Patriotic Weekend

Here in the USA, last weekend was a holiday weekend as we celebrated the 4th of July.  I am not a very patriotic person, but I do enjoy the extra day off and the fact that I still get paid!

We took the opportunity to spend time with friends and family, and Patchie and I went to the Uncle Sam Jam in the National Harbor... and The Wailers were going to perform!  I was super stoked about that when I figured out what was going on!  Anyway, Saturday's shenanigans will be my Photobomb this week, so be sure to check back Friday to see some awesome photos from the National Harbor!

The rest of the weekend was kinda low key.  We went to a cast party at Patchie's Boy's house and slept in in the mornings, went shopping for food, and cleaned the house.  The ants this year have been INSANE and I am at a loss to find something that will finally kill them.  We have so many traps around the house for them, I bet we'll find some next Spring in the Big Clean because we definitely have lost track of where some of them are hidden!

On Monday my Mom came over since my Dad went to Michigan to visit my Opa and Oma (Opa's not doing too well, he is increasingly forgetful which may be dementia... and Oma had polio when she was young and they live on a huge farm, so Dad and his siblings are going to help out with what they can).  The in-laws made ribs, sweet corn bought from the Amish community, and pasta salad with veggies.  We all ate and talked and laughed and went through Tori and Doug's honeymoon photos and video, and family friends Phyllis and Joe went through the photos I took from the engagement as well as Ben and De's wedding album.  Later, we met up with Patchie and Her Boy at a local seafood/tiki bar for drinks and skipped stones on the water.  We had a pretty ridiculous thunderstorm and small rain showers all weekend, so we headed back to our house for wine and video games like the classy adults we are!  Tada!  Weekend in a nutshell!

How was your weekend?  Did you do anything special?  I'd love to hear about it! Keep tuned... I've been asked to write a guest blog post for a friend about subject matter I rarely get to write about!

PS- Look at the baby birds from the back porch!  They went from shy fuzzy cotton balls with beaks to miniature empire penguins in no time flat!

Have a happy Tuesday!

xo

PPS- Don't forget to enter Patchie's Giveaway!  Only three days left!  The lucky winner will be announced on FRIDAY!

The Effects of Renovations... Going Green!

When embarking on a project, like renovating a kitchen, you expect to be pretty involved for a while.  Demo, reconstruction, design, decor.  That's expected.

The beginning of renovations... there were several occasions to clean up between the left and right image, and the right image and today!

But I have a not-so-dirty little secret about the effects our renovation has had on me: I am addicted to cleaning supplies.  I love new cleaners that get the job done, look nice in their packaging (yes, I am one of THOSE), and I adore the ones that don't have that chemical scent.  If it's made from plant extracts in lieu of chemicals, I love it even more.  If the packaging is 100% recycled materials I am ecstatic!

I like my kitchen to smell like cupcakes, not chemicals!  Okay, so my kitchen cleaner has a light scent of orange zest... just a hint!

So I have a whole new arsenal of biodegradable, earth-friendly, green cleaning solutions and tools.  We purchased a real mop that is reusable and creates no waste other than gray water.  We found earth-friendly sponges made from natural fibers that are flat until you soak them and supposedly have a long working life.  We plan on purchasing a new floor duster that has removable pads that can be thrown in the washing machine as soon as we use all the old Swiffer supplies we already have (I loved Swiffer until I realized how much waste I was creating that would live in a landfill for the sake of clean floors... and that makes me sad).  We reuse old t-shirts, boxers, undershirts, etc. as dust rags and cleaning rags until they are threadbare.  We are trying to really become more responsible inhabitants of this planet!  And to think this all came about because our renovation forced us to relocate items and clean more!

The kitchen looks so much more complete now!  It's hard to remember it this bare!

What changes do you make after a renovation or major cleaning?  What methods are you using to make your home a little more earth-friendly?

I wish you all a happy Thursday!

The Green Men approve of more Earth-Friendly practices!

Don't forget to enter Patchie's Giveaway!  If ten people enter and mention "Marizabeth sent me" I will host my own giveaway of one of my Fine Art Prints!  If 50 people do this, the winner can choose which print they want, and if 100 do this the winner will win a signed, framed and matted print of their choice!

Wedding Wednesday: Through the Lens

So, today I am discussing the wedding experience as a vendor... specifically a photographer.  I will be discussing some tips for making sure you as the bride get the images you are dreaming of, making sure Uncle Bob and Aunt Agnes keep feuds to a minimum, and hopefully give you the peace of mind that your big day will go off without a hitch!

When I have a booked wedding, I always try to keep communication open with the bride.  This can be difficult... especially if your bride lives on the other side of the country and your e-mail and attachment haven't been able to end up in her inbox for months straight despite your best efforts (yes, this is specific, and the email finally reached her last night!  Yay!)... but diligence and interest are key when working on something as important as a wedding.

Lots of girls grow up believing that their wedding day will be the most important day of their lives.  This puts a lot of stress on some brides, as they feel everything must be perfect, or they have to have a big traditional ceremony, or it's the only time they will be able to get that tiara and big gown and a limo... it's different for everyone, but one thing that remains constant is the stress.  From shoestring-budget brides trying desperately to fit in all the expectations and desires in their tiny budget, to million-dollar brides trying to pull off a huge party for all 10,000 of their nearest and dearest... stress is a common factor.

As the photographer, I have no control over what will be said and done, whether the cake will be dry or perfect, or if there is enough champagne to go around.  I do have control over the way photography will run throughout the day.  I try to focus on making the photographic aspect one less thing for the bride to worry about.

Each bride receives an email from me with an attachment of the projected itinerary for the day.  This initial itinerary is generic, outlining the basic structure of a typical wedding, including preparation, through the reception.  The bride is encouraged to print out the document, review with her fiance, and make any alterations they see fit.  If she booked for a wedding package omitting prep documentation or reception documentation, I note in the email body that I am aware of this, but included these sections for their perusal in case they decide to include those portions in their coverage (truly, some people do not understand what prep and reception coverage actually means, and realize after reading the itinerary that they actually want to have it).

All of these things help to keep the bride and groom in the loop so on the wedding day they know I already have a good idea of the coverage and style they are looking for.

The most important thing for me, however, are the additional questions I ask the couple to review.  I ask them to think about any styles, specific images, etc they may want and to write them down so when we have our face-to-face final consultation I can solidify my personalized itinerary for that particular couple.  I also ask for family specifics: parents names, siblings, other important people, and any family conflicts that may effect any formal group shots.  Nothing is worse than asking Uncle Bob to stand next to his ex-wife only months after a bitter divorce and having it erupt into a screaming match, sometimes leaving the bride (who, remember is probably coming off months of intense planning stress) in tears.

This is the oh-so-important introduction to my invaluable general itinerary:

Hello!

Attached is my general itinerary for wedding photography. You will be able to get an idea of what I will be up to on your special day! I ask that you please sit down with you fiance and peruse the file at your convenience. If you would like any specific shots or alterations to the schedule, please write them down on a printed version of the itinerary if possible. I also ask that you please contact me soon to set up a meeting day on which we can sit down face-to-face and discuss what you are looking for, as well as any changes to the itinerary that you may have made. My primary objective is for you to enjoy your day knowing how the photography will be handled!

You will be busy enough, there is no reason for you to worry about when formal shots will take place or if that one photograph you have envisioned will ever be taken!

Some tips to consider:

* Think about your venue... are there any important locations that mean something to you and/or your fiance?

* Are you willing to part with your engagement and wedding rings for a while prior to the ceremony (while getting ready) for beautiful detailed macro shots of them? We promise to get them back before the ceremony... you will barely realize we had them!

* Consider what format you will be receiving your images in... if you are interested in prints alone or albums? This is a discussion for after your wedding day, but it is always a good idea to think about how your envisioned images may be presented!

* Think about your comfort zone: some brides want photographs getting into their wedding dress, others are not as comfortable with the idea of having a photo immortalize the inner structure of their dress!

* Would you like some high energy photographs, such as jump shots?

* Are there any family members who would object to standing close to one another, or even being in the same picture?

These are simply guidelines, if you think of anything else that you want or feel is an important consideration, please make a note of it for our meeting day!

Thank you and I look forward to hearing back from you! Congratulations again!

So, if you are planning your big day, I hope this helps!  If you are breaking into your own photography business or are a seasoned photographer, I hope you may have found this helpful as well.  If you have any further questions or wish to review the PDF itinerary document I use for the purpose of sharing the ideas with your photographer or using my itinerary as a guide to write your own, please comment me and we can work that out!  You can also send me a contact form from my business website.

Does anyone have any other specific tips for wedding photography, either from a photographer's perspective or as a bride (or heck, bridesmaids, maid of honor or guests, too!)?

PS- Don't forget to enter Patchie's Giveaway!  For further incentive, check out this post to see what I offer you if you mention me when you enter!

Giveaways and Thoughts on the Subject...

So, Patchie is currently hosting a giveaway over on her blog!  She teamed up with the mind behind Tinker B Boutique to offer $20 store credit to Tinker B Boutique!  I can vouch for the adorableness, cleverness, uniqueness, and addictiveness of those scrabble pendant necklaces!  Patchie gifted two of them to me for my birthday this year, and I am kinda obsessed.  I wear one or the other (if not both) of them every other day!  Just the right mix of whimsy and unobtrusive, brought out by the bold colors and funny text.  I always have people wanting to read them.  I urge you to stop by and enter!  Entering is really easy... just follow Patchie's blog for starters!  There are other ways to win listed underneath... very few entries have been made so far, so the chances of your winning are pretty good right now!!!

via: patchie[verbs]

Here are some thoughts on giveaways while we are on the subject... it seems to me that a lot of blogs have these giveaways, and in many cases, the response is astronomical (hello, 2598 comments?!?!?!).  I notice that many blogs followers list greatly increases with the posting of a giveaway.  However, if you don't have many followers or people to get the word out to begin with, it's kinda dissapointing to check in and see nobody has entered your giveaway!  It's not very fair to the blogger or the sponsor of the giveaway!  Morale = low.  Which is why I want to say... if you have a friend who is attempting their first giveaway and the going is tough, PLEASE HELP PROMOTE THEM!

So I ask you, dear readers (I know you are out there even if you don't always comment!) to please encourage Patchie and Tinker B Boutique!  Both individuals are trying to put themselves out there, and both deserve support!  It only takes a couple minutes, truly, and the products are fantastic!

As incentive, I offer this: if you go enter Patchie's fabulous giveaway and in your comment mention Marizabeth sent you, I will conduct my own giveaway of one of my Fine Art Prints from my own business.

*If 50 of you enter, I will post a link to the available prints and let the winner choose which image they want, rather than choosing a print ahead of time.

*If 100 of you enter Patchie's giveaway, I will ship a framed and signed version of the chosen print to the winner!

Now go and enter!  You could win two giveaways with this method!  Woohoo!  HURRY, PATCHIE WILL ANNOUNCE A WINNER ON JULY 8!

Subtle Changes...

Or drastic ones?  I revamped some features on my blog.  Firstly, the background.  It's now a picture of some sort of fabric I took with my iPhone once using the lomo app.  It's visually interesting and colorful without being as jarring as the orange background already available via blogger.  I also got rid of the navigation bar at the top of the screen.  It was driving me nuts aesthetically.

Secondly, I added links to my other accounts on Tumblr, Twitter, and Flickr (on the right sidebar).  I am posting my 365 Grateful project to Tumblr as I take the photos (via my trusty iPhone), if you feel like tracking daily instead of waiting till Fridays when I will be posting the images here.  I don't use my Flickr as much as I used to, but I intend on changing that!

The original designs, before cropping them down and making them smaller buttons.

Thirdly, I moved the buttons to many blogs that I follow to their own page "Blogs I Love".  I felt my sidebar was getting too cluttered.  Does anyone know of a way to move my list of blogs I follow via GFC/Blogger to the page instead of as a click-and-drop widget available under the design option?  I'm not a very good coder...yet.

It's been pretty rainy here, but tomorrow is supposed to be sunny!  This makes me happy because, well... my sunroof on my car is jammed slightly open, so every time I park my car I have to stretch a sheet of plastic from the passenger door to the drivers, and close the doors on it to keep it in place.  Not only is it pretty cheaptastic, all the pollen sticks to it and gets to sit on the passenger side of my car as I drive from point A to B.  I am allergic to this pollen, as well as the subsequent mold collecting in my car from any moisture that gets in, so I am hoping to get someone to fix it tomorrow.  I also have to change the motor in the passenger side window (which is currently dead and the window is held up by a bolt wedged under the glass inside the door... wow, my car is a POS!).  Hopefully, the rain will hold off until my garage-less car is better prepared to handle it!

In the meantime, here are some goodies on the interwebs my dears!

This relaxing "bathtub tea"... what a brilliant idea!  I am all about making this. If only I had a beautiful old claw foot tub to relax in, so I could soak up to my cheekbones in warm water (I find modern tubs are disappointingly shallow, unless of course you can afford a lovely spa tub...)!

via: radmegan (in words & pictures)

There is an AMAZING giveaway going on over at One Pearl Button right now!  OPB has been an active blog for 4 years now!  That's a huge commitment!  I am secretly hoping that I will win it, but I seem to have no luck in giveaways.  If you want to enter, click on the link under the photo and follow the instructions!  And good luck... I guess... :)

via: OnePearlButton

I am a HUGE literature nerd, so I am taking this moment to share what I am currently reading: Memory & Dream by Charles de Lint.  Charles is my absolute favorite author of all time, and has been since high school, when I picked up The Blue Girl in 2004, the year it was released.  I have since read about fifteen of his novels.  No, that's not right.  I have DEVOURED them.  I even have Bear hooked!

via: the CdL cover gallery

I purchased this novel from Borders to help cope with my own depression and grief associated with losing someone I love, since the novel is about that... and magic.

The story follows an artist named Isabelle, Izzy for short, who studied under the reclusive but brilliant prestigious artist Vincent Rushkin. Rushkin passed on his technique to painting images with soul to her, bringing magic and wonder in Izzy's life, as well as confusion and great responsibility. Izzy's best friend and roommate in her college years, Kathy, is a brilliant writer and Izzy's biggest fan.  Unfortunately, tragedy strikes, and Izzy returns to her childhood home far from Butler U., her memories, and the paintings she loved to create.  She changes her style dramatically from realistic surrealism to abstract studies of shape and color, the only kind of paintings she produces twenty years later.  A close friend of Izzy's and Kathy's from college, Alan, reaches out to Izzy in her solitude, asking her to illustrate some of Kathy's writings he wishes to publish, in her old style, the one Rushkin helped her to realize.  Izzy is faced with the promise she once made to her friend, the return to the city that holds all her memories and demons, and the possibility of seeing Rushkin again, with whom she parted on less than amicable terms.  But mostly, she is faced with the terrible possibility of the outcome of unleashing the magic of her brush again, and the reciprocations that could entail...

Needless to say, I am enthralled.  I am ALWAYS enthralled with his works.  You can learn more about CdL by visiting the WordWood online (a site originated in the novel Spirits in the Wires, nonetheless!  I was so excited when I tried looking up the link for fun and discovered it was a real site made by super fans like me!).

Anyway, I highly recommend checking out his works.  If you aren't into the fantasy genre already, try checking a book of his out from your public library first.  I find even those who aren't diehard fantasy nerds fall under his spell, but it never hurts to spend time at your library!  If you ARE a fantasy geek like me, you can go buy one of his works.  You probably won't regret it!

Have a wonderful Thursday.  Is anyone else reading something wonderful or have a brilliant author to rave about?  I'd love to know!

Silly Birds and Giveaways...

Last night I planned on being good and going to sleep early (which, for me, is anytime before midnight).  This plan failed epically.  First, as I was dozing off to a hilarious taped-from-TV-in-the-eighties-with-commercials version of Mary Poppins, I was roused by repetitive and frantic banging on the opposite side of the wall behind my head.  I figured some cats were having a competition on the porch and went to break it up, when I met this guy.

(The photo on the right is a little fuzzy, the guy was panicking and flying all over the place.  His beak is open a little because apparently a stressed out bird kinda pants a little.)  

I ran out to see what the commotion was, and Zia had him cornered.  I got her in the house, and he flew up right into my forehead... and it hurt A LOT.  I also have a ridiculous fear of birds... they kinda weird me out.  They are so active all the time, and erratic... and I like being able to guess what move is gonna happen next.  Birds don't let you do that, unless they are big birds of prey or something.  In which case, they aren't as panicked all the time.  And we humans rarely see them close up (excluding the zoo and RennFest).

Anyway, our porch is open; no screens, no windows or anything, so I figured he would realize he was cat free and fly off free.  No.  Wrong again.  He flew around the porch beating himself against every support post and overhang, the ceiling and ceiling fans.  My guess is the lights confused him, and he was afraid to venture out in the dark.  So I took advantage of this "nobody will ever believe this" situation and made sure to get some video.  In which Tic-Tac came up and cameoed, and Zia frantically tried to learn to open the door and put the little guy out of his misery.

Please excuse our porch mess (and shoddy film quality, it was cold and 2 am)... renovations indoors means a lot of things are relocated out.  Also, yes, that is a giant "tattooed" rubber ducky.  I used to have all visitors sign it.  :)

In other news, Patchie and Her Boy came over for dinner last night, which was a nice change of pace.  Lately, I have appreciated having people around me more often to distract me from brooding and feeling depressed.  We talked shop (aka theatre), a bit about Bobby, a little about the wedding, a lot about funny things.  It felt good to be able to talk about Bobby but not brood.  This is healing, right?  I also had a lovely conversation with Squeebie today, who is in my wedding party and currently lives in Kansas.  She always makes me laugh and we are getting married around the same time (ish... because we are both involved in each other's weddings we are doing a lot of check ins on planning), and she has a crazy love for her fur-baby Stanley the Dalmatian, which always makes me giggle.  What a pick-me-up!

To reward readers for putting up with my lower spirits as of late, I want to alert you all to some giveaways happening on other blogs!  Hope you win... or I do... haha.

* Pixie Mama has an adorable giveaway going on now!

* The Dainty Squid has a MungoCrafts giveaway on her blog!  Eep!

* A Beautiful Mess has a Houndstooth Dress giveaway now!!!

* Tatertots & Jello has a super cute giveaway, too!

Win a Lomography Diana Mini Camera from the Dainty Squid!

I totally forgot to mention this earlier, but the Dainty Squid is having a giveaway for this lovely Diana Mini Camera courtesy of Lomography!

via: thedaintysquid

Lomography is all about lo-fi camera paraphernalia... film and simple camera mechanics!  I LOVE LOVE LOVE my Holga camera, and I often use a Lomo app on my iPhone (photos using the app below)!

holding my Holga!

I am trying my luck at the giveaway... go and try yours!


*EDIT- This Giveaway is now CLOSED.  Congrats to Danielle for winning!  I'm not gonna lie... I am jealous!