I'm My Own Artist

As I mentioned before, I have a number of fun photographs I thought might work well as art in our home.   Well, Snapfish gave me some incentive (30% off posters) to order a number of pictures to see this reality through.  My vision was to make the hallway on the lower level reflect our travels around the world so far.  I selected a couple of photos from each major trip we have taken; Germany, St. Lucia, and San Francisco.  The long term thought is as we take more trips we can change out photos or add new ones to the wall or others nearby.

So to hang all these works of art, I waited for a pretty nice sale at Michaels and bought identical frames for the hall.  I thought it would bring a uniform gallery feel to the collection.  Most of our other frames are very eclectic and work well together, but I wanted uniformity for this set.  That and I am not sure I would find enough versions of lighter colored frames at Michaels without it looking like I tried to make a pattern.  Little did I know, this was a bit of a challenge to get 7 frames from Michaels all at once.  The good news?  I was finally able to get them 40% off with another 25% off of that. 

So here are some pictures of the pictures as they were assembled and hung.

Trying to flatten the prints after being in the tube for a week.

Since I bought the frames rather inexpensively, they have awful hooks in the back.  So, I remedied that with putting a new hook on the back.  It was kind of a pain, but it's WAY easier than trying to line up two nails and getting it hooked on there otherwise.

Using a laser level = awesome.

Finished product!  If anyone needs a simple reason to learn math and specifically fractions - it's so you can hang photos like this someday!

Sometimes, I Take Nifty Photos

I have been taking pictures with a digital camera for about 7 years now.  I would say the first 4 of them were, oh hey! look at that! *click* for composition/thought behind them.  Over the last few years I have been trying to get that "eye" for a shot and play with the camera a little bit more.  Sometimes I am successful and when I am not, who cares?  It's digital! 

The turning point in my photography was inspired by my co-workers in Marietta who explained basic composition (rule of thirds) and shared some of their finer work by displaying it on the walls in their office.  That was where I figured, hey, if I am going to take pictures, why not try to make them look good?  So I have dabbled on my own for a while now and have had decent success.  For Christmas I got a book called the Better Photo Guide.  Let's see what new tricks it can teach me.  In the meantime, here's some of the funner ones I noticed while going through my photos on my computer.

Wedding bells hanging from a chandelier

Attempt to get the tree reflection on the purse, couldn't figure out how to get me out :)

Outer Banks Sunset

Munich, possibly my current favorite photo

Another attempt at artsy in the castles, I think if I had gotten closer, it would have looked different

Bacharach, Germany - view from the top of the town

Julia hiding in the pumpkin patch

Flowers

Mother Nature

One of the better photos of the Golden Gate Bridge I captured

Perspective of how tall a redwood is

Beach Walk at the Outer Banks