Artsy.

Yesterday I actually had a Saturday that I could spend at home doing whatever I wanted. It was very nice. So first, I actually did a little bit of cleaning out. We have a ton of stuff that we really just need to get rid of or find a new nook in the closet for, so I at least made a dent in that effort. But thanks to an earlier distraction that day of looking through some old scrapbooks, I decided I needed to do something artsy. (Side tangent: it appears I stopped the regular scrapbooking of my life's memories in 2007, or at least with 2007 photos. 2007! That was ages ago! It made me sad. I kind of want to play catch up, but I don't know if I will. I wish I could have at least finished my college years. Anyway...) I have been toying with the idea of doing something with my old bulletin board, so this is what I did:

I found some scraps of scrapbook paper and used those, along with black cardstock for the backdrop. I had some really pretty whole pieces of paper that I considered using, but decided to save in case I ever get around to finishing up those college years.

I printed off a couple of story quotes that I had on made up on my computer (using Photoshop Elements) for my Mac's screen saver of book and movie quotes. I also printed out a quote I found on Pinterest that was exactly what I needed, and thought it would be great encouragement to have hanging in my office. The wedding picture was a random finding and the pins were already on the board, so I just decided to keep them there. I intend to add more as I figure out what else I want to add. I had originally wanted to do like a writing inspiration board, but after doing this scrapbooky looking thing it may end up just being pictures and quotes. Maybe I'll get a new board to put inspiration up for my writing.

Then today I was editing a picture I took yesterday evening at the bonfire I did with my small group girls. It was at the house of one of the girls, and they have this barn that is begging for a photo shoot. I snapped a couple of pictures, but it was growing dark so I knew the lighting was not good. But I also knew I could edit to make it better. It amazes me how much a subtle edit can do. I used to think really great photographers should not have to do much editing. And there can be some truth to that, but some things you can't help. (And sometimes it's nice just for artistic reasons) And there are probably a ton of pictures I looked at that I thought were not edited, when really they just were very subtly edited to look naturally wonderful. Sometimes it's easy to over-edit, and I think I've been guilty of that in that past (though I don't think I've ever been this bad). And I'm still learning. But see the difference between the original and the edited?:

You can tell it's edited by the vignette (which I also tried to keep pretty subtle), but otherwise, I think it looks like I just took the picture on a really nice day. But the red of the barn and the backdrop just pop so much better in the edited version. I'm definitely a fan of that.