Erin's Musings

Summer seems to be in full swing and one thing that happens every year at this time is Bible School. I offered to use my talents by shooting pictures and arranging them into a slideshow for everyone to see at the end of the week. It took a lot of shots, editing, and listening to the same song about a hundred times in a row! I did manage to finish in time and here are of few of my favorites from the ordeal:   It was a bit stressful, but I had such a great time hanging out with such beautiful and brilliant kids. I received lots of wonderful comments about the slideshow I put together even though I didn't think it was very good. Well, I off to see The Dark Knight Rises. Be sure to check back next Tuesday. Erin

Several weeks ago, I arranged a wedding shower for my brother and his fiancee. Luckily, I had some help from my super awesome friend . Everything at the shower was diy so I thought I would share a few photos of the decor.   The flowers were grown in my very own garden and I collected the pine cones myself. The louver door room divider was my brain child and my father was wonderful enough to put it together. He also cut the wood centerpieces from logs found in the back yard. My mother baked the cake; it was orange cake with whipped icing and orange slices on top. It was beautiful and delicious. The food and snacks we served was very simple (We had sandwiches, veggies, a watermelon fruit basket, chips, humus, and a cheese ball. Water, tea and pink lemon aid was served.) I received so many compliments from many of the guests. Personally, there were a few things small things I would have done differently, but I was pleased with outcome.

A while back, I posted about raising hens for eggs and how we were in the process of building a coop. The coop has been finished for about a month now and, as I promised, here it is is all it's awesomeness! This coop is large enough for 20+ chickens, but at the moment only three are living in it. There is a 10x10 run behind the coop that will be expanded when more hens are added.  Inside the coop is a three rung roost, feeder, three hatching boxes, a small chicken door that leads into the run, and a door for cleaning and refreshing the feeder. It's crazy at how big they've gotten right before my eyes! Snape, Fawkes, and/or Tilly (black, red and white respectivly) just started laying eggs a couple of weeks ago. At this point, I'm pretty sure only one is laying and we get about one egg every few days. The eggs started small and have gotten progressively larger as the days go by.   Sometimes, we give them "treats" from the garden. They get e...

As I promised, here are some shots from my new 35mm f/1.8 lens. Check out how sharp those images are! Since this lens has a wide aperture, it takes great pictures in low light situations. One of my favorite things about it is the automatic focus has manual override! That means no more flipping a switch when I need to adjust the auto focus. It seems quite obvious that this will quickly become my go to lens.

I'll post a quick little update here. I had a birthday last weekend and did a lot on shopping and spending time with family. My parents gave me money for the camera lens I've been wanting for a long time. On Monday, I ordered the lens from B & H Photo and it arrived yesterday! Please forgive the quality of this picture, I had to take it with my phone. This is a Nikon 35mm Nikkor DX f/1.8 and it's my first fixed (non zoom) lens. I've taken a few shots with it so far and a I am in love the quality of the photos. I'll be sure to share some in my next post. Until then, Erin

Kyle is officially a high school graduate! I know it maybe odd to say this, but he isn't just my little brother; he's my best friend. Seriously. We hang out all the time and he gets me better than anyone. Despite having completely different personalities, we enjoy nerding out on the same things and having deep discussions, random discussions. Anyway, I'm super excited for Kyle and his future endeavors. He's is going to his first college of choice and majoring in Mass Communications.

I've never been a fan of working in the yard. I'd much rather scrub toilets than pull weeds, cut grass, or whatever else yard work consists of. Though, this spring I've been helping my mother plant flowers for my brother's wedding this summer. It has actually been fun and I even created a little garden for my elderly grandmother to grow vegetables. Here are some photos of yard work including some flowers I've grown with my mother...

I love shooting around my house. There are so many plants and trees and it makes the perfect back drop for spur of the moment photo shoots. On occasion I even get to witness spectacular sunsets from my very own porch.    And you know if I'm ever shooting around the house, Mowgli edges himself into the frame. I swear he loves being in front of the camera... Then, my older brother calls me up and asks if I want to take some night/long-exposure shots. When do I ever turn down a night shoot? How about...never! I'm blessed to have a brother as talented and creative as him. Seriously, he has such knack with composition and being at the right place and the right time. Please check out some of his work on flickr. On a different note, I'm pretty excited about this summer and the new prospects that's going on. I have a shoot scheduled for this weekend and a few promising bridal shoots for this coming summer.

Have you ever had one of those moment where you see someone and just want to take pictures of them in the woods? My cousin and friend, Thomas, was hanging at my house recently so I invited him into the backyard to take some shots of him. I'm really glad he agreed because I have several fantastic shots. Thomas is such an awesome dude and is easily the most fashionable guy I know. Also, I would like to mention that both his hat and suspenders were thrift finds.

The host band, Undeserving, played last consisting of a several of my friends and family members. I had shot them once before under less than adequate conditions. Overall, I think the shots from all the musicians come out well. You'll notice that basically all the shots from the fest are from either side of the stage. That's because of two reasons. The sun was shining directly in front of the stage and behind the stage was a brick wall full of window which does not make a very nice looking background.