New, New, & New

Lately there have been quite a few new things coming up recently. I just completed my new website. (ev-photography.co) Please check it out and let me know what you think! I would love to hear some feedback. Then I also got a brand new camera a Canon 6D with a 24-105mm f/4L Lens and Pixma Pro - 100 printer. I am so happy that I got this kit. I just hooked up the printer yesterday and I loved it. The prints are wonderfully clear. Here are some of the images that I have taken with my camera!  

Lastly, I have converted from doing CD's with cases to custom USB drives. I am in love with the wood finish and the engraved logo. 

Emily

A Marietta Christmas

Over the past weekend my mom, grandma, and I did the annual Marietta Pilgrimage. The pilgrimage allows you to go into 6 homes in a certain historic district around the Marietta Square in Marietta, GA. It is a neat way to get ideas for your own home for Christmas and see inside the different homes. Also you learn a little bit about the history of the area as you go. This year the district was the Church/Cherokee National Historic District and the houses were built between 1900 and 1940. Also another treat is that every year they have a home set up as a Bistro that people can get lunch at and use their facilities this year it was a home called Ivy Grove that was built in 1843. It is a beautiful home and I was very excited to get to see inside it. When you are inside the homes on the tour you are not allowed to take pictures inside. These are private homes and we have to respect the home owners privacy. There are docents in each room to tell you a little bit about the family and the items in the room as well giving information about the home. Here are a few pictures that I took along the tour. If you do something similar where you are please let me know!

Emily

Sonya & Alberto - Engagement Session

I had the opportunity to photograph Sonya and Alberto's for their engagement photographs over this past weekend. I have known Sonya since I went to Young Harris College and played on the soccer team with her. It was an honor that she gave me the chance to take their photographs to celebrate this important event in their lives. Here are a few of my favorites.  I hope you enjoy the photographs! 

Fun Gifts for Photographers

When I started putting my ideas together for gifts for photographers I realized there were two different categories that they all seemed to naturally fall into practical and fun.  Here are the fun ones!! Not that the practical gifts are not fun these are just items that people might not buy themselves but would love to have.

1. Photography Best Cure for Bad Memory Tee - I like the saying on this one. Very true! I think the typography is really nice. 
2. DSLR Wheel of Filters - A fun way to break up your photography style! And with the Holga's being discontinued an easy way to get the look on your DSLR.
3. I Want to Capture You Tote Bag - I love the old camera on the tote.
4. James Camera Strap  - Beautiful leather and a great new camera strap to replace the one that came with the camera. I love the leather, but they also have options with canvas that are beautiful as well. 
5. Photographs are like Wine Mug - Another item with beautiful typography from Click and Blossom! I just found this site and I think their items are beautiful. We all need a nice mug for coffee when we are editing. 
6. Kelly Moore 2 Sues Bag - Kelly Moore's bags are beautiful. One has been on my wishlist for a long time. I love the 2 Sues because of the pockets on the front and back. 
7. DSLR Flash Drive - Why not?  Everyone should have a funny flashdrive.

I hope you like these ideas! Please let me know what you would pick out of this list. 

Emily

Practical Gifts for a Photographer

I know sometimes it can be hard to buy for a photographer. Everything that seems important like lenses and studio equipment seem to cost an arm and a let. I have compiled a little list of items that I think would make great gifts or even stocking stuffers.

 

1. Memory Cards - I used the PNY Elite Performance card as just as an example. But if you like that brand you can find them here. Photographers always need more memory. You would never hear me say wow I think I'm all set with memory. Whether they prefer compact flash or SD cards a photographer will be happy to get more. I know these are a little boring but they are a necessity. 

2 Lighting Kit - I just received one of these as a gift for my birthday. I am not sure which kit I was given as it was a gift but this one looks good and has 4/5 stars. So if you have someone looking to get into studio lighting this would be a great kit. At $129.99 I do not think you could go wrong. 

3. Tripod - I love my tripod for group shots! Also comes in handy when you need to take a nice self portrait that does not involve a selfie stick. This one has great reviews on Amazon and is the #1 best seller for tripods on the site. 

4. Lens Cap Keepers - These are more of a stocking item but they are darn helpful. I have had a few lenses come with them on and they have been a saving grace. I truly need to order these for myself. The ones I found come in a pack of 6 and for $5.99 plus being Amazon Prime you can not beat that. 

5. White Balance Filter - Everyone needs a way to do white balance. I found this paddle. It looks interesting compared to the different ways that I have seen. But this one you do not have to screw on and off your lens and is a third of the price of some of the caps that I have seen. 

6. Marco LED Ring Light - This would be a great tool for anyone who likes to take macro photographs. Also I have seen photographers use them for portraits to get a nice even light around a face.

7. & 8. 24mm & 40mm Lenses - It is easy to forget the more affordable lenses that are out there when there are the $1000 + ones out there to lust after. I recently recieved a 40mm pancake lens as a gift and have really enjoyed shooting with it. It is a fun lens to take out on walks and just around when your unsure of what you might find.


I hope these are  helpful ideas! Soon I will be posting on the "Wonderful yet slightly less necessary" fun gift ideas for a photographer. Please let me know what is on your photography wishlist this Christmas!

Emily

Please Note: I realize these all link to amazon products. This is not a sponsored post. I just thought I would try to use a major retailer. Thanks!

Darkroom

For the past 4 weeks Steve and I have been taking a B&W dark room class. We took the class with an awesome new non-profit in Atlanta called The Photographers Studio. They are a community darkroom and educational center for photographers all in one. I am so glad that I found them. I have been searching for a class to learn how to develop my own pictures for ages. It was an awesome and insightful course. If you are looking to learn to develop or for other photography classes please check them out! Here is a link to their site. The classes change all the time and they are adding new ones.

We have been wanting to learn this together for a long time. Steve is very good at processes and so meticulous that developing is perfect for him. Before we even had taken the class Steve has been wanting to buy equipment that we have found on Craigslist. Well after taking 3 weeks of classes.. probably a little premature we decided to buy some equipment.

We found a wonderful older gentleman who sold us his fathers old equipment. We ended up with a Besler 23C with a color head. It came with the enlarger lens for 35mm and medium format negatives. I can not wait until we can have a permanent space for this equipment. Until we have bought a home it may sit relatively still because we do not have a dark space in our rental home. I do think it was a great purchase though! I would rather save it now and have it for the future.

We also ended up with quite a few filters. There are boxes and boxes of them along with original Kodak darkroom light glass.

I can not wait till the next film class at The Photographers Studio. It would be great to go into more detail. It was a brief overview of everything. So I got a little bit of a taste of it all but now I want to perfect it!

Do you shoot film? If you already shoot film and develop your own I would appreciate some tips!

Emily 

Georgia Underwater

 Welcome those that have came over from Eager Emily. I'm excited for y'all to come over here!

 Out of the past 7 days we have had maybe one afternoon with some sunshine. It feels like we are underwater. I know for some places that probably does not seem like a long time. To me it has felt like eternity. I had to get outside the other day and take some pictures even though it continued to sprinkle on me the whole time. With all of the rain it has taken down the majority of beautiful leaves that we had on our trees. Transforming our yard and driveway into a yellow brick road of leaves.

I don't even want to think about raking leaves...

Emily

Vintage Haul

Hello Everyone!! I apologize for being gone for so long. I am learning as I get older that it is easier to get distracted by day to day life. I recently went out with my Grandmother on a yard sale day. Near where I live we do an Old 41 yard sale which is also called the Dixie Hwy yard sale. It goes for miles and you generally find a lot of good things. This year we started in Emerson and went to Adairsville. For those that want to go next year I highly suggest making it to at least Adairsville. There are a lot of people selling there. Here are the goodies that I found. 

 A Creamer and Sugar set by Fire King. I have never found Fire King in this pink color. If you know more about it please let me know!

 There was one vendor that had a basket full of old photographs. It always make me sad when I see old photos in a yard sale. I am slowly starting to collect them though.

  I believe this one is a tin type. If anyone knows differently please let me know! It is not in the best condition but I got it for $1. So I was not feeling to picky. I would love to start collecting tin types. This one especially intrigued me because it does not look to have been done in a studio. A lot of the older photographs I have seen like these are in a studio setting.Also I love how he is holding his pipe.

This little snap shot struck me. I love the angle and that everyone's back is turned. The women in their 50's clothes and hair. Then the military man walking in front of them with the old and palm trees in the background. Its just perfect to me. I want to think that this is in California or Hawaii.

 Portraits like these are not normally what I am drawn too but when I opened the little trifold envelop and saw the adorable faces I knew I could not leave this in the basket. 

 My $10 Polariod. This little guy is in pretty rough shape. Steve and I are going to work on trying to get it functional again.

 I love vintage planters. I have never bought one and this trip I actually bought 2! This little one I found in an antique shop on the way. It is pretty solidly built and said USA on the bottom. The USA appears to be written in the clay. I love the yellow.

This little planter got to me by the beautiful color combination and that it was a $1. It has been well loved. There is a crack in the back and a few chips. I do not think the crack will keep me from being able to use it though. It seems to be sealed. 

I hope you enjoyed seeing my finds! Please let me know what you have been lucky in finding lately! Also if you have any information on the items that I found I would love to hear it. Be on the look out! I have an awesome announcement coming soon!

Emily

January Favorites

 Happy February everyone! Now that January is over all I can think about is that we are one more step closer to spring. Thankfully. The cold and I do not get along. I want to share some of my January favorites. I discovered quite a few new items this month. I also worked in a few of my all time favorites.

First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream: This is one of the best things I tried this month. My skin absolutely loves it. I have come to the realization that my oily skin is actually dehydrated and really needs to be moisturized and not starved. This is great and has almost a matte finish after putting it on the the skin. It does not make you ultra shinny like a normal moisturizer does.

Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser Dark Circles Concealer - Man that is a long name but this concealer works. It covers up my dark circles and does not crease through out the day. If you are unsure look this concealer up on Youtube and you will find a million reviews. This is my second tube.

Maybelline Dream Wonder foundation: I realized later last year that I was over having a full coverage foundation. I still like coverage but I was hating the way that after a few hours my foundation would look. Also I wanted something a little less matte. This foundation was definitely my answer. While I do need a powder to set the foundation and I hate the bottle design the product is great and this is my second bottle.

Loreal Infalliable Pro- Matte foundation: This might seem like a conundrum to you after reading about the Dream Wonder Foundation. However, even though this says it is a Pro-Matte foundation I would call it more of a satin finish. I decided to try this after I saw the display in my local CVS. I went home and watched a few reviews on Youtube and decided to give it a go. I did end up buying two tubes of this because the first tube was just to dark for me right now. It should be the perfect color for me in the summer though. I love this foundation and it has replaced the Dream Wonder as my everyday foundation. I still love both but for now this one i it. I love the medium coverage. Also I have realized that it actually looks better at the end of the day when I have not set it with my Rimmel Stay matte powder. 

 Simple Micellar Water: I discovered this about halfway through the month and I love it. It is great makeup remover. I can use it all around my eyes with stinging them and it takes the makeup right off.

 Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette: I love these shades. I do wish that there was another medium tone shade instead of three lighter shades, one medium, and two dark. But I use this like crazy. Pretty much everyday this past month I have used at least one shade on my eyes from this palette. The medium shade is my absolute favorite though.

 Two Faced Better Than Sex Mascara: My holy grail mascara. This makes my eyelashes look crazy. I love it so much. I received the full size as a Christmas present and I also have a couple of minis as back ups. I had a mini of this first that I pretty much refused to get rid of because it was wonderful. Eventually I did... darn mascara hygiene rules.

 Anastasia Brow Wiz: After trying so many different drugstore options for my brows I caved and bought the Brow Wiz. So glad I finally did it. This one is actually empty and I have already ordered a new one. I am hooked.

Nest Eau De Parfum Trio (similar): Lastly but certainly not least is the Nest Trio that I received as a Christmas present. I am normally stuck with my 2 perfumes the Bvlgari Omnia Crystalline and the Coco Mademoiselle. This had gotten me to mix it up! I love these. I actually like all three scents. As of right now I can not even choose one out of the three.

I'd love to know what your January Favorites are and what you have planned for February. Please leave me a comment below and let me know.


Emily

Project 365: February 3rd - 5th

Tuesday - February 3, 2015

Wednesday - February 4, 2015

Thursday - February 5, 2015

Project 365: January 25th - Febuary 2nd

Sunday - January 25, 2015

Monday - January 26, 2015

(Sad excuse for a photo. But I was really excited about my favorite bbq place and it was late.)

Tuesday - January 27, 2015

Wednesday - January 28, 2015

Thursday - January 29, 2015

Friday - January 30, 2015
 

Saturday - January 31, 2015
 

Sunday - February 1, 2015

Monday - February 2, 2015