experimental photography

There were a million shots I wanted to get of Ryder for his "first birthday" pics. Pinterest had me enthralled with all the props, backdrops and outfits. But time marched on and what were supposed to be 12 month photos, quickly approached 14 months. I knew I just had to decide on something and do it! And with a 3yr old to occupy in the meantime and a house to pack...did I mention we are moving next week??...I'll tell more later. Needless to say, simple was what I needed.

So what I ended up doing was nothing like I had imagined. But I LOVE the way they turned out.

 

Ryder is a busy busy boy. I love that I was able to capture that in these photos. Again, not the professional, smiling, still shots I had imagined. But that's not Ryder. I also love how he just started playing with the wooden letters, stacking them, throwing them...again, so Ryder.

 

 

 



Oh, and lets not ignore that bruise on his forehead and the faded one on his cheek. I promise I don't beat him! He's rough. I usually don't even know which one of the dozen falls in the day caused the marks, since he rarely cries due to pain.

 

Location is always the hardest aspect of photography for me. I have a good camera, but not a great one. The lighting in my house is either too dark or too harsh, but unless its completely overcast outside, my boys' sensitive eyes (unfortunately passed on by his mama) will be squinted in every pic.

 

so where did I do these??

 

his bedroom!

 

I brought all the lamps I had into the room. pulled the blinds. set up the big white blanket and added the props. OH, and trying to make sure there was no bad reflection in the mirror was a little tricky!

 

BUT for those of you experimenting with photography, you may want to give this idea a shot.

 

 

I really love the way the black and white look, but I just had to show you one in color :) His skin is so beautiful, and I just love that blond hair (us DeGuzzies don't have much experience with blonde's! ha) and lets pay some special attention to that precious outfit given to him by his Grandmomma :) Thank you!

 

After about 20 minutes of it, he had enough!

 

 

So in an effort to get another pose in, I just stripped him and added some baseballs a little later:)

 



 

just to clarify, he doesn't have a mullet...not sure why it looks like that in this pic! lol.

 

 

He was such a trooper! He put up with the whole thing almost 45 minutes!! But once again, there was a meltdown. But his faces were just so darn cute, I kept snapping :)

 

 



haha....

 

here is my favorite from the day...

 

 

 

hope you enjoyed a glimpse into my experimental photography. I'm always looking for tips and ideas so feel free to shoot some my way!

 

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great weekend

Door adornment

There hasn't been much crafting going on around here lately. But I did manage to get a fall wreath made recently.

 

I love that its simple. colorful. and I'm obsessed with wooden letters.

 



And though they portray a simplistic style, these leaf flowers were far from simple to make! but I love how they turned out.

I bought some pumpkins yesterday...so hopefully you will see them featured here soon :)

sweater makeover

When I was a teen, I never understood the women who would talk/complain about never buying things for themselves. I didn't get why they're wardrobes were so outdated. I mean, when I wanted new clothes, I took my foolishly spent earnings and bought them!

But now that I am one of those women, I totally get it! No, I don't do the homely drab, "I have to dress like this because I'm a mother" look. BUT I will say that my wardrobe is just about the same as it was in high school. Same jeans, same shirts. Very little color. Lots of black.

Let's just face it, when I have extra cash to spend on clothes, I always end up buying something for the munchkins!

Anyway, I pulled out some old sweaters and decided it was time for some of them to retire. And others to be made over.

Here is one I did....

please just ignore all the junk in the background....not sure what possessed me to take the pictures here amidst Clairsy's scrabble game, on top of my brightly colored comforter with junk all over the floor. lol. just keepin' it real folks. 

Not sure why I still had this! I'm pretty sure it never looked good on me. Drab GAP sweater. Looks like it belongs in the boys department, right?!

Here's what I did with it...

I cut it down the middle, attached ribbon and buttons to one side and made button holes on the other. Made some ruffles from another shirt that needed a meeting with the trash can and sewed those in random swirls. And Voila! A new and improved sweater/cardigan for the fall :)

I still desperately need a shopping spree, but its a start.

So if you have some of "those" sweaters in the closet...you know who you are...consider turning them into something better!