1. it's thanksgiving break.

And I could not be any happier. I'm so, so thankful for this reprieve from the craziness that is school. The principle of the online school where I take a few of my classes asked the teachers not to give us too much homework so we could enjoy our time off...I love him. :)

2. a little bokeh tutorial.

After I shared my Chocolate Bokeh On Cloud Nine photo, I got so many questions asking how to achieve bokeh. It's really very simple. On my SLR, I focus on some light and purposely make it as out of focus as I can (I usually manually focus for this). Then, I just click the shutter and there you have it! If you have a point and shoot camera, you can sometimes "trick" your camera into giving you bokeh. Try putting it on the flower, macro, or close up setting and take a picture. There's no guarantee that it'll work, though...on my point and shoot I was never able to coax it into taking a bokeh filled photo.




3. chocolate ice cream with frozen raspberries.

This is one of my favorite desserts...and it's even better with whipped cream on top. So yummy. Try it sometime! You'll definitely love it. Unless you don't, you know, like chocolate. Or raspberries. That might be a bit of a problem.
What's your favorite afternoon pick me up dessert?

4. harry potter.

Am I the only one who isn't head over heels in love with this series? I don't hate it, but I don't exactly love it either. With part one of the seventh movie having just come out, it seems everywhere I go I run into it...oh well, I'll live. ;)

5. let's talk shoes.

I'm such a sucker for cute shoes. Like these adorable pumps. Swoon. Although, let's face it. I could never walk in them. I'm clumsy enough as it is...I really couldn't handle a five inch heel. Heck, I can barely handle a three inch heel. But a girl can dream, can't she?
What do you prefer when it comes to shoes? Do you strive for comfort? (No pun intended...) Or are you all for cute shoes, no matter how painful they are? I'm somewhere in the middle...although I don't have any shoes that are super painful.



6. so pretty.

I was out in our yard a few days ago when I came across this little pink shoot growing from a dead bush. I was drawn in by the color and snapped some shots. Does anyone know what kind of plant it is? I'm kind of in love with it :)

7. pages.

I've changed some of the pages at the top of my blog...I rewrote my photography page and updated the page with my favorite bloggers. I also reworked the URLs for each of the pages...it was really bugging me that the URLs didn't match with the titles. Yeah, I'm a bit type a. Why do you ask?

8. speaking of type a...

I have other examples if you're not convinced yet. For example, I can't stand it when there are black marks from the lead on pencil erasers. And I hate it when the eraser is rounded instead of flat on top. My sheets can't be wrinkled when I go to sleep. It bugs me to no end when they are. Oh, and if I go to bed without brushing my teeth, my skin crawls. But oddly enough, I like having a clean room, but it doesn't bother me too much if it's messy. Weird.
Do you have any funny quirks?

Happy Sunday!

-carlotta

Photography is my passion. It's so therapeutic - taking photo after photo never fails to cheer me up. My hand was made to hold a camera.

I didn't really have an interest in photography until I was eleven. True, I had that Tweety Bird film camera when I was five and loved stealing my parent's camera to take random pictures, but it wasn't enamored by it by any means. It wasn't until I was at a family reunion in Germany when I was eleven and saw everyone taking pictures that I wanted to have my own camera. I finally bought a pink Casio point and shoot camera  three months later. 

That camera and I were inseparable. I loved the freedom I had in having my own camera. For the first few months, I just took pictures for the sake of taking pictures. I didn't really think about composition or angles. It wasn't until I starting blogging more, in September of 2009, that I wanted to add more of my photos to my posts. Before long, I started reading up on photography in order to better my photographs. Slowly but surely, I got to know my camera better and better and there was a improvement in my photos.

Finally, in May of 2010, I became tired of the limitations of my point and shoot. I wanted to explore my interest in photography even more. I longed to completely manually control how I shot my photos -- I dreamed about ISO, aperture, and shutter speed. (There. If you haven't noticed it before, there's proof that I'm a total geek.)

After much thought, I purchased my first SLR, a Nikon D3000 in June, about a month after I first starting looking for another camera. Following the screams of joy I emitted when it arrived, I ripped apart the packaging and fell in love at first sight. If I thought my point and shoot and I were inseparable, it was nothing compared to this. I took pictures of anything and everything, and, at the end of the day, lovingly placed it on my nightstand. When I bounded out of bed the following morning, it was always the first thing I reached for. 

My love hasn't lessened. On the contrary, I adore it more and more each day. I shoot exclusively in manual mode now and love the results. I've grown so much as a photographer in the past few months. It's my dream one day to be a professional specializing in food photography.

I also have an Etsy shop where you can purchase select photographs that I've taken.

I can't wait to see where this journey of photography takes me!

-carlotta

So, you want to learn about me?

For starters, my name is Carlotta. Except, you probably already knew that. Oh well. It just seemed the "right" thing to do.

I'm a teenaged pastor's daughter (hence the name of my blog) who lives in the place where the "wind comes sweeping down the plains"...also known as Oklahoma.

Photography is my one and only. It's my passion in life. There's nothing I love better than having my camera in hand, and listening to the familiar click of the shutter as I capture the beauty around me. I don't know where I'd be in life without photography to express my creative side. :)

Okay, I lied. Photography isn't my only one and only (Did that confuse you?). Blogging is right up there with it. Let's face it, I'm sort of addicted. There are so many wonderful people out there, and I think it's so fun to hear feedback on one's photos and thoughts. I adore it.

Fashion is something I really enjoy as well. I love flipping through glossy magazine pages, looking at the latest styles. I love reading fashion blogs. I still have a lot to learn when it comes to clothing, but I still love it.

Sarcasm is my second language. Just look through my blog - it's everywhere I speak (and write) it without a second thought...which might not be a good thing. I really need to work on the whole thinking-before-speaking thing.

I love traveling, chocolate, warm wool sweaters, Audrey Hepburn, anything vintage, simplicity, headbands, makeup, the feeling you have when you're swimming underwater, summer, a clean room, Paris, early morning, street scene photographs, laughing until you cry, road trips with amazing friends, airports (yet I hate flying...ironic?), and life.

If you made it through all that, congratulations! Go buy yourself some flowers. Or cookies. Or something ;)

-carlotta

I appreciate your interest in advertising on Carlotta Cisternas! This journey called blogging never ceases to be a source of amazement.

However, as of September 1st, I will no longer be offering slots for advertisement. I want to keep this space a place of beauty and quietness, not a place of advertisement. Thanks for understanding!