Enjoy your monday, Beautiful.

Over the course of the afternoon, a bonfire was fanned into flame with diesel fuel, a Wii dance party ensued, and everyone had a lot of laughs. Enjoy reliving this holiday season with the Clark Family!

The view from the porch. Simply beautiful.The Christmas decor around their home (and pretty much all decor!) seems to all be hand-crafted in some way or another! These cute advent houses are lovingly assembled every year.Jocel & Jamison made the covered bowl and sleigh, and Jocel painted the picture you see. I hear that yellow flowers are TuTu’s favorite – they popped up throughout the house.Dance party! Thank you for such a wonderful afternoon & photo shoot, Clarks! I hope you enjoyed your holidays with family, and Happy New Year to each of you!

First of all, make sure you’ve read the first few installments of this series: helpful tips to prepare for your trip and tips to take better travel photos.

BACK AT HOME

1. Download your memory cards to your computer, or make prints of your photos, immediately. Don’t wait. Remember back to the Before Your Trip post – it’s never good to leave your photos on your memory cards and then continue to use them. The more photographs you have on a memory card at a given time, the more you could loose if something goes wrong with the card or if it gets lost.
2. Back it up. If you take away only one tip from this post, let it be this. Make sure you have more than one copy of your photos, in more than one location. If you don’t back up your photos, one mistake or computer crash could erase them forever. There are several easy options available to you. You can purchase another hard drive and copy your photographs to it, so they are in two places. You could also take advantage of an online back up company. This protects not only your photographs, but any files you would like. Carbonite and Mozy are both good online back up options for your photos. Do not erase your memory cards until you have your photos in 2 other locations!
3. Categorize your memories. Look, I’m not really an organized type of person. But when it comes to my photographs, I’m an organizing freak! Returning from a trip with hundreds, maybe thousands of photos, is both exciting and overwhelming. Breaking your images down into different categories/folders will make looking through them and finding specific memories easy. I like to categorize by day. If my trip was 10 days, I’ll create 10 folders labeled ‘day 1’ and so on. Most digital cameras make this really easy and ‘digitally’ stamp your photos with the date and time. To access this information about your photo on a Mac, simply highlight the image file and click ‘command’ ‘I’.  If you are feeling really ambitious, you can then break down your photos even further by locations visited each day. I find that categorizing not only makes my photos easier to manage – it also helps me remember the details of my trip better.
   
4. Edit, sort, have fun, repeat. If you are into editing your photos, grab software that will make it fun and easy for you. If you have a Mac, iPhoto is a fun way to look through everything and apply effects like changing a photo into black and white, etc. iPhoto will also make organizing your images much faster. If you’re pretty serious about photography and want to take it to the next level, pro editing/photo management software like Adobe Lightroom and Apple’s Aperture are powerful, fun tools to use.
5. Toss the crap. The advent of digital photography also brought with it the ease of taking LOTS of photos. As a result, it’s easy to take photos without really thinking, take multiple photos of each scene to try and get one that’s the best, etc. For me, lots of excess duplicates causes anxiety because it’s hard for me to decide between multiples of the same thing. Plus, these duplicates take up lots of space on your computer. Do yourself a favor and delete duplicate photos, blurry photos, photos where someone walked in front of the lens right as you took the shot, etc. You’ll thank yourself later when you go through those vacation photos and don’t have to constantly skip over the ones that didn’t work out. It’s a bit like cleaning the clothes out of your closet that you don’t wear or that don’t fit. It’s tough at first, but later on it’s like a breath of fresh air. It frees up space, and makes your life a little less cluttered.
6. Make a favorites folder. Here we go again, back to organization. I promise that the time you take to organize your photos is worth it. It always is. When you’re looking through your pictures, duplicate the images you love the most into a favorites folder. On a mac, you can do this through the finder by clicking on the image and holding down the ‘option’ key while you drag your image to another folder. It instantly creates a copy. Some editing programs give you the ability to rate your photos with stars. In my case, stand-out images get rated with 5 stars. Later, you can sort these photos so you only see the 5 stars. This makes showing your favorites to others extremely easy!
7. Do something, anything, with your photographs. Don’t let your photographs sit on your computer and gather dust. Please. You just went on a trip of a lifetime! Half of the fun of traveling is sharing your stories with those who didn’t get to go with you, and reliving the memories that you made. Now that digital photography is the norm, most of us just keep photos on our computers. Rather than just flip through your memories on the screen, play around with them, have fun, and show the world!
8. Keep and reference your guidebooks! Guidebooks are as handy when you get home as when you’re planning for and on the trip! I use mine all the time to look up the name or spelling of a place I visited, to retrace the route we went and remember all of the little things we saw that I may have forgotten to jot down. Guidebooks help me figure out where some of my photos were taken, when I neglect (or don’t care) to record it on the trip.
9. Make a slideshow. Slideshows are an awesome way to showcase your travels. Since you already have a favorites folder made, creating a slideshow is a breeze! Slideshows can be created within iPhoto, or you can use an online software such as animoto. One thing I love to do is purchase music from the places I go. If you use music you purchased on your trip in a slideshow, be sure to give credit to the musician or band – especially if you are posting it online. If you plan to sell or distribute your slideshow, you legally cannot use licensed music. Check out Triple Scoop Music for some great, royalty-free tracks.  When you are finished creating your slideshow, post to facebook, your blog, or Vimeo for the world to see!
10. Have a post-travel party. Make the theme the place you visited and share stories, photos, food, music – anything others would be interested in about your journey. When we went to Iceland, my husband and I loooooved their hotdogs. We brought back the unique condiments used on the hotdogs and served up a bit of Iceland here in the US. Our family had fun sharing some of the culture, and of course we showed them a slideshow of photos and told stories. It was an absolute blast!
11. Publish yourself. Creating a photo book is an excellent way to get digital photos off of your computer to share. Since you’ve already created a favorites folder, it won’t be as tough choosing which photos to use in your book. Check out Blurb for book-store quality printing and binding options. If you go to blurb, make sure to sign up for their emails, as they will frequently send out coupons for book-printing. If you aren’t into the computer, bring your memory cards to a photo lab and get your images printed. Insert then into a slip-in album, and you’ve got an instant book.
12. Find a theme and make a project. This step can be done on your travels as well. In Ireland, I noticed how much I loved all of the different colored doors. I started taking photos of them and wound up with quite a few! When I got home, I put them all together and made a themed poster. In Iceland, we kept seeing and photographing all of these amazing, unique little churches. I haven’t created a project with them yet, but I’ve got an idea in the works. J Making a project out of your photos can be really rewarding and fun. And hey, maybe you could even sell what you create!
    
13. Make a work of art and hang it up. Create a large canvas of your favorite photo or memory and hang it in a spot that you’ll see everyday. (canvasondemand has high-quality canvas printing) Purchase a frame with 6 or more openings for 4 by 6 photos, and make a hanging album. I’ve done both of these things and each time I walk past those photos, happy memories fill my mind from my travels. It’s a way to keep your trip alive.
14. Don’t make going through your photos a chore. Lists like this one can seem daunting. If you do a bit of work upfront, like backing up and organizing your photos, sitting down to create something from your travel memories, and will be a fun experience!

Cy & Julie’s adorable boys!

Left: Cy & Julie
Right: All of the kids and grandkids!

The entire Olsen family, all together! (This was taken in in the little cabin house in their big backyard. No, this isn’t where they all stayed while they were in town )James and Emily, who had just gotten engaged! Congrats you two!Ben & Taylor, the newlyweds.I just loved Taylor’s outfit! Straight out of a fashion magazine.Leah, Rob and their new baby girl! (Leah graciously let me hold her, and I didn’t want to give her back. She is so precious!)Cy and his professor look.All of the Olsen cowboys.Debbie & Cy. The anchor of love in this family. Thanks so much for welcoming me into your home and family gathering again this year, Olsen’s! I had such a great time with all of you!

It was a rare, sunny November day in Seattle!I just love little Owen’s face in this next shot. Kendra & Rob – two days before their wedding. Sodo Park was abustle with preparations on this day. You can just see their anticipation & excitement!Grandma – the heart of this family.…Ruth Ann & Kari. The two who began this beautiful family!Thank you so much for spending a few hours with me, Hakso’s! Every family should be so joyful! Congrats Kendra & Rob, and welcome to the family, Rob! What a wonderful family to be a part of.

While you’re here, click on the youtube video below to hear Alexandra drum! This video is of her marching band competing in Oregon this year––one of the best performances the instructors had seen in years!

Known as the “Best Day Ever”, the Cascade Drumline got to perform with Blue Thunder, the Seahawks’ drumline, during halftime Alexandra’s sophomore year!

I had so much fun getting to know you, Alexandra! The world needs to hear your beautiful music, so play & sing on!

I’ll leave you with a ballad from the Del Sonics – Alexandra’s Jazz Choir:

Consider what you would pay for a box of 10 generic cards at a retail store – usually $2/card. Check out my designs and pricing and think about doing something special and personalized this year! Choose any design, and any photographs you’d like, and you’ll have cheerful holiday greetings made just for you.

You’ve Got Options
• Do you love a design but not the wording or color? Swap out wording or colors for free (provided it works with the design)!

• Use of photographs from any of our photo shoots together is free – even if you don’t own your disc of photos. If you’d like to use your own photos, they need to be high resolution. You can send them to me and I’ll let you know if they are of a high enough quality to be printed on your cards.

• Press-printed on thick, glossy paper with a high-gloss coating. Or choose to go the artistic route and upgrade to a shimmery pearl or a beautiful matte paper for $10.

• Choose bright white or parchment envelopes with your order.

Let’s Get Personal
Go for a brand-new design that no one else will ever have! We’ll talk through some ideas and you’ll receive a PDF to approve before your card is printed. Custom designs are also eligible for a boutique die-cut, so your card could have a unique shape! Add $60 onto your order for a new design.

Card 1: MERRY

Front: Be Merry
Back: May your holidays be merry & bright. [The xxx Family / Winter 2011]

Card 2: WONDERFUL

Front: The most wonderful time of the year!
Back: A very merry Christmas to you and yours. [Joy to you from the xxx Family • 2011]

Card 3: CHEER

Front: Cheer
Back: Merry Christmas and a cheer-filled New Year! [The xxx Family]

Card 4: Peace

Front: Love / Joy/ Peace / Comfort / Cheer / Hope / Laughter
Back: May you know peace this Christmas and always. [Love and Glad Tidings, The xxx Family]

Card 5: MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS

Front: The Miller Family • 2011
Back: Have yourself a merry little Christmas; let your heart be light.

Card 6: WONDER

Front: Merry Christmas
Back: May this holiday season fill you with magic & wonder. [The xxx Family / Winter 2011]

Card 7: ROCKIN’ HOLIDAY

Back: Rockin’ around the Christmas tree, have a happy holiday! [The xxx's / 2011]

Card 8: NOEL

Front: NOEL / Peace on earth
Back: Glory in the highest / Merry Christmas [The xxx Family / 2011]

Card 9: WINTER

Front: Winter Blessings 2011
Back: Love, Joy & Peace to you [The xxx Family]

Card 10: Dreaming

Front: Dreaming of a white Christmas
Back: May your days be merry & bright. [The xxx Family / Christmas 2011]

Feel free to check out last year’s designs as well – they are also available for purchase.

25 cards + envelopes: $60
50 cards + envelopes: $105
75 cards + envelopes: $145
100 cards + envelopes: $180

Note that pricing does not include tax and shipping, or optional add-ons. Please allow at least 2 weeks for your order to be designed and shipped.

I can’t wait to create your card this year! Email, call or message me to order!

Brad and I both enjoy photographing, as you may know if you’ve been reading my blog for a while. Brad decided to take some photos of me and I suppose I will share one of those with you too (only because he took it )

Brad took this at Eagle Homestead Park in Deming, WA. Afterwards we shared an amazing pumpkin-cupcake latte at Extreme Bean in the town of Mt Baker – YUM.

We traveled on to Lake Whatcom and walked the old railroad grade trail along the lake. If we hadn’t been looking around carefully, we would have missed this waterfall tucked back in the woods!

Days like this refresh my spirit. It was so great to spend a day in nature in the midst of a busy week.

Today I want to give you a simple, very cool trick that you can use in a lot of places, simply with your on-camera flash. In order to do this, you’ll need a speedlight – not a built-in camera flash. You’ll also need a basic understanding of setting your flash in manual mode. Following are 2 styles of photos and I’ll show you how to create each!

The first is a classic silhouette.

To do this, set your camera in manual mode and expose for the background, not your subject. Keep that exposure, focus on your subject, and you’ll get a classic & beautiful silhouette.
My settings for this photo were: f2.8 1/1600 at ISO500.

In this case, I wanted something more. Kathryn & Nick were engaged right in this spot, so I wanted the photo to be more about them than just the sunset. I did this using just the speedlight on my camera!

Here’s how to do it.

Technical info: I knew I’d be introducing some light from my flash, plus when you introduce flash, you need to keep in mind the slower shutter speed your camera will need to sync. I underexposed the background by a stop or two from my original exposure. My settings for this photo were: f2.8 1/200 (My camera’s flash sync speed) at ISO500.

I set my flash on manual at 1/32th power so it would give out a softer amount of light. If I would have left it simply at this, it would have lit up the ground all around them. I wanted it to JUST light them. Here’s the cool part! You can also set your flash ‘zoom’ manually. This is where you tell your flash the focal length you’re using such as 24mm, 70mm, 105mm, etc. Setting this tells your flash how wide a beam of light to throw out! At 24mm, my flash lit the entire scene. (This is what I use for bounce flash or general flash photography) At 70mm, it still lit too much of the scene. I set it to the thinnest beam of light it would fire, 100mm, so my flash essentially acted as a soft spotlight. That’s it! All you have to do is adjust the ‘zoom’ power of your flash to get this effect! Cool, huh. Find something you can practice this on and have fun!

I’ve also used this technique on the dance floor to single out one couple, and when a couple is exiting a reception hall in the dark – so it lights them up and not the people’s arms or the people standing to the sides of my camera. It’s really fun to play around with! I hope this helps and that you’ll have fun experimenting with the zoom on your flash, too.

If you’ve never used your flash on manual, here’s a basic explanation. You’ll want to refer to your manual for a more technical explanation. I’m as far from techy as it gets!
For years I strictly used my flash on ETTL. Once I took the time to learn my flash manually, I’ve had fun playing around with the extra control and creative uses. Here’s how simple it can be. Set your flash on manual. 1/1 is full power. 1/8 is 1/8th of full power output, so it will give you less light. Each time you reduce the power, you reduce the amount of light your flash is giving out. It works the other direction too. Each time you increase that ratio, you get more light from your flash. Simple, right?! Basically, instead of the flash choosing the power for you to use, you get to tell your flash what to do. The amount of power output you want will depend on how close you are to your subject and how much ambient light there is in the room – every situation you’re going to be in is going to be a little different. Don’t be afraid to play around with this until it gets more comfortable!

Let me know if you have any questions in the comment section below. If you have any ideas for future photo tip posts, let me know those too!