Danelle M Photography Blog

DRINK UP

2012-02-09T21:35:00.017-07:00

This week's Project 52 theme was Drink Up. I had a lot of fun with this one. My kids had a lot of fun drinking all the soda when I was done taking pictures of it!

This next one is my favorite. So we'll call it the official Project 52 photo. I'm also sharing it over at Shoot. Edit. Submit.

BRIGHT COLOR PALETTES

2012-02-09T06:36:00.002-07:00

I just had to share a few more color palettes today. These feature some bright and cheery colors. And I've added a fun new feature to my color palettes blog. Every palette is linked to a Pinterest board full of ideas on using those colors for decorating, party planning, weddings, and more.

I know what your'e thinking......it's an excuse for me to spend more time on Pinterest. You might be right! I hope you'll check it out over at Pick Your Palette.

I'm sharing today over at Deb Duty Photography.

THRIFTY FINDS

2012-02-07T19:26:00.001-07:00

I've had a lot of fun lately checking out thrift stores for food photography props. If only there were room in my kitchen to store all the great things I see.

COLOR YOUR WORLD

2012-02-06T16:03:00.001-07:00

I've been having so much fun creating color palettes from my photos with this free template from The Coffee Shop Blog. So much fun, in fact, that I thought they deserved a blog all their own. I'm calling it Pick Your Palette. I think it's going to be a fun way to feature a lot of my photos that don't get posted here.

These are just a few of my recent favorites.

SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY

2012-02-04T19:44:00.004-07:00

Here are my finds for this week's Scavenger Hunt Sunday prompts.

{Strike A Pose}

My friend Sarah is always up for a fun photo shoot.

{Footwear}

{Hobby}

Besides photography! Well, I love cooking and sharing recipes on my recipe blog, Let's Dish. On Friday we had a snow day, so there was plenty of time to make pancakes for breakfast.

{Shiny}

{Color Me Green}

This has to be one of my all time favorite "green" photos. I livened it up for this week's challenge by adding a color palette using this free template from the Coffee Shop Blog.

PROJECT 52: SHADOWS

2012-02-02T21:09:00.003-07:00

Is it just me, or does it seem like Punxsutawney Phil always sees his shadow on groundhog day? One thing is for sure, spring won't be coming to these parts anytime soon. The weather man is predicting almost a foot of snow by Saturday morning!

Here's my interpretation of this week's Project 52 theme.

FOR THE BIRDS

2012-01-30T13:30:00.004-07:00

On Saturday, a local nursery was hosting a bird show. It was a great opportunity to get some close-up shots of some beautiful birds.

According to the resident bird experts, these two are not the same species.

There were also birds from a local raptor program that rehabilitates injured birds of prey.

A few the more colorful species.

I'm sharing this last one at Sweet Shot Tuesday.

SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY

2012-01-28T17:41:00.002-07:00

Here are this week's finds for Scavenger Hunt Sunday.

{Smile}

You may have seen this one before. But how could I resist?

{Stand Alone}

{Rusty/Old}

{Artificial}

{Repeating Pattern}

You can go join the fun over at Ramblings and Photos.

PROJECT 52: SELF PORTRAIT

2012-01-27T11:18:00.003-07:00

I know it's early in the year, but I'm willing to state right now that this will be the most challenging week of Project 52 for me. Do you know how hard it is to catch myself on a day when I'm wearing something cute and having a good hair day at the same time!!?!

That being said, I'm pretty happy with the end (after several previous attempts) result.

BERRIES AND A NEWFOUND PHOTOGRAPHY PASSION

2012-01-25T21:28:00.011-07:00

If you've been visiting for awhile, you know I take a lot of food photos for my recipe blog, Let's Dish. I've been seeing some amazing food photography on Pinterest lately, and I've been inspired to delve a little deeper into the world of food photography and styling.

The first thing I determined was that I needed more props for my food photography. Which meant I had to go shopping! We have a great vintage market here in town, where I found the cute creamer in the photo above, and this fabulous tin teapot. Only $6!

I also found this simple bowl. One thing I've learned is that simple, white dishes are your best bet for photographing food.

Napkins and hand towels, even fabrics, can add color and texture.

Shooting food from overhead has always been a challenge for me, but I think I'm starting to get the hang of it.

Sometimes you have to carefully place the food, but make it look completely random at the same time.

Don't be surprised if you see this next one in the May issue of Cottages and Bungalows. I know! I'm pretty excited myself!

After I posted this tutorial on my personal blog about removing scratches from dishes, the editor contacted me asking if she could share the information in her magazine. In addition to my before and after shot, she needed a stylized photo of my scratch-free dishes. I was happy to oblige. And I couldn't resist using some of my new props!

I've been browsing Amazon for food styling and photography books. I think I'm hooked, and I can't wait to learn more. Just shopping for the props is a lot of fun!

I'm sharing this last one at Shoot. Edit. Submit.

I just love that teapot!

PEARS

2012-01-25T09:49:00.000-07:00

A LITTLE INSPIRATION

2012-01-21T20:37:00.040-07:00

Recently I've been working to combine some of my favorite quotes with some of my favorite photos. I even bought a 5x5 frame to keep it on my kitchen counter.

The hope is that I'll be inspired every day, and that my children will internalize some of the things they read while they're standing in the kitchen eating goldfish crackers and chocolate chip cookies.

I've only created a handful so far, but you can see the rest here.

SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY

2012-01-21T18:59:00.004-07:00

This week's Scavenger Hunt was challenging for me. I guess that's why they call it a photo challenge.

Here are this week's finds.

{Sunset}

I had a lot of trouble getting outside at Sunset this week. I always seemed to be picking someone up from something. Or making dinner. Or tending to the child who just got stitches. More details on that with the Day in My Life photo......I finally made it out to photograph the sunset Saturday evening. It wasn't the best sunset of the week, but at least the tree is interesting.

{Black and White}

Love this shot of the Northern Hotel downtown. It's a historic building in the 1930's Chicago architectural style. It's been refurbished with some shops on the first floor and senior housing on the other levels. You can see more of my street photography here.

{A Day in My Life}

Luckily, most days in my life are not like Thursday was. In the morning, I got into a fender bender in the grocery store parking lot. In the afternoon, my youngest became the first in our family of all boys to get stitches.

He wouldn't let me photograph his stitches (and you probably wouldn't want to see that), so I got a picture of him relaxing and watching some t.v. after the trauma. I posted more of the gory details on my personal blog. Let's just say the nurse removed a rock from his side and sent it home with him as a souvenir.

{Four}

Four flowers from the grocery store bouquet I bought late last week. I've really gotten a lot of mileage out of that bouquet.

{Colorful}

The display in the window of a local toy store.

ONE LAST MACRO

2012-01-20T09:49:00.001-07:00

Just one more shot of my grocery store bouquet.

PROJECT 52: I DREAMED A DREAM

2012-01-19T16:19:00.002-07:00

This was a tough one for me. At first I tried taking a picture of my youngest child sleeping. That didn't go so well, seeing as he's seven, and doesn't sleep like a baby anymore. Then I thought about trying to photograph one of my dreams--writing a book for example. I finally decided to stick with the idea that this week's theme was inspired by Martin Luther King, Jr.

Did you know that Dr. King recited the words from "We Shall Overcome" in his final sermon delivered in Memphis on Sunday March 31, 1968?

FLOWER CART

2012-01-19T09:29:00.001-07:00

There's this great flower cart outside an orchid shop downtown.

Even in the winter, when there are no (live) flowers, it's still charming.

SWEET SHOT TUESDAY

2012-01-16T18:42:00.005-07:00

A few more shots from my grocery store flower bouquet. I'm sharing this first one at Sweet Shot Tuesday, and a few others, just for fun.

5 PHOTOGRAPHY FINDS

2012-01-15T08:47:00.000-07:00

I haven't shared any photography finds for ages. I'll blame it on the busy holiday season that has just passed. Here are some fun, helpful, informative things I've come across lately.

1. I don't know if I've mentioned how much I love Improve Photography. Check out this article on 13 Things Your Camera Wishes You Knew. I learned a lot of things in this article alone that I hadn't heard anywhere else. I'm off to Amazon right now to buy some of the lintless cleaning cloths he mentions.

2. I was very excited to come across this four part series on food photography at Gourmande in the kitchen, since I do so much of it for my food blog.

3. Or if you're looking for some quick tips on food photography, check out Pioneer Woman's Ten Things I've Learned About Food Photography.

4. These camera key chains are just cute.

5. And finally, check out this great tutorial from Jodi Friedman of MCP Actions on photographing people in glasses.

SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY

2012-01-14T21:12:00.004-07:00

It's time for another Scavenger Hunt Sunday. Here are this week's finds.

{Stacked Up}

A close-up version of this week's Project 52 photo.

{Winter Wonderland}

You wouldn't think, living in Colorado, that this one would give me trouble. There was snow forecast this week, but even though the temperatures were well below freezing, we did not get one flake. It was hardly a winter wonderland. This photo was taken back in October.

{Sweet}

I bought a cute new Valentine's bowl. So I had to buy some chocolates to go in it!

{Hole}

I was feeling uninspired on this one, so I rummaged through my kitchen drawers until I found something with holes. How about a citrus juicer?

{Frozen}

Along the lines of Winter Wonderland, this one gave me trouble. I resorted to opening my freezer and staring at it's contents. Frozen peas. Frozen corn. Nothing good to photograph, really. Then I spotted a bag of cranberries I'd thrown in the freezer before the holidays. And although I added some sugar to make them look frozen, you'll have to take my word that they really are frozen.

PROJECT 52: MADE WITH LOVE

2012-01-13T05:50:00.004-07:00

Made with love for my boys. And eaten with love, I assure you.

CAN'T WAIT FOR SPRING

2012-01-11T22:00:00.003-07:00

I just couldn't take winter anymore. So I brought a big boquet of flowers home from the grocery store. I'll have something pretty to photograph for several days, and I won't even have to go out in the sub-zero temperatures.

I'm sharing this last one at Shoot. Edit. Submit.

MONOCHROME AND COLOR

2012-01-09T20:58:00.002-07:00

A few bicycle shots from a recent trip to historic Old Town.

Sometimes I have a hard time deciding whether I prefer black and white, or color.

I HEART FACES: BEST FACE PHOTO OF 2011

2012-01-09T17:22:00.001-07:00

Such a beautiful girl.....it was hard to choose just one of her.

SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY

2012-01-07T20:09:00.002-07:00

Time for another Scavenger Hunt Sunday. Here are this week's finds.

{One Color}

{Laundry}

Okay, I went into the archives for this one. How could I not, when the amazing Sarah wanted Senior pictures in her ballet shoes.....at the laundromat!

{Empty}

{One Dozen}

{Soft}

ROBIN

2012-01-06T08:21:00.000-07:00