Shoot Happy: The Nifty Fifty

Posted on September 30, 2013 by April

Well, it’s that time of year again, where I scramble, hem and haw my way through a decision of whether or not to participate in the Nester’s 31 Days of Change blog challenge. In past years, I only got half way through the 31 days before something else took my attention. Well, this year to keep with tradition, because it takes two years to make a tradition dontchaknow, I’ll attempt to partake in the joy (or misery) of blogging for 31 days straight about one particular topic. Will I complete the 31 days this year? Will it really make a change in my life and possibly someone else’s? I can’t answer that just yet, but let’s hope.

In the past two years I’ve participated, I blogged about Thrifting and was entirely too hopeful last year and documented a series on Getting it Done, yes, I see the irony in that one. But this year, will be the year I FINALLY blog for 31 days straight, no breaks, no excuses, and no whining. Actually, I can’t guarantee the no whining, it’s really what I do best.

Now, you probably want to know what I’ll be jabbering on about for the next 31 days. I’ve given it some thought, what would be fun, interesting, and relevant to myself and my readers? What won’t bore me to no end, and what won’t stress me out? Remember this is supposed to be fun, darn it! So, I decided to explore shooting.

No, not that kind of shooting! I’m not a member of the NRA, and don’t have one of those fancy purses that can cleverly conceal a weapon, unless we’re talking about my trusty Canon. I bring that puppy with me pretty much everywhere. Which is why I decided to focus this month of change on seeing things differently through the lens. Specifcally, the 50mm lens, or as I like to call it the Nifty Fifty. Because really, it is pretty nifty. But I’ll get into all the nifty-ness of the fifty in a later post.

Let’s get into the point of this little series shall we? Over the month of October, I plan to explore all the great shots that can be accomplished by using the 50mm lens. Granted, there will be other photo ops during this month that will require me to use other lenses (i.e. vacation!), but for the purpose of this series I plan to devote all my posts to photos taken with my trusty nifty fifty. I’ve found that over the past few months I’ve become a little lazy when it comes to shooting, relying heavily on auto focus and not worrying too much about composition and what not. Hopefully, by the end of this month I’ll have honed in my skills, and become more artistic in the way I shoot and even in the way that I view the world around me. So, look forward to a photo or a series of photos everyday, sometimes it might just be dog picture, or I might share a tip or trick I’ve discovered along the way.

After having said all that, I should warn anyone who has been brave enough to visit my blog sweet blog, I am not a professional photographer. The tips and photos I have chosen to share are simply things I have found to be helpful or beautiful. They may not be correct in the technical sense, but they are appealing to me.

Now, won’t you join me as I try to see things differently through the lens?

31 Days Day 12: A Clean House

Posted on October 12, 2012 by April

It has recently dawned on me that before I can get to any of the fun stuff, like organizing or styling my home, I first need to clean my home. What a concept right? But really, it’s a good thing as my good ole friend Martha Stewart would say.

A clean home really does help in clearing the mind so that you can focus on more important things like furniture arrangements or ponder why the 11th Doctor Who doesn’t have eyebrows.

Having a clean space kind of quiets a room, it allows the accessories and other pretties to speak for themselves. That is if there aren’t too many in one space, you definitely don’t want so many pretties that they have to scream for attention above the crowd.

Now, I can’t wait to take care of all the poor accessories and other pretties that are screaming for help in the rest of the house.

31 Days Day 5: Lolita and Car Repairs

Posted on October 5, 2012 by April

So far this week, I’ve introduced you to my plans for tackling 31 projects within the month of October, I got to complain about waterlines running annoyingly through the middle of a flower bed my clearance plants were to be planted, and you got to see how I made my living room and front porch look autumn like and such. Not exactly meaty topics, I realize it may be a bit of let down, it’s a let down for me too. I didn’t realize how much time it would take to have a project done everyday, and share that project with you, my awesome and ever so patient readers, with an awesome, intelligently written, picture laden post. ( Could that sentence have more commas in it?) Apparently, it will be one or the other around these parts, so it’s your choice, a project done with one picture and very few words, or a non-project with lots of words.

Anywho, I mention all this to say, I don’t have a project done to share with you. So, it’ll be a wordy post today. Aren’t you lucky?

But I did have to get the fuel pump replaced on my car. And I have the bill to prove it. That should count as a project.

I’m $1,000 lighter now, but my car has a working fuel gauge and the check engine light isn’t on all the time. Which means, I was able to pass my emissions test, which means, my car is legally registered now. I was a day late in renewing my registration, which bugged me to no end. Everytime a police car got near me I’d get a little sweaty. Oh, and if you are lucky enough to live in a county that doesn’t require an emissions test, here’s a little background…

An emmissions test consists of five parts:

On-Board Diagnostic 2 – Tests vehicle emission control equipment functions
Tailpipe exhaust analysis – Measures carbon monoxide and hydrocardon emissions
Pollution control equipment – Verifies equipment installation and connections
Visible emissions – Checks for tailpipe smoke
Gas cap pressure – Ensures cap holds tight seal

All this to say that if your car’s check engine light is on, you won’t pass the emissions test, which means you won’t be able to get your car registered, which means you’ll be driving an illegal car, which means they will catch you, and haul you off to jail, which means your cell mate, Lolita will cut you. Which means, I paid $1000 to get the fuel pump fixed, which means I finally passed the emissions test and got my registration, which means my car is now legal, which means I won’t get caught, and hauled to jail where my cellmate, Lolita would have cut me.

Which means, it’s Friday, and I’m out of words.

Happy Friday, I’ll be back tomorrow with another life changing post! And fewer “which means”.

31 Days of Getting it Done: Day 1

Posted on October 1, 2012 by April

Do you have things you’ve been putting off for no apparent reason other than the fact you just don’t want to do it? Yeah, me too, I have a house filled with “don’t wannas”. I don’t bring this up to complain, but to introduce this years 31 Day series, yes, I think I’m a little nuts for doing this again, but it might be fun!

Like last year I am playing along with The Nester’s 31 Days of… , you see every October Nester and a group of her friends get together and blog for 31 days straight including weekends (!). The blog topic should focus on one area, but be broad enough to not bore you to death by the end of the 31 days. Last year Miss. Nester opened this little project up to her readers. So, being the natural follower that I am, I attempted to participate. But also being the non finisher that I am I only got 16 of the 31 posts up. Maybe it was the topic I chose, 31 Days of Treasures , vintage and of the heart. It was a topic I thought I would enjoy, and did until I didn’t. It got kind of old after awhile and I started to worry that I was outing myself as a hoarder.

So, this year the month of October will bring us:

Like most everyone else, I’ve got a mile long to-do list, so over the next 31 Days, I’ll be documenting the peaks and valleys of finally tackling all those projects I’ve been putting off. The focus will mainly be on home projects, but I’ll shake things up with a craft or two. And I’ll try to do projects that won’t require materials or conquer those projects that I’ve already got the materials on hand to complete. Hopefully, you’ll be seeing some pretty big projects finally come to fruition, or you may learn how I organize my toilet paper. Either way, I hope you join me on this bumpy and random ride through 31 Days of Getting it Done.