Bubbles, Selfies, and Strange Goings-On

March 8, 2018 | Allison

Hello, dears!

I was originally going to post a “Moving On” episode, but I’ve been doing a lot of complicated, less lifestyle-ish posts lately and I felt in the mood for a good ol’ photography post – one of my favorite kinds to read AND write. 🙂 So I’ll save the moving post for a later date, and hopefully you enjoy these various portrait photoshoots in the meantime! 😀

Bubbles

One day when the sun was setting and it was lovely and golden outside, I asked my littlest sister Carmen if she wanted to do a bubble photoshoot with me. She agreed somewhat reluctantly, but started having fun once we commenced, as usual. XD

It was fun, but VERY difficult. The hardest part was getting the bubbles in focus. I could have used a higher f-stop, but I wanted the nice blurred background and… anyway, these are only a fraction of the photos I actually took. XD

Another difficulty was that the bubble wand handle was broken and we kept having to fish the rest of it out with a, um, small scissors. Why didn’t we use a tweezers? You know, I’m not really sure. XD Maybe we couldn’t find it, I forget. Anyway, it worked… sort of. 😛

I can’t believe I got a picture of a bubble popping! I wasn’t even trying, which is probably how I got it. XD

After Carmen got too cold and went in, I attempted to take pictures of just bubbles by myself. IT WAS EXTRAORDINARILY HARD. The wind always blew the wrong way at the wrong time, just as I clicked the button, of course. *sigh* Oh well, out of perhaps at least a hundred, I DID get a few good ones. Two, in fact. *weak smile* I do love the color, though! (They aren’t edited.)

Selfies

Guys, I practically NEVER take selfies (although I do use the self-timer occasionally). Why? Probably mostly because it’s such a stereotypical teenager thing to do, and thus I don’t (XD). Anyway, the other day I found a charming patch of speedwell, a weed with adorable tiny blue flowers, and decided hey, why not. 😛

Oooops, didn’t exactly point my camera at the right spot… but it works! XD

An edited one just for fun…

Hee hee. XD This might be my favorite.

Strange Goings-On

My sister Megan and her friend MacRae do very strange things together. Trust me on this – VERY strange. Like taking rocks for a walk or racing earthworms. I don’t know if Megan wants me to tell the reason behind these pictures yet or not, so for now let’s just say it’s another of their interesting ideas which they wanted me to photograph. Heh.

That blob of fur in MacRae’s lap is my rabbit Willow. XD

BAHAHA, poor Willow is a little alarmed at their antics…

GOOD JOB, WILLOW. Escape is obviously the best option here. I don’t know what Megan’s doing here… contemplating the taste of a spoonful of mayonnaise? XD

And then Willow, who was obviously the star of the show, got some headshots…

What do you say, does Willow look good in a mustache? True, she kind of already has one… XD

Since you never really saw her eyes, I had to include one last one so you can tell that she is actually a living creature. Hee hee.

And that’s it for today! I have another sisters photoshoot but it’s pretty long, so I’ll save it for its own post. 🙂 I hope you enjoyed these! Which was your favorite photoshoot, and which was your favorite picture? Do you feel sorry for Willow? XD

***Allison***

P. S. Speaking of bunnies, I have some sad news… Diamond and Lily are gone. 😦 Lily was got really sick so we had to put her down, and I don’t know what happened to Diamond – maybe she just died of old age or something. *sad sigh* I’m really glad we still have the other four bunnies, though, and hopefully we can have baby bunnies again soon! But… RIP Lily and Diamond. 😦

Various and Sundry Sisters Photoshoots

January 28, 2018 | Allison

Heyyy, guys!

Megan and I (and my little sister Carmen) have been doing quite a few photoshoots recently, so I thought I’d combine them all into one post for you today! I shall go in roughly chronological order because that’s how I uploaded the pictures. 😉 Also, Megan took all the pictures of me except the “selfie” ones, using my Nikon D3400. Alright, onwards and… upwards? XD

I did this photoshoot back in December when I went to the “island” (a patch of trees in a field) to collect greenery for wreaths. For some reason I decided to do a photoshoot of myself while I was there? I’m trying to get better at “selfies” because GOODNESS they are hard, especially without a tripod. Thus I only have two of those pictures to show you. XD

(This caption thingy is NOT cooperating so I guess I’ll have to use it instead of deleting it.) Thankfully these two pictures turned out alright at least!

Ooh, I love this next photoshoot! Megan and I went down to the pond at our new farm one day (see more in this post) and it was absolutely breathtaking! The snow on the trees, the crystal-clear reflections… ahh, isn’t it beautiful? The perfect backdrop. 🙂

HEH HEH. And then we have this. XD Here’s an at using the self-timer, but it failed so hard it actually worked. XD I turned around just at the wrong time and IT CRACKS ME UP.

Here’s another little “selfie” photoshoot. When no one else is available to take pictures of, at least I have myself. 😛 It… still didn’t work out the best. It was really hard to stay in focus with self-timer, not to mention getting to the right place at the right time! Morale of the story: SELFIES ARE HARD. Find a sibling if possible. XD

Anyway. I was trying to go for one of those stock photo, Pinterest-y pictures but it turned out blurry. -_- Other than that I think it looks kinda neat, though. I do kind of blend in with the fence post… XD

AHA! An in-focus picture! Way to go, Allison. And I even jumped at the right time! Wow. *shakes head in wonder*

This doesn’t exactly fit since it’s just a hand (in case you thought it was a face…?), but oh well, it was in the same photoshoot. AND IT’S NOT BLURRY. SO. Plus you can see how crooked my fingers are. XD This perspective makes them look shorter than they are, though.

Ooh yes, this photoshoot was probably the most successful in terms of quantity. 🙂 We went for a walk at our new farm and found that the smaller pond was frozen enough to walk on! It was soooo fun, and I’ll have more pictures in a later post. This time Carmen obliged me and we did a little photoshoot. 😀 I love how you can see her reflection in the shallow puddles of water on the ice!

Once we start she always gets really into it and has all sorts of ideas about how she should pose and stuff. 😉

Look at this strange ring of bubbles!

Okay, hold on here, guys – only one more photoshoot to go after this. I hope it isn’t getting too long. Anyway, Megan and I did this one when we were rebaling at the new farm. We had to stack I think over 300 40-pound bales in a semi trailer which was rather hard work… except when it wasn’t. Then we took pictures. 😉 I thought the walls of the trailer would make a neat background and I think it did! How about you?

HA HA. We sometimes wear masks if the hay is too dusty, and it was that day. It kind of looks like a party hat, eh? An awfully strange one, to be sure.

OKAY. LAST ONE. This is a related photoshoot because we did it that same day. I think. It was snowing

I love the contrast in these pictures!

Heh heh, I was trying to look at the snow on my hood which resulted in me crossing my eyes. XD

I had the idea of doing some of those rather cliché but pretty snow-blowing pictures. 😛

BAHAHA THIS IS HILARIOUS. I look like I’m singing a very solemn song to the snow. XD

YAY, YOU MADE IT THROUGH! What do you say – are you getting tired of sisters photoshoots yet? Do you like shooting and seeing portrait photography or other photography better? Also, what was your favorite of these photoshoots?

Have a beautiful day, beautiful person. 🙂 Thanks so much for reading!

***Allison***

Christmas Light Photoshoot + Traditions

December 20, 2017 | Allison

MERRY ALMOST CHRISTMAS, GUYS! 😀 I thought this would be a good opportunity for the Christmas Traditions post I asked you guys about recently, as well as some photos from a little photoshoot Megan and I did a while ago. Megan already had the lights out so I thought we might as well take some pictures. 😉 The lighting was a bit difficult, but I think some of the pictures turned out pretty neat! So here’s a sampling.

Megan took all the pictures of me and I took all the ones of her. I believe the random bokeh/light pictures are mine as well.

1 (853x1280) — This is one of my favorites of the ones of me. 🙂

#1. December is practically a season of traditions for us because we have so many. At the beginning of December we start listening to Christmas music (NOT BEFORE, AHEM), and put up the Christmas decorations. Nativity scenes, snowmen candle holders, poinsettia table runners, handmade “stick” people… all sorts of things. I especially love to gently unwrap the ceramic Nativity pieces from their fragile brown paper wrappings and stand them up on top of the desk. I can see them if I look up right now.

#2. We usually get our Christmas tree the first or second weekend in December. We always cut down a live one, and wouldn’t have it any other way. 😉 It’s a great adventure and we usually end up searching the entire tree farm before we find the perfect one. XD But I think the best part is decorating the tree – pulling out each ornament and hearing its story, and sitting back to enjoy the magical end result when we’re done.

#3. Our grandparents take my siblings and cousins and I to their church play every year. It’s quite fun. This year they had more of a Nativity scene thingy with a choir, which was different but beautiful. And the wise men’s costumes were SO funny – the camel was attached to the suit, and had two little wise men legs sticking out the sides so it looked like they were riding the camels… Ah, it’s hard to explain, but trust me, it was super funny. The audience all laughed. XD

#4. Most every year we decorate sugar and gingerbread cookies with our friends. I, of course, love to make mine artistic and take a long time on each one, so I’m not very helpful in getting them all decorated. XD We don’t make that many cookies compared to some people, although we still have plenty of Christmas treats at celebrations and such.

#5. The Sunday evening before Christmas, our church always has a Lessons and Carols service where different men from church take turns reading parts of the Christmas story in between the congregation singing Christmas hymns together. And we have a little party with refreshments afterward. It’s beautiful and I can’t wait to go to it again this year. ♥

#6. On Christmas Eve we have a fancy, delicious dinner by candlelight, and then open our Christmas pajamas for that year. 😉 We all grab some popcorn and hot chocolate and drive around looking at Christmas lights and listening to Christmas music. Sometimes we find a house that has a light show synchronized to music and other times we just drive around neighborhoods and random roads, exploring.

#7. We’ve always had a ton of different family Christmas celebrations with different parts of our family. On Christmas morning we have a delicious special breakfast, and then open presents youngest to oldest, beside the tree. Christmas is obviously not about presents, but I do think it’s a lovely tradition, though it can easily get overdone. It’s so fun to see the expressions and smiles on your family’s faces when they open your presents and see what they picked out for you. 🙂

#8. We always like to drive up the hill to our grandparents’ house on Christmas Day too, after we finish our own Christmas celebration. Our cousins come up the road too and we all have a wondrous time. My grandparents are so, so generous and thoughtful with their gifts and their love, and we have so much fun giving them and each other gifts too. After the floor is covered in wrapping paper, we stop for a scrumptious lunch which always includes crab legs for special. We hardly ever have seafood, plus crab is one of my favorite foods, so ’tis extra delicious. 😛 The rest of the day we try out our new gifts and relax and talk and eat leftovers.

Ahh, Christmas Day is probably my favorite (or pretty close to my favorite) day of the year. 🙂

#9. My mom’s side of the family also has a Christmas get together which begins with a delectable feast of a brunch. Then Grandpa reads the Christmas story from his Bible and we exchange gifts. 🙂 After that we (at least the older kids and adults) play all sorts of games together for pretty much the rest of the day – it’s so much fun!

2 (1280x853) — BAHAHAHA Megan has such random ideas. XD XD XD

#10. We ALSO have two Christmas get-togethers with extended family. For my Great Grandma’s Christmas we, again, exchange gifts and have a delicious meal together. They’re all starting to sound rather similar, huh? But there’s always something different and special about each celebration – I guess that’s why we have so many. 😉 And lastly (well it’s first this year, but last in this post) we have an extended family get-together which in which we surprisingly do not exchange gifts (which is probably a good thing, heh heh O.o). But we DO continue the theme of amazing food with fried oysters and steamed shrimp that everyone gathers ’round and eats hot off the trays until we barely have room for the rest of the meal. I… prefer the shrimp. XD Once you take a look at the inside of a oyster, it’s a little hard not to think about it. 😛 Which do you prefer?

4 (893x1280) — Megan was frustrated with the lighter, I believe. O.o

Phew, so there you are. I don’t think I wrote down all of our Christmas traditions, but most of them anyway. 🙂 Traditions are great in general, but I think there’s something extra special about Christmas traditions, don’t you?

DSC_4176 (853x1280) — I love this one too. ♥

I hope you enjoyed this post, dears, and hopefully it put you in the Christmas mood. 🙂 Which of these pictures was your favorites? The traditions? Which of YOUR Christmas traditions are your favorite?

IT’S ONLY FIVE DAYS TILL CHRISTMAS, GUYS. We can do this. *determined look* XD

***Allison***

GIVEAWAY WINNER! + Random Photos

November 1, 2017November 3, 2017 | Allison

ARE YOU READY TO SEE WHO WON? Don’t worry, I won’t keep you in suspense for TOO long.

And the winner is…

Continue reading →

Golden Hour Sisters Photoshoot

October 25, 2017October 25, 2017 | Allison

I’m SO excited to show you this photoshoot, guys! (Hmm, I seem to start all my posts this way, don’t I?) Anyway, Megan and I love doing impromptu photoshoots and we recently did two photoshoots at the golden hour. I have to say, they turned out GORGEOUS! I think these are my favorite of the sisters photoshoots so far!

Megan took all the pictures of me and I took all the pictures of her (well, obviously). Sometimes the “model” chose her own poses and sometimes the photographer did. All pictures in this post were edited by me, if they were edited at all.

I hope you guys have as much fun looking through these pictures as we did taking them!

We still have a beautiful tangled jungle of marigolds and zinnias which is perfect for photoshoots. Don’t you think?

I love the next one! Aren’t the marigolds gigantic?

Heh heh, I like this one too. XD

I told Megan to hold the marigold so it looks like she’s blowing a bubble, and then she PUT IT IN HER MOUTH. *Sigh* She said it tasted bad, but I didn’t feel real sorry for her. XD

I LOVE THIS PICTURE. IT’S SO FUNNY.

HA HA IS THIS NOT HILARIOUS? Megan thought of this – don’t blame me.

It looks like she’s yanking the flower out by the roots. O.o

Okay so Megan’s expression is just a tad odd, BUT THE LIGHTING. Ohhhh my goodness, I love it so much!

I loooove this next one! Doesn’t it look kind of Pinterest-y? (And maybe even aesthetic? Maybe?)

Oh look, I’m Ophelia. I actually love these photos though! I came up with the idea (although I’ve seen it before), and Megan arranged the flowers and took the pictures.

Here we have a classic, somewhat cliché picture. But it’s still pretty. 🙂

Wow my hair looks super long here. O.o

It was quite hard to get good, clear pictures of someone swinging, but I finally figured out that manual focus really helps for this because you can preset it.