sunday Creative challenge  ever since it started, but this is my first contribution. I’ve always liked this photo of the barbed wire, and it seemed perfect for the theme “timeworn.” It also seemed like a good candidate for playing with textures. So here are three versions. I’d like to hear which of them you like best.

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No editing here except to sharpen.

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With Kim Klassen’s new texture, “Nutmeg,” with Soft Light at 100%.

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Same texture, at 58% Soft Light.

Papertrey Pixie Challenge and Garden Update.

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I finally finished a card last night that has been on the “to do” list all of June . Why I wait until the last minute, I do not know! Karen H. posted this challenge at the beginning of the month. It’s a photo of fat quarters and we could use the square design, the colors, or sewing on our card.

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I used a
little of everything from the challenge. I deliberately did an uneven
stitch around the edge of the card, cut the scalloped squares with a
Nestability die, and added something different to each square. The
green and orange also come from the challenge colors. I colored the
flower and the button twine with my Copic markers. Thanks
for the challenge, Karen! It was a good one.

JunePixieCard
Cardstock: Kraft (PTI); patterned paper: A Muse; brads, flower, & buttons from stash; sentiment: Friendship Jar (PTI); button twine (PTI)

We went to the garden yesterday for the first time in over a week, and I was amazed at how much the plants had grown. The tomatoes are nearly as tall as my shoulder, the pole beans are crawling up the poles, and the lettuce and herbs are lush and full.

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The empty spot you see in the middle is partly the path we left to get into the middle of the garden but also where the peppers are planted. They are the only plants not doing too well.

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We brought home enough lettuce for a week and picked just a portion of
it. Before we go to my brother’s this weekend, I’ll go back and pick
some to take to him. By then there should be a couple more zucchini ready to pick. We also harvested two large zucchini which I’ll use
to make zucchini bread today or tomorrow. These goodies were an
unexpected surprise!

Friday Challenges

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Just by coincidence I was responsible for posting two challenges today. The first one was for the Scrap-Mart blog. My challenge is to create a layout or a card using only cardstock and papers from just one manufacturer/line. If you’d like to play along, you can post a link here or on the Scrap-Mart blog. One of my favorite paper lines right now is PinkPaislee Starlight which I used on this layout about the importance of being in the photo yourself.

JustUsNoFrame

All the papers and the alpha stickers are from the Starlight line. I used my Slice to cut the stars and the brackets and stitched around the photo frame. I did another layout last week that meets the challenge and uses papers from the same line.

I consider myself fortunate to belong to a very supportive group of women on a photo board, and it’s my turn to post the challenge there as well. I decided on the word “fresh” since we’ve been buying the first fresh strawberries and wonderful fresh asparagus, lettuce, spinach, and radishes from the local farmer’s market. I put a few strawberries in a lovely cup I bought at Antropologie a few weeks ago. I knew I’d find some photographic uses for it.

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Papertrey Challenge #2 and 2S4Y Challenge

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First of all, Happy Memorial Day Weekend! I am always grateful for the sacrifice of men and women in the military that has assured our freedom for over 200 years. I do not take the freedoms we have in our country for granted, but do not often take the time for express my gratitude.

I’ve been working on another Papertrey Ink challenge this weekend as well as the one for the Pixies. This one was posted on the forum, and it was too good to pass up. It was a challenge to ink up all the stamps you own, but have never used. I knew I had a few, but there were more than I thought. I’ve ended up with a new stash of cards, however, and relieved some guilt in the process. The first card is also a card for today’s challenge at 2Sketches4You.

Here’s the sketch:

Sketch56 

And here’s my card:

BeautifulBlooms

I used my Beautiful Blooms 2 set for this card. The beautiful border is Basic Grey’s new “ribbon doilies” tapes. We used some of this on a layout in a class I took at CKC a week ago. It’s self-adhesive and comes in a package with three different designs. The cardstock is Summer Sunrise & the buttons are from my stash.

The next set I used was the Fillable Frames #1. I thought I’d  get a lot of use from this set, and I’m sure I’m correct now that I’ve inked it up for this card:

HappyHappyBD
Cardstock: Pure Poppy (PTI); patterned paper: Early Bird (Cosmo Cricket); ribbon: Pure Poppy (PTI); Ripe Avocado button (PTI); button twine (PTI)

“Fly Away” is the next set. Like “Fillable Frames” it was a very affordable $5 and I love the little banner and sentiments that go in it. I bought just one piece of this cute patterned paper at CKC with this card in mind.

FlyAway

Cardstock:  Lemon Tart & Pure Poppy (PTI), patterned paper “Let’s Roll, Fly High” (Imaginisce)

Take Three Summer was the next set. I have lots of ideas for this set and this is a super simple, quick to make card. I’m not sure I’d use the Raspberry Fizz next time, I think the Hibiscus might look better.

Take3Summer
See above; ribbon & rickrack from stash.

One of the things I learned this weekend is that stamping backgrounds is not my forte. I love the color combination of Ripe Avocado, Spring Moss, and Raspberry Fizz. I’ve had this “Guide Lines Two” for awhile and probably haven’t used it because I’m not comfortable with making backgrounds. I do have a list of other possibilities so perhaps it will see more use soon.

GuideLines
Cardstock: Spring Moss, Raspberry Fizz, Select White, & Ripe Avocado (PTI), rhinestones from stash; stamps: Guide Lines Two & Giga Guide Lines

And last, “Outline Alphabet.” I bought this set more for sentiments and scrapbook pages, but have seen a similar design several places and thought I’d give it a trip. Lining up the letters for the block takes the longest; after that the card goes quickly.

Hi
Cardstock: Hawaiian Shores & Select White (PTI); patterned paper: Green Boutique (PTI), Copic markers

Sad to say, I still have two sets left to use:  Fillable Frames #4 and Baby Button Bits, but with gardening and enjoying the holiday weekend, I simply ran out of time!

Papertrey Pixies Challenge

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A month or so ago, I joined a group of 15 women on the Papertrey Ink forum. We have our own blog, and this month was our first challenge which was to stamp a background paper. I almost never stamp on a scrapbook layout although one of the women in this group does it regularly, and very well. I recently purchased “A Little Argyle” stamp set and thought it would be the perfect photo mat for this picture of Matt on his birthday, wearing his favorite argyle sweater. Nothing like putting it off until the very last day of May!

Matt@27
Patterned paper: Basics (Basic Grey); letter stickers: Basics (Basic Grey) & Times (Prima Marketing), stamps: A Little Argyle (PTI); photo mat: Gretel (Cosmo Cricket)

Happy Anniversary

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Today is Sarah and Adam’s fourth anniversary. It seems so hard to believe that their wedding was really four years ago. It was a beautiful day in every way. Here’s one of my favorite “out-takes.” The best part is four years later, they’re still having just as much fun with one another!

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And here’s the card I sent them. I hope they’ve received it before they see it here. It’s also the first card for a challenge on the Papertrey Ink forum to use stamp sets you own, but have never inked up. This uses the 2009 Anniversary Set which arrived over a month ago!

S&AAnniversarycard
Cardstock: Ripe Avocado (PTI); patterned paper: Quite Contrary (MME); stamps: Round and Round (PTI); mat stack 1 die (PTI), ribbon from stash, rhinestones (Kaisercraft)

CPS 168

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Like yesterday’s blog hop, it’s been awhile since I participated in the CPS Sketch challenge. This week’s sketch reminded me that I had a couple packages of the American Craft Flairs that I hadn’t used. I still have some scraps of AC “Dear Lizzy” papers as well so I decided to get busy tonight and get a card made for this week’s sketch.

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Here’s my take on it:

CPS168
Everything is by American Crafts except the pink mat paper from my scraps file and the ribbon from my stash.

Papertrey Blog Hop

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Tonight is the monthly Blog Hop sponsored by Papertrey Ink. I missed the last two so I was glad to be able to participate in this one. It also gave me an opportunity to get out some of my new die cuts and the beautiful felt that Papertrey has begun to sell.

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And here’s my take on the challenge:

FeltBlogHop

Cardstock: Ripe Avocado & Vintage Cream (PTI); patterned paper: DeLovely (Cosmo Cricket); stamps: Blooming Button Bits (PTI); dies: Beautiful Blooms 3 & Rickrack (PTI); felt: Raspberry Fizz & Vintage Cream; rhinestones: KaiserCraft; ink: Raspberry Fizz (PTI).

Scrap-Mart Challenge

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I added another layout to our vacation album this week in response to a challenge Jenn posted at Scrap-Mart. They’re getting ready for a wedding in her family so the challenge was to use “something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue” in your layout.

MorroBay 

Something Old:  SEI alpha stickers, Something New: Pink Paislee Starlight patterned paper and stickers, Somthing Borrowed: photo collage from a digital template by Kitty Designs, and Something Blue: navy cardstock.