2009 March | chatting at the sky

six tips for taking photos in the rain

March 31, 2009

Worst case scenario: you have a photo shoot scheduled for a certain day and it’s raining. That is what happened to me and my sweet friend who needed her senior portraits done. Thankfully, it wasn’t pouring. But it was wet and misty. And sometimes a little pouring. Here are the results.

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Find outside shelter. Duh, right? But sometimes we can be quick to think if its raining, we’re forced to stay inside for photos. I wanted the photos to be outside, but didn’t want to ruin the camera. Or have a drenched student. So we went to a park with a gazebo.

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Take advantage of the rainy background. Rain makes everything look more vibrant. Shoot with rain drenched nature behind your subject.

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Use the umbrella. If the rain lets up a bit, venture out. Let her play, laugh, dance, and be silly. And capture it all.

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And she could even use the umbrella to keep dry. I regret not taking a few with her holding the umbrella Mary Poppins style so her face would not be so lost in the dark background.

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Go downtown and stick close to the store fronts. It began out of the need to stay dry, but I really liked the storefront background. green

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Look for color. Since the sky was gray and drab, it’s important to find other sources of color. These storefronts were perfect. Or you could always have her stand in the middle of the street.

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Love those yellow lines and red brick. A lull in traffic became an obvious photographic moment. I saw the opportunity as we crossed the street. Quick! Pose!

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Finally, bring along a friend to hold the umbrella. And to make the senior laugh. That always helps.

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My camera (for those curious)

Nikon D80 with a Sigma 18-200 mm lens and Nikor 50 mm lens

Filed Undera photographer, photo series 49 Comments

thank you

March 30, 2009

rainy-day-tracks You did me a favor.

Thanks so much for updating the blog address in your sidebars! Your response was fabulous. I wish I could give all of you a gift card for it. But you know, the economy. So the random number generated winner is commenter number 26:

Congrats Vee!

Now for those feet on the railroad track: I took some senior photos in the rain yesterday. Rain gets a bad rap. We had to get a little creative and a little bit wet, but I was pleased with the results. Wanna see?

Filed Undera friend, a photographer 18 Comments

painting cabinets: a follow up

March 26, 2009

Last week, I had fun showing you our black kitchen cabinets. Many of you wanted to know how to paint cabinets. I have to tell you that I did not paint our cabinets myself for three reasons: I am impatient, I am sloppy, and we had some extra money to hire someone.

I have painted cabinets in a couple of bathrooms. But I’ll leave the real tutorials to those who know a thing or two. Google it if you want the technical. I’m good for a few tips, though.

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First and most importantly, buy some black poster board and hot glue it to the cabinets to see what they will look like. Don’t skip this step.

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Take the doors off. But leave the cabinets on. Very technical, I am.

Sanding? Eh. Maybe a little. But cleaning them is more important, really.

Use a gray or black primer (if you are painting them a dark color).

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When the doors go back on, they may not hang exactly as they used to. Get over it. It’s okay.

Don’t paint the inside of the cabinets. Unless you want to be painting for 17 years straight. Then definitely paint the inside.

Know that some people will still like it better the other way. And some people will tell you that it is not okay to paint cabinets. Learn to be okay with that.

By far, the most repeated comment I received on that post went something like this: I love your cabinets and would love to paint mine, but I’m too afraid.

Uhhh, what? Seriously, girls. It’s time to take back the house, put on our big girl pants and face that fear. Was I afraid? A little. Why? What if I didn’t like it? What if people laughed at me? And what if it was wrong? Besides, there was plenty of opposition.

My father-in-law said not to paint the cabinets.

My realtor man said not to paint the cabinets.

And yes, even the painter said not to paint the cabinets.

But all of these people had two things in common: they were all men and none of them live in my house.
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I could have left them the way they were, pleased to know that my realtor, father in law and painter’s wishes were being met. Or. OR? I could do what I wanted to do and love my kitchen. You know what I chose.

If your husband is the man who doesn’t want you to paint the cabinets? Well, I can’t help you there. Lucky I’ve got The Man who thought it was a great idea. But maybe if you find enough before and after photos to show him, he can be convinced.

If you need more inspiration and courage, check out this post written by The Nester. She knows how to face nesting fears head on and shoot them point blank with a hot glue gun.

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And due to the fact that Kimba is closing the internet on Friday, I’ll announce the gift card winner on Monday. Or Saturday. I haven’t decided yet.

Taggedhouse Filed Undera house-lover 55 Comments

new mercies

March 25, 2009

Y’all sure do like yourself some money. I am loving your responses to my bribe. Thanks for updating my address in your sidebars. And keep at it. I’ll choose a random name on Friday to win that gift card.

A follow up post about cabinet painting is ready and waiting in the wings. But I just can’t bring myself to publish it today. Because today, I’m thinking of those new morning mercies of which I am in desperate need.

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This past weekend, The Man and I spent time at Sunset Beach with friends and I can’t explain to you what that cool, salty air did for my soul. But today, in the middle of unfinished and disappointment and dirty dishes, the beach seems a long way off.

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I am reminded of my desperate need, of the Hope I have, of the power made perfect in weakness. I am trusting that the jagged, uneven stones of failure and brokeness fit together and line the often avoided path to freedom. sunset-beach-grass

The Lord is overflowing with unfailing compassion. And there is a sweet, secret place where I can meet Him, not to achieve but to simply receive. So I do, then He does, and those mercies are new.

Filed Undera girl, a mess 27 Comments

wanna win $20?

March 23, 2009

I have a favor to ask you.

please

I value your time. The fact that you choose to spend even a fraction of it here during your day is something that delights and humbles me. I am thankful for my friends in real life who read, for my friends in computer life who read and for those of you who read but haven’t said hi yet.

But like I said, I have a favor and I am prepared to reward you for your clicking labor.

If you are reading this, you know that I have changed my blog address. Now, many of you read in a reader and you have yet to change my address in your sidebar on your blog. I used to enter those links once and never thought about them again. But now that I’ve moved, I’m crazy about keeping them current for people. This is my plea:

If you have Chatting at the Sky listed in your sidebar, would you please update the address?

Thanks. Thanks so much. And to all of you who have already done so, I thank you from the bitty bottom of my chitty chatty heart.

And if you want to add me new to your sidebar or subscribe to the feed by clicking ‘rss feed’ at the top of the page, well that would be extra awesome, too.

If you find yourself in any one of those categories, simply leave a comment to let me know you either changed the address a long time ago, made the switch today or added/subscribed for the first time and I will enter you to win $20 at Target.

Because I am desperate for my links to be current. Thank you. Now get clicking.

Taggedblog Filed Undera freak, a writer 158 Comments

she speaks for free

March 20, 2009

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Attention all you awesome ladies who have thought about attending She Speaks but aren’t sure if there are enough quarters in the piggy bank: this post is for you.

Lysa TerKeurst is hosting a scholarship opportunity on her blog again this year for one lucky participant to attend She Speaks for free! Just visit her blog today for details.

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Lysa with last years scholarship recipient, Karla of Looking Towards Heaven.

Now, there may be some of you out there who are kind of like me last year: you like the idea of going and something about this type of conference gets your heart rate to speed up. BUT you are hesitant to sign up because you don’t know anyone, you don’t consider yourself a ‘real’ writer or a ‘real’ speaker and you don’t have a clear plan as to what will come of it. she-speaks-2008

I understand. I went last year without knowing one. measly. person. And this borderline introvert did just fine. There are a lot of women just like you who have it in their heart to write, speak or do some combination of both but have no idea what that means. I’m still discovering what that means for me. But I will honestly tell you that this conference was a turning point.

For example, I was excited to attend a session called Magazine Writing 101 taught by Glynnis Whitwer, Editor of P31 Magazine. She? is awesome. And I’m pretty sure she would not allow a question mark in the middle of a sentence. Writing articles for magazines always felt so intangible to me: where to even begin?! But the session was informative, smart and so helpful to me. And I’m pleased to say that since last year, I actually submitted an article and it was actually and factually published.

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One of my favorite things about She Speaks last year was the opportunity to meet so many new robot friends in real life and discover that they are vibrant, emotional, beautiful women with real lives, real kids and real faith.

And hey, I’ll be there with The Nester, BooMama, Big Mama, Jo-Lynne and Dawn, chatting it up about blogging and pretending to be a grown up. And of course there will be all the Proverbs 31 speakers, as well as publishers and seasoned authors and Santa Clause and ALL his reindeer.

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If you have already registered for the conference (yay!), visit Dawn at Barefoot Blogs and grab one of these cute buttons for your sidebar. If you want to know more about the conference, visit the conference web site. Now head on over to Lysa’s blog and try to get that scholarship. I hope to see you there!

Filed Undera writer 11 Comments

free wedding photography

March 18, 2009

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Photo by Greg Phipps

All the photos on this post were taken by my friend (and professional photographer) Greg Phipps of Phipps Photo. Greg is crazy skilled and able to capture light and emotion in spectacular ways. If you enjoy looking at good photography, check out his site.

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Now for the free stuff. I hate to exclude 80 percent of you, but this offer is for those of you who are local. Let me introduce to you his most recent project:

Personal hardship and tragedy can strike any of us. Many times it comes with no prior warning. These hardships can hit right in the middle of anything, even planning your wedding. This can result in a couple not being able to follow through with the wedding plans they have either already made, or the dreams of what they had hoped for on their special day. While Phipps Photo can’t control all aspects of the wedding plans, one thing we can help with is the photography.

I’m so excited about this! You know how I feel about photos at weddings. Everyone should have lovely photos to remember their day. So this offer is for you. Or your friend. Or your sister. Or your grandkids. Or that girl from work who just got engaged but then her fiance lost his job and they have no money for the vendors.

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If you or someone you know is engaged and unable to afford a professional photographer for whatever reason, simply visit Phipps Photo to submit your story or the story of the person in need. Greg will choose one story and photograph the wedding for free. FREE! For details, check out Phipps Photo. The deadline to submit a story is April 15.

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On a different note, thanks for the encouragement on the kitchen on Monday. It’s always a risk showing the home projects. You never know what other people might think. Many of you asked specific questions and I plan to do a follow up post next week, including a little feature on the window mistreatments. Stay tuned for that.

Filed Undera friend, a photographer 15 Comments