Cute Little Camera Bag

 I've been looking around lately for a pretty camera bag that was cute and functional.  Unfortunately, "cute and functional" on a camera bag also means expensive.  Here's a bag that I loved.  I wasn't, however, loving that price.  I've seen other bags for that much and even going up into the hundreds of dollars.  No thanks.  I don't want "cute and functional" that bad.

So, like I do with many problems like these, I made my own. :o)  Now, I only made the insert on this bag.  The bag itself is just a standard purse that I bought at Ross.  Nothing fancy.  But I love it!  It's the perfect size and will hold my camera and all its accessories.  And I definitely think it's cute and functional. 

(And I do apologize for the icky quality of the photos.  I had to use my old point and shoot.  Am I glad I have my DSLR now!)

I lucked out since foam was on sale at JoAnn at 50% off when I went.  So I paid about $5 for 1 yard of 1/2 inch foam.  The fabric I bought was 30% off and cost me about $5 for one yard (and I even have a little left over for another project!).  Add in $1 more for velcro and my supplies came to $11!  Love that price!

(I also love all the scribble marks on my cutting mat.  We have a budding artist in our family.)

Sewing this bag together was very similar to sewing bumper pads for a crib, just with smaller dimensions (and no crib ties, obviously!) The insert is completely removable.  It just drops right into my bag.  I can take it out and could even put it in a different bag if I wanted to (provided it fit).  The sides are all 1/2 foam.  I doubled up on the foam at the bottom of the insert so it would be extra padded.

I have five padded dividers, two small and three large.  Each have velcro in strategic places so I can move them wherever I need them to be in my bag.

You can see that the extra lens I have fits perfectly in my little sectioned spot.  And see that little section below it?  Hopefully I will be putting a (new to me) lens there soon.  I'm in the market for a 50mm f/1.7 lens.  (Wish me luck on ebay today!)

So the next thing I will be working on for it is some kind of shoulder strap that I can attach onto it.  That way I can easily carry it around while outdoors and I don't have to worry about someone trying to take it.  And I love that this bag is a regular purse that comes with other extra pockets inside.  I can just throw my keys, wallet, phone, gum, chapstick...whatever in there with my camera stuff and go!  Simplifying is always a good thing.

Happy crafting!

I ♥ RAW

I've been doing research lately on the benefits of shooting in RAW as opposed to JPEG.  If you aren't familiar with what RAW is, I will try to explain it as best as I can.

When your camera is set to JPEG format, you are basically allowing your camera to make all the decisions on how you want your image exposed (exposure, white balance, sharpness, brightness, etc.).  Sometimes your camera gets it right, and sometimes it doesn't.  A JPEG is also a compressed version of your image.  Setting it to shoot in RAW allows you to make all the decisions and adjustments you want to get a correct exposure.  Because of this, RAW files are considerably larger and you need editing software that will allow you to view, edit and convert them to JPEG (luckily Photoshop Elements does all this for me!)

There is plenty of info out there on the benefits of shooting RAW.  So I finally decided to try it out for myself.  I did a little test.  My camera has a few different settings: Standard, Fine (what I usually shoot in), RAW + JPEG, and RAW.  I decided to switch to RAW + JPEG for my experiment.  This meant that when I took a picture, it recorded it in both a RAW file and JPEG.  That way I could have the exact same image in both formats and edit them side by side (making the same or similar adjustments) to see the difference.

Here's my SOOC (straight out of camera) image.  Pretty terrible, huh?  Olivia was walking out of the bright sunlight into the shaded patio area.  It's terribly underexposed but it's going perfect for my experiment. :o)

Here is the JPEG version.  I did my best with it to fix the exposure and coloring.  But it still isn't quite right.  See the weird coloring around her eyes, face and in her hair?  She looks a little greenish.
It just doesn't look right.

Finally, here is the RAW image that I adjusted myself on the computer.  Notice how the coloring and exposure look so much better?  And it was so easy to make these adjustments.  I don't think I will ever go back to JPEG, again. 

Here's one last side by side comparison. (Click on it to really see the differences.)
Do I have you convinced? 

Happy picture taking!

Backdrop Stand

Do you like to take pictures?  Me too.  Do you have a gorgeous house with gorgeous floors and modern walls?  I don't either.  But I have found the solution!  A totally affordable, mobile backdrop frame!  With just a few items from your local Home Depot or Lowes and for about $15, you can have one, too.  The best part?  You can completely disassemble it and store it away.  Check out how to make one here. 

I modified mine a bit so I could have the baseboard, too.  The fabric just hangs down, is pulled taut inbetween a baseboard and regular 1 x 4 board and clamped together.  My "floor" is a bamboo rug I purchased here.  I love it since I can roll it up and store it wherever.  My "wall" is a tablecloth I found on clearance at Target (I hadn't ironed it yet, as you can see).

Now I can take beautiful photos in what appears to be my fancy-shmancy house.  

Wait a second... did we switch rooms??  Nope!  Just backdrops and floors. The floor in this photo is actually a roll of paper purchased here (although if you're lucky you may be able to find it at your local Michaels or Joann stores in their "teacher supplies" section -- I recently found another roll at JoAnn for about $8.00) and the wall is about 3 yards of fabric from JoAnn. I would recommend a hard surface under the roll of paper so it doesn't bend and ripple. I just roll it out over my bamboo rug and it seems to work just fine. 

With just a few minutes worth of work I can have a completely different look. The combinations are endless! Isn't it great?  Now go make one for yourself and have fun fooling everyone, too!

Happy crafting!

EDIT: I've had a lot of questions about how to add the baseboard to the backdrop. It's really easy! Think of it as "sandwiching" your fabric between a baseboard and a regular board and then clamping it tight on the sides. Just make sure that your regular board is about the same width as your baseboard.

See all the extra fabric on the floor behind the backdrop? That's a good thing! Once your boards are clamped, pull all that extra fabric nice and tight! That will help minimize wrinkles. I even like to pull the fabric on the sides to make sure it's super tight. I hope that clears up any confusion! Good luck!

Shabby Chic Baby Bench

Lately I have been fascinated with do-it-yourself photo props and backdrops.  Since I dabble a bit in photography and have a couple of upcoming sessions, I thought I'd try my hand at a few of my own photo props.

Flickr is full of gorgeous photos of babies asleep in doll-sized beds, and they are darling!  I wondered how hard it would be to make my own.  But I thought, for practicality's sake, it should probably be something that I'll use for purposes other than photography.  So I built a bench that is Olivia-sized! 

If I had found this awesome plan before beginning my bench I may have considered it...  but then it would probably just sit in the garage between photo shoots.  As it turns out, my little bench cost me about $11 to make so I guess I can't complain.  Maybe someday I'll still build that little bed.  It's super cute.

I started with a section of border fencing I found at Big Lots for $6.  I liked the cute detail on it and thought it would work well for the back of my bench. 

I used some scraps I had laying around for the basic structure (thank goodness for the chop saw and the nail gun!) and built the frame.  I had to buy the wood for the slats which cost me another $5.  A few cuts, screws, nails and wood glue later and I had this.

After filling in the holes and sanding everything down, I painted it white.  I thought about using the paint I had leftover from the play kitchen.  But I decided the bench would be more versatile if I left it white.

I sewed together a little seat cushion from some fabric I already had.  And for a final touch of cuteness, I made a super fun and frilly accent pillow out of old t-shirts (I love re-using stuff!!).

And voila!  Super cute, shabby chic baby bench for photo sessions...

...or whatever!

Happy crafting!