» Photography

DIY Dramatic Photo Curtain

evie s. — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 01:58:33 +0000

We recently held a little party for my son who turned three. It was simple and beautiful, with the centerpiece being 75 of my favorite photos from his life. I wanted to share the idea with you, because it was so easy and inexpensive but added so much meaning.

All you need is a stapler and photos. I used 4×6 photos developed from Walgreens at $0.10 each – which made the grand total of this dramatic photo wall a mere $7.50. I applied the same black and white filter on all of them to achieve a uniform look.

All you do is staple them together length-wise and hang as many as you want. Stapling them holds up really well, surprisingly. I plan on snipping off the top and bottom of the photos and reusing them in his memory book.

Imagine how amazing this idea would be using hundreds and hundreds of photos!

How to Achieve Bokeh With Photoshop

evie s. — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 02:38:23 +0000

I was recently contacted by Easy Canvas Prints to see if I’d like to try out their wrapped canvases for photos and art. I took them up on the offer and decided to print this photograph I took in my parent’s backyard that I manipulated to achieve the popular and beautiful bokeh effect.

The checkout process was super easy and within days I received my canvas. Unfortunately, I think there was some damage during shipping because my canvas showed up a bit wonky. But, they were great at sending out a replacement – I was very happy with their speedy and polite customer service. The process is really simple:

Choose a size – they have 10×8, 8×8, 20×16, 24×36 and a custom size option.
Upload your image
Select a border – you can choose from a wide spectrum of colored borders, mirror wrap, or image wrap (I picked a black border)
You can also choose from a black and white or sepia color effect, if you aren’t able to do that on your own

Right now, they are offering 25% off your order and free shipping, so an 11×14 canvas with standard options would cost you a little over $46.

I’m very happy with my canvas, it will make a great gift for my parents. And I’ll keep the messed up one for myself. :) Order one for yourself here!

If you are curious about how I did the photo, I’ll explain what I did to achieve the dramatic blurred effect without using a camera or additional equipment. All you need is Photoshop!

Step 1: Apply a filter to your photo. I love night-fate’s actions for Photoshop. I used the #3 action in this set – it’s available as a free download.

Step 2: Make sure and flatten your image at this point then duplicate your photo layer. Then go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur and apply a level of blur that you like.

Step 3: Next select the eraser tool and pick a big brush with the softest edge you can get. In the brush settings, make sure the hardness is set to 0%. Take the brush and erase the parts of the blurred image that you want to give more focus – in the case of my photo, I erased the area of the vines and the door.

That’s it! I love this effect, it adds so much drama and depth to the most drab of photos. I hope you’ll give it a try and if you run into any questions/problems, just ask in the comments below!

Inspired By: 365 Quotes

evie s. — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 22:20:26 +0000

I stumbled upon this beautiful project by Julian Bialowas today. I could pretty much post each and every one of these quotes that are perfectly designed and overlayed onto his own original photography work. Julian is a photographer and graphic design student and he’s diligently posting a new photo every day, for an entire year. { found via defringe }

Inspired

evie s. — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 17:11:25 +0000

Today is the first day I actually have felt inspired to write on this blog. It was this photo that did it.

{ found via poppytalk }

I love this photo — the mood it creates, a story without words. The harrowing waters appear haunted and nudge the imagination of the mysteries that lie in the depths below.

It’s interesting how you can be going about life, seemingly mundane, and all of a sudden inspiration hits you when you weren’t expecting it. This season of life I’m in right now, where dirty diapers from tiny bottoms and needy cries consume my day, it’s nice to know the creative part of me isn’t dead…it’s just hibernating for a while. Percolating. I’m finding myself with lots of time to think and less time to DO. So that results in a lot of ideas. And I can’t wait to share them.

What is inspiring you today?

Winter Beauty

evie s. — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 02:14:06 +0000

I don’t consider myself to be a photographer, but I do love taking photos and experimenting with different angles, subjects, lighting, etc. We had such a beautiful snow last week, I just had to go out with my kid and my camera to take some shots. Here are a few of my favs!

A branch encapsulated by ice // A lone footprint

My husband’s sled, named “Laqueesha” // My sweet boy who wasn’t very fond of the cold

I love winter light, I think it’s the best. Did anyone else get snow last week? Though I do enjoy it’s beauty, hopefully that will be the last of the snow and ice for the season!

Fun Photography

evie s. — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 00:54:24 +0000

Hi all! I PROMISE I will have a neat post up tomorrow. I’ve been working on so many projects and they are taking a long time to complete. But in the meantime, here is some inspiring and fun photo shoots from photographers Andy Mueller and Rebecca Miller.

Poloroids Live On

evie s. — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 16:27:35 +0000

So I heard that as of this last Wednesday, September 30, the last batches of Polaroid film passed the expiration date printed on their package. Can I have a resounding “awwww?” Fortunately, there are things like this Flickr pool containing nearly 500 polaroids of urban exploration and abandoned places to carry on the life of Polaroid film.

Amazing, intense and haunting photos, each one is a work of art.

On a personal note, our house that’s been on the market since May, finally sold yesterday and we will be relocating to Oklahoma City in about a month and a half. We are so excited! There are lots of opportunities for us to get involved in ministry there, which is our primary reason for moving. Yay!

Have a fab weekend everyone!

Favorites from Lush Bella

evie s. — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 20:54:37 +0000

I stumbled on this flickr favorites set from Lush Bella and was hypnotized by all the pretty eye candy. Lately in my estate sale shopping I’ve been picking up little miniature objects and random items just because I think they are neat but certainly not for any practical use. These photos are rich in small objects that are unique and have a story in and of themselves.

I like how she’s created real life collages of these trinkets and made them into cohesive piece of art through photography.

Just lovely!

Amazing Photos of Space

evie s. — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 01:02:52 +0000

I just had to post these images from the new Hubble telescope. Amazing huh? On the right photo, a dying star five times the mass of the sun on the verge of exploding creates a cosmic “butterfly” in which the “wings,” together span about two light-years. Wow!

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows his handywork.
— Psalms 19:1

[ Via Unruly Things ]

Inspired by Utterly Engaged

evie s. — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 01:06:24 +0000

After only 3 issues, Utterly Engaged has really captured the attention of the wedding industry. For good reason. The content, photography and articles are so well done and full of inspiration – even if you aren’t planning a wedding. Just look at these images!

Love this idea of a spool note.

I especially can appreciate the Big Talent with Heart section at the end of every issue. This one features Jeffrey Neal, a photography with an incredible gift, who brings hope to others. He has great advice – “Do what you love. Do it now and pour your whole life into it…”

[ originally found via creature comforts ]