Lucinda

Heather, this post is for you :) I got permission to put these on the blog just so you could see some more "people pictures" ;)

Lucinda called me up on Sunday and said she needed a picture of her to add to their family's christmas card. So I was more than happy to get outside and get a few shots of her down at her house. She lives in the house that is just down the hill from us, and I have to say I really enjoy having her close. Even though she's older than me and she's my "sister's friend", I claim her as my friend, too. ;)

The number one thing I like about her (beyond her bubbliness, of course!) is that she likes to be active. She has already agreed to go bicycling with me... but then it snowed. 

I know she won't be living here too much longer, so I hope the weather will permit us to get out and do stuff together before she has to go.

-MarLeahJoy

My Kinda Day!

I know that my blogging is so sporadic. Haha, my apologies. ;)

After about an hour of my parents agonizing about my safety, they decided that they would let me get out on the "icy" roads so I could go to the Holiday Fest at the Carver Park in Diamond.

It's actually an event for little children and we used to go to them all the time when I was young, but this time I was going to see a friend from college who volunteers there every time they have an event.

This is my friend and her mother who is an amazing seamstress and makes a new dress for Holly each event they have here. Her dress hem was lined with the most delicate beadwork. It was unbelievable! 

The little children at work with their crafts.

Museums and displays get fairly boring to me, but there is something about getting a glimpse back in time that I love... regardless if it looks like museum. Ha!

 When I saw these binoculars out on the deck, I had an idea to take a picture through them... and try to make it look like it does when you are actually looking through them.

So these are my attempts!

After the event was over, and most people left, I went on the little trail there.

I am such a sucker for trails -- it doesn't even have to be a spectacular trail.

Okay, I have to insert a few comments here:

First: That picture I took of myself was quite a painful process! It might look like a fun thing to do... blow snow out of your hands... Ha! but really my hands were soooo frozen and it hurt to even try to put my gloves on. Yeah, but it was worth it ;)

Second: I love to be all matchy-matchy with my Facebook profile and cover pictures and I realized that this picture matched my snowflake picture perfectly! That made me happy ;D

(there you go for all you non-Facebook users) :)

Just some ice and some macro ice.

I wished my family was there with me at this point so we could get a family picture here. 

But, alas! All I got was one of me trying to represent my whole family. ;)

{Umm... and it's a good thing there was no one else around or I would have felt really stupid setting up my camera and running up there to take a picture of myself. ;P }

Once I was completely cold, icy, freezing, numb, raw, rosie-cheeked, red-nosed, and chilled through-and-through, I hopped in my car and drove home a very happy girl. :)

-MarLeahJoy

Snowfall

We had perfect fall weather Monday and Tuesday, then BAM! on Thursday and Friday we get snow!

I like it though. I do really want to go outside and be active though, but it doesn't take me long to realized that I really want to be back indoors snuggled by a fire.

I've seen several photographers take amazing snowflake macros recently. And when I saw them, I mentally thought "Cool thing to do one day... I'll go pin it so I don't forget it."

Well, in less than a week we had our own snow. So, I went outside and began to follow their tips and I was like, "What's wrong!?" I wasn't getting anything good. It turns out that macro photography (with a magnifying glass) is really probably not something for one person to do because you have to hold the camera and the glass and keep moving them both until you get it perfectly in focus. 

Plus, your hands are shaking because it's COLD! So I put my camera on continuous and took a ton of pictures to get some steady ones.

The picture on the right is kind of hard to see, but it is a cluster of snowflakes... it reminds me of geometric planes, haha.

-MarLeahJoy

A Lesson on the Lensbaby

I had to get some shots for a powerpoint presentation I'm giving tomorrow about my Lensbaby Composer Pro + Edge 80 optic (now sold together). And for no real reason I feel like sharing them. 

Because, why not?

Actually, Einstein said that if you cannot explain it simply, then you do not understand it well enough. So this might be a test of my knowledge... 

So here goes.

This is the difference in aperture sizes. F/2.8 means that the opening in the lens (which lets the light in) is open really wide (as far as it goes in my Edge 80 optic). F/22 means that the hole is really small so it lets very little light in. So, for this example I went ahead and cranked my ISO (how sensitive the camera's sensor is to pick up the light) all the way up to 6400 so that's why you can see more grain in the picture.

But, the main difference seen in the two examples is how much is actually in focus. 

With f/2.8, the larger opening allows the light to come in to the camera from more angles

With f/22, it creates "deep focus", which is saying that more things are in focus because the light rays coming through the lens are more parallel to each other.

Actually, that was just a lesson on aperture, not necessarily the Lensbaby, because every lens can change aperture.

This next example however, is exclusive to the Lensbaby Composer Pro. But first, let's see what the lens even looks like...

Image from Lensbaby.com

This is the Composer Pro base and the Edge 80 optic put together. It can tilt around in anyway you would like. 

When you have it positioned straight, it will act as any other lens... where the objects in focus is determined by the aperture size and the focal distance you choose.

But when you tilt the lens, it bends the plane of focus to the angle that the lens is tilted... resulting in a "slice of focus" that is now not based on how far the object is from you, but how drastically you tilt the lens.

Image from Lensbaby.com

For most of you, this is just a lot of "blah, blah, blah" that you will likely skim over. But if nothing else, I think I educated myself a little bit more by creating this post... :P

Happy December!

-MarLeahJoy

Free $50 Prints

I am so excited! Back in this post I shared some pictures that I was planning on printing with Nations Photo Lab but the promo code wouldn't work. Well, this time Tamara Lackey offered another code for $50 off your first order: TLNOVLUV (If you want to take advantage of this great offer too, make sure that you use the ROES software to order, because the promo code doesn't work on online orders)

So today I ordered these three un-stretched canvas prints for my new room and I basically only had to pay for shipping. Yay! :D

I plan on making these little cute things made from mouse traps to hang the prints on my wall.
I found the idea on Pinterest -- of course :P

Picture from ellaclaireinspired.com

When I went Walmart last night to buy them, I called my mom to ask her where to find them because I wasn't about to ask a sales associate where to find them... I would feel obligated to tell them that I was really only using them for a craft. And they would never believe me. *sigh* Who would!?

Picture from ellaclaireinspired.com

I think I'll put some burlap behind my prints to kind of "frame" them. But I'll make sure to show you all the finished product anyway.

So this week on my break I'll be painting my room, making a rug, making a ottoman (big pillow foot stool thing), making a skirt (if I have time), making these mouse trap picture hangers, making a pillow, and who knows if I'll be inspired to paint something on my 3' x 6' canvas that has been blank for the last two years ;P

-MarLeahJoy

Family Portraits

I hardly ever take pictures in the morning, but I really enjoyed this morning family session. I guess that is probably due to my lazy sleeping schedule I've been on the last two years :P So it was nice to actually get out and see the morning sunlight for once ;) and I found that I really like the lighting for portraits.

I really liked the foliage in the left picture. This was actually on their property, and how lucky are they to have a weeping willow tree in their yard!? I would absolutely love one!

They also wanted to take the pictures at their house because they planned to include their German Shepherd, Sasha. She looks like a sweet, innocent dog in this picture, but let me tell you... she is a wild one, even though she is three-legged.  :)

So, this picture was taken after he had ran around the yard in circles with her until she laid down for a few seconds.

I love Chelsea's smile, and I love who she is. She has a strong character -- stronger than I ever realized in all of my years of going to school with her. I wish her the best in her life!

I hope everyone enjoys their Thanksgiving and this cold weather! :)

-MarLeahJoy

Orange Glazed Blueberry Scones

The things are just scrumptious! I have made them twice in the last week and a half and they don't last longer than 24 hours :P Partially because it does't make an extremely large batch and I live with a family. But mostly because they end up in the mouth of the cook! ;)

Blueberry Scones

• 1 cup of blueberries (I use frozen and they work just fine)
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 5 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• Dash of salt
• 1 stick of butter
• 2/3 cup milk

Heat oven to 425 degreese. In a bowl mix the dry ingreedients. Add butter and blend with two knives or a pastry cutter untill it is crumbly. Stir in blueberries and add milk. Mix batter until it clings together. With floured hands, form into balls about 1/2' thick and 2 1/2' to 3'in diameter. Place on greased cookie sheet or parchment paper. Bake for 10 to 13 minouts or untill golden brown. Makes about 11 scones. After they have cooled, I coat them with the orange glaze. It will run off, but the more you can get to stay on there, the better ;)


Orange Glaze

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 large orange, juiced and zested
• 2 cups powdered sugar

Melt the butter in a small bowl. Add the orange juice and zest. Stir in the powdered sugar, portions at a time to make sure it dissolves.

The little bits of orange zest add just the right "pop" to the sweetness.

I was taking these on a morning before I left for college. (Only two full weeks left! Woot!) So I was a tad rushed after taking pictures and didn't even get to drink the tea. Oh, well, it would have probably been cold and way too strong from steeping the whole time I took pictures. But I ate plenty of scones, of course, before heading off to school. :D

So, I must admit that it took me by surprise when I picked up my camera and started taking pictures. I thought to myself, "Hey, I like the sound of the shutter!" as if I had forgot what it sounded like. Then I chided myself for not taking pictures for such a long time... or blogging. :P I've had some people remind me that I haven't blogged since the 7th of this month, lol.

Well... delicious stuff. 

Guess what? You should make them! So we can share the love of them :)

-MarLeahJoy

Alyssa {Bridal Portraits}

It's really hard for me to even think of anything "happy" to write on this post. My sister got married on the 2nd of this month, and I must say I have already cried a good 4 or 5 times for her. The night before the wedding it felt like she had died or something. It was horrible. Most of those feelings were because I was at the end of a very long day and sleep was long overdue, but nonetheless I was still hurting at the thought of her moving so far away.

Recently, my dad made the comment, "Yeah, we will only see her a handful of times each year..." And the whole harsh reality hit again (as if it hasn't hit enough times!) "You mean to tell me that I will be lucky to see her a twice a year!?" This person I've spent nearly everyday of the last 18 years with... How sad! But people have already been giving me so much encouragement to help me through this though, and that has really helped. :)

 

Oh, how she loved her poor cat. Sadly, she wasn't able to take it with her, though. I mean, who really wants to travel on their honeymoon with a bawling cat. :P

"Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue, A Sixpence in your Shoe"

I guess the handkerchief counts as Something Old and Something Blue... maybe? :)

I think this is my favorite of her. I love how her eyes match the chair!

Home. I'm glad someone suggested for us to take a picture in front of our house. Yes, I'm being very, extremely sentimental, but of all the beautiful backgrounds, I like this one with our house the best! ;)

Her engagement watch and flowers Marty brought her when he came out for the wedding.

Um, excuse me while I go cry some more. JK! ;)

-MarLeahJoy