Linking with: 52 Weeks of Happiness, Tuesday Around the World & Sweet Shot Tuesday
Deliciously Easy Recipes
Linking with: 52 Weeks of Happiness, Tuesday Around the World & Sweet Shot Tuesday
So here I am in our media room. I like the light in there because these windows face north & I get the most beautifully consistent bright light all day long. So most of the time I start in there. I set up my stand with my black side of my reflector in the back. It’s propped against my tripod. (sometimes I will use white but lately I have been loving the more dramatic styling) You can see all the things I had taken off the food during prep sitting up on the pub table above me. Now I really wanted to use my 85mm for these. I love what it does to my food images. It does such a SWEET job – I just love it. Unfortunately I’m working with a cropped sensor camera & so 85mm is more like 100+. So I didn’t have a lot of room to move around while keeping the light where I wanted it on the food. So I got a bit creative & climbed under the table for a few. I also stood on top of the pub chairs to get some above angle shots. Sometimes I will set up everything on the floor so I can get those above shots. This time I knew I really wanted more from the side shots & I didn’t want to lay on the floor to get them. Although I have done that plenty of times too.
Now- given that this shot was taken with my son’s point & shoot & I’M SURE he had it on auto- this image was extremely noisy. So bad that I almost thought I wouldn’t be able to use it. So while it’s still noisy by my standards- next week I will share with you how I was able to save it so I was able to use it here today. Be sure to check back for that.
Linking with: 52 Weeks of Happiness, Tuesday Around the World & Sweet Shot Tuesday
To see where I am linking today- visit HERE
1. Start with a pool noodle & tape the ends together to form your circle.
2. Separate & soak the husks to make them soft.
3. Put several strips of hot glue along the wide end & wrap around the noodle half way. Do this all the way around. It will be the back of your wreath.
4. Turn over, putting already adhered husks on the bottom & start adding more husks on this side in the same way.
5. Continue adding husks, overlapping them so it looks nice & full & you can’t see the noodle anymore.
6. Cover several husks with hot glue on one side & adhere to the inside ring of the wreath to cover the seams of the husks where they came together.
7. Add your ribbon to hang. I added a dab of glue to keep mine from shifting because it’s usually windy here. But it’s not necessary.
**Optional: I knew I wanted different colors in my husks. Unfortunately my original idea of soaking them in water & food coloring didn’t do what I really wanted. I restored to paint for this one but in the future I recommend RIT fabric dye.
Corn Husk Luminaries will bring warmth and charm to your event. You can make these handcrafted, eco-friendly luminaries made from corn husks in a variety of colors.
Corn husk luminaries are a fun, easy way to add some fall decor to your home. You can make them with just a few supplies, and they look great on a porch or table.
Plus, they make the perfect addition to any Halloween party! Here’s how to make them.
Being a photographer I like to surround myself with texture. Texture has a way of adding so much visual interest in to everything- photos included.
Fall is a perfect time for adding even more texture & richness to the things around you.
It has been a long time since I have used corn husks in my projects & I was really looking for some ways to play & add this fabulous texture & color into my home.
As I have mentioned before- we don’t get much of a traditional fall here in the Southwest- so I have to bring in as much as I can to give me that fall feeling I am so craving right now.
Over time things tend to get dusty – especially if you intend to use these on your patio or porch. To clean the luminaries you can take some canned air or even just an air compressor or leaf blower and gently blow the dust and dirt off of the jars.
Do not wash the luminaries with the hose or bring them inside and rinse them off with water. Re-wetting the husks will make the luminaries fall apart.
NOTE: TIE THE HUSKS AS TIGHT AS YOU CAN AND OVERLAP THEM – THEY WILL SHRINK AS THEY DRY. They will eventually slip out of the twine or create gaps if they are not tight enough.
After years of spending a ton of time scraping the jar with a razor blade – I learned a trick that is so simple. I didn’t have to soak the lable in oil first, no harsh chemicals.
Just place the jar in a large bowl or pot filled with HOT soapy water. Let it soak overnight and (in most cases) the label will just fall right off by the next morning. No scrubbing or scraping. So easy!
These were super easy. Took less than 30 minutes- always a plus in my book.
Technically no. The label will be covered by the husks. That being said – when the jar glows with the candle burning inside of it – the husks become translucent and then you will be able to see the labels. I recommend removing them from the jar before proceeding if you are up-cycling for this project.
Corn husks can be found in the international food section of the grocery store. I haven’t bought any in a while, but I used to be able to get a decently large bag for around $2-5. Now they run about $8 a bag – but you might be able to find them at the dollar store for so much less. You will need at least 2-3 bags to make this wreath, depending on how full you want the end result to be.
**Being married to a fire chief means fire safety is always at the top of my priority list when it comes to crafts. I want to stress that it’s so important to make sure that your husks and/or twine do not extend past the top of the jar. Please be cautious & place these out of reach of children & in an area where they can not be bumped over easily. Remember last week was fire prevention week & October is fire safety month.
If you love these easy-to-make luminaries, you’re going to love these other crafts too. Check out the other fun ideas below!
CONNECT WITH YUMMI HAUS!
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Since I have shown you my process for getting to the clean edit a few times I figured I would just start there this week.
I ran the Clean Base action & the image on the left shows what it looks like before I started adjusting the layers. It’s clean & bright & brings out the highlights in his hair. The image on the right shows what I ended with after adjusting the layers to my liking (basically reducing nearly all of them) I left the black & white layer off at this point.
For the purposes of this post I turned on the black & white layer so you can see what that will do after I adjusted the other layers. I didn’t want to go the black & white route this time so I then turned it off & merged my layers. I then ran the Ocean Air action & reduced all the layers considerably to get to this image on the right. Nice, fresh- but it wasn’t popping for me yet.
I then merged those layers & then ran the Summer Peach action – again reducing all the layers to my liking. Still not quite popping for me.
So I ran the Color Depth action & reduced the layers slightly. Now we are getting somewhere.
(Keep in mind that there are many different ways I could have gone about getting to this point. The whole purpose of this was to play with this action set & see what I could do with it & most importantly- get familiar enough with it that I know what each one does & the result I will get from it.)
So since I was in a playing mood I decided to add a sun flare layer on soft light to see what that would do. Brought out the highlights in his hair a bit more- good. Then I was itching to play with the awesome textures that Kristy from Life n’ Reflection sent me from the driftwood collection – so I added a touch of that.
Sharpened & called it a day. You can see the difference between the clean edit & the final here.
Here it is- the final edit alone. I love his sweet nature. Always willing to give a hand- no matter what it is.
I’m a lucky mom.
Anyhow- before all this happened I had baked these cupcakes. I had started with trying the Nutella swirl cupcakes I had found only I just did a quickie by mixing it with a butter pecan box cake.
They totally didn’t come out like they should have but I really did it for the sole purpose of showing you all these adorable transfers from Life n’ Reflection.
I originally was going to use them as printed recipe cards but then decided I wanted to scale them down & print a bunch for cupcake decorations. I love how cute they are.
I will probably do the recipe cards another time when my head is more in the game. But for now I have these.
If you want to print these cute cupcake toppers for fall – you can find them over at Life n’ Reflection. Be sure to head over there (link below) and check out all the amazing ideas Kristy shares.
As I mentioned yesterday in my FALL FASHION post- since I don’t have many early fall colors happening naturally around me, I like to infuse fall colors into not only my wardrobe but in my home as well. I believe this all starts from the front porch. I think people should get a sense of who we are & what they can expect when they walk in from the moment they knock on the door. This is why I always have a wreath or some other decorative piece on the door. It’s a great way to express myself without saying anything. For this time of the year I created this faded sunflower wreath. I think it’s perfect for this time of the season (late September-early October) where the flowers are fading & withering off & the colors are taking on a more burnt hue.
Only parts of the dried grapevine show – but just enough to keep the textures noticeable. I also added this vine of beads to add a bit of sparkle.
The pop of bright burnt orange ribbon makes me happy. It has just enough golden sheen in it to really perk up the porch.
This was super easy with my glue gun & a little bit of time to just get in my zone. The finished product just makes me smile.
Plus it stands up well to the dry, dusty, windy conditions & even spruces up well with a quick rinse of the hose. (a must for desert living)
I love it when a project comes together & just makes me smile every time I look at it.
Don’t forget to come back & join me on Mondays for Project 52
To see where I am linking today- visit HERE
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But I had to take the opportunity last week to capture is anyhow since it doesn’t happen all that often.
Which then looked like this when I got up the next morning.
Enjoy!!
White Chocolate Custard Frozen Pops
Don’t miss these great ideas from these bloggers….
Frozen Oreo Pudding Cake from Lil’Luna
Frozen Hot Chocolate Cheesecake from Chelsea’s Messy Apron
To see where I am linking today- visit HERE
Can you believe my mom made this out of gum paste??!!
I was so thrilled that we did Ombre on the inside too.
I have long been in awe of images of lightning. It’s such a raw & powerful thing & since it happens so quickly, it can be difficult to capture. But I think this is why I was so drawn to learning how to capture it. There are many ways to do it & each photographer might have different tips. But these are the ways I have found most successful with my own photos.
6. I set my aperture to f/7 or so to make sure I am able to capture everything I see in focus. I have made the mistake of having it too open & ended up with the foreground in focus & the actual lightning was out of focus. So this is something I really feel is imperative.
Watermelon Lemon Sorbet
1 cup water
1 1/2 cup sugar
8 cups cubed fresh melon
1/4 cup lemon juice
Hi everyone! I originally shared this tutorial on paper Heart Camera years ago because of my fascination with Smoke Photography. I have always been intrigued by photographs of smoke. Learning how to do it has been on my “to-do” list for forever. So when Sarah asked me to be a contributor on Paper Heart Camera, I felt it was the perfect opportunity to finally take a stab at it & create this Smoke Photography Tutorial.
This was really fun!
Please excuse the watermark- this was my personalized watermark for contributing on Paper Heart Camera.
You will need a black background, a spotlight or reflector, off camera flash WITH a snoot, incense & plenty of space. I tried this in my office. I probably could have used some more room & when I try it again, I will definitely choose a different location.
The thing to remember here is to keep the light OFF the backdrop. Don’t let it shine there & don’t let your flash bounce there (which is why the snoot is so important).
The other thing to remember is to be far enough away from your set up so that you are not getting flare in your lens from the flash. Being that I had limited space where I was- I trashed a ton of images that otherwise would have been great if I didn’t get the flare in there messing the whole thing up.
I set my settings at ISO 200 (probably would take this down to 100 though), 1/160, f/7.1
I switched back & forth with my 85mm & the 50mm trying to see which one was better for me.
I think all of these were captured with the 85mm.
I had seen this done before & so I asked my son to insert his hand in there so I could try it out. As it turns out- this gave the camera an added steady point to focus on rather than the smoke- so I ended up liking more of these with his hand than without.
When processing- I shoot in JPG but opened in ACR & adjusted the blacks to deepen the background, brightness to pop the highlights in the smoke & the clarity. I also upped the vibrancy but didn’t touch the hue/saturation- although I have heard of people really liking the effect. In this case it would have messed with the skin tone- so I left it as is & I like it that way.
Don’t forget your patience.
It’s a lot like capturing lightning- you get a bunch that you end up tossing & a handful that are amazing keepers.
Want More Photography tutorials?
10 Tips for Capturing Lightning
To see where I am linking today- visit HERE
When my dad & step-mom were here we went to good ol’ Walmart so they could “spoil” the kids a bit with some things they needed & wanted. I was so grateful because they all needed shoes. Literally- every pair they received for Christmas & recently again in April when my mom came with new shoes for them- ALL WERE OUTGROWN. I was so bummed- they still look brand new. A couple pair only worn maybe 3 times at best. So when my dad offered to pick up the tab on new tennis shoes & sandals for all 3 of them I WAS THRILLED. Plus- he let them choose whatever they wanted. Here I was looking at prices & trying to steer them in one direction or another based on price & he quickly put a stop to that & let them have what they really wanted. I was so grateful! Saved me a good chunk of cash. THANKS DAD!
Have a fabulous Sunday! I have family in town so I will be hit or miss for another couple days.
Catch up with you as I can get into the office.
See you tomorrow…
Coffee Ice Cream
Cream Filled Sandwich Cookies
COOL WHIP
This set processed with Paint the Moon’s Eclipse action that I mentioned yesterday.
(It’s one of my top picks)
First– you need to go against your urge to open the shutter. Capturing the moon is actually like shooting directly at a giant flashlight. You can keep your ISO low & your shutter speed fast. I’m usually using my long lens- so my aperture is usually at a minimum of f/5.6 when zoomed at 300mm.
Second- don’t expect those fabulous moon over the horizon shots to just happen. If you want a detailed moon- you have to go with the settings I mentioned above. When you do this- everything else is black. If you want to capture everything below the moon- you have to open your shutter & your result will be a big glowing dot in the sky. (like this shot below) You have to use a double exposure to get the look you are after. Unless you are shooting at dusk & still have some light in the sky. This being said- the example below shows that I didn’t have quite as much light as I thought- I ended up with the dreaded glowing dot. (I have yet to play with double exposure- maybe someday I will give it a whirl.)
5/5/2012 Super Moon 300mm ISO 400 1/200 f/5.6
I should have lowered the ISO to 200 to get this sharper.
5/5/2012 Super Moon 300mm ISO 200 1/250 f/5.6
January 2012 300mm ISO 200 1/160 f/5.6
So- it’s obvious that I have a lot to learn still. I’m far from an expert.
But I hope that you are able to see what I have done & it helps you capture what you are after.
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