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Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Kids Slime Made From Something In Your Kitchen!

My son loved this and it made for some very cool photographs. All you need is food coloring, cornstarch and water. Start out with two cups of cornstarch, add one fourth a cup of water to it and stir. Continue adding water (a little at a time) until the slime seems solid but drips from your spoon. Add a couple drops of food coloring and you got it!!! Great for bored summer day play, Halloween parties or a variety of gross themed events.

Monday, June 3, 2013

Water Wall For Kids

This is a fun and free summer activity you can create at home for your kids this summer. There are numerous versions of this on the internet, enjoy my version. What you need: Tin cans/soup cans, plastic drink bottles, craft paint, nails, zip ties and a hammer. You can also add anything else that water may run through and that you have on hand. I used a piece to an old table top fountain and some clear tubing. What you do: Paint your bottles and cans fun colors and let them dry. Poke a hole using a hammer and a nail in the side/back of each can/bottle so you can attach it to a tree later. Start with a plastic bottle at the top. Cut it to look like a funnel for easy pouring and attach to a tree using your nails or zip ties. Attach bottles and cans all the way down the tree, ensuring holes are in the bottom of each one. Your kids will start at the top and pour water through all of the containers and watch it rain down!

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Why My Dogs Are Magical

This is a little different then usual as it is an actual verbal post. Tonight while piddling around the house (cleaning actually) I started thinking about my dogs. We have six of them. Now before you start thinking I am a crazy dog hoarder let me explain. I was never a dog person. As a child I had all kinds of critters but my least favorite was the dog. They jumped too much, barked too much and were slobbery. I was not interested, however my dad was. He loved dogs and always had one. In 2006 my dad died of a massive heart attack. I tried to tell him goodbye as he lay in his hospital bed, but since he was in a vegetative state I may never know if he actually heard me. This broke my heart because he was my best friend (along with my husband of course). My husband saw how lonely and lost I felt so he brought home a dog. I was not pleased, at all. This little thing pooped, chewed, peed, slobbered, licked....it was disgusting. Then one day it perished. My heart broke and I mourned that little dog almost as much as I had my dads passing. Well that may be an exaggeration, but it sure did hurt. I decided that I was going to find another dog, but I wanted to wait until I knew it was the one. I kept a dog on my mind for weeks. People would offer to give me a dog and I would see dogs at shelters and stores, but it just wasn't right. I figured I was still grieving. One day I was in a beauty shop getting this wild color painted onto my head when this old lady comes in with a cane in one hand and a cage in the other. She mumbled something, sat down the cage and opened its door. Five or six of the ugliest little white critters came running out of the cage. All of the ladies in the shop grabbed the cutest ones and told her that yes they would buy one for twenty dollars. The tiniest (and hairiest) was left. She was so little and so white. I immediately fell in love. "I will take her", I said. I instantly fell in love and I knew that dog was meant for me. We still have Cleo (and yes she still has wild, white hair) but now we have Daisy, Rocky, Betsy, Masey and Mario......all of them came to us under weird circumstances. Sometimes I think that perhaps my dad sends them to me. Either way my dogs are magical, they changed me, and they keep the hearts of my entire family warm each night.

Monday, December 31, 2012

Back Light For Magical Images

Back lighting is beautiful, mysterious and a little magical. It seems to be very popular with today's photographers. Here are a few pointers on how to get the wonderful effect with ease and by using any digital camera. ❃First of all you need to place your subject (human or still life) so that their back is facing the sun, and you are facing them and the sun. When you see a glow behind the subject through your lens then you are ready! I think the best time to do back lit shots is during the golden hours. The golden hour is an hour after sunrise and an hour before sunset. Try this time for shooting all kinds of images because it is gorgeous! ❃My image of the woman's face is a bit dark. I tend to like imperfections, that is just my style, (I also like its mystery) but if you want the face to be brighter you could use a reflector that bounces some of the light back into his/her face. You may also want to try your on camera flash if you do not have a reflector. Any other time I say to turn your flash off. ❃A reflector can be bought or made! Perhaps I will write a blog that is just about reflectors in the near future. Have a friend hold the reflector so that it bounces some light up into the subjects face to add some warmth, light or both. ❃Shoot, shoot and shoot some more. You will get a winner out of the shots. You can do this using your camera on manual or auto, that is up to you. I recommend that you do some post processing for color correction, to brighten an image that is underexposed or to saturate color. Play with your new back lit images and share with others!!! Tell me how it goes and/or what you think about back lighting!

Saturday, December 29, 2012

Secrets every creative photographer should know!

Want to know my snazzy secrets for creative photography?  Check out my e-book on photography.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=shalita%20comptone

Tell me what you would like to learn about photography. :)