vintage photo talk

I get this question alot. "How do you make the black frames on your photos?" and then last week
pakosta said...
love that black look around the pix! are those from the iphone>!? if so, what app?! LOVE THEM!
tara

10.3.11

That comment totally made me smile because that would mean that I'd have to have an iphone or some other type of photo taking/editing phone which I don't have. I still haven't upgraded to text-messaging. I know, I'm living in the dark ages of the new cell phone technology. I've just made peace with consistently being behind the times when it comes to being techno-trendy. Oh well.

But, that also means that I'm a fan of doing things the old fashion way. No cell phone apps or photo editing for this girl. It's vintage all the way. I love using an old camera to create a vintage feel for my photos. Any of my photos that have the black frame around them are called "Through the View Finder" photos or ttv for short.

I'm using the viewfinder of a vintage Anscoflex or a Duraflex camera and my digital camera to create those photos. You can start with any vintage camera that has a large view finder. When I first started I didn't want to take the time to create a light box, but after a few photos I soon realized that it's a pretty crucial part of ttv photos. Building a light box for the top of the viewfinder will help keep the light-glare off of the view finder lens.

eta:

check out this post on contraptions or lightboxes. I would love someone to take a photo of me actually using both cameras. It's a little awkward at first but with some practice it really ends up being easy to control both cameras by hand, at once. Although I've never used a tripod so that may be an easier option as well!

Once you've built a light box, you're all set to start taking photos.

**disclaimer time**
With ttv photos you have to accept a few things.
1. Your photos will not be clean and crisp. The lighter the background the dirtier your photos will appear because of the collected dust in the lens of the vintage camera.
2. You will look absolutely ridiculous taking these photos. Picture this: you're holding the vintage camera with a tall black box attached to the top (your light box) and you'll have your digital camera lens pointed into the light box focusing on the view finder lens.
3. Because of reason #2, you'll have alot of people asking you what you're doing... and you'll have to explain and re-explain yourself countless times.

**disclaimer over**

So, if you can deal with those things then you might want to think about finding a vintage camera and trying your hand at ttv photos. I've been able to find 3 Kodak Duraflex cameras at local thrift stores. There are also a seemingly endless amount of them on Etsy and Ebay, and because you don't need them to be in working order they shouldn't be more than $15. Just make sure to really look at the viewfinder, you don't want one that has any cracks and I stay away from cameras where the lenses are too clean. The more dust your viewfinder has the more authentic your photo will look.

Once you've found something pretty to photograph, your photos should look something like this at first:

The photo on the left is without the light box and the photo on the right is with the light box sitting on top of the viewfinder. The lightbox is what's going to create that black frame around your photo.

Once you've uploaded your photos on the computer you can edit and crop them. I crop the ttv photo so that a thin black frame remains around the image, but you can decide how much of a frame you'd like to keep!

I try to take my Anscoflex with me whenever we go on little roadtrips. (Even with the risk of looking ridiculous!) I have this idea, some day, of creating a roadtrip scrapbook made entirely with my ttv photos of all my travels. I imagine the photos are similar to the photos my grandparents would have taken back in the 50's. Here's a few of my fav. road-tripping photos!

I have a ttv set on Flickr that I started. I forget sometimes to grab my vintage cameras, but when I do get a chance to take ttv photos I always fall in love with it a little more. I think it would be a fun hands-on class to teach. A little workshop where we could build lightboxes, take a stroll, and practice taking these photos... a "Life through a Double Lens class." I think it would be fabulous!!

So, it may be easier to use an app on your phone but I think it's more fun to try the real thing!! What do you think? Would you be tempted to try your hand at ttv photos? xo ~ Tara

Picnic Sunday in the park

Sunday was the most beautiful Sunday we've had in awhile. Breezy, sunny, warm but not too warm... and just perfect for spending the afternoon in the park. We played on the slides, dug for dinosaur bones, rode the train, fed the ducks, relaxed on a vintage quilt underneath pretty shade trees and enjoyed a rather lovely early Spring day.

I love parks, especially this one, it's so-so peaceful! I almost forgot to post the Menu for this week! I couldn't find good sourdough bread last week, so my Clam Chowder had to get pushed into this week. I have a good feeling that this week, as well as next week, are going to be ever so slightly hectic, so I'm keeping my menu stress free and simple.

Tuesday:
Clam Chowder
Sourdough Bread
Salad

Wednesday:
Swedish Meatballs
Sauteed Peas w/ toasted almonds
Salad

Thursday:
Fish Taco's
fresh Melons and Mango's

Friday:
Tomato soup
Turkey & Havarti Panni's

Saturday:
Petite Steaks
Watermelon
grilled corn tortillas
Corn & Avocado Salad

I need to finish up editing some photo's this afternoon. One of my previous projects is being revived with a fresh new look and a new home!! I have to wait until the 1st to announce it but I'm super-duper excited to be working on it again!! Plus new inspiration is always a good thing in my book. Enjoy the rest of your day!

Inspired by: the great outdoors

It's a day late, but this Saturday project took us 2 days to complete! :) This month (as well as last month) Alaina's class has been studying desert landscapes/animals. Each student got to pick a 'native' desert animal and Alaina decided on the little hummingbird. She's written her report and all that was left to complete was a shadow box project.. the first one in her short school career!



So yesterday, Lainy, Chase and I all took a discovery walk out into the desert right behind our home. I really wanted to use this opportunity to show Alaina how to look at the many different types of cactus's and to try and see the shape and colors of each plant. I took lots of photos for her to use as a reference once we got back home.(We're also really lucky to live higher up in the desert where so many cactus plants grow wild.) We stopped at each plant and talked about the shape, the thorns, the colors and alot of our cactus's are growing buds and getting ready to bloom shortly! It made them a little more interesting to her.




(yep, it's real. starting on Jan 1st the skies light up and AZ has some of the most spectacular sunsets you'll ever see.)





When we got back to the house, we looked at all of our photos and discussed how each cactus could be recreated using paper. We spent the afternoon making big Saguaro cactus, an Ocotillo, some barrel cactus's, a prickly pear, and few succulents and one cactus that I can't, for the life of me, remember it's name.. but all 3 of our neighbors have one growing in their yard. :) It will probably come to me sometime in the middle of night!!




Alaina went through 2 rolls of Glue Dots piecing together all of the cactus's. She's especially proud of her Saguaro's. Lainy can be a bit of a perfectionist, so art projects always take a little more time and patience because she truly believes that it has to be perfect. That each piece of paper has to be positioned in the exact spot or else it's ruined. I made it a point to show her one very old Saguaro in the neighborhood whoose arms grew downward and across and that even in nature things aren't always created perfect.

I always hope that she'll enjoy the process of creating something, rather than to worry about the outcome. I often find myself wondering: "How could my careless creative attitude have created such a young perfectionist?" I honestly have no good ideas, but then today, on our trip up to the park she kept pointing out things like how the color of the mountains fade the further away they are and she noticed that the skyline faded towards the horizon.... maybe I am rubbing off on her after all? :)

After the park it was right back to work on our shadow box. Want to see it? I couldn't be happier with it and neither could Alaina! After using many glue dots, scrapbook papers, and watercolors, the home to my favorite pair of black heels was transformed into a spring desert scene, perfect for any little hummingbird!






Our flat rocks were made from a diaper box and the rocks we used for the dry creek bed were borrowed from our neighbors yard. The sand we had to purchase as well as the hanging hummingbird but we really tried to use up as much scrap paper as possible. Lots of cactus layers! :)





and what desert scene would be complete without a couple of tumble weeds. :) Alaina's idea to stick them to the top of her box... She said 'the wind blew them up there.' :))



Well, that was what we did all weekend! Next week we'll be putting together a craft tutorial for Saturday.. now that the school assignments are out of the way. :))

an afternoon song

this music video is so impossibly cute that it's worth watching at least twice.


an old bicycle, angel wings, cute vintage clothes, a pot-belly pig with a turquoise top hat and a beautiful voice, what's not to love! This song puts me in the mood for spring picnics on breezy afternoon weekends. Come on Spring!!

I am..

easily distracted by sparkly things, listening to U2's Joshua Tree album and trying to decide which pretty fabrics I should sew today. What are you up to today?

the end of a monday

I finally have a few minutes to myself tonight! I just made the most wonderful Chai coconut tea... I want to say latte but it's more like a creamy tea. It's a wonderfully perfect end to a non-stop day.

I woke up this morning with a mind full of ideas and, like almost all of my mornings, I spent it talking to a friend. A little craft pep-talk to get the day started right!! You know how most people call their mom each day, well I talk to one of 2 really good friends everyday. Every women needs a few great girlfriends to surround herself with. I'm so thankful that 3 of my girlfriends live in different time-zones!! So, no matter when I want to talk or need someone to listen to my greatest new idea, one of them is usually available! Lucky me. :)

That brings me to this weeks... make that the rest of this years mantra.

dreams by TaraAnderson on Polyvore.com

perfect right? I think so. I'm working on such a big creative-project right now and I try to spend a little of everyday working towards that dream. That would also make a great mantra: work a little each day towards your dreams.

It's Monday. This week's menu is going to look a little like last week's menu. I got sick last Monday and it lasted until yesterday. There were 2 days where I wanted nothing but Gatorade and saltine crackers. Needless to say I didn't do much cooking last week, in fact I did nada. nothing. zilch. I left it all to Peter which the kids LOVED anyway (go-figure) because they had things like pancakes and quesedillas for dinner. :) So, here's my kinda repeat menu for this week.



Monday:
Organic Tomato Soup
Turkey and Havarti Panni's

Tuesday:
Marinated Chicken Tenders, (coated in Panko Bread crumbs and baked)
Grilled Polenta with a Mushroom Ragu
Watermelon & Strawberries

Wednesday:
Parmesan Crusted Tilapia
toasted Pine Nut Couscous
Cantaloupe

Thursday:
Clam Chowder
Homemade Croutons
Garden Salad

Friday: breakfast for dinner night!
Baked French Toast Casserole
turkey sausage
fresh melons and berries
raspberry lemonade

Saturday:
Chicken Taco's
Broccoli Coleslaw
fresh fruit

I was on a phone call the other day with Chase's Dr. and I gave him a feather. This was a first for him and I've come to realize that if you give a boy a yellow feather - he'll stay entertained (and quiet) for 30 minutes. :) We have an in-home evaluation tomorrow for him. I spent a good part of my day running around the house like a crazy person, cleaning and trying to find a space for the 165,320.25 toys that are scattered through our home. It's so unnerving to know someone is coming into your home to observe you. You can't help but want everything to be perfect!




I have my fingers crossed for a low-stress day tomorrow! Oh, and one more thing!! For 2 weekends in a row now, I've been lucky enough to add 2 new Kodak cameras to my collection. Sweet!



Happy start to a good week!

Inspired by: Tiny Notebooks

Beautiful sunny Arizona was hardly beautiful and certainly not sunny today, so Alaina and I took this rainy-day opportunity to stay indoors have a cup of hot-choco and create something cute. I asked her the million dollar question "what should we make today?" and after a cute story about a boy named Will and the little note-book he made for her, we decided to make our own teeny-tiny notebooks.



Our paper choices today were between Basic Grey's June Bug paper and Crate Paper's Emma's Shoppe. The debate ended when A saw the lipstick and nail polish stickers from Crate. :))I decided to make the covers with Crate Papers 6x6 Pad Emma's Shoppe. I cut a sheet of the 6x6 paper in half to make 2 3x3 sized notebooks. Since I have an over abundance of office paper scraps I filled each book with a mix of ledger, graph, lined notebook papers and used just one staple in the center to secure them all in.




Alaina loves the stickers from Emma's Shoppe! and why not! They are so perfect for little girl projects. We made a little mixed cluster of stickers and accent cuts from the line to embellish the front of each book.




While A and I were making these I had this idea of making these at her next birthday party. Can you imagine a whole table full of little girls making their own tiny notebooks. You could fill a couple of cupcake/muffin baking tins with glue sticks, markers, stickers and other little decorations, and then have the girls each choose what they would like to embellish their books with. Hmmm, I'm bookmarking this idea for later use!!



I have my fingers crossed to be able to do an inspired by: idea-post every Saturday. Just a quick rainy-afternoon tutorial or idea but geared more towards the future little artists in our lives!! Hope you enjoy them!