Photography Adventure: Trains

Recently on a trip back to the homeland, and by that I mean northern MN where the hubby and I are from, I wandered down to the old train station.  It doesn’t have operating trains any more, but it has several antique trains and the old depot on display.  The trains used to transport iron minors to and from the mine.  I just thought I would throw that in there because who doesn’t like a little history lesson?  Anyhoo, I tried to capture the charming details such as this vintage yellow door. 

I was also intrigued by all the bright colors such as these rustic red stairs.    

I happened to capture some killer sun flairs (score) while I was shooting the yellow train car.  I tried to capture it by pointing my lens directly at the sun and crossing my fingers.           

Here is the yellow door again that I am completely obsessed with  from a different angle with a deep blue background. It’s amazing that a different perspective or angle can change a picture.         

All the colors on the trains were inspiring, especially the worn blue floorboards. 

The vintage lettering on the side of the train was amazing.  I love to capture all the charming details.    

The last pictures of the day were of an old wagon wheel.  It was sitting by the depot, and I had no clue what it was for, but the wheels were stellar!     

Clothespin Photo Gallery

Do you remember my vintage find from my old high school in this post?  Yea, I finally got around to craftin’ something up with it to fill my entry way void, for now.  This is one of those permanent projects with a temporary home in our walkway to the kitchen until we get enough cash/motivation to buy a console table so we can get our gallery wall up and running.  For now this is the perfect solution!  But enough blabbing, let’s get to the crafty part.  What you need for this project is an old vintage picture frame.  This one is 31 x 27.5 inches.  If you don’t have an old vintage picture frame you love, you could get a large picture frame and paint it a bold color like blue or yellow, or rough up a new picture frame to get that aged look.  You need twine, tacks, 7-8 pictures (depending on your frame size), and the same number of clothes pins as you have pictures.  I raided my mother’s clothes pin bucket (that she actually still uses because she is old school like that) and picked the most rustic and aged clothes pins I could find. 

As you can see my picture frame already had one twine rope hanging from it so I tacked two pieces of twine into the picture frame.   

You want one piece of twine to hang lower than the other and also add a piece of twine to hold the picture frame up.  Then arrange your pictures to your taste and clip those babies on. You now have a vintage and funky clothespin gallery. 

What I like best about this project is the pictures can change as my color scheme changes, and my photographic talents evolve.  I choose pictures for this frame that would pop against the colors of the room! 

The photos are from my train (which I haven't blogged about yet, shame on me), boathouse, tire, and military junk yard photo adventures! 

I also created a nice little arrangement on the small console table with vintage books, a blue bowl from Ikea for change, a white Ikea vase, and a mustard vase I got at a garage sale for $0.50.  She shell bowl was from goodwill at a whopping $2.00 and although originally black I of course spray painted it white some time ago to create a peaceful vibe.  The shell now holds keys and other tidbits. 

I like how the color scheme plays off the colors in the living room to create a cohesive look.

We also tossed in a home made rug we received as a wedding gift.  This lady is amazing and makes these rugs out of repurposed jeans.  It gives the entryway just the pop of blue it needs.

What was the budget for this mini/temporary hallway makeover you ask?  Well…here is the budget breakdown:

·        Vintage picture frame: free!

·        Twine: already had

·        Clothespins: stole from my mother (with her permission of course)

·        Pictures: $1.40 from Tarjay

·        Console table: had from our townhouse

·        Books, vases, shell, bowls: had!

Grand total: $1.40

The best part is I didn’t even have to put the nail in…it was already there.  For this price, this is a temporary makeover I can live with!



P.S. I'm linked up at Made By You Monday @ Skip to My Lou

Photography Adventure: Doggy Style

If you are a photography amature like I am, you need to take pictures of a dog to hone your skills.  Preferably a hyperactive one. 

Meet my subject Frank.  Isn't he cute?  He is also very energetic.

In order to successfully photograph a dog you have to have more patience than you ever probably will with a child.  Dogs are constantly moving, on the go, and don't give a &#@$ if you want to get a good shot or not.  Babies are engaged by someone smiling, talking, cooing, etc.  In short they have some sort of attention span. Dogs are engaged by squirrels and food and can look 80 different ways in a matter of seconds.  It's hard to keep their attention because they always have an agenda that doesn’t include posing pretty for you.

A couple things I learned was I needed to take lots and lots of pictures.  It was important for me to get on Frank's level or be lower than Frank and shoot up.  At first I tried to engage him but as soon as I broke eye contact to focus my camera that sweet look he JUST HAD disappeared.  I then resorted to following him around and just shooting a bunch of everything. 

And as a result I got pictures of Frank just being Frank.  My thought, is that if you can shoot a dog, a kid is going to be a piece of cake. 

Photography Adventure: Barns

Ahh...old barns have a sense of nostalgia to them don't they?  I don't have a particularly "country" style but somehow I am still drawn to the beauty of barns.

Lucky I happen to know where to see a ton of barns.  These are the barns of Southern Minnesota.

These were the first barn shots of the day.  I photographed the barn from different sides and tried to get a combination of barn and scenery in the shots.

This little shed was located on the same property as the first barn.  I love the little fence.

Typically I like to edit all my photos with the same theme or feel to create a sort of gallery, however for these I felt comfortable switching it up a bit!

The sky was very gray that day with even cloud cover so a lot of the photo's have a white sky.  I was glad it got moodier as the day progressed.  These pictures are a bit contrasted to the typical sunny day happy farm pictures.  BUT sometimes the pale gray sky just works.

With some of the barns, the landscape was rolling hills.  I love the interest it adds to the background. 

This is the only black and white barn I shot that day.  The mood of the picture just seemed to need a little b and w action.

On the farm you also can capture the unique quirks like tractors....

or charming mailboxes that seem to be in the middle of nowhere down an old dirt road.

There is also a lot of hay on farms.

Lots and lots of hay.

I mean without hay, what do the cows eat?

One of my favorite shots of the day was this landscape, where the clouds were about to burst with rain.  I love the line the bluffs create against the sky.

And that concludes my barn photography adventure!

Photography Adventure: Boathouses

I. Love. My. Camera. Enough said.  I have been going on many photography adventures lately and my camera tends to be attached to my hip.  Recently on a visit up north I conned the hubby in taking a ride down to the historic boathouses on Lake Vermilion.  In short, they are old, rustic, and awesome.

We got to the boathouses just as the sun was beginning to set.

Each of the boathouses are numbered and most of the numbers have great character.

The texture on the metal that makes up the sides of the boat houses is amazing.

Again, the numbers are so eccentric, probably because they have been there forever!  Well...almost forever.  I love old buildings and the way the paint wears so shooting the boathouses was extremely fun!

I shot this picture on an old back road from inside the car.  I was inspired by the amazing glow of the sun.  I was so excited with how it turned out considering we were moving 60 miles per hour down the road!

These flowers were shot on the side of the road.  The humidity was so great that day that it fogged up the lens of my camera, but I ended up liking the effect!

I love how the whites, blues, and greens work together in this picture.

And lastly, I couldn't resist snapping a picture of my handsome hubby.  He makes me smile.

 

DIY Wedding Revisited: Favorite Pictures and Details

After gushing all about the invitations, programs, church décor, table names, centerpieces, favor boxes, wedding wine, cupcakes and photo guest book…whheeeww…I thought I would share my favorite details from the day and my favorite pictures of the hubby and I.  Firstly, I want to start off saying that our photographer was an absolute life saver.  A saint really.  The 4^th of July before our wedding…a mere month and a half before wedding day, we bumped into our photographer out on the town.  He was a sports photographer from our town who had excellent equipment AND an excellent price.  We booked him, and followed it up with two conformation calls.  Back to the present…well the present at the time of 4^th of July.  We mentioned the wedding and he said “ohh let me see if I still have it open”. Huh? Well he didn’t.  My sister-in-law saved the day by referring a friend who was an armature photographer. If you have been tuning into this series you will know that she is more like strictly pro.  In the end I am ecstatic with the way things turned out.  I got an excellent photographer for a meager few tears on the 4^th of July – Score!    

This is my dress which I was so absolutely in love with that I couldn’t take it off in the store.  That’s how you know you’ve found the one.     

I was glad the photographer took the funky detail shots like the rings on the heels….     

wedding shoes….     

and my flowers.  My flowers incorporated my old and borrowed in my “something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue”.  My old was an old locket from WWII my great aunt had given me.  My borrowed was my grandmother’s wedding ring I borrowed from my aunt, also strung on the locket chain.  My blue was my sapphire and diamond ring my mother bought me in high school instead of a class ring.   Lastly, my new was both my wedding dress and this amazing string of pearls the hubby bought me.

I also love that she got the bridesmaid flowers….   

and the groomsmen’s boutonnières.     

The rest are portraits of my hubby and me.  I love outdoor wedding portraits so the majority of our pictures were outside.  The key for me to getting great wedding pictures was number one have a great photographer.  Look at their portfolio and figure out if they share the same style as you.  Number two, I scouted out great locations (around three in all) to have our pictures taken.  Since I am from the area and had time, knowing the locations ahead of time made for a seamless transition.  Also, have a list of pictures you want on hand ready to give your photographer.  She can’t read your mind and you don’t want her to miss anything.  Lastly, have fun and be yourself.  Don’t spend too much time trying to look perfect – everything will be too posed.  Be fun, be spontaneous, and be you!     

*Pictures of the wedding day were taken exclusively by Amber Asman of asmanphotography.  In short, she rocks.