Ack!

I did it! And I feel so stupid . . . Ugh!!  The thought makes me sick to my stomach . . . Remember my laptop's hard drive was failing?  Well the whole hard drive had to be replaced.  

Foolishly I had neglected to make copies of my photos 'cuz I was so certain I had already saved most of my photos onto an external hard drive.  But I hadn't.  And I had forgotten that they were no longer on my old laptop.  So  **gasp**  they're gone! 

antique cameras from designboom.com

Thanks heavens for Facebook.  I found some nice albums there.  And hubby was eventually able to find some old disks with photos.  Now I'm only missing a few from 2007 to 2010 (where initially I thought everything from 2000 to 2011 was gone).  Yay, the baby photos are safe (and thankfully I had scrapbooked some of them). 

vintage cameras from eyescoffee.com

I've learned my lesson:  burn copies onto disk ALWAYS and PRINT the best ones to scrapbook (or put into photo albums).  This will be my new mission this summer . . . 

So forgive me if some of my crafting efforts shift from all things yarny and focus on all things paper.

"Ready for my Close-up Mr. DeMille"

Finished Blue Beret

Honestly, what does a girl have to do around here to get a decent picture?  With my blue beret hot off the needles, I was ready for a final picture to post on the blog and on Ravelry.  My eldest tried to take a decent picture, but he's only 9 and did his best. 

Not bad, but blurry

Then my husband tried, but his attempts were followed by mocking laughter (some of it from me and then some of it from him at my frustration--all in good fun).

Extreme Close-Up

Side View

Does this happen to you?  Do you find yourself being a little too critical about how you look in photos?  And when did I get "older"?  Seriously, there are wrinkles I don't remember seeing before?  Maybe my photographic standards have changed.  Or I need a really good filter--Ha!

Through experimentation and lots of trial and error, I've improved loads as a photographer (at least I think I have).  Sadly, the same cannot be said of everyone else in the family (and to be fair, the camera is mine and I'm the only one who's read the manual).  By default, that makes me the official photographer at family events or during the holidays.  The corollary being that I often don't get to be in the pictures.  Even when it is time for someone else to take pictures, they may not be as thoughtful in choosing the best light, the right angle . . . well, you get the picture (sorry for the bad pun).

It's not easy being a self-critical photo-taking, crafty blogger.
Say cheese!

Still Experimenting . . .

And still knitting--well sort of.  I'm not doing as much knitting as I'd like, but every little bit counts.  At least I finished one fingerless glove and working on second one: still working on thumb gusset and hopefully I can knit one or two fingers this weekend (I'd love to finish the enitre glove and be done with it very soon, but who's kidding who.  Ain't gonna happen this week).

And I've discovered how to take even better indoor photos.  Remember when I first discovered a good photo spot (blogged about it here) right in my own home (which incidently is rather dark especially on a dark, dreary winter's day)?  If I take a picture using the snow setting on my camera, the colours look just as they do under sunny conditions.  Here's the proof:

Auto Setting

Snow Setting

Natural Sunlight

A eureka moment!  Gotta love it when the light bulb in my head turns on :D  I may not have to build a photobox afterall.

And, I started experimenting with Wordpress: witness my handywork here .  No, I'm not moving my blog.  Actually I've enjoyed the ease of Blogger.  Highly recommend Blogger to any newbie interested in starting up their own blog.  Wordpress takes a little getting used to, but I wanted to try it out because I will eventually use it.  Confused?

Bernat has asked me to blog for them on their website (which uses Wordpress).  So excited and just plain tickled pink!  You can check out their website through my blogroll.  I won't be there till early November (I'll be sure to add a link after I start posting), but looking forward to it. :D

Experimenting . . .

Since I've started blogging, I think my photography skills have improved--relative to where I was when I started.  Reading the manual, playing with the camera settings and checking out tips at various photo blogs are hopefully netting me good pictures.  Personally I'm attracted to beautiful pictures; most of the knitting and crafting blogs I enjoy reading and return to repeatedly have wonderful pictures.  Nothing can make--or break--a blog like good photography.

Then I came across an excellent link from one of the blogs I follow; over at Green Apples Stitchywitch (who incidently has great pics) had an awesome link here regarding how to build a lightbox.  I bookmarked it.  Winter is fast approaching.  With dwindling daylight  and frigid temperatures, I needed more options other than taking pictures outside.  That just isn't gonna work in minus -20C!  As soon as I find the right size box, I'd like to build my own lightbox.

The information in the link got me thinking: where in my house can I find better light?  Then the light bulb in my head went off (sorry for the bad pun): over my washing machine and dryer I have a fluorescent bulb.  White bristol board covered up the machinery. Then I photographed some yarn and knitting.  What do you think?  I took these pictures at night.

By the way, that's my fishtail lace scarf (remember from here and here?)  Reinforcements arrived in the mail a little over a week ago: 3 new balls of Patons Silk Bamboo in moss.  I've already gone through one ball.  Only two left.  And guess what? 

My scarf has just passed the halfway point.  I'm aiming for 52" and at 27.5" I can honestly say I see light at the end of the tunnel.  Oh joy!