Blue Yonder

Photo Mojo

Every now and again a sweet reader will write in, asking for photography tips.

I find this really, truly flattering, but I don't really know how to answer. I'm not a trained photographer. I don't know how half the buttons on my camera work. I'm just a girl who takes a lot (A LOT) of pictures.

So, as much as I'd like to, I can't really impart any real photography wisdom, I can only tell you what I do, and hope that maybe it will work for you too:

1) I think that my skills have grown a lot in the past year, and that's in large part due to this blog. Having a blog has required me to take photos almost every day. Where before, I might save the photo taking for big events, outings or occasions, now I take pictures of every little thing. The daily practice has taught me a lot about my camera, how it works in different settings. and also a lot about myself, what I find beautiful, what I want to remember, my own style.

The very best advice I can give is to just take lots of pictures. Take your camera everywhere. Take pictures of everything; your lunch, your doorknob, your steering wheel while you wait in the carpool line, the squirrel that won't leave your birdfeeder alone. Pretty soon, you'll learn a lot about your camera, your style, and you'll start paying closer attention to your everyday world. You'll find yourself taking lots of mental photos, composing shots even when you don't have your camera at hand.

As an added bonus, the constant photo taking has totally desensitized my children to the camera. They used to balk when I brought it out, now they've come to expect as much, and even ask, "Hey momma, you wanna take a picture of this (... rock, playdoh snake, flying leap off the couch...)? Should any of my boys become politicians or actors, they will feel perfectly at home with the paparazzi.

2) I never use the flash. Never. Well, I take that back, I try sometimes, but I've yet to take a good photo with the flash. Maybe if I learned what all those buttons did, I could adjust the flash levels or something, but since I don't know how to do that, I just don't use it. Most of the photos you see here at Blue Yonder were taken outside, or very near a sunny window.

3) I try things from lots of different angles. If I'm taking a photo of a boy playing in the water I might take one from below him and catch a lot of the water spray, and another above and capture his swirly wet hair, one real close to see the drops on his skin, and one from behind to capture the plumber impersonation (why it that my kids fannies cannot hold up a wet swimsuit?).

Photos that are all looking dead on, straight at the subject have their place, but more often than not, a different angle will add to the interest of the shot.

4) I get real close. Most of my photos focus on one particular detail that I'd like to remember... dirty fingernails holding a fluffy chick, rather than the whole boy and the whole chicken.

5) I don't really edit my photos much. I may crop them a little, raise the contrast or sharpness, but that's about it. I use iPhoto for those things. Sometimes, if I want the photo to be a particular size, or if I want to add text, I use Picnik. I know that a lot can be done to improve photos with more extensive editing programs but 1)I'm too lazy busy too learn how to use them. and 2)I'm kind of a purist. I don't like the idea of things altered too much.

So that's it. That's about all I know on the subject.

Here's a few tips though, from some amazing photobugs that know far more than me!

The Pioneer Woman
Stephanie, of Little Birds
Alicia of Posie Gets Cozy
And the one that will change your life: 21 Ways to Improve Your Photographs

Alright then, get to shootin'!

The First First Monday

You know I am constantly amazed and in awe of the women out here in Blogland... women who create beautiful things, women who pour their hearts and souls into mindful motherhood and artful homemaking, women who stand up for what they believe in, women who are holding down the fort, women who are making their way despite the odds.

I tell ya, whenever I sink into worrying about what the world is coming to, I take solace in the fact that there are so many women out there working each and every day to make the world a better place, one child, one clothesline, one reusable grocery bag, one kind word at a time.

It reminds me of a story I read years ago, that has stuck with me. The book, The Prize Winner of Defiance Ohio is the true story of a woman who, through sheer grit, determination, and a heaping helping of creativity, managed to keep her family of 12 afloat by entering contests of skill. She wrote jingles and composed essays between diapering and ironing and in so doing taught her 10 children that anything is possible. Read an excerpt here (It seems that there was a movie made about the book, but I haven't seen it, so I don't know if it's good or not.)

In honor of "the Prize Winner", and all the many many moms out there, doing their best with what they have, (and because it's just a lot of fun) I've decided to host a monthly contest of skill, here at Blue Yonder.

Tune in on the first Monday of each month for a new contest, with a new topic, and a new batch of prize goodies to give away. And while I know that today is not actually the first Monday of April, I just couldn't wait to get started! So here we go...

April's Blue Yonder First Monday Contest is:

Tell me your most creative repurpose. Maybe you've woven plastic bags into bathmats or sewn all your grandpa's old handkerchiefs into a quilt. Perhaps you saved up your yogurt containers to use as candle molds or you've turned an old clawfooted bathtub into a strawberry planter. Tell me how you've taken something old and given it new life with a new purpose.

Enter by telling me about your repurpose here in the comments section, or by commenting with a link to a photo or blog entry about your repurpose.

You can enter as many times as you like between now and midnight CST, April 30th. On May 1st, I will announce this month's winner, along with the details of May's contest.

Your entry can be an idea that strikes you this month, or something you did two years ago, so long as it is your own creation.

The winner will be chosen by me (and perhaps a committee of cohorts that may or may not include my mom, husband, neighbor, children and the check out girl at Wal-Mart).

The most creative/useful entry will receive:

Your very own copy of "The Prize Winner of Defiance Ohio"
A biggo bar of my all time favorite soap, Pre de Provence's Linden.
A few boxes of the best ever Japanese Curry Packets (Japan's boil in bag version of fast food)
The lovely thrifted red doile in the photo above, a package of genuine Texas Bluebonnet seeds, a jar of Miss Ruby's Ya Ya Peppers (snack food of the gods), an official Junk Gypsy Tape Measure (because every girl needs one!) and whatever other little bits and pieces of Blue Yonderness that find their way into your prize package!

So let 'er rip, gals. How have you given new life to old junk?

Chicken Fried

Oh, y'all. I am spent.

I think my lazy rear end got soft over the winter.

Three days in the sun and the wind about did me in.

I mean, don't get me wrong, mild temperatures, sunset over the lake, wading in the (FREEZING!) water, boat riding, butterfly catching, deer watching, sitting by the water and reading while your kids just soak in the very best of life, it was wonderful, but I am dead. DOG. tired.

Here's are the highlights:

Water+tent+well worn sheets = rock-a-bye-baby-in-the-tree-tops kind of sleeping. The five us, piled up on our air mattresses, with the stars above us, and the sound of the water lapping just a few feet away, was just about heaven. I mean, I'm pretty certain it would get old at some point, but then so would chocolate cake, and I haven't turned down a slice yet, you know?

Speaking of food... is it just me, or does every little thing taste better when you are camping? Maybe it is the fact that my husband does most of the cooking when we're camping, or maybe it is just that you work up such an appetite romping around in the wild, but whatever it is, even a peanut butter sandwhich just tastes better outside.

And yes, there was a good bit of romping. The very self same children who will not venture one big toe into the bathtub if the temperature is not just so, will flop belly first into a FUH REEZING lake like it ain't no thang. Go figure.

Because I am the mom though, and it is my sworn duty to annoy the pants off my children, I insisted that the boys did their reading, math and handwriting at a picnic table. Honestly though, I think they learned a lot more from watching the mallard chase away the goose only to be chased by the black swan (why is it black? Do they come in other colors? Is it rare? Do the other swans make fun of it?). Or by noting that the grass was all bent and crushed in one area, and pondering the reasons why (only to find a big bunch of deer there the next morning) or watching the space shuttle pass overhead at exactly 8:35, and wondering if the people on board could see the big dipper too, or how come it starts in Houston and lands in Florida, and do they carry it back on trucks or just build a new one, and does the Space Station have a Wii, and and and...

It might have looked a little like vacation, but eager young minds NEVER take a day off. Oh to have that energy...

I think I might sleep for the next two straight days!

Have a wonderful weekend, friends, and come on back Monday... I feel a contest coming on...

Just Because...

Because the weatherman says upper seventies all week,

Because things are blooming,

Because it's a lot more fun than laundry and grocery lists,

Because husband said, "how about it?"

Because kids have been asking for weeks,

Because all of nature is begging us to come out and play,

Because life is too short,

Because we can,

...we've decided today to head out in the morning for an impromptu camping adventure.

We'll be back Thursday evening, hopefully grubby, sun-kissed, and with new stories to share.

Until then, I hope your week is full of sunshine and promise too!

Easter Was...

... a whirlwind!

I swear it was only just Valentine's Day, and before I knew what happened it was time to think about Easter.

I love Easter, with all it's big white lilies and gingham.

Little girls in gloves and hats. (at church that is, none of those here at Blue Yonder!)

The Pineapple Coconut Cake that Momo always made.

Ten Commandments on the television, plastic eggs in the grass.

Cousins trading "my bubble gum eggs for your chocolate eggs"

Hiding them all again, just for fun.

Stained fingers and the smell of vinegar.

... followed by deviled eggs, of course.

Flowers from the garden and a fresh clean cloth on the table.

Sticky kisses and eating the ears first.

Colored chicks toted 'round the yard in an enamel pan (Lord, be with them!)

The shedding of brown and bulky, the blooming time.

Hope. Renewal. Celebrating the gift of life.

Just makes you wanna wear white, kick off your shoes and run in the grass doesn't it?

Or maybe just take a little snooze in the sun :-)