31/365 - Hello Nintendo

Hi Everyone! So today's photo is a little random, I'll be the first to admit. =P These are little tins made to represent some of the special object in the "Mario" games, by Nintendo. =) Basically I wasn't trying to do anything really artsy or original today, I was just working on object photography. =) I promised to take some photos of another etsy seller's products for their listings and I thought it would be best if I did a little practicing before hand. =) I mostly just wanted to practice getting the lighting right in order to minimize shadows, and I had a lot of fun posing these little characters in different ways. =D This pose was my favorite. =) I hope you like it!

Leia ...

30/365 - Timid

Hi Everyone! So today was a really good day for me. =) I got to go wedding dress shopping with my mom and sisters! Very exciting. =) Anyway, after we got home I was taking photos for my photo of the day in my yard, and I decided that I wanted to take some artistic pictures of the trees in my yard, because they have these really big, kind of cool looking knots in them. =) Once I had finished taking quite a few pictures I started cleaning up and went to go inside to see my new photos, and there was this bunny, just sitting there one yard over! It was pretty exciting, because they usually run away when you get anywhere near them. =P But this one let me get right up to the fence so I could get a good picture. =D You could tell he was a little nervous, but didn't seem to have a real problem with me being there, which I thought was pretty cool. =)

Leia ...

29/365 - Lucky Number

Hi Everyone! Okay, so I just want to start off by saying that it really is a good idea to just bring your camera around with you whenever possible. =) I did not at all plan on taking this picture when I did today. =P I was actually doing some reading and practicing taking photographs in low light. =) (Coincidentally it was very very low light outside, so I figured I'd take advantage of my new found enthusiasm. =P) Anyway, I ended up going into the garage for a minute when the bugs were getting bad to see how my pictures were turning out, and I just kind of noticed the dart board on the wall. =) Normally I don't think much of it, but today I kinda just wandered over and started playing with the aperture, and started focusing on different numbers, and the center, but I really like how it looked focused right on the 13, so that's the one I ended up keeping. =) And then just for fun I edited it to look a little bit more vintage. =)

Leia ...

28/365 Pepper Plant

Hi Everyone! I'm finally caught up on my photos for my 365 photo project. =P This one is up to date! So, today I wasn't actually sure at all what I wanted to take a picture of. I actually told my fiance as we walked through my yard that I was just going to wait for inspiration to strike! And strike it did. =) I really like photographing plants with water drops on them. =) And as it turned out, I guess the plants were just watered, as they were all covered in water drops! So I had lots of fun. =) I don't have a macro lens yet, which would have been probably a lot more fun to use (I love macro photography!) but I still really like the way this turned out. =) I really like how pretty much the entire photo is green, and yet is still so interesting to look at because of all the textures and lighting and everything like that. =)

Leia ...

27/365 - Storm Clouds

Hi Everyone! Okay, so, I'm just about caught up from my trip. =P I spent all of yesterday uploading, editing, and posting my daily photos from my trip, that, while I had time to take this pretty cool picture of some clouds... I just didn't have time to upload it. >< So here it is! The humidity was so high all day yesterday, we could tell that it was going to thunderstorm eventually. =P But who new we'd get such interesting looking clouds! It honestly looked like the sky was painted. =) I swear my whole family was outside just staring at these amazing clouds. I love the rich colors and textures that came from not only the menacing looking clouds, but the fact that the sun was setting. =P Hence the red in the sky. I was really happy to be able to get this picture. =) I love being able to have something a little different for the picture of the day. =)

Leia ...

26/365 - Embrace

Hi Everyone! This is another photo taken in my parent's garden. =P I was really excited about this new addition though. =) They don't usually get plants like this. =) I think my mom is trying to change it up. =) Anyway, I really like the way this one turned out. =D The colors, and textures are right on. =) I think I'll finally keep a background on my computer for more than six hours. =P And I'll be adding this to my photography shop tomorrow evening =) I'm so glad to be home! Even though it's nice to be able to take pictures in new and different places while you're on a trip, it always feels so good to come home. =)

Leia ...

25/365 - Reflection

Hi Everyone! I was pretty excited about this photo. =) It may not be the clearest or most impressive photo out there, but I was just happy to get a photo of the moon reflecting on the lake. =) This was taken pretty last minute, and I only had my Point and Shoot camera on me (as opposed to my DSLR) so it's not maybe what it could have been, but I still really like it. ^-^ A lot of the detail in the water came through which I really liked as well. =) I hope you like it!

Leia ...

24/365 - Water Plants

Hi Everyone! I really like the way the lighting turned out in this one. =) I like how the main focus of the picture (the grasses by the water) turned out almost completely in shadow because they were lit from behind. I just think it's a nice effect. =) Anyway, I took this photo while I was at the beach with my family. =) It was definitely the nicest day all week. =) I think it was the only day it didn't rain. =P Anyway, I hope you like it!

Leia ...

23/365 - Sparkling

Hi Everyone! Okay, so I took this picture at a wedding I went to while I was away. =) We were waiting for everything to kinda get going and for supper to start, and I just started taking pictures of everything on the table. =P this one worked out really well though! And I really like how the depth of field effected it. =) Also, just as a side note, that's not real wine! It's sparkling juice. =) Which we thought was pretty nice for the people who didn't like to drink, cause they could still toast the couple with everyone else. =)

Leia ...

22/365 - Imagine

Hi Everyone! I'm finally back from my trip. =) It was nice to get out, but I'm really glad to be home. =) Anyway, as I really didn't have a computer with me, I couldn't post a photo of the day, but I made sure to take pictures every day I was gone, so I can post them all now! I took this picture on the 22nd when I was just leaving for my trip. My little sister was sitting in front of me in the car reading this book, and I just took a picture to bug her, and then I got the idea to focus on the book, as opposed to her, and I really liked how it turned out! I didn't even really have to shop it too much. =) I just sharpened the book a little bit, and enhanced everything else a bit, and here we are! Anyway, I hope you like it!

Leia ...

21/365 - Speak Softly

Hi Everyone! Here's the photo of the day! I gotta say, I'm really proud of myself for even getting the energy together to take a photo today at all. =P I just got off a week of opening shifts, and I've been running off 4 hours of sleep a night for too long. =P I'm so glad I didn't fail, and I did take a picture for today though because I really like this one! I really love like, elegant vintage looking pictures, and I really nailed it here. =) This is a flower that my parents bought just the other day. I've never really seen anything quite like it. =) I really like the strong yellow coloring in the petals. ^^ (I don't know if anyone's noticed, or wondering, but yeah, my parents buy a LOT of flowers in the summer. =P Which is nice for me. =) Lots to take pictures of ^^)

When it came to photo shopping it I mostly just tried to dull everything down a bit (it was very very bright before, which wasn't what I was going for) and I added a little bit of texture, and darkened the corners a bit. =) I really like how it turned out. =D I hope you like it!

*Also, I won't be able to upload photos for a few days. =( I'm still going to be taking photos every single day though, so I'll just upload a picture for each day when I get back, and it'll all work out. =)*

Leia ...

20/365 Gzreski

Hi Everyone! So, you may be wondering why I chose to take a photo of a Polish chocolate bar. =P Well today I decided I would try to take some object photography. =) It sounds simple enough, but it's something I'm trying to get better at, and I figured I would try it with this chocolate bar as it's a special treat for me. =D Seeing as they're right from Poland, I don't get them often. =P Pretty much just when family visits. =) Anyway, I kind of like how this one turned out. =) I think this was more of a learning experience than a fantastic photograph, but seeing as I started this 365 photo project to learn new skills, I am content. =) I really wish I could get the lighting just right. I'm not 100% sure if it's something in the camera I need to change, or something to do with the lighting, but I know I'll get it right one day. =D Anyway, I hope you enjoy my chocolate bar photograph. =)

Leia ...

19/365 Hello Sunshine

Hi Everyone! So, I know I'm posting this a day late. I actually did take this photo on the correct day though. =) I just didn't have time to actually list it yesterday. >< I was really happy with how this one turned out though. =) I used a really shallow depth of field so that only the first flower was in focus. =) Also, I didn't have to use photoshop a whole lot on this one, which is always nice. =) Anyway, I hope you like it!

Leia ...

18/365 Princess

Hi Everyone! =D Today I decided to try something a little different. =) Usually when I take a photograph, I look for things in nature, or notice that I like how the light is hitting an object, but I infrequently put a scene together with different objects in the house. =) I really felt like taking a very bright photo that was saturated with color, and had a bokeh in the background, and this is what I came up with! =D I think it looks pretty cool, and and it was a lot of fun putting everything together. =) I hope you like it!

Leia ...

More Professional is not always Better. =)

Hi Everyone! This post is actually going to be about a couple of the portraits that I took the other day. =) I've spent the past couple days reading and researching about taking quality portraits, and then I read something that I almost forgot. =)

So many people will say that taking portraits is like an equation. You should be able to look at any portrait, or any photograph for that matter, and break it down to it's key elements, and what physically makes up that scene. =) And it's true! It's incredibly important to have all the technical aspects in place when taking a photograph, but it's also important to have fun, and capture the feeling in your photographs too. =)

I guess I'm just saying this because when I was practicing photography I was getting so worked up about the poses and the lighting and the exact way the light was going to hit the subject, after a while, I plain stopped smiling in the pictures, because that wasn't important anymore. =P

Anyway after a long time of taking practice portraits with my fiance we kinda just started having fun with it, and it was such a better experience! And suddenly the pictures were turning out a lot better too. =P

This photo is s pretty good example because I really like the way it turned out. =) The posing was pretty good (a little off, but what can you do. =P) and the lighting and focus were dead on. =)







However, I will always like this photo more,
despite the fact that the focus and the posing are a little off. =P Technically? This picture isn't very good. =) But we're both smiling, and look so happy in this picture. =D I'll probably keep it forever. =)

Leia ...

17/365 Mystic

It's always nice when you walk in the door, and go about your day, and you suddenly notice that the collection of green leaves sitting patiently in your window finally has a flower! This tiny little rose bush is the best little trooper I've ever seen. =) I do not have a lot of luck with flowers usually. =P and usually the way I get it from the store, is the best it's ever gonna look! Not for this little guy. =) This is probably the third round of blooms on it. =) I'm very excited. >< And this one is the deepest shade of red I think it's ever had. =) Anyway, I was so excited I decided then and there that this little flower was going to be the picture of the day. =) I really hope you like it!

Leia ...

16/365 Reflection

Hi Everyone! I hope everyone had as great of a start to their weekend as I did. =) I work tomorrow, so I got today off, and I got to spend the whole day hanging out with my sister. =) We went shopping and got all kinda of awesome stuff including this clutch that I've had my eye on for a VERY long time. =P And later on I got to go for a nice long walk with my fiance before just relaxing for the rest of the evening. =)

Anyway, =) while we were on our walk I got a bunch of kinda nice pictures, while just walking around. =) (I did miss one really great shot of a squirrel though, but I learned my lesson and had my camera at the ready for the rest of the walk. =P) Anyway, I thought the way everything reflected so clearly in his sunglasses was kinda cool so I just took a quick picture, and really ended up liking the way it turned out. =) I hope you like it!

Leia ...

15/365 White Flowers in Terracotta

Today I was trying to get a kind of artistic photo of some tiny white flowers outside in a terracotta pot. =) I kinda like how it turned out. =) I like the saturated color matched with the low depth of field. =) Today was a much better day than the last few have been and I feel like this photo kinda reflects that. =) Hope you like it!

Leia ...

14/365 Rainbow

Hi everyone! =D So, today actually turned out to be one of those really trying days that really did everything everything it could to push you over the edge. =P and just when I thought I really couldn't take any more, the gray skies cleared and there was this amazing rainbow in the sky! =D I swear it was right over my house. =) Anyway, it actually did kinda cheer me up, so I took a picture, and now it's the picture of the day. =D I hope you like it. =)

Leia ...

13/365 - Formal Portrait

After a while of taking pictures by myself with a remote, my Fiance came a found me so I decided to drag him into some pictures too. =) I really liked how this one turned out. =) The lighting was just really good, and I like the composition. =) As an added bonus, neither of us blinked, or sneezed, or looked away, which was apparently more difficult for us than I first thought it'd be. =P

Leia ...

12/365 Self Portrait

Hi Everyone! So, yesterday was kinda a bad day. ><>< And I ended up not even being able to SEE my camera, never mind taking it out of it's bag all day. =P So today I decided to dedicate to photography. =D I've been really wanting to get started working on portrait photography again (Something that I haven't really done properly in two years. =P) but have found it difficult to get the motivation up, as I knew I'd work on it all day if I got started. =P So! Due to my lazyness yesterday, today was the day! This was one of the pictures I took earlier during the day. =) I liked how the lighting turned out and everything. =) (I also found out it's hard to take a picture of yourself with a remote. =P) But yeah! I feel like this is a good start to my portraits, and feel like I'll kind of be going back and forth between artistic and portrait photography from now on. =)

Leia ...

Background Holders

Hi Everyone! =D So, lately I've been really considering focusing my towards one day making a career out of portrait photography. =) Now, I've done some portrait photography in the past, but I've never had my own studio. I was thinking ideally what I'd like to do one day would be to have a full professional shop in my home where I could hold full sessions with people, and then I could also do weddings outside of the home. =)

I'm still going to school, so I wouldn't be able to do this for a while yet (I'm half way to my degree. =P I might as well finish) but I'm still trying to plan and get a lot of the equipment I will need. =) So far I have some lights, and some umbrellas, camera, tripod, remote, things like that. =) But one thing that I really want, and found to be a challenge to find was a stand that would hold several backgrounds at a time so that I would have several backgrounds ready to go while I was doing a sitting. =)

Finally, I found what I was looking for. =D

This is a RollEasy Motorized Background Roller System. =) Basically this genius contraption will hold up to four rolled backgrounds and at the push of a button will roll and unroll them for you, keeping them at the ready for when you need them. ^-^ I pretty much fell in love when I found this. =) The only problem? It's a little expensive. =P Also, the only rolled backgrounds I've ever been able to find were paper, and I'm not really sure if I'd want to use paper backgrounds in a Photo Shoot. Either way? I think this thing is AMAZING and will very likely be picking one up before too long. =)

Then next thing I found I was probably just as excited about to be honest. ^-^

This photograph is off the website that I found it on, same as the one above. =) This is basically a long track with hooks and clips that will hold multiple muslin backgrounds on it. =P It's incredibly simple, but I really like it. ^-^ I think this would be really useful, and would be exactly what I need to keep my backgrounds accessible to me. =) This one is not that expensive, and is pretty much everything I was hoping for, so I'll likely get this sooner than later. =)

So yeah! This is what I've found for holding backgrounds so far. =) If someone else has something else that they use and really like? Let me know in the comments. ^-^ Anyway, I hope if any of you are like me, and are trying to find a way to hold up several backgrounds at a time, I hope this helped!

Have a Great Day!
Diana

Leia ...

11/365 Spilled Over

Hi Everyone! I hope everyone had a good weekend. =) Mine was pretty good. =) It was pretty relaxed, and I actually got to go to a baby shower today, which was really nice. =D Anyway, when I got home from the shower I realized I never actually put my make-up away. =P (I was in a hurry. ><) But I liked how it all looked piled up in front of my train case so I tweeked the composition a little bit, and voila! Here's our photo for today. =) I hope you like it! I though it'd look kinda cool if everything was out of focus accept for my pressed powder. =) Anyway, I hope you like it!

Leia ...

10/365 Lighting Effect

Today I was feeling pretty relaxed, and didn't feel like taking a very formal photo. I was setting up my lights to practice some Portrait shots and thought the lights looked interesting so I got a photo of it. =)

As of today I have been working on this photo challenge for ten days and it is actually more challenging than I first thought it would be to make time every day for photography. =) It is also getting challenging to find a different thing to photograph each and every day. =) Either way, I'm glad I started cause I know I'll be in a much better place a year from now. =)

Leia ...

9/365 Close Up Guitar.

Hi Everyone! So, this one is actually a day late. =P I ended up trying to get a good picture 'till pretty late last night, and by the time I was done, I was way to tired to edit and upload. =P I spent a long time yesterday just playing with lighting and seeing how it effected the photo of this black guitar on a black background. Anyway, this is the best one I took. =) I'm not in love with it, but it's the best photo I took yesterday, so I'm going to list it regardless. =) I hope you like it!

Leia ...

8/365 Vintage Ferry

Here's the photo of the day! This is another attempt at a Faux Tilt Shift effect. =) This one worked a little better 'cause I took it from much higher up, and I think it looks really cute with the little ferry at the dock. =) I also made it look vintage-y cause I liked how it looks. =) I've been having a lot of fun with making things look vintage lately. =) I took this photo today while I was at the market place in my area. =) It's a really cute little place to be with all kinds of stands both inside the main building and outside. =) It was a really nice outing for a nice sunny day. ^-^

Leia ...

7/365. Blueberry Muffin.

Hi Everyone! I'm so happy about today's 365 photo. =) Basically, I just got back from work, and really had no idea what to take a photo of. >< And then as I was walking through the kitchen I just had to laugh as I saw that, what had been a huge plate of muffins this morning, was reduced to one. =P Then I kinda thought that the powdered sugar and the natural lighting from the window looked really nice. =) So that's why it's the photo of the day! Also, VERY little editing on this one. =) Which I'm kinda happy about. =)

Leia ...

6/365. Toy Car

Hi Everyone! I was really excited about today's picture. ^-^ Lately I've been reading up on some new different techniques that I could try and I came up with this one. =) I've known for a long time about tilt shift lenses, and that they can make a normal scene look as though it is a toy. =D Unfortunately those incredible lenses, are incredibly expensive. >< However, I found a tutorial that showed me how to take a normal photograph and make it look as though I had used a Tilt Shift lens to take the photo, by altering it with Photoshop. =) Anyway, this is the photo. =D I really like how it turned, out, and I hope you do too!

Leia ...

5/365 Country Living

Hi Everyone! So, Here's 5/365. =D I decided to try something a little different today. =) I tend to take my photos of flowers, and plant life but I really liked the way the light was hitting my guitar from my front window, and I love those little short cowboy boots behind it, so I thought I'd put them together. =) I thought using a shallow depth of field made it look kinda cool too. =) Anyway, I hope you like it! ^-^

Leia ...

New Treasury!

I just made a new Wedding Treasury for Etsy. =) It was so much fun! =D It's Called "Something Blue" I Think Everyone Should Check it Out!

I can't find a way to get a picture of it on here. =P Sorry, but I think everyone should go take a look! ^-^ It's beautiful. =)

Leia ...

4/365 Vintage WALL-E

Hi Everyone! ^-^ So, here's today's Photo. =) It's WALL-E! ^-^ Today is definitely one of those Lazy Sundays that you just want to spend all day outside, throwing a ball for the dog. =) (I actually tired her out! A First! ><)

Anyway, my sister was going through some of her stuff, and she found this little WALL-E toy that she got for Christmas last year. It's funny. When wall-e first came out, I really wasn't sure how to feel about it. =P I thought it might be cute, but didn't think it'd be THAT good. >< It's actually the only movie I've seen in theaters more than once. =P

This picture was a fun one to take. =P I set him up in the front garden which is filled with these really nice colored red rocks and used a really restricted depth of field to give it that kinda cool softened effect, then after, I shopped it to make everything very sharp and vibrant... which didn't suit the photo, so I used a Vintage Action at 50% and a Seventies Action at 50% and voila! ^-^ It was lots of fun. =) And I love it! I hope you do too. =)

Leia ...

3/365 Fairytale

Hi everyone! So this is Photo 3/365! This is a photo of a small potted plant in my window sill. It just looked really nice with all it's blossoms finally bloomed so I tried to get a picture, but it turned out really dark. ><>< But looking again, I really liked the effect it gave. ^-^ So I shopped it a bit to bring the colors out more, and here it is! =D

Leia ...

2/365 Berry Tree

Hi Everyone! So, here goes picture number 2 of 365 for this project. =) This picture is just a picture of the berries in the tree in my front yard. =) I just thought they looked kinda cool, so I took a picture, and decided I'd use that for my Photo of the Day! ^-^ What makes this picture cool too, to me, was the amount of editing used to get it to look just right. =) I love using actions to get a photo to look exactly the way I wanted it, and I really took my time and experimented with this one. =)

*PS: The Actions I use are mainly the free ones off of "The Pioneer Women's" Blog. =) They're amazing! So a special thanks to her. ^-^*

Leia ...

Starting My 365 Photo Project! 1/365!

Today I am very excited to announce that today is the very first day of my new 365 Photo Project! For this project I'm going to take and list a picture a day for the next year (hence 365 photos). I'm doing this in order to force myself to make time for m art every single day, no matter how busy I might be. =P And also I believe that taking pictures every day will also force me to think outside the box as I won't be taking pictures in only one kind of situation, but in every kind of situation. =)

1/365: Baby Reindeer.

I was at the local Zoo and they had Reindeer Babies! It was the hottest it's been all year so all of the reindeer were walking through the water, and this one looked up to say hello. =)

All of my 365 Photos will also be posted on my Flickr

Leia ...