scratch that.

Shadow is one of my favourites to take pictures of. Mostly because he doesn't mind having his photo taken and he is a very photogenic dog. Here is a set of six photos I took within about eight seconds of each other.

He sure does enjoy a good scratch.

sunflowers.

sunflowers

Definitely been blogging less because the summer is just too good (and short) to pass up any opportunity to be out and about. For example, this is a photo I took of an amazing field of sunflowers just down the highway from where I live. Too good, right?
Driving by it this past week I've been longing to take a picture of it. Now that I have a picture, I want to share it with you. Hope you're enjoying your summer and the moments in the sun.

tufts.

This is a picture of the button tufted camera bag made by Britt who blogs at Cucumbersome.

I am inspired. I want to baby my camera too. Right now it just gets shoved in my purse.

That's no way to treat a camera.

So I'm inspired by Britt's design and am working at fashioning a similar case for my own SLR. I'll share more with you when it's complete.

diana results.

Way back in November I shared with you the little crush I had on the diana camera. I also made promises to post the first photos from diana for you. Well, it's over half a year later and I have finally completed and developed my first roll of film. I am pleasantly surprised at how well they turned out because every time I took a photo I was worried that it wasn't going to work out; that either I moved and it would be blurry or that I held the shutter open for too long. I feel like I had a pretty good success rate. 17 out of the 20 photos I remember taking were deemed suitable enough to process according to the place I got the film developed. Not bad for a first try. Here are some of my favourites.

My biggest problem was making sure my object was in the centre of my frame, something I'll concentrate on better next time. I've already loaded up the diana again (this time to take square photos) and am looking forward to becoming even better at using her.

alphabet walk blog hop: the letter q.

Today I'm participating in the Alphabet Walk Blog Hop initiated by One Sydney Road. If this is your first time at Brown Boots, welcome! It's so nice of you to come visit. To paraphrase Seasame Street, the letter of the day is Q.

This first set of photos are a literal interpretation of the letter Q.

This second set is composed of photos where there is a Q-lettered attribute of these summer scenes.

Hope you enjoyed these. Feel free to browse around the rest of the site and see what else is happening here at Brown Boots.

Thanks!

blog love: pioneer woman.

Happy Canada Day! For those of us in Canada today is a day for barbeques, cottaging, spending time with family and friends, and fireworks. Food too, lots of food. So I guess it is appropriate that today's freebie comes from a lady who also has a cook book and whole recipe section to her blog. Ree, the Pioneer Woman, is a power blogger. By that I mean that her beautiful website includes a variety of categories, from cooking and homeschooling, to confessions and photography, this is one well-rounded blog.

But it is the photography section that I want to focus on today. Ree and a few others occasionally offer tutorials on how to use Photoshop and your camera better and often there are photography contests on the blog (with sweet prizes like Photoshop and DSLR cameras or Kitchen Aid stand mixers). Ree has done something really special though for those of us who use Photoshop. She has composed two different sets of actions (get them here). What is an action you ask? It is a package of predetermined adjustments and layers that go over your original photo to make it look softer, or more vintage, or brighter, or something different. I love Ree's actions because once it is done running it becomes one layer whereas other free actions I've used merge onto your original photo, so there is less flexibility in using them and testing them out on your photo. Of course they are also adjustable, meaning that you can change the opacity of the action if you feel it is too strong in its original form (some of them are meant to be adjusted even). Ree's actions are free and she has two sets of them. The first set includes actions called Lovely and Ethereal, Vintage, B&W Beauty, Boost, Quick Edge Burn, Old West, and Define & Sharpen. The second set of actions include Warmer, Cooler, Dim the Lights, Colorized, Sunshine, Bring Out The Eyes, Seventies, Heartland, Sharpen THIS!, and Sepia Tone. They are perfect to use those times that you do not want to spend lots of time fixing up a photo but it just needs a little pick-me-up. If you haven't discovered the Pioneer Woman Actions on your own before now, I hope you love them and, like me, wonder what you ever did before without them.

+

Thank you Ree for making such easy to use and wonderfully simple actions for Photoshop that even a beginner like me can use to make my photos four times better than anything I could do on my own!

sharon montrose.

Are you ready for an overload of all things adorable? This post will definitely satiate your cute quota for possibly the next month or few. Sharon Montrose is a photographer based out of Los Angeles who photographs babies, kids, and animals. I think her best known work is of baby animals like the ones below. You can see her blog here, her website here, and her etsy shop here for even more cuteness.

Here are some of my favourites of hers (click on the label below the picture to see them at her store).

baby deer

baby porcupine

basset hound puppy

(Dear Caleb: I have a super weak spot for basset hounds.)

baby racoon

reindeer

I think I could go on forever, if you think you can too then go check out her etsy store, it is full of amazing photographs of all things wild (even a baby giraffe).

Want to know how she got started? Check out the video below.

it's raining (cats) and dogs.

With springtime comes rain. Although it isn't raining here today I just had to share with you these photos of Twig & Thistle blogger Kathleen's dog Tula. Isn't she just adorable?

When I was younger and our dog Shadow was just a puppy he used to wear a little red and blue sweater outside in the winter... that is until my dad told him that he looked ridiculous one day and Shadow refused to ever put it on again.

Hope these pictures satiate your cuteness-meter for the day.

diana f+.

I love the story behind this camera. "Back in the 1960’s, a small firm in Hong Kong – the Great Wall Plastics Factory – created a dirt-cheap 120 camera called the “Diana.” Crafted entirely of plastic, each camera cost about a dollar. As a mainstream product, the Diana was pretty much a failure – and was discontinued in the 1970’s. But like any superstar cut down in their prime, the Diana’s posthumous appeal skyrocketed. As a cult artistic tool of avant-garde and lo-fi photographers, it was a rousing success! They loved its soft & dreamy images, super-saturated colors, unpredictable blurring, and random contrast. Diana shots are raw & gritty, with a character all their own. They simply cannot be duplicated by any other camera on Earth! In short order, the Diana rose to prominence as one of the most treasured and sought-after cult analog cameras from the late 70’s onward" (this quote and more here).

My imagination has been captured by the simple story and the beautiful images that this understated camera produces. I love the retro feel of it and the fact that it uses film in this ever increasing digital age.

Photography is a growing interest I have, something that is definitely recreational only. I already have a perfect digital camera that I love and am still learning to use in its entirety, but Diana has captured my attention and I've fallen in love. And now I've discovered a way to mesh these two cameras together: the adaptor. This little baby will let me use the lenses for the Diana on my digital camera. I feel like this is good for two reasons: 1. It allows for practice. I can learn how to use the different lenses on my digital without running through tons of film. 2. I can expand my creative horizons by using the Diana and my digital and creating hybrid photos that I might not have been able to achieve on either one without the help of the other. Let the experiments begin!

peeking through a pin-hole.

What I love most about traveling is the chance to experience a new culture. With that, new people. This summer I had an opportunity to travel to Kenya. After landing in Nairobi and making a 100km two-hour bus ride to Ndalani I knew I was in for a treat. I was part of a team that visited the Mully Children's Family where children rescued from a life of drugs, crime, and commercial sex are rehabilitated, educated, and integrated back into society. Out of all the great experiences I had while in Ndalani, one of the things I think I will remember best is the phrase "you are most welcome."

You are most welcome. It can be used in the same way most Canadians say "you're welcome" or "no problem!" but it can also be used as a greeting. I loved stepping off the bus and having Charles Mulli greet us saying "you are most welcome." The sincerity behind those four words was so great and you actually did feel like you were the most welcome. I want to try to integrate this greeting into my own vocabulary. And with it, the sincerity that lies behind it.

Spending time in Ndalani, Kenya was great because I was able to experience just a small portion of what Kenyan culture is. It was like peeking through a pinhole and catching just a glimpse of the greater image.

Tonight I made a pin-hole camera out of a mint-tin using these directions. I took one picture from the balcony of my apartment of the trees with the sun light shining on them. I'm going to save the rest of the film for another time and better photo opportunities. In the age of digital photography, using film is a little weird, and, it's making me a bit anxious because I do not know what my photo looks like. I'll post some of the photos once the roll is complete.

Well, since this is my first blog entry, I haven't decided yet if I want to have a catchy sign-off or not. But, I guess for now...

You are most welcome.

Jess.