Since blogging is new and frightening to me I thought I would write about something fun…. a photo scavenger hunt!   The Oh Shoot! Digital Photo Scavenger Hunt is a facebook group that I have a lot of fun with (you’ll need to be logged into facebook for the link to work.)  A few of you out there are already members but for everyone else who wants get creative with photography this is the place to go.

Each week a new subject is announced for members to find and photograph. It’s a lot of fun to see what other members come up with and how they interpret the subject of each weeks “hunt.”  We are shooting with all types of cameras including DSLRs, SLRs and camera phones.

The first three photos below were actually taken by Brandy .  She got a kick out of my toy soldiers waging war inside of our refrigerator .  Why would we have a tiny war fought by tiny soldiers inside out fridge you might ask? Well, the subject for this weeks hunt is “In The Refrigerator.”  Since I like to have fun with the subject I grabbed my little guys and sent them to battle, of course, “in the refrigerator.”  My photo from the scavenger hunt is below titled “Food Fight.” Although I have my shot for this week I think it would be cool to always have the toy soldiers in our fridge!

Here are a few of my own photos from the scavenger hunt.

Oh My Gosh.  Brandon cracks me up!!  I’ll share more when I can.  For now… there’s a major crisis over the butter and yogurt.  For real.

Oh man.  I love getting text messages from our Bella Pop peeps.  They always make me smile!

Food!! LOL people are always sending me pictures of food.  I wonder why!!  :)

Sprinkle doughnuts… frozen yogurt and the quintessential small town treat:  DAIRY QUEEN!

If it’s not food, then it might be crafty.  I get a lot of crafty pics too.  Our awesome bride Liz sent us this shoe paint picture after our custom Chucks/Toms post.

Now I’m really feeling the love:  Bella Pop bride Mylynka dyes her petticoat HOT PINK,  a random Halloween mask and cookies!!

And last but NOT least.  Halloween!!  It’s too funny when our peeps see Halloween in the stores and they think of us.  ;)  you guys rock!! xoxo Brandy and Brandon

To achieve great detail shots you’ll need:
1) Good light – the quality of light can make or break an image. Here, Piggy is illuminated by a nice bright window (facing the window.)
2) Shallow depth of field – using a wide open aperture will focus on the subject matter and leave the background nice and creamy.
3) Shutter speed – to achieve sharper detail images, I generally do not let my shutter speed drop below 1/80. Ideally I like to shoot at 1/100 or faster.
4) Post processing –  I try to keep post processing to a minimum.  However my favorites are a mix of Totally Rad Actions and Kubota Actions. Piggy’s images feature: Boutwell Magic Glasses 40%, Midbright 20% and Smarter Sharp.

Meet Piggy: my beloved piggy bank. Isn’t he cute??

camera: 5D Mark II
lens: 50mm 1.2 L
settings: f/2.2, 1/100, 50mm, 1000 iso

The above image of Piggy was captured with my beloved 50mm 1.2 L glass lens. L glass is top of the line, professional quality and it’s expensive.  The good news is there are three different 50mm lenses to choose from. From left to right: 50mm 1.2 L, 50mm 1.4 and 50mm 1.8.  Any one of these lenses will allow you to have a wide open aperture up that will blur the background and focus nicely on the subject.  The quality of each lens will affect the end result.

camera: 40D
lens: 50mm 1.4
settings: f/2.2, 1/100, 50mm, 1000 iso

Here you can see the difference in quality between the 50mm 1.8 and the 50mm 1.4.
Both images shot with 40D, f/2.2, 1/100, 50mm, 1000 iso

As always, feel free to send us your questions. We love to hear from you! xoxo Brandy and Brandon

So, (no surprise) I had this urge to bake but I wanted something more than plain cookies.  Something fall inspired of course!  That’s when I stacked up my collection of Barefoot Contessa cookbooks on the table and went through them.  What did I find?  Raisin Pecan Oatmeal Cookies.  Yummers.  That will do just fine. So I baked my cookies.  Then I proceeded to roast Diablo Pecans (again, ushering in fall.)  And this weekend, I’m gonna do it all over again.

And wouldn’t you know… one day this week, it almost felt like fall.  It was 73 degrees outside and we opened up the windows.  The inside kitties were in heaven.  Outside, Ava pup rolled around and played catch.  I happily munched on an oatmeal cookie.  A seriously good oatmeal cookie. And we held hands and watched the leaves fall.  It was love.

So um, get this?  The above picture?  I totally forgot to add the oats.  Yeah, hello Brandy!!  Obviously, I had to dump the dough back in and (oh so embarrassed) added the oats.  Brandon didn’t know why I was all upset.  No big deal he said.  Sure, it’s kinda funny now.

tada! wow, how I wish I had some more of these right now!

The thing that’s cool about photography, is that we get to meet new amazing people all the time.  We never know who we’ll meet next, or where we’ll find them.  But they’re out there.  These interesting, go against the grain sort of people.  I was lucky enough to meet Merry through Mylynka, one of our Bella Pop Brides.  But my first real connection with Merry happened the moment I read her submission for Kitty, in the Woof and Meow contest.  It was love at first sentence.  Ever since, I’ve kept up with her on Facebook and follow her blog.  She always makes me laugh out loud.

Anyway, when I started thinking more about the first social shoot, I thought it would be great if we had a model to photograph.  And that’s when I thought of Merry.  So I wrote to her in Facebook with this “idea” and I was so excited when she replied:  ”hey that sounds totally cool!” and that she was game.  Because really, to dress up and let 10 random photographers take yo’ pictures in sweltering 100 degree weather, was way more than game.  It was a super act of kindness and we are so grateful she wanted to be part of it.  And so, here are a few of our favorite images that we captured of the gorgeous Merry Jett.

Merry, you rocked our cameras!  Thank you so much for spending the evening with us!  xoxo Brandy and Brandon

So one day my dad comes up to me and asks, “do you have any of that special baby kitty food?”  Ah yes, remember this is coming from the man who never let me have animals in the house as a kid. As it turned out there was a mama cat in the woods with three little babies and he thought they should be fed special food.  My dad.  For goodness sake, wanted me to buy special baby kitty food.  And so the story goes, we put out food and water and talked to these cats.  If you tried to get close, poof, kitties gone.

But eventually, we knew that we would have to trap these cats and get them fixed.  On account that we didn’t want to start a baby kitty fest in the woods.  And so eventually we trapped the cats, one by one and mama cat too.  The babies stayed in the “bathroom” after their vet visit but mama cat totally freaked out and we let her go.  And that’s how we ended up with so many cats:  because at some point everyone fell in love with those baby kitties.  Oh and FYI, I had a heck of a time getting pictures of Callie and Marla because yeah, they don’t dig it.  That big fancy camera freaks them out!

6.  Callie

• Nicknames:  Coco, Callico, ColecoVision, Calcutta, Coho, the one who must be fed, the little begger, Cal, Colonial
• Favorite activities:  skiittzing out, getting lost, begging for food, staring at you for more food, loving on Brandon, sleeping on the job @ Bella Pop, farting when nervous
• Usual locations:  at bedtime… right between Brandy and Brandon, under the couch, behind the couch, inside the couch, under the chair, in the window, her “cubicle” @ the Bella Pop office
• FYI:  Callie cat is our timid, super freaked out kitty who’s fur happens to feel like velvet.  She has the tiniest meow and a practically inaudible purr.  And yet she’s super sweet and absolutely head over heels in love with Brandon.  He is, without a doubt, *her* human.  Twice Callie went missing because of skittzing out, and it was amazing we found (and acquired her) both times.  This cat needs a GPS collar, ya’know, just in case.

7.  Marla

• Nicknames:  Mertz, Myrtle the Turtle, Mertzie Kitty, MerMer, Moigles, Mertztropolis,  Big Juicy
• Favorite activities:  lounging, sleeping, sitting on her Pop’s chair, walking around meowing loudly in an empty house, carrying around Nippy (mouse toy) and dropping him in the water, hiding in the Harry Potter room, cuddling with Callie, hissing when scared
• Usual locations:  the window, the foot of the recliner, the Harry Potter room aka the closet under the stairs, the food bowl
• FYI:  When we first spotted Marla, my dad pointed to this orange kitten and said, “that yellow kitty sure is pretty” seriously, I don’t kid!  But really, Marla (who we named after Marla Singer from Fight Club) indeed is a pretty kitty.  She’s extra fluffy as most orange tabbies are and appreciates a tasty snack from time to time.  The weirdest thing is when she walks around a (seemingly) empty house with her Nippy toy in her mouth, meowing woefully.  Because apparently she doesn’t like to be alone.

8.  Grayson

• Nicknames:  GrayGray, Sir Grayson, Gray Baby, Dennis the Menance, Gray Gator, Mini Jules
• Favorite activities:  running amuck with Quinton, chasing bugs, harassing birds, tormenting Lilla Cat, acting like a baby, meowing when spoken to
• Usual locations:  outside, the back room at night, inside on occasion when separated from Lilla
• FYI:  GrayGray is quite the baby (or so they say.)  He likes to meow as if saying “yes” when you talk to him.  There’s always a mouse to be caught or a dirt pile to roll in.  But he’s most notorious for wanting to play too much.  In fact, he never knew when to stop and chased Lilla out of the litter box on numerous occasions.  This caused issues… so for the most part Gray Baby spends his days outside.

9. Brownie

• Nicknames:  Mama Cat
• Favorite activities:  hiding in the woods, stayin’ alive, eating food put out by nice people
• Usual locations:  the edge of the woods, the feeder in the yard and just recently, the front porch
• FYI:  At first, I wondered if we should count Mama Cat, who my dad decided to name Brownie a while back.  But considering that we worry about her when we haven’t seen her in a few days, that we feed her and give her water, or would take her to the vet if she was badly hurt (and we could catch her) I guess you could say we claim this cat.  Not that anyone has ever touched her, but she likes to sit and listen when Brandon sits outside to play guitar.  She comes up to our voices when are playing outside with the other animals, but keeping a distance.  And now she’s come up to the porch and actually sleeps.  Piper is smitten with her because she *almost* looks just like Portia.  And to Piper, it’s the love of his life, who lets him sit close.  And of course, this is the one and ONLY photo of Brownie.  Snapped just seconds before she realized I was taking her picture.  Because after that, she bolted.

So ladies and gentlemen,  that’s the answer to the cat mystery:  9 cats (and trust me, that’s more than enough!)  1 pretty much wild, 2 exclusive outside kitties, 3 mostly outside, 2 inside kitties and 1 spoiled rotten evil kitty (that would be mine.)  Oh, and a Laaab-raaaa-doooor in a pear tree…   ;)

And a big thank you to everyone who joined us Sunday:  it was so great hanging out with each of  you!  We’re super happy the Social Shoot went well and it really was a fun, casual creative learning experience… just as we’d hoped it would be.  We can’t wait to announce the September Social Shoots and we hope even more  beginner / hobbyist / professional photographers join us next time.  Don’t forget:  if you want to be in the know for Bella Pop’s upcoming photography events, workshops or classes… get on the ROCK IT! with BP mailing list. :)  xoxo Brandy and Brandon

Here are a few “behind the scenes” photos from the social (Brandon captured some great photos for us!) Stay tuned for more images from Merry’s shoot later this week…

Merry, you are gorgeous!

*Special thanks to my mom Sandy, for taking this photo.  I love you mom!

Yeah, they got married.  it.  was. awesome.

I could go on and on about the drop dead gorgeous DIY details, the vintage blue glass, the altar with antique window frames (and if I had the stamina, I would!)  I could talk about that moment before Chelsea and her dad walked down the aisle, when the guys threw Steven into the pool or the (now, infamous) ginormous bucket of birdseed.  Seriously, all I can say is L O V E and I hope you love the pictures.  Because it was a fabulous day and it pretty much rocked their socks.  Chelsea and Steven, thank you so much for inviting us to be part of your big day!  We had a wonderful time celebrating with you and we wish you many many happy years.  xoxo Brandy and Brandon

Chelsea’s idea for a guestbook was incredible!  They used library cards and placed them inside some of their favorite vintage books.  Such a great idea!

Ladies, you are gorgeous!

the iPhone:  it’s there for you when you need to learn how to tie a tie.

This is what happens when the guys are bored:  and the rooms have hangers.

LOVED the button boutineers!  And the glass… oh the glass… :)

Death Star groom’s cake?  Yes, please!  LOL The groomsmen happened to hear someone saying, “oh is that from Star Trek?” yeah, it was pretty much blasphemy.

I have *no idea* how I didn’t get covered in bird seed too…

Color, in design, is obvious.  But it’s not the only element to design.  There’s still shape, texture, pattern, form, and line to consider when composing a photograph.  As always, art is subjective and beauty in the eye of the beholder.  That being said, I have a particular obsession with color.  I’m also obsessed with squiggles and dots (patterns) and  urban decay (texture.)  When you start to photograph something, try to look at it from all angles.  Think of the elements of design and try to incorporate them into your photographs.  Fill the fame, get really close up, stand far, far away.  Get creative.  It’s so much fun when you do.

It was the evening of Magnolia on the Green in Fort Worth (which got totally rained out) and we had just noshed on oh so yummy Fuzzy’s Tacos @ TCU. The original is the best. Then we were milling around in a sorta kinda photographer haze, looking for stuff to photograph. And that’s when we drove past it: the wall of color bonanza. And I squealed. Times a million. And I was loving the artist because they too, had a thing for dots.

here’s our Bella Andrea! ;)

After last weekend’s crazy schedule, we are really looking forward to taking this weekend off! I’m super pumped about the Social Shoot on Sunday and can’t wait to meet everyone. For next week: the HOW MANY CATS mystery finally revealed, a drop dead gorgeous wedding and more fun stuff! xoxo Brandy and Brandon