Anyway, our food garden is too wet to do anything right now, but I couldn’t resist buying some plants last weekend. Among them are these beauties–gold and orange ranunculus.

I found these at Plants ‘n Things, one of our local garden centers, but you can find them at most garden centers at this time of year.

Aren’t they impossible to resist?

They come in so many beautiful colors. Google “ranunculus” images, and just try not to smile. I just can’t be negative when I’m looking at these cheerful blooms.

If it stops raining long enough tomorrow, I’m going back for more…

Have a great weekend!

–Natalie

You can drastically change the composition of your images just by simply changing your point of view. If you’re shooting kids (or animals), try getting down on their level to capture the most expression and/or what they are doing. It’s easy and tempting to just stand and shoot, but you miss so much when you’re several feet taller than your subject. Sit, kneel, lay, do whatever it takes to get on level with your subjects, and the difference is amazing.

Example: Below is a photograph I shot from a standing position. It’s not horrible, but it doesn’t make me feel like I’m right there with him when I look at the photograph.

Now, here are the photos I took from a sitting position. To me, these are much more engaging; I feel like I’m back in the moment with him. If you feel like you’re there with him, then I’ve done a good job of capturing the moment, which is my goal whenever I’m taking pictures.

Chubby, busy hands…

Those eyelashes kill me!

Can you hear his little wheels turning?

Another great thing about getting down on the ground is that I’m more likely to stop and stay a while–which means I’ll take the time to get more photos, more details—and hopefully that perfect capture. (I took over 60 pics to get the above edits).

There are lots of different tricks to adjusting your point of view to the most flattering angles for your subject, but I think the most important one is to change it up and not get stuck in a rut. For me, photographing food is the most challenging subject. I rarely get something great in the first few shots, and I usually have to try a lot of different angles and positions before I get a decent shot.

Sometimes standing on a chair, bed, or counter to shoot from above can give a fresh perspective.

And sometimes, just a small adjustment can make a big difference. You might remember the pics of Belinda’s Dream roses. I really like the photo on the right better, even though it was a small change in my point of view. For the better shot, I moved the cuttings farther away from the daffodil foliage, and I got down a few inches lower. The bokeh (blur) was infinitely better, and the sunlight was exactly what I was looking for–I love the sun’s reflection on the bottle.

I hope changing your point a view will give you some results your looking for in your photography. Let me know! Happy shooting!

–Natalie

Here are a few photos (mostly ones we didn’t use in the article) that I took for an article about Farmhouse Round Top, a B&B in between Shelby and Round Top. If you want to see the rest, you’ll have to pick up a copy of the mag!

I don’t know why, but I love this shot of the old screen door. Maybe because it reminds me of the grocery store in Miles, Texas, and going there with my Grandma.

This room was one of my favorites–so much natural light! The owner, Beverly, is also the talented designer, and she has something different in each of the six cottages. I love that! I want to collect cottages and design all of them differently! Don’t tell Harper.

Beverly used plumbing hardware to create custom curtain rods. And check out the walls–she covered them in burlap! It’s a great look, and it has patina that reminds me of old leather.

One of the things I love about my job is getting to meet talented people with interesting stories!

Photography Note:

Often when I’m shooting interiors for the mag, I use a tripod. Otherwise, I would have to use a super high ISO, and the resulting grain would be very obvious in print. Anytime photos are going to be printed rather than just viewed on a computer screen,  imperfections, grain, and sharpness (or lack of) are all much more noticeable.

They grow on evergreen shrubs with bright green foliage. The cuttings above are from Harper’s godmother’s camelia. Below is the one in our backyard. Under the pecan tree canopy, it doesn’t get as much sun as it should, so it’s not the most beautiful example, but it still blooms each year. In a healthier specimen, you wouldn’t see all the branches–the foliage would be much denser.

Because of the mild winter this year, a lot of plants are blooming earlier, so it already looks like early spring. But often at this time of year, the bright little camelias are some of the only color in a sea of brown. They are winter’s little promise of spring’s imminent arrival.

I played with the color when editing these photos, but they are the same flowers as in the previous photo.

We had just had some rain when I took these, so their little heads were weighted down with water. Many of them looked as if they were bowing their heads in prayer.

Amen.

But then, we spotted it–the (almost) perfect solution right under our noses at Lowes. And it cost less than $10.

It was so simple and timeless, but it was awfully shiny–too shiny to look like it might be 140 years old. It needed patina, but we could fake add that.

So, while I was painting trim in our master bedroom, Harper made the doorbell look old. First, he sanded it a little (by hand). Next, he spray painted two layers of paint on it: one red and one black. Then, he sanded off most of the paint. We knew that if we didn’t like the old paint look, that we could just sand it all off, and that would at least eliminate the shine.

I love how it turned out. It’s loud as hell, though. It sounds a lot like the little buzzers you attached to a 12-volt lantern battery back in Mr. Nutley’s fourth grade science class. I still jump every time it rings if I’m in the living room. And the dog jumps up and runs to the front of the house sounding like a herd of elephants. But that’s just part of our charm around here. Delivery men love us.

I’m sharing this because it’s a “project” that’s actually finished, and I’m supposed to be focusing on those instead of all the stuff that still needs to be done. And, if any of you are redoing an old house and in the same doorbell predicament, I just wanted you to know that there is an inexpensive option out there.

Back in December, two of my friends Robyn and Kim hosted a craft night and cookie exchange. After enduring endless teasing from Harper about how “times have changed” because I was going to a craft night, I packed up my bags (don’t worry–it was just my crafting supplies). We were supposed to bring whatever project we wanted to work on, so it was the perfect chance to have a few uninterrupted hours for a project and time to visit with friends. I had a long list of projects that I wished I had time for, and I really wanted to get Christmas stockings made for us, but I decided to stick with a simple wreath so I could actually finish that night.

Since I have a serious fabric addiction, I have a pretty good stash of material that is just waiting for its purpose in life. I decided to only use stuff that I already had, and other than the Styrofoam wreath, I stuck to that. I had some leftover jute webbing from a chair that I re-did a few years ago, and the red material was one of those good deals that I just couldn’t pass up (at least six years ago). Apparently, I was going to do something big, because I had five yards of it…

I really liked how it turned out, and I decided to make one for my sister. But apparently, jute webbing has become a hot commodity, because I couldn’t find more of it anywhere. So I gave her this one because she’s my sister, and I knew she would like it as much as I did.

The only bad thing is that I didn’t really have enough of the webbing to wrap the entire wreath, so the back is quite a sight. So, if you were starting to get impressed, take a peek below at the ugly truth…

Awesome! I’m such a crafty crafter!

I did take a few pics of the process (after the fact), because these fabric flowers are ridiculously easy. It’s basically just folding, twisting and gluing. So, if you can find the jute webbing, you can make your own wreath. And if you can’t find the webbing, you can use burlap or any fabric strips.

1. Cut a notch into the fabric. I made strips of varying widths, but they were all around 2 inches.

2. Tear the fabric for a frayed edge. If you want a cleaner edge, cut the fabric with scissors or a rotary cutter.

3. Use a dot of hot glue to start the folding process. (For most of this project I used a small hot glue gun, and it was easier than a large one. A lot more glue comes out of the larger gun, so it’s more likely to show up when you use too much.)

4-5. Start folding.

6-7. Start twisting and folding at the same time. Use a little glue every once in a while to keep it all in place.

8-9. Glue the last part of the fabric to the back of the flower. This makes it easier to glue to the wreath when you’re finished.

10. A small finished flower

11. I just wanted to show a larger flower so you could see how I opened the fabric out on the back before gluing it.

12. The larger gray flower looks neater. The red one was just one I made for the pictures, and its edges are pretty frayed.

Let me know if you make one!

It isn’t in the best shape. It’s so far out of tune that I can even tell (and I’m pretty sure I’m tone deaf–so it’s bad). It’s missing a lot of ivory from its keys, and some of the keys barely play.

I’ve been seriously considering getting rid of it to make room for something more functional. But I’m not sure if I’m ready to part with it. Especially when I hear and see my little boy enjoying it.

Do you know what sounds even better? A duet…

Do you think I’ll regret it if I part with it?

Photography Details:

Camera: Nikon D300
Lens: 24-70 mm f/2.8 G
Focal length: varied
ISO: 1000
Aperture: f/2.8
Shutter speed: 1/125 and 1/80

Notes: The dining room has one window on the north (dark) side of our house. That single window is shaded by two huge pine trees, so the natural light is limited. I set the ISO at 1000 to help with the low light. I love the mood of the natural light coming from the side. Can you imagine how different the images would have been if I had used regular flash? The flat light the flash would have provided would have killed the shadows and the mood.

You might notice the last two shots are lighter. I slowed the shutter speed down to 1/80 to catch more light. I steadied the camera and lens by propping my elbows on the counter in the kitchen.

January 20, 2005

Sometimes I get overwhelmed with all the projects we still have left to do here. I start to wish we had a newer house with less maintenance. And closets. And another room. And neighbors with kids. Sometimes we even look at other houses…

Isn’t it easy to have “the grass is greener” mentality? We’re trained to have it.

But then I think about what we would be leaving behind. There are so many wonderful things about the Shady Acre. I’ve decided to focus on some of these things in upcoming posts, just to remind myself to be content.

Our park-like yard is at the top of the list–that’s no surprise. But among the things that I do love about this place, there’s one that’s less obvious. It’s our red building.

When we first looked at this place (in August 2004), I had to explore the old garage and the red building. To my delight, they were full of junk. Good junk. One of the first things I asked Johanna was if the contents of buildings came with the house. The answer was yes.

It was full of treasures: doors, windows, frames, an old cooler, a metal fertilizer, a bucket of old door knobs and other hardware, and more. Over the years, I’ve added a few things and taken out a few to use in projects.

I wanted to take some more interior shots, but Tice kept following me in there, and even though I’m pretty laid back about dirt, rat poop is a whole different animal. Uh, literally. Below are some shots from the inside from 2008.

(You can click here to see what I did with a couple of those old corbels.)

This oval frame is just waiting for something wonderful. I even have the glass that fits the frame.

I’m pretty sure the red building was once used as a chicken house. Since we’ve lived here, it has served many purposes.

-Our chicken eggs laid their first eggs under it. I had to remove some screws in the metal skirting so I could reach into the corner to get the eggs.

-It helped save Ava from a hawk one Sunday afternoon. Harper ran out there yelling at the predator, and it gave Ava just enough of a chance to dive under the building through some broken boards. She escaped with some cuts and shaken nerves. Yes, she is one tough bird. (You might remember her other survival story from here.)

-It has served as a background for pictures a few times. I had thought about taking our Christmas card pictures against it this year, but then the leaves were so pretty that I decided I wanted them as our background. Maybe we’ll use it this year. I took the picture below in 2006 of my brother and sis-in-law. They weren’t married at that time, and I think that might have been her first visit to Brenham.

-Of course, it has been used for storage, but only for my stuff. Harper won’t go in there, because he’s afraid of rats. Like, really afraid. Not that I like rats, but I’m not afraid of them. I’ve had some epic battles with rodents in that building. I have a BB gun with a laser sight just for this purpose. What? Does that make me a redneck? I was just trying to be environmentally conscious and avoid using poison. Well, and it’s kind of fun to hunt rats with a BB gun. Hopefully I won’t shoot my eye out.

Don’t tell Harper I showed you this picture…

Ha ha! Now, try to pretend you never saw that!

Luckily, I haven’t seen or heard any rats out there in the last year or so. As much as I would like to take complete credit for that, I’m guessing we have snakes to thank…

What is it about old hardware and flaking red paint? Be-a-uti-ful.

If we were to move, what would become of all my stored junk–I mean treasures? It’s not exactly the kind of stuff I could talk Harper into packing up and moving to a new house. I know I’m weird, but these are things I think about.

Have a great weekend! I hope I get to go enjoy this beautiful weather we’re having. Maybe I should go buy a can of red paint for my old friend.

I love a good broccoli salad. And I should be harvesting broccoli from my garden right now, but, alas, I never got it planted. Luckily, the grocery store has a pretty good supply.

I’ve been hungry for broccoli salad, and I had the perfect excuse to make it this week, because broccoli was the veggie I had chosen for the “In Season” page of the magazine. I needed to photograph it and set the amounts for the ingredient list. I got the recipe from my sis-in-law Brandi. She cooks like we do–rarely following an exact recipe, so when we share a recipe, it’s usually just a list of ingredients. It works fine for us, but when I want to post a recipe here or use it in Texas LIVE, giving a list of ingredients instead of exact amounts probably wouldn’t be very popular.

Here is my slightly adapted version of the recipe:

Broccoli Salad

2 heads of broccoli, cut into bite-size pieces
1/3 red onion, finely diced
1/2 cup pineapple, finely diced
3/4 cup dry cranberries, diced
1/3 cup salted sunflower seeds
6 slices cooked bacon, diced
1 cup sharp cheddar, finely shredded
1/2 cup coleslaw dressing (I used the plain Lighthouse brand. If you can find the pineapple version that Brandi recommends, you can skip the diced pineapple.)
Zest from one large lemon
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients. Chill, serve, and enjoy!

Photography Notes:

Camera: Nikon D300
Lens: 24-70 mm f/2.8 G
Focal length: 70 mm
ISO: 500
Aperture: f/2.8
Shutter speed: 1/320

Notes: I shot these on our back porch. It was bright and sunny outside, so this is all indirect light–perfect for many situations. Our kitchen is on the north side of our house, so even on a sunny day in the winter, there isn’t much light for photographing food in there.

I knew I would need a vertical shot for the magazine, so that’s mostly how I composed my shots. I thought I would take a few horizontal shots (since they are better for online), but I didn’t like them at all. The last two were my favorites. You can see I tried several different angles. I had the food sitting on a large cutting board, and I ended up turning the cutting board to a long direction so you can’t see any of the table in the last few pics.

I waited to put most of the dressing on until after I was finished with the pictures.

I’m starting with a few basic tips, and I’ll follow up with a post that can help with composition. If you’re just beginning with a DSLR and feel overwhelmed, hopefully these will help you transition from a point-and-shoot to a DSLR. And don’t worry about shooting in manual mode yet. You have plenty of time to learn, and it’s easier if you start with some basics and get comfortable with your camera.

1. Have Fun

You got the bigger camera because you’re either in interested in photography or you just want better pictures to document your life. Or both. Either way, you’ve got to have fun with it, or it will just end up collecting dust or feeling like one more obligation. So, relax and capture what you love. Even if it’s something that others won’t “get,” take pictures of whatever inspires you. The pictures might not be exactly what you want at first, but you’ve got to start somewhere.

I (kind-of) wish I could find one particular photo I took the summer before we got married. Harper had just bought our first house, and we were re-doing and fixing it up. I knew nothing about gardening, but I loved nature and appreciated beautiful plants. We ended up buying two pink mandevilla vines for our front porch, but I didn’t really know what to do with them, so I just set them on the porch in their black plastic pots. Then I photographed them–black plastic pot glory and all. It inspired me. In fact, I even put the photo above the kitchen sink so I could look at it often. And I promise you, there was nothing artistically beautiful about the photo–it just made me happy because it was a pretty plant growing on our new front porch (even if it was still in its black plastic pot).  Mind you, I already had a degree in photojournalism, but I just hadn’t made that crossover that all my photography should be treated like “real” photography. I was still just taking snapshots when I was at home. But I was photographing what inspired me, so that was a good start.

2. Take Your Time and Take More Pictures

The only way to get better is to take LOTS of pictures. Sometimes your favorite picture will be one of those accidental shots where everything just came together. Sometimes the best ones will be the very last ones–the ones you almost didn’t take. But if you’re only taking a few photos, you might not get any that you love. For every photo I post on this blog, there are hundreds (literally) that you don’t see. Some of them are good, a lot of them are just okay, and many of them are nothing great. (I took about 10,000 photos in 2011. I was bound to get a few good ones!) The last post I did included 20 photos, but I took 120. That’s a lot of outtakes! I’m not paying for film and processing, so I might as well shoot as much as I want. I can always delete, but I can’t have that moment back to take more pictures.

1. Hold the Camera Properly

It’s important to learn the right way to hold your camera. If you’re used to shooting with a small point-and-shoot camera, it’s going to be an adjustment to get used to the weight and bulk of a DSLR. It might be awkward at first, but once you get used to it, the point-and-shoot will feel awkward. You’ll want to cup your left hand under the lens while your right hand is controlling the shutter. This support under your lens will help to steady the camera and give you sharper photos–especially in low light situations or when you’re trying to capture action.

2. Use Your Camera Strap

Securing your camera to your body is also very important. Your nice new camera is an investment, and you don’t want to ruin it. I remember feeling dorky at first putting the camera strap around my neck, but looking like a dork was less important than the thought of dropping my camera, so it just became a habit. Often I will wrap my arm through the strap several times instead of putting it around my neck.

3. Don’t Worry About Reviewing Each Image

Don’t waste time constantly looking at each shot in your LCD screen. If you are just learning, you probably have the camera set to fully AUTO mode, so there’s no reason to keep checking your images since you don’t (yet) know how to adjust settings that would change your exposure. If you spend a lot of time pausing to review shots between clicks, there’s no telling what you’re missing right in front of you.  Right now you should just be getting used to composing the shot in your viewfinder.

The exception to this tip would be if you are practicing on some type of still life photography (flowers, an interior scene, etc…) rather than shooting people/animals. You wouldn’t have to worry so much about missing something, and stopping to look at your last shot could help you make changes to how you’re composing the next shot.

4. Find Natural light

The best way to improve your images is to start seeing light the way the camera sees it. You want to use your on-camera flash as little as possible, because that will make your photos look like snapshots no matter how beautifully they are composed. (If you’re taking snapshots, don’t worry if they look like snapshots, but if you’re trying to get more artsy or candid images, forget about the flash.) Since you’re probably shooting in Auto mode, you’ll need to be outside or in a room with a lot of windows to have enough light. You might have noticed that most of the shots I share are taken outdoors. I still take some inside–mainly food or candid moments of play, but I prefer shooting outside with plenty of light.

This photo documented Tice’s first food. I knew it would be special, so I wanted “good” pics, which meant natural light. We took him outside on the porch instead of the kitchen, and it was worth it. I’ve done the same thing for food pics when the indoor light just wasn’t adequate. Below are a couple of examples.

We’ll talk more about light later since it is the most important thing in photography (in my opinion), but I had to mention it here.

5. Ask Questions

Don’t be afraid to ask questions! There are no dumb questions, and anything you’re having trouble with is probably something that more experienced photographers had trouble with when they were beginning. We all start at the same place! I know a lot about photography, but I definitely don’t know everything. There is ALWAYS room for improvement, and I’m still learning just like everyone else. So, if you have a question, don’t be afraid to ask me or someone else!

If you have questions or other tips for beginners, please leave a comment!

Next up, tips on improving composition.