Hearts - A Wordless Post

I Am

This time of year can be very busy but I try to keep it slow.  I like to take time off around Thanksgiving to unwind a bit from a hectic first part of the school year, busy work days, and very excited boys who are looking forward to holidays.  I use the time to rest, enjoy my family, center myself, and start to think about what handmade items I want to make this year.  Each year I've expanded the handmade gifts that I give to family and friends.  I love receiving handmade gifts as well. 

Giving handmade gifts is a way of saying, "Here I am.  A piece of me for you."  I think some people still think handmade is a cheap way out of buying a gift but I disagree.  My mom has made quilts for my boys and gave them as gifts.  They LOVE their quilts and are very put out when we have to take them away to clean them from time to time.  This year I am going to blend some handmade items into my boys' gifts.  Typically we just buy all of their gifts but I want to incorporate more handmade for them too.  They watch me make things with love and have put in requests here and there for things they might want.  One year they all wanted crocheted winter hats.  I took them to the store to pick out thick yarn in the colors they wanted.  They loved being part of the process and watching it come to completion.

I have learned over the years the people who really appreciate handmade and the people who don't appreciate it as much.  I know there are some who will throw the handmade gifts in the back of the closet because it's not as exciting as something purchased in a store.  That's ok too.  We're conditioned to want those things.  There is a growing movement towards more handmade, well made, artisan gifts though and I love being a part of it.

For me, handmade gifts means there is a tangible part of me that will be around for a long time.  I love to think about my boys passing down things I made for them to their own children and grandchildren one day.  The idea of them wrapping themselves up in a blanket I made or hanging one of my photographs on their wall to look at long after I'm gone gives me comfort. 

I am very thankful for my abilities to create things that I love.  During hard times, it helps me find my way back to my true self.  It helps me wind down after a long day.  When I feel like the corporate world stifles me, it helps me strike a balance so that I can be happy and successful at work and still know that I have an outlet for my creative side waiting after hours.  It gives me more patience to be a better wife and mother.  It makes me feel like me.

I think most artists and crafters feel this way.  This year, if you are given a handmade gift, just know you hold a little piece of an artist's heart.  Even if the person giving the gift didn't create it, they sought it out just for you.  They wanted to give you something that was part artist and part you.

I hope you have the opportunity to slow down during this time of year and just enjoy.  Just be.  I know I am.

Photography - Playing with Silhouettes

We've all taken those photos where the subject is too dark to really make out any facial features.  Until I started learning more about photography, I didn't really know how to prevent this from happening.  Now I realize, if you put the light behind your subject, you are going to have a lot of shadows.  Lighting is such a big part of photography and where the light is coming from makes a huge difference.  However, playing with lighting can be fun and digital photography allows us to do that without wasting film.  Win-win!

One thing I've found to be fun is working with those scenes where the light comes from behind.  It can give you a fun silhouette.  Here are some photos where the backlighting made the photo so much more interesting.

Playing with some self-portraits one day and tried this one.  The light was coming in from the window and the room was rather dark.  A little cheesey but just an example of playing around with lighting to see what you can come up with in your photos.

My parents have a cozy house in the cove of a nearby lake.  One morning my dogs woke me up early so I grabbed my camera and went down to the dock.  It was foggy and the sun was starting to come up behind the view from the dock.  I love the foggy silhouettes of the trees, the neighbor's dock and boat, and the reflection in the lake. 

My husband and I took our 3 boys to the park one evening and I took my camera.  The sun was setting and was on the other side of the slide.  I was able to snap some photos just as it slid behind the slide for a great silhouette shot.  These aren't my kids (my timing wasn't THAT great) but I love this shot.



This was in Hawaii in 2010.  I had just been learning about lighting and this silhouette effect.  The whole time we were there, I wanted to take this photo.  This happened the last night before we left.  We went down by the water outside of our condo at sunset, I relayed my vision to my mother-in-law, and she snapped the photo for me.  We had a lot of photos from that trip and I think this one captures the entire vibe of the trip. 

Over time I've learned to purposefully look for these types of shots but there have been many times that they happened on accident.  Sometimes it can be a happy accident so don't be so quick to delete photos that don't turn out exactly as you wanted.  Look to see what you can make of it first.  You might find a good one that surprises you!

Feel free to share links to some of your favorite silhouette photos in your comments.  Enjoy!