If you ever go to San Francisco...

...be sure to wear a flower in your hair.

I love these photos of San Fran. Makes me wanna take a trolley down to The Wharf for some Dungeness crab and a cocktail!  These prints would be a fabulous homage to the city hanging in large format on any wall! 

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Practicing Camille's photo tips

Recently we invited our friend, Camille at the Vintique Object, over to be a houseguest. Unforunately it was only in blogland, because it would be wonderful to connect with all of our new friends for a cup of coffee IN PERSON.

One of the things we found most useful was her before and after examples.  So I've been going around my house taking pictures and editing them with her suggestions in mind.  I have a Mac and have only used iPhoto editing previously.  But being a loyal follower of Camille's has introduced us to other sites like PicMonkey that we are looking forward to trying.

                                                             Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

What a difference this is making for me!  To review her tips it is important to :

• take corners of a room and vignettes, rather than the whole space
• hold your camera at 90 degrees to the subject and don't shoot from higher than the subject
• use natural light during the optimum time of day,and do not turn on the interior lights
• do not use a flash
• display the largest pictures you can

And then, as if to put us to shame, my son Michael was just playing around today and took this beautiful shot.  Makes us realize we still need some work.  And that 90 degree angle thing is KEY!

                              
Thanks Camille, and it sure does take a lot of practice and a ton of pictures to get a good shot! Off to try some more...

Nancy

If you are looking for help with your home, we'd love to work with you! Contact us for a listing of our services and prices. Nancy and Bethany

Photog-a-hog

Been thinking alot about photography lately… trying to figure it out.  It's like the lost catacombs of Egypt - it's a total mystery to me.  I love reading blogs like The Vintique Object, who make it seem perfectly natural and easy.

I have talked to some friends about vantage points, angles and composition but all I can seem hone in on is that I like bokeh and dreamy pictures.  I don't know what that means or how to classify it in photography-speak. But one of the main reasons I firmly believe in the power of Instagram.  It makes someone like me feel empowered. But these type of pics certainly don't translate into magazine-qual interior snaps.  I suppose those are in a class by themselves, though.

Have you ever let your eyes unfocus and seen some little floaty things cross your field of vision.  That's what bokeh reminds me of.  And I like the out of focus look.  Lends well to imperfections and I like imperfections.  Like a beautiful girl with crooked nose or a bowlegged surfer boy.  I think it makes them so much more interesting to look at.  Eva Longoria is pretty, but after a while, there's nothing to study.  At least for me.

And I found some prints on etsy that communicate what I like quite well.  Sometimes it's best to not speak but show.  I can't fathom buying prints of animals I don't know personally but I thought these were lovely and if I didn't have a barnyard full, I'd buy 'em!

And some fabulous kids room {or my room…} prints in the same vein.

What's your favorite type of photography?  Do you take pictures well?  How did you learn?  Any advice for an amateur all-around bad picture taker?  You all never disappoint, so I can't wait to see what you dears say. Group therapy :)

-B

                               Thanks to Uncommon Slice of Suburbia for the link party!

If you are looking for help with your home, we'd love to work with you! Contact us for a listing of our services and prices. 

- Nancy and Bethany