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Photography
Master Bedroom

Taking my new camera for a spin

I shared a couple of days ago that I finally took the plunge and bought a professional camera – a Nikon d800.  I wanted to share a bit about how I made that decision.  It all started with seeing spots on my pictures. See those two black spots in the sky?  Now, those are just spots on the mirror that need to be cleaned.  It doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with the camera or that I need a new one, but it got me thinking more seriously about getting a new camera and a new lens.  I’ve been thinking about upgrading for a long time, but not seriously.  This gave me a little nudge. Then, my dear blog friend, Maria of Dreamy Whites, started sending me product and lifestyle shots of my Milk Paint line.  I asked her if we could work together, since I felt like I needed a

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August 31, 2013 42 Comments
My House

a new nikon & getting organized

It’s been a bit of a rough couple of days for me. I know there are much bigger problems in the world and this is so small in the grand scheme of things, but the hard drive on my computer died…on the airplane on the way home from vacation.  Argh!  So, I was already feeling a bit behind and was ready to hit the ground running and get things done and I had no computer.  Fortunately, the computer is still under warranty, so I sent it off to get a new hard drive and, also fortunately, I have all of my files backed up.  It has taken a couple of days, but I have a makeshift workflow set up on two old computers.  One has my software and e-mail, but it won’t work with my printer and it won’t upload pictures.  Nice.  I’m using the second computer to upload pictures,

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August 29, 2013 91 Comments
Photography

Controlling Light |

If you’ve been working on improving your photography skills, you may have picked up on the fact that lighting is the key.  It’s not just about adding more light, but controlling the light you have.  I was shocked when I watched the first professional photographer who worked at shooting my house.  For one shot, the room was almost completely dark.  Why?  He was controlling the light.  Light that was coming in through my windows was casting strange, harsh shadows on the subject.  Sometimes that can look cool, but generally soft, even light looks better when shooting interiors. I was so excited about installing a skylight tube in my master bathroom, which is an interior room that had no natural light.  It brought in that beautiful light I was craving, but it did cause a slight problem.  The light was all coming from the ceiling, so the shadows made taking pictures

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August 14, 2013 No Comments
Photography

bathroompreviewgallery

If you’ve been working on improving your photography skills, you may have picked up on the fact that lighting is the key.  It’s not just about adding more light, but controlling the light you have.  I was shocked when I watched the first professional photographer who worked at shooting my house.  For one shot, the room was almost completely dark.  Why?  He was controlling the light.  Light that was coming in through my windows was casting strange, harsh shadows on the subject.  Sometimes that can look cool, but generally soft, even light looks better when shooting interiors. I was so excited about installing a skylight tube in my master bathroom, which is an interior room that had no natural light.  It brought in that beautiful light I was craving, but it did cause a slight problem.  The light was all coming from the ceiling, so the shadows made taking pictures

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August 13, 2013 44 Comments
Miscellaneus

how I develop my photos

 I thought I would take a break from the projects and share a bit of behind the scenes stuff.  For the first several months of my blog, I didn’t edit my photos.  Not at all.  I finally picked up on the fact that photos were important for the growth of a blog, so started adjusting the brightness and contrast and basic stuff in Windows Live Photo Gallery.  I still didn’t do it on most of my photos.  It was so tedious and time consuming.  Well, welcome to blogging, Marian.  Anyway, my father-in-law sent me an extra disk he had hanging around – Abode Photoshop Elements.  So, my mom bought me a PSE for Dummies book and I started to muddle my way through the digital darkroom.  I never got very far with PSE.  I liked it, but when I upgraded to a more recent version, I felt lost again.  I

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March 6, 2013 No Comments
Miscellaneus

bedroom2gallery

 I thought I would take a break from the projects and share a bit of behind the scenes stuff.  For the first several months of my blog, I didn’t edit my photos.  Not at all.  I finally picked up on the fact that photos were important for the growth of a blog, so started adjusting the brightness and contrast and basic stuff in Windows Live Photo Gallery.  I still didn’t do it on most of my photos.  It was so tedious and time consuming.  Well, welcome to blogging, Marian.  Anyway, my father-in-law sent me an extra disk he had hanging around – Abode Photoshop Elements.  So, my mom bought me a PSE for Dummies book and I started to muddle my way through the digital darkroom.  I never got very far with PSE.  I liked it, but when I upgraded to a more recent version, I felt lost again.  I

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March 5, 2013 49 Comments
Photography

tutorial on making tutorials

I currently have a huge to-do list of tutorials to make for HGTV.com, so I thought while I was in the middle of making all of these tutorials, I would share some tips with you on making a tutorial.  A tutorial on making tutorials, if you will.   Good tutorials to be exact. 1.) Pick a good project.  Try to show how to make something that’s totally original, a hack of something really expensive or take the mystery out of a project that seems complicated.  Tutorials like these will get the most views, pins, comments, thank yous, etc. 2.) Do your research and know what you’re talking about.  I’m going to admit that I have sometimes figured things out as I’m making the tutorial (and I really wish I could go back and redo some of those), but I usually do a lot of research and practice what I’m going

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February 2, 2013 33 Comments
Photography

writing a book | the photography

I’ve written a few posts about the experience I had writing my book and it’s been a while since the last one.  I thought it was about time I picked it up again. When the reality of a book offer from Thomas Nelson was right around the corner, it needed to be decided if I would do the photography or if we would hire a professional or perhaps a hybrid where I take some pictures and a pro swoops in for the money shots.  I was not 100% confident in my photography abilities, so I sent them some of the shots I did for Cottages & Bungalows and HGTV.com to get their opinion.  We had a conference call about it a few days later.  I was out shopping with my mom and I remember sitting on a planter outside of Kohl’s when I learned that I would be the photographer

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December 18, 2012 No Comments

I’m Marian, a painter, writer, and lover of all things creative. From art and antiques to home projects and everyday life, I share my journey in hopes of inspiring you to embrace your own creativity and make beauty in the spaces you live.

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