I've Moved!

Like that image? I made it with the new A Beautiful Mess photo app! I'm so in love with it.

At the beginning of March I thought I was done with blogging. It was too overwhelming for me to keep up with, and I was beginning to feel like I was letting you, my readers and friends, down by not posting.

So I stopped blogging.
I deleted The Tape Diaries and went about  my business.

Turns out I really missed blogging... but more of the creative side of blogging. The photo sharing aspect of it all. Instagram just wasn't cutting it so I heeded advice from my dear friend Allie at Between Dreams - figured out what I really wanted to blog about, and why... and I started fresh.

I can't promise daily or even weekly blogging. But I will post as I feel inspired to do so.

You can find my new space here. Pacific83. It's still me just... simplified.

I hope to see you there!! xoxo

currently

Watching... or, rather, re-watching the Lost series. This will be my fourth time watching the entire series. I can't help myself.

Making... so many different crochet projects. Which is making me contemplate either an Etsy shop or building up an inventory and renting a space in a craft fair or two this Autumn. I'm also busy pinning crafts and making some things for my home. I've given some of my old furniture a makeover and have plans for others... I wonder if this is what nesting feels like?

Eating... so.much.yogurt. It's insane. I'm not usually a yogurt girl, but Yoplait's apple turnover is a staple. Every day. Sometimes twice a day. Could be worse, right?

Listening to... other than Lost on my TV I've had AWOLNATION on repeat. OK it's been on repeat since last summer, but I'm just not tired of the CD yet. It's just so wonderful. It's almost magical.

Excited for... moving! That's right: I'm packing up my belongings in the next couple of months and moving. Again. I can't divulge any more details right now, because I honestly don't have much more to share at this point. But the wheels are turning and I'm pretty pumped about this. So instead of doing a house tour in the apartment that I'm in now, I'm going to wait and share glimpses of whichever home I move into this Spring. And of course, I'm counting down the days until I can get back on the golf course! I think I'm even going to join a ladies club this year.

My mind is... reeling. So many exciting things are happening or on the horizon, and I couldn't be more excited. It's always incredibly awesome when personal and work collide into one big ball of amazing. And trust me, that's what's happening right now.

Dreaming of... all of my trips I have planned this year! I found an old travel diary I bought myself a couple of years ago and never filled in (oh, the horror!) and I'm going to fill it up this year. A travel scrapbook, if you will. I mean, I need to document every possible item I can this year. It's a big year.

I have... goals. Lots of them. Some of them short term and some of them super long term. But when Stella was down for the count this weekend and I was glued to her side (she was spayed and I had to make sure she didn't try to clean herself or do anything to injure herself) I made list after list. Plans. Outlines of where I am and where I want to be. Ideas of how to push out of the fog I've been in for the past several months.

hello, weekend!

How many of you are now singing the old TGIF theme song?

... you are welcome! ;)

I followed Bob Barker's advice and took this little nugget to get spayed yesterday. No more going into heat for her!

While she sleeps away the first couple of days post-surgery I'm going to read this:

{here}

And I'm going to map out my next blog series... where I revamp my entire wardrobe and share the inside of my closet.
 
I'm also going to lay around in my sweatpants and use Stella's recovery as an excuse to do nothing since the next month is going to whir by in a minute, I'm just sure of it.

What are your weekend plans?

photography 101: editing

Four weeks in, and by now you should be one and the same with your camera! Your skills should be getting better and better, and not only should you be feeling more confident, but you should also be seeing a trend in your photos - your own personal style.

So far we've had a basic overview; we've talked about learning about the camera, and composition. The final piece of this all is editing. Editing is where the magic happens. Editing is the photographer's bread and butter.

I heard once that a great photograph needs minimal editing - so that's what I strive for and that's why, sometimes, it takes me longer to set up a photo. Of course, my passion is landscape and nature photography, so I don't have people staring me down and waiting for me to get something just right. 

1. Sharpen
If you never do anything else to your photos in the editing process, sharpen! Most images are sharpened by the camera when the photo is taken, but sharpening in editing is always a good idea. It can help with contrast and it helps not make photos look "soft."

Tip: Try to refrain from over-sharpening your photos. Like I've said before, trust your instincts!

2. Editing Tools
Not everyone can afford the latest version of Photoshop. And, really, in my opinion you don't necessarily need Photoshop if you're only editing photos. However, if you do have Photoshop, I highly recommend getting Camera Raw - very user friendly and has similar technology to Lightroom.

I use Lightroom, and I love it. The more I branch out into graphic design, the more I toy with getting Photoshop, but until then, I'm a Lightroom girl. One of the highlights of Lightroom is that it is designed and tested by actual photographers - so it has everything you will need.

For those of you that don't want to purchase software for your editing, and some of you may not have a reason to purchase anything yet, I recommend Picasa. Purchased by Google a few years ago, this  software now has a free download and is really a great tool.

Tip: whatever you choose to use, learn it inside and out! Click on the help button, watch YouTube tutorials - learn as much about the system as you possibly can.

3. Watermarking
This is something I go back and forth on. As a blog author, I never really saw a reason to watermark, especially once I decided to disable right clicking on my blog (ha! now you know why I have that setting!). However, in the past few weeks I came across two of my photos being used without my permission and without credit (insert sad face here). So, during my photography class I had a great discussion with my instructor on watermarking. His answer: always watermark! Especially in this day in age, claim it! Don't just type over your photo with your website, but actually watermark it - typeface can be removed.

In Lightroom go to Edit - Edit Watermarks. Once there, you can play with font/opacity/shading and then save so when you go to export your photos later you just choose which saved watermark to use.

Tip: if you're gonna share it, claim it. That's your photo, your creativity and your time spent editing. Watermark it.

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Ok you photographers! In these past four weeks we've covered everything you need to know to get started taking gorgeous photographs. As you become more comfortable with your photography skills you will continue to learn more. I hope you've found something of interest during these past sessions, and I would love to watch how you all grow in your photography skills! Please keep sharing and happy shooting!

xo