I am so excited for two reasons. One, that this post announces the giveaway winners. And secondly, that I've finally learned how to shoot in manual mode on my camera! Eeekk!


Before I was always shooting in Aperture priority. That was something I could handle - aperture doesn't confuse me at all. But when it came to controlling both aperture and shutter speed? I was a little scared. Not to mention every time I tried to take a picture in manual, it came out either pitch black or blinding white (I later found out this was because I had failed to line up the light meter. Ahem.)

Using Aperture priority was working just fine - until I started taking portraits. Unless I was in a certain position, dark  circles would appear until the peoples' eyes. Not flattering at all. I was exceedingly frustrated.

A few nights ago, I was sitting on the couch reading Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson (I HIGHLY recommend it, even though it's a bit dated), when suddenly it "clicked". I finally understood how to take a correctly exposed photograph while in manual. I couldn't wait for it to get light outside.

The next morning, I bounced (okay, to be honest, it was more like dragged) out of bed, camera in hand, and ran outside. Guess what? The revelation I'd had the night before was actually true. I was getting beautifully exposed photos shooting in manual. I really don't understand how I could've not known how to do it before - it was so simple I thought it was too good to be true. I suppose with DSLRs you just expect things to be hard because they're more advanced cameras.

I grabbed Lilly (who was decked out in her ballet outfit) to see if circles would appear under her eyes when I took her picture. I adjusted the shutter speed so it was a bit slower than the camera suggested, which made the pictures brighter, and thus eliminating any dark circles.

What do you think? I'm wildly excited about this discovery (although I'm sure everyone reading this who has a DSLR has figured this out a long time ago...hehe). I'm no longer scared of portraits :)

(Is it just me or does Lilly look SO grown up? I don't know what it is, but it's making me sad. My little baby. Sniff sniff)

And just for good measure...

(I love bokeh)

And this...no special effects were applied to this photo after it was taken. To achieve this effect, you're going to need a zoom lens (I used an 18-55mm). I simply set a longer exposure time, pressed the shutter release button, and quickly zoomed from 55mm to 18, creating this nice vortex. My mom said it made her dizzy looking at it. Oops ;)

And the winners of the giveaway are...click the "continue reading" to find out. Hehe. Sorry guys. I don't know why you put up with me ;)


The winner of the set of 4 5x5 photos is...

Tessa Brooke!

And the winner of the lovely ribbon necklace is...

Kate!

Congrats winners! Email me and we'll get you set up :)

Note: If I do not receive an email from you by Wednesday evening (August 18, I'm going to have to pick another winner(s).

This giveaway was so much fun! I wish I could give each and every one of you one of these prizes, but unfortunately that can't be done. Anyway, I hope y'all had as much of a blast as I did...and to all my new followers, I sincerely hope you stick around :)

Have a wonderful day!

-carlotta

A few days ago, I went to Target. Dun, dun, duunnn. But seriously, Target is my downfall. My weakness. And one of my true loves. I adore that store.

I digress (I can digress easily when I talk about Target. Please tell me I'm not alone.).

While my mom picked up some things in a different part of the store, I perused the clothing section. I selected three tops that I liked, and headed to the dressing room, not expecting that any of them would fit me (you have no idea how hard it is to find clothing that actually fit!). 

I tried the first one on and was shocked to find that it rested on my body like it was tailored to fit me. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that the other two fit perfectly and looked great.

Let me preface this by saying I'm not a spender. I'm definitely a saver; it's just my personality. Before making a purchase, I usually think long and hard about whether I need it or not. But finding three adorable tops that fit like a glove, when it's quite rare to find an article of clothing that actually fits? It's too hard to pass up.

So I bit the bullet and splurged. And I'm proud of it. I'm glad that I could let go and treat myself a bit, even if it was a little hard to do. ;)

Want to see what I got?

I adore this one - from the lace at the top to the fun floral print...I just love it. And it has pockets! Squeal. 

This tank top. (I know it looks like a dress in the top photo, but I promise it's not :)) It's amazing. I hate it when ribbed tank tops stretch out after wearing - but this one is made of 10% Spandex, so it stays nice and stretchy after wearing. I plan on going back and buying out the store's supply ;) 

(Juniors Long and Lean tank top, if you're interested. I highly, highly recommend it.)

This is such a cute little sweater - and I know it will be put to good use with fall coming up. I love the elbow sleeves (is that what they're called? I have no idea), and it has pockets too! I adore pockets. If you haven't already noticed.

(I got a bit snap happy...sorry. I was just excited ;))

And on top of this, I went to Old Navy and got two pairs of jeans and some flip flops. I love Old Navy jeans...it's pretty much the only place they fit me perfectly. But the jeans were more of a necessity, as mine from last year hit, oh, mid calf. Yes, I grew a lot this summer ;) 

Moving right along.

Have you splurged on something recently?

Also, my giveaway ends TONIGHT. It's your last chance to enter if you haven't already done so!

Happy Sunday!

-carlotta

PS I don't mean to sound like I'm bragging in the post - I'm just genuinely excited about my new clothes and I wanted to show you. Please don't take it the wrong way! :)

1. school. I'm starting everything except for biology and geometry on August 25th. The other two I'm taking in online classes, and they start September 7 - when we'll be flying to Germany. So I'm going to have to miss the very first class of both...gah. Thank goodness for archives, though.
I seriously can't believe school is this close!

When does school start for you?

2. blogging help. In my last post, I got some questions in the comments. Since they're both super easy, I'm just going to answer them here.

To add a "continue reading" button to a post:

You're going to have to switch into the updated editor, if you haven't already. Go to your dashboard > settings. Scroll down all the way, and there will be a little section that lets you pick the editor. Click on "updated editor" and hit save. Now, go to your post where you want to add the "continue reading" button. Select the place you want it. In the tool bar where you can edit fonts, etc, in the post, between the movie sign and the place where you can choose if text is aligned to the right, center, or left, there will be a page symbol with a jagged tear in the middle. Click on that and you now have a page break :)

To make photos larger in a post:

You're going to have to switch into the updated editor, like in the above tip. Upload your photos like normal, then click on them. A toolbar will pop up that lets you choose the size. I use x-large, but you may have to use a smaller size depending on the width of your blog.

3. tortilla chips and ketchup. Sounds disgusting, no? It's insanely delicious. I discovered this unlikely combination when I was about three or so. I saw all the adults eating chips and salsa, but the latter was too spicy for me. So I randomly tried ketchup. Ahhh, a match made in heaven. Try it sometime. ;)

4. welcome. Welcome to all my new readers! I've gotten 54 followers in about a week. Insane. I assume it's on account of the giveaway, but it was already going off the charts before. Crazy. Anyway, I'm so glad you're here...and I sincerely hope you don't "unfollow" once the giveaway is over ;)

5. speaking of the giveaway... Have you entered yet? If you haven't, now's your chance! It runs until tomorrow night.

6. the globe. Sometimes I wish I could travel all around it (ahem, not the model globe...the real thing). I could be Carlotta, the traveling girl photographer and blogger! ;) But seriously, that would be amazing. Even though I hate flying. But I'd conquer my fear of riding so high if I could travel to exotic places. I think.

-carlotta

When I changed my header for the month of August last week, many of you asked how to make a header like mine. Because I love ya, here's a little how to for those of you that would like a photo collage header.

Note: If you haven't done so already, you're going to need to install Picasa (it's free!) for this tutorial.

Start out by opening Picasa, and select a folder that you'd like the photos to come from. See the "collage" button at the bottom? Click on that.

You'll arrive at this screen - on the left hand side drop down menu, make sure you select "picture pile" if it's not already selected. 

On the left, click on the "clips" tab. The folder of photos you selected earlier is now there - just drag and drop the photos you want to use in the header. When selecting photos, though, make sure you don't have too many. A wide and narrow header looks best. 

Arrange the photos to your liking. When you mouse over each one, a little black circle will appear. Use that to make photos bigger/smaller - you can also adjust the tilt with this tool.

When you're finished playing with the layout, click the "create collage" button on the bottom left hand corner.

The collage will take a few minutes to process - just make sure you don't close down Picasa before it's finished processing. When it's done, the above screen will appear. On the left hand menu, there will be a "text" icon. Click on that. 

Select the font and size from the drop down menu and type away. Just like when arranging the photos, the black circle will appear when you click on the text. Use this to rotate text, adjust size, ect. When you're finished, hit "apply".

Next, it's time to crop! Click the crop button (top left icon on the menu). I forgot to take a screen shot for this step, but all you do is drag from the bottom until you only have photos. Then hit "apply".

It's going to look like this. Now it's time to export the collage to your computer files! Click on "export" in the middle of the bottom part of the screen. 

This little window will pop up. Under "image size", check "resize to". Type in 1000 in the space for how many pixels. The standard blog size is 1000 pixels, but you may have to play around with the size to get it to fit your blog. Then select the folder you'd like the collage to go to and click "export".

Now it's time to go to your blog dashboard. Click on "design".

You'll wind up at the "page elements" page, which I'm sure you're all familiar with. On the very top, there will be a bar with your blog name on it. Click on "edit".

This box will pop up. This part is vitally important - MAKE SURE YOU UNCHECK "stretch to fit". DO NOT forgo this step. Also, click on "instead of title and description. Now, click on "choose file" and find your collage (it will be under the folder you saved it to in Picasa). Then hit save, and that's it! You've just made a photo collage header. 

If you have any questions, let me know either via email or in the comments - I'd be happy to help you :)

-carlotta