Perfume......A Photo Challenge....You're Invited to Participate This Friday

My LOVELY perfume photographed on a piece of velvet and wrapped in pearls.

Just a reminder about the Friday Photo Challenge.  This week our challenge is PERFUME.  Photograph a bottle of fragrance in an artistic way.  I am hoping that the Friday Challenge will become a way to develop and challenge your (and my) photo skills.  I want this to be somewhat of an artistic endeavor...a learning experience. The calibre of photos will improve each week because Photography takes practice.  Thank goodness for digital so we can take 100 photos and edit.

I have posted a few tips HERE plus a link to photographing perfume. 

Mix it up....add some interesting BITS to your photograph....but just like Top Model, remember what the topic is....the Perfume should take center stage.  Looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

On the Ground in Cuba...

My Niece Becky is only 19, but is already one of those travellers who throws herself thick into the culture and daily grind of wherever she goes.  She travelled to India for 3 months when she was 17 before Uni.  When I travel, I always want to dig right in, eat street food, stay locally and aclimatize to where I am, but I am also gutless, timid and definitley not adventurous.  I usually end up in a resort, taking excursions to local haunts, but returning to the protection and "Americanization" oor "Canadianization" of the resort.  In reality, most resorts would be anywhere in the world.  They are all quite similar, and offer very little flavour of the actual country you are staying in.  My brother is one of those Adventure Travellers, sleeping in tents and hiring guides to show him the Real Thing.  Thus, Becky got her travel legs early.  It's a confidence thing really.  She's a confident and gutsy traveller and street wise.  I envy that.

Becky spend reading week in Cuba.  She and 2 friends rented a room in Havana.  She took some great photo's which I pilfered from her Facebook.  I thought you may like to have an inside peak at Cuba.  One of the first things you notice in Cuba are the old cars.....everywhere... The climate is kind to vehicles, so many have lasted beautifully.....

Cafe in the square.......I did notice when I was there how many stray dogs there were......................

The striking and aged architecture..........

Street Food.

Portuguese Man of War....You don't want to be stung by this guy.

Che Love. Guevara remains both a revered and reviled historical figure

The rooming house where she stayed.  This looks charming, but Becky's account of it was horrific...filthy room, bugs, bad toilet......

I love this shot....the colourful stucco, old car, laundry hanging outside...

No more American dollars.....Cuba takes Cuban dollars only now.

I hope you enjoyed a street look at Havana....thanks Becky......

Eat Cake

This cake is good enough for Breakfast.........an Orange Chocolate Marble cake with a delicious chocolate drizzle.....I got this recipe from Janis at Pinecone Camp.  Janis is a professional Lifestyle and Interiors photographer and each Monday she posts a" Baked On a Monday post".  Her recipes are always fabulous, easy and best of all her photographs of her baking are magazine beautiful. For those amateur photographers who struggle to photograph food, take a look at Janis's Monday posts to see her gorgeous creative shots....  she makes it look simple, but I know from trying that food photos are very tricky..

Yesterday, Janis also posted a beautiful gift wrapped in newspaper with a gorgeous recycled scrap fabric ribbon.  You can see it HERE.  This post confirms what I wrote about HERE, that you can gift beautifully without EVER buying a piece of gift wrap or ribbons ever again.......

I doubled this recipe so I could deliver a little Sunday surprise to my neighbors, and it turned out beautifully.

I also used an organic orange because you need to zest the orange for the recipe.....It's divine..

Weekend in Pictures

A lazy weekend, although cooking up a storm today.  I treated myself to tulips because the weather was so gloomy.  I tried this new fruit....The Pomello....a cousin of the grapefruit.  The thing is a massive with a 1 inch pith.  Tasted like a not so flavourful grapefruit.  Makes a pretty decoration for a breakfast plate though. I just can't resist a Sunday morning without bacon..........And this Geranium candle by Paddywax is heavenly..

Spent some time making clay tags.....these ones are for Easter with the chicks.  I am going to donate my profits to Breast Cancer from my tag sales.....

And...I am coming up with ideas for wedding favours for Brandon and Tracy's wedding....how pretty would one of these be on each place setting....oops that Mother-in-Law of the bride thing is surfacing...........

And for birthdays, I made a dozen with cupcakes.....I will be gifting these ones..................

And we woke to snow on Sunday....although a bright and warm morning.  These are the pods on my wisteria......I paraded around the garden in my boots and pyjamas to get shot of the ice on these. 

I've been Reading this delightful book too, while my tomatoes are roasting for soup.  I also made a marble cake with fresh orange that I will post tomorrow.  I hope you all are winding down from a pleasant weekend.

How to Dress a Naked Wine for Dinner

This week I posted about the fact that I never buy gift wrap.  Ever.  Not for a couple of years.....Most people felt the same way, that wrap is so un-necessary and wasteful. Even though I never buy wrap or ribbons, I always have a good supply because I save all that I receive. BUT, if I have no recycled Bits, then I look for other ways to wrap.  I am going to do a few posts on creative ways to wrap without being wasteful, but since this is the weekend, I am starting with wine.

Let's say you're invited to a dinner and you've bought a nice red to take along.  Bringing a bottle of wine is a way to give your host a little gift in appreciation of the invite.  So what do you do if you "Don't buy Gift wrap" and you want to make your token a little more special than presenting it naked. 

Lately, this is the way I've been taking my bottles out.  With a simple bow and a handmade clay tag that can be re gifted. over and over again. My friends love them and I am sure they get passed on instead of thrown away.  I think this is a simple chic way to present a gift.  No killing trees, no gift bag shipped from China and no paper in the trash.  You don't even need to have a tag handy.  Here are some other little things you can try to dress up your bottle.

• Use Jute, Twine or scraps of wool, a piece of grapevine
• Punch a hole in a pretty leaf and tie it on in lieu of a tag
• Punch a hole discretely in the corner of a photo and attach
• Hang a couple of cloves of garlic (farmers market garlic has long leaves for tying.)
• Make a Necktie from a strip of newspaper.
• Tie on a flower from your garden. 
• Make a paper snowflake from your scrap paper.
• Make a pom pom from odd wool bits and hang it from the neck.

There is seriously nothing at all wrong with taking along an unwrapped present.  When I first "Gave up" wrapping, I always seemed to apologise and explain.  Now my friends are interested in what cheap and cheerful way I have come up with for them, and for new folks, I just say, "here's some wine....I didn't wrap it because I don't buy wrapping"....I feel fine with that. Let the eye balls roll........they actually don't.

So if you really feel that your wine is too exposed, wrap it in a new tea towel, tie it with twine and you're done.  To really get in the recycle mode the ideal tea towel would be organic or a vintage one.  Perfect for your host to use in the kitchen. Here's may gift for my hostess tonight bundled like a baby in a cotton towel.

Of course, you can make your own re-usable gift bags, or invite me to dinner and I'll bring you one of these.

These are Discontinued Designer Fabric Samples.  Thousands are thrown away each year.  I rescued these from my upholstery showroom, they were headed for the trash.  I kept about 50 and made gift bags, and the rest I sent to my cousin in Peru (through relatives visiting her and a private jet passage from a Personal plane for McCain's Foods (thank you).  In Peru, young mothers are turning these into purses and crafts to sell to raise money to be self sufficient. I will fill you in on that adventure soon.

Mine ended up as gift bags which can be used as shoe bags for travel or jewellery pouches or whatever you feel.

So really, non-one needs to feel embarrassed by not wrapping.  We do live in a society that appreciates and compliments nice wrapping though.  People always compliment nice wrapping.  But nothing is carved in stone, and we just need to change the way we think and do things.

Have a great weekend.   CHEERS.



Friday Photo Challenge - Jewellery

This week's photo challenge was to photograph a piece of jewellery.....something fun for most people.. I am a huge jewellery fan probably because it always fits no matter how much weight you gain. Jewellery and Shoes ALWAYS FIT.

For my part of the challenge, I challenged myself to use only the Manual Setting on my camera...something good photographers do...they control the light, aperture etc.  The problem I find with Manual is the shutter is open longer so you have to have a tripod or a very steady hand.

I purchased this ring in Mexico....and I must say that Mexico makes some of the loveliest Silver jewellery.

I debated the should I or shouldn't I on this (even though it was not a pricey ring) and I did.

It came with a little cotton bag that had flecks of seeds and bits woven into the cotton.  I thought it looked pretty on the white with the yellow trim and pink/blue string.

 

Next week's challenge is to Photograph a perfume or any bottle of fragrance.  Try and capture something artistic, either with the product itself...ad worthy perhaps, or an artistic presentation....a tray or vanity with a pretty, eye catching arrangement that includes perfume.  Remember this is a challenge, not just a snapshot of a bottle.  Would your photo SELL a bottle of the stuff??

Here's a little advice I found on the Internet about photographing perfume. (don't worry if your camera is a point and shoot...you can still get a great shot.

Lighting

The right lighting can either make or break your shot. The perfect amount of lighting can highlight intricacies, while too much or too little light will highlight flaws. As a photographer, it is your job to create a set-up that best suits your perfume bottle. If the bottle is simply round, you'll have a much easier time photographing it. If the design is complex, you'll be dealing with a lot of shadows and reflections. Every bottle is unique, so it is your job is to use lighting to your advantage to rid the pesky reflections. Be sure to avoid using the camera on your flash, you want the picture to have a natural light to it. As for exposure, I suggest using an aperture of f/8 since it's the perfect amount of lighting.

Angles

Most perfume bottles have the name of the perfume or the company it was manufactured by on the bottle. Usually, the font of the text is in white or black. Shooting a perfume with black text is usually no problem, but photographing a bottle with white text is rather difficult. This is why you need to have your bottle facing the light in a way that you can still read the text and have the rest of the bottle visible with perfect definition from shadows. Using a light box will help with this issue since it helps reflect light and you have more control of where it does and doesn't touch the bottle.

Read more: http://www.brighthub.com/multimedia/photography/articles/44834.aspx#ixzz1FZRnhK1P

 

Join the challenge and post a link to your Blog Post Below.  Have a great weekend everyone........

Whiteflower Farmhouse Giveaway at Dreamy Whites

Photo by Maria http://www.dreamywhites.blogspot.com/

A year ago Maria at Dreamy Whites started her blog.  I read about it on Lori's blog Frugal Farmhouse Design and immediately popped over and was hooked on the styling and photography by Maria.  Maria has gone on to open a shop, be on the Nate Show and be featured (cover no less) of Fifi O'Neils newest book.

Maria is offering a giveaway today of a $200.00 shopping card from White Flower Farmhouse to celebrate her one year anniversary. Whiteflower Farmhouse is Lori's shop, full of beautiful vintage finds and fabulous photopraphy to boot. You can pop over to have a look here at Whiteflower Farmhouse.

And when you are done, pop over to Maria's at Dreamy Whites to enter to win this very generous gift card..

Yes, I've Gone Mad..................For a Vintage Wedding Dress

Last summer I bought a wedding dress from a vintage shop. Why you may ask?

• Maybe I've always longed for one of my own because I didn't wear one to my Justice of the Peace wedding.
• Partly because it was so cheap....$50.00.  .
• Partly because I wanted to photograph it.
• Mostly because it's hand made and scrumptious and rufflesd and bowed and it rustles and swishes and is a vintage treasure. 

So beautifully crafted and detailed.  No label in this, so I assume sewn by an Individual, not a Shop. It's tiny, likely a size 2, and made for a Nicole Kidman type figure.  Tall and slender.  My daughter thought I was mad.  I made her try it on, but this is not the dress for a 4'11" girl, no matter now tiny she is. 

It has a bit of a sleeve that sits off shoulder, with organza straps over the shoulder.  A soft collar with a modesty panel, that today's bride would likely remove to show a little more Décolletage .

 All finished off with a Taffeta bow.

 It falls into delightful gathers of silk, tulle and satin....Beautiful seaming with corded edge....................

 Embroidered flowers finished with tulle and a tiny pearl bead.

 A concoction of someone very talented and creative..................................................................

Flowers and beads around the front...........you can see the off the shoulder sleeve with the organza strap

 
And the back reveals a covered button closure all the way up...

 Where it meets with those gorgeous off shoulder sleeves.

It would reveal the shoulders beautifully...............................................................................................

One day, a princess will come along who would love to wear this gown, and I will give it to them.  In the meantime, it hangs in my spare room closet and only comes out for photos.



I Don't Buy Gift Wrap-Project Genesis

I don't buy gift wrap-ever.  I don't care if I was gifting Will and Kate, I'd wrap them a little something in a cotton tea towel and tie it up with some garden twine.  A few years ago, I decided I would never again buy wrap or ribbon for gifting.  And I haven't needed to.  I read the newspaper daily, so I have plenty to use, plus it seems half the world likes to spend good money on throwaway paper, bags and ribbons, so I just hoard what is gifted to me.  This blue box is full of ribbons that people have put on gifts to me and my family or have come with the packaging of an item. 

I have a shelf full of gifts bags, wine bags and boxes and salvageable wrap that I stash after every occasion.

And you know those little ribbons that you cut off your dresses and shirts (on the shoulders to keep them on the hangers), I snip them off and use them for gift tags and for tying on jars of jam. I also use brown paper carriers, cutting them open and using the back side for packages, cotton bags from shops, tea towels (new and vintage), Mason jars (perfect for candies and cookies) pretty boxes that come with gifts such as soap or jewelry, and I even save the ribbons from a low fat banana bread that I buy that comes tied up with a ribbon.  I would estimate I save $30-40 per year buy not buying it.  And the thing is, I always have a huge stash on hand, so it isn't a compromise at all.

I am linking to Suzan at OLD GREY MARE today to discuss and think about things we can change in this complicated and compromised world. Check out Project Genesis