Good Morning…SP here :o)  We all had so much fun with our second TEMPLATE CHALLENGE!   I can’t tell you how much we enjoy seeing all of the gorgeous layouts that you girls create with our templates!  For me, it is always so fun to see how some follow the template exactly…and then with some – you can just see little bits and pieces of it!  We hope that you all had fun with this one!  Nicole will be creating the next template and I am so excited to see it and to start the third template challenge (remember, we will have at least one each month…sometimes more :o)!  Our template challenge ‘winner’ is chosen by a random number generator – we just think that makes it fun and fair for EVERYONE who participates!  So, I’ll stop rambling and get to the $25 Shabby Shoppe gift card winner….

CONGRATULATIONS, norbygirl :o)  You should already have an email with your gift card info :o)  I hope you enjoy shoppe-ing…and scrapping!  Thanks a bunch for participating in our first challenge (your layout is absolutely gorgeous, as is the photo)!

THANKS AGAIN TO EVERYONE who joined in the fun…we hope to see you back again for the next one…and the next…..lol!

HAVE A GREAT DAY…hope you find a little time to scrap!  I’ll be back tomorrow with one of my fave recipes ever (actually two of them lol)…

Shabby PrincessShoppe News, Template Challenges, Uncategorized 8 Comments

Hi everyone! It’s Karen, and I’m excited to be doing this weeks focus on photography post.

It’s been almost exactly a year since I took a deep breath and switched my camera over to the big “M”. I’d had my camera for almost a year by that time. It’s not that I didn’t understand the principles behind using a camera in manual mode. My very first camera was 35mm film camera that didn’t have an automatic anything. :) But for some reason, I was very intimidated by my Digital SLR. So my hope today is to encourage anyone else wanting to make the switch that you can do it!! And to give a brief explanation of aperture settings and how it can make a difference in your photography.

In photography, the most important component is light. If there was no light, there would be no photograph, at all. lol. When a camera is on Auto, it takes the best guess at the settings for a proper exposure. Most of the time the results will be a really good picture. But, what if you want a great picture? To get the best clarity, focus and exposure you have to take your camera off of Auto and learn to think through each situation for the best effect. Once you get a few principles down, you’ll be shooting up a storm in no time!

Exposure Overview

Your camera settings are based on three things for a proper exposure: 1) ISO, 2) shutter speed and 3) aperture (also called f stop.) I really liked Beckie’s bucket analogy, or another way to think about exposure is as a triangle: all three sides working together to give you a properly exposed image. In this post I want to mainly focus on one side of the triangle, aperture, and why understanding it is so helpful.

All light comes into our camera through the shutter. The aperture, also called the f stop, is a measurement of how large the opening of the camera’s shutter is. As the opening gets larger, more light is able to come in. Because aperture is a ratio, the numbers get smaller as the opening gets larger! (See a full technical explanation).  So let’s think about a lens that is set at an f stop of 1.8. That lens is opened up to largest amount possible letting in the most light, while the opposite setting of f 22 is the smallest opening possible and is letting in the least amount of light. Remember our triangle analogy and the need to keep everything balanced for a proper exposure? As we adjust one side of the triangle (the aperture), we need to adjust another side of the triangle, the shutter speed (and possibly the ISO) to maintain the proper exposure. Well, you may be wondering why all of this even matters! It matters because understanding it gives you the power!! You are in control and you are the one making the decisions for the exposure. No more guessing. You can now get the effect that you’re wanting for your image.

A Practice Assignment

To illustrate the relationship between aperture and shutter speed and how it affects your focus I have a fun assignment for you to try!  Have you ever looked at a beautiful outdoor portrait and wondered just how the photographer got that wonderful blurry background? That beautiful blur is called Bokeh and is achieved by using a large aperture (small number).

• Find a place with plenty of light and set up something stationary to shoot. Place your object a few feet in front of you, then place something in the background 10 -15 feet behind that. Adjust the objects so you can see both of them.
• Start at your lowest f stop, adjust the shutter speed until the exposure meter is in the center on zero and take a photo.
• Now take a shot at each f stop adjusting your shutter speed as you go. You can also raise the ISO setting, if you need to. Just remember to use the lowest ISO that you can for the clearest images (you’ll want to raise the ISO if the shutter speed drops below 1/60 or so, otherwise you’ll get “motion blur” in your image).

A Few Notes:

• If you are using the lens that came with your camera, also called a kit lens, f. 3.5 may be the largest aperture that you’ll have available. I was never too successful getting much bokeh with my kit lens. Since taking portraits drives my love for photography, my first upgrade was a faster lens (one with larger f stops.) Many people go for a 50mm 1.8 as their first purchase. Since my camera at that time was Nikon D40, I chose a 35mm 1.8 because the less expensive 50mm 1.8 doesn’t automatically focus on that camera. That would also be true for a D60 or D3000. There is a 50mm 1.4 available that will auto focus on those cameras, but is quite a bit more expensive.

• I almost forgot to add that another wonderful benefit of having a fast lens and being able to shoot wide open, is the ability to capture images in low light situations. You’ll be amazed at what you can now photograph without needing a flash. No more harsh shadows or washed out faces.

Point-and-Shoot Cameras

Maybe your feeling a little sad right now because you have a point and shoot and would like to make better portrait images, too. Well, there is hope for you too, lol. All you have to do is get out your camera manual and learn how to set your camera on the portrait setting! Usually it’s as easy as rotating a dial. The portrait setting will use the widest aperture available for a given lighting situation. If you’re using a DSLR you can also try out the portrait setting and see what kind of result you can get.

So here’s just a little re-cap of today’s post:

1. You can shoot in manual and will love the results!
2. Think of exposure like a triangle: aperture , ISO and shutter speed all working together to make a proper exposure.
3. The beautiful blurred background in photography is called bokeh
4. To get bokeh, you need to start with a large aperture setting.
5. The smaller the f stop number, the larger the opening.
6. Being able to use a large f stop will allow you to take images in lower light situations.
7. A 50mm 1.8 or a 35mm 1.8 is a great investment for your photography.

I shot the images above to illustrate the assignment. I hope you can see how changing the f stop will change the background focus in your photos. If look at the settings that I included for each image, you’ll see that as I made the aperture smaller, I also had to adjust the shutter speed and ISO to keep a good exposure. Just look at the mug that I set on the back ledge in my photos to see how it comes in focus as the aperture gets smaller. Also notice that the slowest shutter speed that I used was 1/60 of a second. I’d need a tripod for my camera to go any slower than that. That’s the point where I had to started raising my ISO.  I think you can also see how having a high ISO made the image much more grainy.

So… now it’s your turn! The very best way to learn is to try it for yourself. Get out your camera and see what you can come up with making adjustments…starting with your aperture setting!

Have a great day – SP will be back tomorrow to announce the TEMPLATE CHALLENGE TWO winner (hurry, all entries are due by midnight <eastern time> TONIGHT :o)

KarenPhotography, Uncategorized 8 Comments

Hello everyone! Kylie here with this week’s PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT! 

While most of you are having fun in the summer sunshine, I’m writing this Shabby Shoppe Blog post on a cold and frosty winter’s day. Yes that’s right – opposite seasons down here in the southern hemisphere!…and I started thinking, I’m so in need of a kit that is extra bright & cheerful that can chase a little of the chilliness away.  And the gorgeous SANDBOX collection is just the kit to do it!!

SANDBOX is one of those kits that’s jam-packed with oodles & oodles of FUN! It’s great for scrapping boys & girls (both young and old), all sorts of fun-filled family events, as well as the everyday moments captured by your camera lens.  Playing in the park, taking a dip in the pool or building sandcastles at the beach – with cool papers like “dottie jeans, grassy dots, sand, sea, sky, sunshine, sunset…how can one go wrong?! And, I totally adore the little coloured alpha-bead words, the trio of paper stars and the sweet flower ribbons!! 

As our PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT, the SANDBOX collection is on sale for $4.87, this week only! That’s 25% off the normal Shoppe price! :o) 

So let’s celebrate all things warm and wonderful – here are some bright and cheerful layouts and a hybrid project by some of the very lovely Shabby Shoppe team:

 I had so much fun scrapping with SANDBOX…my little ray of sunshine on a winter’s day! :o), that I couldn’t stop at just one. Here are two of my favorites: one celebrates a warm summer’s day at the beach and the other showcases fun, love and laughter and all those wonderful papers!!

 So if you’re inspired by a little burst of sunshine goodness, I hope you’ll grab the kit while it’s on sale and have oodles & oodles of fun scrapping with it! 

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  Karen will be back tomorrow with a fantastic, and very informative, Focus on Photo’s update!  Bye for now! :o)  

KylieInspiration, Product Spotlight, Uncategorized 11 Comments

Hi Everyone! It’s Karen and I’m so excited about doing my first blog post. I don’t know about you, but I love baking. My absolute favorite thing to bake is cookies. I’m sure it’s because they are one of my favorite things to eat! I have several recipes that I enjoy using, but my most favorite cookie is Oatmeal Chocolate Chip. I just can’t resist their ooey, gooey goodness fresh out of the oven.  For today’s recipe challenge let’s be inspired by yummy sweetness.  For my page I found a photo of my grandson that I had been saving.  I just loved his sweet smile in it.  Maybe you have a photo you’ve been saving, too.  Or maybe you’ve been feeling the needing to do some extra special journaling.  The assignment for this challenge is to follow the “recipe” below to create an extra special “sweet” page. When you’re through, please post it in the shoppe gallery, then come back here and share the link with us in the comments section below. We’ll select a random winner for a $10 gift certificate to the Shabby Shoppe. Pages are due by midnight July 12 with the winner being announced on July 13.

A RECIPE FOR A COOKIE INSPIRED PAGE:

• Take just 1 photo capturing a sweet smile.
• Add 1 or more items that are chocolate brown.
• Mix in a handful of elements.
• Top it off with a dab of “ooey, gooey” journaling.

And that’s it! So come on, everyone! Let’s see some “sweet” pages for our recipe challenge!  Here’s my page. I can’t wait to see what you come up with, too.

I used the Barefoot collection to create my page and the card.

HAVE A GREAT DAY :o)

KarenInspiration, Other Challenges, Uncategorized 25 Comments

Hi all! It’s Kylie, again! But this time, I have the very privileged task of choosing the LOTW! :o)

The gallery was bursting with so much talent again this week! That made it a super FUN job to scroll through all the amazing layouts, but, as those that have gone before me can attest to, the job of selecting a favorite was a BIG challenge!

“But I like them ALL!!” ~   I kept saying, as I went to and fro, up and down, back and forth, around the gallery. In the end…

I chose “Paradise” by ColiBeee!

There are lots of reasons why I love this layout. Firstly, the title alone says it all! Secondly, the pinks and greens of the BLOSSOM collection go brilliantly with the postcard perfect photos. I just want to dive straight into that gorgeous pool! And, ColiBeee has used PSE very cleverly to add the palm fronds and flowers.  A perfect LO to remember a wonderful holiday in the tropics! And on a more personal note – it reminds me of where I grew up. (Tinge of homesickness! Awww…big sigh! LOL!)

Congratulations ColiBeee!! Thanks for sharing your beautiful page with us. A $10 gift card to the Shabby Shoppe has been emailed to you :o) ENJOY!

Before I sign off today, I also want to give a special mention and a big WELL DONE hug to one of our younger digi-scrappers – Olivia (only 6yrs old). She posted her very first layout here with us this week! Can’t wait to see more of Olivia’s fantastic layouts! :o) Thank you Olivia, and thank you to Aunt “ColiBeee” for helping with the technical stuff!

Thanks to all those that posted a layout this week! Love your work!!

Wishing everyone an extra special weekend! And, a very “Happy Father’s Day” to all those celebrating tomorrow. {I live in Australia and we don’t celebrate until September – but Happy Father’s Day, Dad – cos’ every day is Fathers Day, right! :o)}

KylieLayout of the Week, Uncategorized 5 Comments