Following up on last week’s video, this week I talk more about aperture.
Feel free to let me know if anything is unclear or if you have questions. Next week is shutter speed. I am still planning on writing these up, please bear with me if you can’t watch YouTube videos.
Photography Tips is a weekly feature and is posted every Friday. You can find all of them here.
Last night I got some amazing amazing news about work. Our project got a really big award. So today, all four of us went to work for the celebration. It was really deeply wonderful to be a part of such an amazing thing. I am truly grateful and awed.
I snapped a shot of Nathaniel on the way back home, in the parking lot. He was really tired and fell asleep in the car on the way home.
I am suffering from a terrible bout of allergies suddenly and it’s making me really congested and drowsy. I hate it. I think it’s our new sheets so I am washing them and hoping that will do the trick. Yuck.
Today’s photography video is coming soon, YouTube is still processing it.
This week’s question is: “What sparks my creativity?”
Lately, I’ve been looking at a lot of other artists amazing work. That sparks my creativity more than anything else. The other thing that sparks it is limitation. These tags and their small size have made my creativity explode. I love doing them more than just about any other piece of art.
This tag is mostly fiber with some metal embellishments. Some hand stitching and some machine stitching.
Some recent events inspired me to open an etsy store to sell some of my tags. Just for fun.
I am combining Emily Falconbridge’s art journal questions with trying a new technique each week. You can see the full list: here.
I snapped this weird shot in David’s class. I like it and I can’t even explain why honestly.
Here’s the Nathaniel shot for today. Love this boy. I know I say it a lot but I cannot say it enough. I can’t stop kissing him either.
Another good day so far. I woke up incredibly exhausted. Beyond words. But I recovered throughout the day and I did get quite a bit done so I am feeling good. And I got some amazing news at work so that helped, too.
You are welcome to play with these as much as you want and use them anywhere you’d like. You are NOT allowed to sell them ever. You don’t have to but I’d appreciate a link back if you do use them.
This is part of a weekly digital download series. They are posted every Wednesday. You can find all of the ones that were posted here.
I took this shot on a recent walk David, Nathaniel and I took. I can never capture the beauty of flowers the way I wish to. The way I see them.
So today I started working again after 5.5 months of maternity. This date was plaguing me for several reasons and I was really anxious about it. The amazing thing is, when the morning finally arrived, I felt at peace. Most of the anxiety is gone and I am feeling much more peaceful than I have in weeks.
I still have a lot to learn (moving into a new position) and I am nervous about some of it but I have faith that, in time, I will pick it up and it will be ok. And if it’s not… well, I am not worrying about that just yet.
The greatest thing is, I get to work from home. This is the original reason I chose to work with computers over twenty years ago. I knew I wanted to be home to see my kids grow up and I am blessed to get to do that. Blessed beyond belief.
Because I’m still trying to get Nathaniel’s naps organized, I work upstairs in the bedroom for now so I can watch him on the video monitor. Here’s a shot of what things look like in my room during the day.
And just in case you think Nathaniel’s not enjoying it, I assure you, he is.
It’s challenging to work from home, on many levels. And when I did it before it wasn’t for a company like Google and I only had one kid, so I expect this to be even more challenging but I am up for it. I am excited about it. This is going to work!
I did this to commemorate my recent cooking adventures. I like doing these layouts that are just about photos and words. I have an upcoming class on this sometime next year and decided to focus on it and see what I can do.
Journaling reads:
I can’t cook.
No I mean I really can’t cook.
I haven’t cooked a single dish in fifteen years.
But, now that we have this amazing kitchen. These beautiful, growing kids.
I think it’s time to learn.
So now we have weekly family dinners.
One recipe at a time, we’re all learning to be adventurous.
I took this photo in David’s classroom. I like how it looks like the lion’s looking at me.
I talk about David’s eyes a lot. And they are magnificent. Amazing. I was really curious if Nathaniel’s eyes would be that way too. I figured not but just hoped so. As it turns out they are amazing too, but in a totally different way. It’s harder to capture it on film. Here’s an attempt but it doesn’t really do them justice.
Trying to have a relaxing, happy day today. Looking forward to seeing some good friends tonight. And tomorrow: work!
The amazing Stacy Julian sent me these beautiful flowers last week. Orange, of course. And so stunning. It was such a treat finding them on my doorstep.
Today’s Nathaniel.
And one that shows my flexible boy. Look at that!
And finally David let me take a shot. Isn’t he stunning?
Blech day today. I didn’t get as much as I’d like done. And I didn’t even get to read my book. I feel like I am crazy ADD right now. Not sure what I want to do first so I end up doing nothing productive or fun. Oh well. It will subside.
One more day and then I go back to work. It’s been almost 5.5 months. It’s going to be so odd. And good.
Today’s video shows how to change the color of the overlays I give away here. Mine are always black but if you wanted to change it to white, red, or any other color, this video will show you how.
If you have questions/feedback click on the “share” link on the bottom right of this post. Thanks!
december is my favorite time of year. it’s when we get to buy a beautiful tree that gives off the most amazing scent in our house for a whole month. the tree that’s lit up. the tree that brings me joy every single day. it’s also when i get almost two weeks off work to enjoy my time with my family so we can curl up in front of the tv or the fire or our tree and enjoy each other’s company. december is when all the houses in our neighborhood light up and spread the joy. but the best part of december, for me, is the little book i get to create every single day. full of our memories, our daily moments. i love putting the pages together before the month starts and sitting to alter each page every day. just a little bit of art and a little bit of memory-keeping that allows me to re-live my day and smile. my december daily album is something i cherish deeply and a tradition that is here to stay.
Karen Says:
Two years ago, thanks to Shimelle, I started a december album. Last year, thanks to Ali, I did a more personalized december daily album and I fell in love with it so much that it’s, by far, one of my most cherished albums. You can see the pages in my albums here: 2007 and 2008. I highly recommend making one of these.
Technique Highlight:
It seems I go through phases when I create my catalysts. Sometimes they’re artsy, sometimes plain, sometimes with no journaling and sometimes with a lot. Ordinarily, I am someone who likes to journal a lot and I like to create journaling strips because they allow me to create a design with the words if I so choose. So in the next few weeks you’ll see that my pages will all have a lot of journaling and I will create the art/design around the journaling. Sometimes it’s all about the words.
This is a shot I had leftover from Cayucos. Right now, Jake’s on a plane back here. I miss him. And I LOVE internet on the plane, yey!!
This turned out to be a very productive weekend I did six layouts, 2 creative therapy catalysts, 6 videos, and another 6 photoshop videos, and read a lot of my book. All in all, very productive.
I got two sweet ones of Nathaniel.
And David wouldn’t let me take any. I love my kids so much and just feeling so thankful and happy for them and Jake today. Here’s to a productive and happy week.
