Friday, January 29, 2016

fabulous friday // happy thoughts & a list

blogs are a weird thing. Communication is a weird thing. like, in real life you have tone and body language and facial expression as clues to what the person is really trying to convey. On the internet or texting or whatever you lose so many of the most important elements of communications. Words can only goes as far as words. 

and that's left me feeling kind down lately, because I never know if it's a good idea to post something, to leave something unsaid. Subtlety is a lost art over the internet. 

So I don't mean to sound sappy when I say this stuff, but heck, I am so thankful for life. I mean, what's not to be thankful for?

So here's a list of things that make me happy in winter, in no particular order.
  • Andrew McMahon songs 
  • hot tea with lots of cream
  • birds singing outside, ready for spring
  • blinding sunshine reflecting off the snow
  • printed photos
  • big family dinners because there are a lot of people in my family
  • Freshly baked sour dough, fresh out of the over
  • the feeling after finishing a paper or test
  • Rule the World by Take That
  • Reading books with good prose
  • blaring the radio
  • talking about summer plans & road trips
  • piping hot soup
Today I hit 900 followers on pinterest. and that made me really excited. (:

Something cool I found on the internet that left me feeling happy and inspired was this : 5 Secrets To Being Happy With Your Photography.

and hey, January is almost done. Let's enjoy what's left!!

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

week three // whatever it takes

Ah, well, I finished my decade paper on the fifties just in time for a session of stomach sickness.

It wasn't pleasant, so I wasn't going to go into details, but I'm sure your imagination can supply any details lacking here.

My next preferred topic of conversation? Well, let's take a look at this week's school books.
 Monday // my sister is a world-class doodler... but she is in graphic design, so maybe it's not a big deal. You can find her over here, but don't tell her I sent you.
Tuesday // I had this great new idea for a topical project and was this... School! I mean, here's the thing: I'm going to take pictures of my school anyway, so why not a project where the goal is to get objects relating to school? brill.

No, not really. I'm not doing that. It just so happens that I happen to actually be doing that exact thing.

That didn't make sense.

What I mean is this: I am taking a lot of pictures of school. That's because the lined, crisp binder paper looks nice... Also, it's sitting in front of me. Mostly, it's sitting in front of me. I'm just to lazy to find something funner to take a picture of.

But I'm not going to call it a project. Not yet.

Wednesday // oh, look. it's me. doing school. working on my 50s paper... My shoes don't have heels but they help me to channel my inter June Cleaver. 

My dad has a mug from a conference that his company hosted that says the theme of the conference on the side, which is "Whatever It Takes." and it's a lovely french blue. So that was my motto for the paper... Whatever it takes.
Thursday // The inevitable happened again.
Friday // As much as I complain about the snow, it is lovely, I must say.

Friday, January 22, 2016

fabulous friday // thank you

wow. coming off such a crazy week. the important thing is that I finished my decade paper on the fifties and it's probably my best ones yet. (It was really genius, I had a lot of subtle references in there like, "Thank you, and, good night." from the twilight zones. I think the fifties were my spirit decade.) and you want to know a fact (that's actually opinion)? The fifties were a real rad decade and I really really enjoyed reading about it.

Anyway, between battling headaches and colds (ugh those runny noses!) and the freezing weather and scary roads and birthday present shopping for my little sister oh and a science test -- it's been an overwhelming week. I'm just glad it's done. Let's all do praise hands and take a nice warm bath with a hot cup of tea. like chai. my sister made chai so I'm really excited.

Also we spend four hours today - four - making apple fritters and they were fantastic even though we had to juice our own apples that we picked back in october because we didn't have any apple juice. daaang.

Anyway, I hadn't had any time today to write a post, but guys, thanks for tagging along with me. I have appreciated every single comment I have ever gotten on here. You guys are the best!! (I'm looking at you, robyn! ;))

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

week two : just another manic monday

last week was a bummer week. well, except we did get a new car and it's totally amazing and that's super cool. but as far as photography goes (or school, can I get an amen?) it was lame-o.

Bonus : Sunday // I love, love the photos from over-cast snow days... I just hate taking them. Literally (and I mean literally) freezing outside and that's not happy weather to me. Unless it's vacation in the mountains. The snow is lovely though... When it's outside and you have cocoa and a blanket by the fire.



Monday // Snow day, baby!

Tuesday // Wonderful packing snow - made three snowmen. also, my parents bought a new car, my brother got new glasses!


Wednesday // playing with light and focus

Thursday // It's in the 50s - definitely warm enough to wear flip flops & study outside

Friday // Ah, welcome to the house of girls.

Friday, January 15, 2016

fabulous friday // long story.

This is probably one of the most oft-used quotes around our house. Right along with, "you keep using that word. I do not think that word means what you think it means." ...Just thought I'd share that with you. It's always a good idea to know where someone stands... especially as far as princess bride goes.

So now you know.

I hope your life is richer for it.

But today, I wanted to tell you a little story. My story. Well, the story of my many cameras. I've had three. Two point-and-shoots and one DSLR (so far.)

I've always been pretty interested in cameras, but from a distance. My oldest sister had a snazzy camera (I thought. I had a long way to go.), and my dad had a nice black one that I thought was fabulous, and we had a video camera (which I loved and still do), and after a few years my younger sister got one of those kid cameras. Now, this will sound silly, but I was rather jealous of her camera. The pictures were (still are) horrible. I mean, photoshop was useless with these, but I was slightly annoyed that she got a camera when I had wanted one for years. But the wait was worth it. It really was.

So, Christmas time rolled around (2010) and three days before christmas (also, my birthday,) behold! A pink point-and-shoot. I was thrilled.

(Also, my photos at this point were very horrible. I won't go into details on that. Just trust me.)

So basically I carried it around with me everywhere I went and I pained a lot of people, I'm sure. With my weirdly distorted photos, crazy red-eye and everything in between, it was not cool. But for some reason my parents thought there was something promising in me. So, when I broke that camera (about a year or so later), they bought me another one. Also pink. Also Point-and-shoot. Also Sony.

...and I liked that one, too. And slowly but surely I learned little bits about photography. Not so much about aperture and shutter speed, but more the artistic level of photography. What I learned was to use what I had & to make the best of it. Little did I know that I even wanted a better camera. In my mind, I remember feeling like the only thing I really needed was a smaller depth of field (in so many words. At the time, I didn't know what depth of field was.), but that everything else was pretty doable with my point-and-shoot (that thought came from ignorance. bliss, right?)

So then, in May of 2013, my dad got me my first DSLR - Nikon d3100. Came with two kit lenses - Nikor 18-55 mm f/3.5 & Nikor 55-200 mm f/3.5 (which I really liked!).

and with it, for obvious reasons, came better photos. I still was at a pretty low level of talent, but I had the want and the skill would follow.

So after toying with the idea of doing project 365 (Thanks, Courtney!) and receiving a kit lens (the nikor 50 mm f/1.8,) I decided now was better than never and I took off full speed ahead in November of 2013.

I'd attempted project 365 a number of times before, always falling short by the end of the month, but this time I was determined. and I did it. minus three days, I did it!

My advice is this: GET A SUPPORT GROUP!! That person can be a parent, or just a friend who will check up on you every now and then to ask how your doing, or even (this is where I come in!) a blog! ANYTHING that will keep you clicking. But do it.

So, from November 2013 - November 2014... I clicked away to the next step of photography.

and in a way, that's where it leaves me. Except for this blog. How did it start? Well, that's another story, but long story short: When I decided to try project 52, I wanted to stay on top of editing so I took a crazy leap and started a (I've lost count... ?) fifth blog and it's blossomed from there. and now I'm on my second year of blogging and my second round of project 365 (I give myself slack on the weekends, though.)

and now you know everything there is to know. Leave me your story to read in the comments - or, even better, direct me to your blog where I can read your story!

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

week one : so far, so good.

guys, I finished my first week of project 365 (except only 261) and can you guess what a good job I did? Such a good job. I took multiple photos on every single day (is that cheating??) and I left feeling so excited to finish -- which is a whole new feeling for me during these dreary winter months! I even came away feeling like maybe winter wasn't so bad after all...

haha, who am I even kidding? It's totally that bad.


Monday // headed over to Louisville's walking bridge with a friend of ours - new experience for me and it's totally awesome. The bridge is all lit up at night and they play classic music toward the middle of the bridge and it's wonderful. Well, except for it being bitter cold. bonus about that was that we saw (by conservative estimation) 5 other people on the whole bridge. so, we'll look on the bright side.

Tuesday // When I look back at a lot of my pictures I have to think, how much would this speak to someone else? and honestly, I think a lot of my pictures are extremely personal. When I see this picture, I understand that she's going in very quietly to my dad's office because he's working. I'm reminded of another sister and how she loves to put Tib's hair up in braids... I notice the letter stuck in between the stair slats waiting to be mailed... and I'm reminded of our every-day. But they're about & for me. and my family. They don't mean anything to anyone else. and you know what? that's okay. In fact, it's the way it should be. I'm shooting for me. Not the internet.

Wednesday // Have I ever mentioned how much my siblings love lego sets/friends? Proof. (also the braids are starting to slip out.)

Thursday // "Helping" in the kitchen. (new braids!)

Friday // look, it's me, in the coffee pot.

Friday, January 8, 2016

fabulous friday // ring in the new year + what you will be seeing around here

With Project 365, yes please!! What better way to ring in the new year than Ly-d-ia Bennet? *cough I'm a big fan.
So, I thought I'd get you up-to-date about what's going on around Yellow Bliss:
  • I'm trying Project 365 (minus the weekends - you can do the math) instead of Project 52, which means a HUGE boast in photos per week.
  • Posts will come twice a week - a round-up of project 365, and naturally Fabulous Friday. and hey, we'll play it by ear - if we need more stuff, I'll put up more stuff. 
  • Every week I'll do a replay of photos I took the week before, just like I did last year, only I'll do it in one post instead of two. (Photo count is up, post count is down.)
I think I basically said the same thing in point two and three, but three points looks so much better than two, no?

For more interesting stuff, check out this article. It's a good read. and might help you see your life in a new light.

Thursday, January 7, 2016

52/52 (part two) - december 31st // my room

my tendency is to freak at the last minute because I didn't take a picture. Then, instead of going to find a picture, I just grab my camera (I like to keep it within arm's reach) and just kinda click around the room. check.

and I go back to what I was doing.

So, this year, be prepared to see a lot of room pictures. I present, the last of project 52, and the first of a long series of room photos.



 My side of the room, of course, need some (a lot?) of work. I'm a messy person.  But, if you're interested in seeing what my sister is up to (she's in graphic design and doing lots of stuff at college and her life has a ton more ups and downs than mine...) She's over HERE.



Tuesday, January 5, 2016

52/52 (part one) - december 29th // legos

 There's this new phenomenon that is taking hold of us and it's this: Lego Friends.

They're a ton of fun to build, and they are all my siblings under ten ever ask for anymore, it seems. Thankfully, they do enjoy playing with them once they're built, so it's not like it's a one-time thing, but seriously, they're like the new webkinz.




Friday, January 1, 2016

fabulous friday // project 365

I've done a lot of thinking about what to do for 2016. In some ways, I feel extremely motivated to try project 365 again, I'm also struggling with just getting two shots a week in the rainy, wintery days we've been having. Hands down, winter is the worst season to me. I love the snow. mostly... but I prefer it on vacation in the mountains rather than right outside my front door. I'll always be a californian at heart. 
It's been raining up a storm lately, and while I love it, I can not shoot in it... well, will not (can't lives on won't street, my mother has often told me.) and one day maybe I'll be skilled enough to set the camera, take the shot, and be done. but as it is, winter is impossible for me. why must the year start in january? It's like throwing you right into the hardest part of life. 

But guess what? I'm starting something crazy this year. Not quiet project 365, but close. I'm going to start with just five pictures a week. monday through friday and a lot of school books and computer screen shots in between, but it will be something. and I'm not going to stress if I miss a day. or two. or a week. or two. Because it'll be okay.

and here are three articles to read about project 365:




What's your photography goal for 2016?

If you don't have any, go play this game. It's fun.