This week's theme at I Heart Faces is smile. I have so, so many shots of people smiling...I mean, it's everyone's natural reaction when they're photographed, right? I finally narrowed it down to this one...

I love the tones in shot and I've been loving this angle lately...it's one of my favorites to use. What angles to you prefer when photographing people?




Happy Monday!
-carlotta
PS I'm being featured today over here...feel free to check it out!

(giveaway winner announced below)

I'm calling this series of photographs "ordinary beauty". I briefly talked the series here, but basically I took ordinary objects and tried to find the beauty hidden within them. I really think I will turn this into a project. There are so many objects that a beautiful at first glance - plants, food, even people. But it wasn't until I really looked closely at these ordinary objects that I found the pulchritude they have.

(If you're not sure what's being photographed in a shot, just over the photo with your mouse)

"ordinary beauty" has forced me to be more creative, made me try harder to bring out the beauty I know is in these objects.

And now for the giveaway winner!

The winner is...

Sarah!

Congratulations, Sarah! Please shoot me an email with your mailing information and we'll get your necklace to you as soon as possible.

To everyone else who entered the giveaway, I hope you had as much fun as I did. And to my new readers, I'm so glad you here and hope you stick around :)

-carlotta

PS I updated my about me page...care to take a look?

1. 666.
I logged onto Blogger on Wednesday afternoon, and what did I see?

At that moment, I suppose my blog was officially evil. I wouldn't be lying if I said I was glad when I got another follower thirty minutes later ;)

2. etsy love.

(left to right, starting at top left)

1. bonjour necklace

2. mister numbers

3. doily clock

4.  pink dahlia greeting cards

5. handsome buck cross stitch pattern (I'm kind of falling in love with cross stitched art...)

6. taking flight necklace

3. speaking of etsy...

Do you remember when I hinted at a surprise of sorts awhile ago? Well, here's your answer.

I'm proud to announce the opening of my Etsy shop! This is something I've had in the works for a long time...I've known that I would open a shop since early fall. To say I'm excited about this would be an understatement. I'm thrilled to be starting the first leg of my photography selling journey.
Currently there are only a few photos listed (all of which have been on my blog before ;)), but I'll add more soon.
For all of you that have shops: any tips?


4. longing for spring.
Spring is by far my favorite season. And lately I've been longing for it. The delicate pastel colors of new life, the gentle breezes, the same temperature both outside and inside. Having picnics in the deliciously soft green grass, raising the windows wide open, watching the earth blossom after its winter rest. Right now in the middle of winter? It sounds like heaven.


5. i love books.
There's nothing quite like the feeling of cracking open a new book that you know is going to be good and breathing in that papery scent. Or curling up in a nook on a cold day with a cup of tea, a blanket, and a book that makes you feel like you're part of the story. The last book I read went straight to my favorites list - it's called Head in the Clouds. I couldn't stop reading it...I stayed up until one or one thirty in the morning, which is when I finished the book. I definitely recommend it!

7. chocolate ice cream with frozen raspberries and brownie bits.
All I can say is yum. I've posted about chocolate ice cream with frozen raspberries before, but I added pieces of brownie along with it this time. The brownies were still good but they had lost their moisture. Adding bits to the ice cream with the raspberries was amazing. Try it sometime! 

8. photography tip of the day.
Don't be afraid to take twenty shots of the same thing. My memory card can hold about 1,200 photos (I recommend getting a memory card with a fairly high capacity!), so I can snap away without worry about memory space. I take at least ten photographs of any given subject, which increases the chance of getting shot that turned out. There's always a delete button for the ones that didn't turn out!

Have a lovely day, friends!

-carlotta

PS Giveaway winner will be announced tomorrow!

(alternatively titled - outfit: the target edition)

(alternatively titled - in which i am extremely materialistic)

I'm a self proclaimed Target junky. It's getting bad, y'all. If I don't go more than two weeks without visiting it, I start begging my poor mother to take me. And I can never leave the building without toting something new.

My weakness is their clothes. Where else can you find super adorable pieces of clothing for relatively little?

I confess that at least half of my wardrobe is from Target. From hats to sweaters to shoes, the majority of my things I've purchased there. While I realize the quality might not be the best, I'm still growing, so buying more expensive things isn't really worth it as I probably wouldn't fit into them a year from now. But when I'm finished growing? I'm all for quality over quantity.

I digress.

Photo credits go to my brother, Jeremiah.

(This shot, as well as the one below, were directed by my brother. He told me to "look far off into the distance and not at the camera because that's what you see a lot in fashion magazines". He's right though - I didn't know he payed attention to fashion photographs! ;))

Hat: Target
Scarf: Target
Sweater: Target
Belt: thrifted
Jeans: Can you guess? ...yep, Target.
Moccasins: gift

And this is why I've given this post the alternative title of "the target edition". I don't think I've worn so many pieces of clothing from the same store...ever. I think I might need a support group. Target-aholics Anonymous, anyone?

-carlotta