Let's change gears.

I still have one more thing from the Simple Stories "Fabulous" line, but I thought I'd change things up and move on to Little Yellow Bicycle's "Saturday" line.

This is another one with a very country aesthetic and it has a really patriotic feel to it as well. I promise to never lie to you - I respect you too much.  And since I already said country isn't my thing, I can't back peddle.  So here's the bottom line:  I probably would never buy this line on my own.  However, that said, it was pretty fun to take a little vacation while playing with this line.  I think because we have such strong images of Americana and country porches and patriotic buntings and picnics and fourth of July celebrations - that all made it a very easy line to scrap with.  And it's funny that I would frame it that way and then show you a layout that uses pictures that has nothing to do with any of those things and was taken in January:

But do you see what I mean about the patriotic bunting?  Okay, maybe it's a stretch, but it was the launching-off point for this layout.

I think that sometimes it's really hard to separate layouts from pictures.  I really like this layout, but I don't know if it's because I like the colors, the flow, the title treatment or because I'm so in love with these photos of Molly and Reba.

Molly is the ultimate tom boy when it comes to her hair and wardrobe - she just doesn't want to fuss with that stuff and consequently she keeps her beautiful hair pulled into a ponytail and uses a black headband to catch the strays.  Every. Blessed. Day.  I had my lights set up for another project one day and when she came home from school I sent her straight to the showers and then blew dry her (beautiful) hair.  I really just wanted some decent pictures of her, but we were working on the stairs, which are just opposite the kitchen entryway.  The entryway has a baby gate that keeps Reba penned into the kitchen/dining/family room area.  Why? Because she sheds like crazy and likes to eat lady's underwear, so she's just not welcome in the rest of the house.  Here's the thing about Reba: she gets really jealous when more than one family member is on the other side of that gate.  Heaven forbid Ted comes into my scrap area to talk to me at night - Reba will bark and whine and whack her tail against the wall until we pay attention to her.  So on this day she was up to her old tricks and eventually I gave in and let her out.  Oh, and the other thing about Reba is that she won't look into the camera.  She's just smart enough to have wised up about my flash and lights and will keep her head turned and her nose up in a very aloof pose.  And while this wasn't supposed to be - nor is it - a layout about the dog, I like the way interacting with the dog really relaxed Molly and showed one of her many good points (see journaling strip above. ☺)

Here's a tiny tip for portrait photography:
The key to a good portrait is a relaxed subject.  It's your job as the person behind the camera to help them relax.  Think about what makes you tense when someone is taking your picture...and solve those problems for your subject.  Don't just hide behind the lens - talk to them. Make a crack if you can, and if you have to adjust your camera tell them you need a minute.  Most people don't mind waiting, but they don't want to hold that "picture pose" longer than they need to.  And here's what I started this to say: Most people don't know what to do with their hands and feel self conscious about them...you know...just hanging there all dead fish-like.  ;)  Even if their hands aren't going to be in the shot, giving them something to hold - even just a glass or a bottle of water - solves a problem and helps them relax.  The whole upper body becomes more natural once the hands have a purpose.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Oh! And if you're regular in these parts, I'm happy to report that I got a 91% on my calc final and an 84% on my modern geometry final, and A's in both classes.  w00t!!  And now I get to relax (sort of) until the summer session starts on May 21st.