Judah & Elinor visiting their new sister for the first time.

Susan Margrette. 7lb 9oz, 21 1/4in.

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To read more of the story click here: {link}

Have a lovely day!

Erica Lea

Hey, everyone! Can you believe it’s May already? Crazy, I know.

Thought I’d share how I’m wearing my hair today. Inspired by this photo.

Perhaps I’ll make a tutorial for ya’ll sometime.

How are you wearing your hair today?

Erica Lea

I know, technically spring began over a month ago. But here in Norther Minnesota, the signs of it are just starting to pop up.

In these northern climes, spring doesn’t burst forth suddenly; it creeps up on us slowly. Because of that, we can enjoy spring more deeply. Every new growth is appreciated.

My favorite spring flowers are hepaticas (shown above). They mean warmer weather and rains have finally put winter to rest. Of course we could have another freak snowstorm, but spring seems a little more final when they bloom.

What do you enjoy most about spring? What are your favorite spring flowers?

xoxo

Erica Lea

Okay. I’ll admit it. I’m kinda (sorta, a little bit) addicted to Pinterest. It’s a wonderful way of visually bookmarking pages and ideas.

However, there’s a darker side to Pinterest. Not everyone pins properly, and sometimes it drives me crazy.

Ideally, whenever you click on a pin it should bring you directly to the original source of the photo, article, recipe, etc. I’m not saying that I always pin correctly. But there are a few things I try to avoid.

Here are my tips for better pinning:

1) Pin from the individual post on a blog, not the main page

I see this so many times. You’re scrolling through a blog, and you see a recipe/photo that you really like. You hit the “pin it” button and go merrily on your way. However, when someone clicks on your pin a month or so later, the post is nowhere to be seen on the main page of the blog.

Please click through to the individual post before pinning. It will save everyone a lot of time.

2) Don’t post from your RSS feed reader, Tumblr main page, or an email update

So you’re happily reading updates from blogs you love when you see an awesome post you want to share. You hit the “pin it” button and continue getting caught up on your blogs. When someone sees your awesome pin and wants to read the post, they’re brought to their own RSS reader which doesn’t contain the post they’re looking for. Do everyone a favor and click through to the original post before pinning.

The same applies for the Tumblr main page and email updates.

3) Speaking of Tumblr…

Whenever I see that a pin originated from Tumblr, my heart sinks. I know there are many bloggers who share their work through Tumblr, but there are many, many more that share other people’s work without clearly crediting them. Sometimes it’s so hard for me to find the original source that I give up on a pin. Please, if you’re a Tumblr user, provide a clear link back to the original source. And Pinterest users: don’t pin from a Tumblr blog that doesn’t give proper credit!

4) If you upload a photo, provide a link to the original source

Another thing that causes heart-sinkage: “Uploaded by user.” This means there’s no easy way to find out who the original artist is – you’d have to click on the pin endless times. But there’s hope! It’s very easy to add a link to the photo you upload.

Upload a pin from your computer, then hover over the picture with your mouse and hit the “edit” button.

This will take you to an “Edit Pin” page where you can easily insert a link. Hit save, and you’re done!

5) Don’t pin a photo directly after commenting on a post

If you hit “pin” directly after commenting on a blog post, the pin will take everyone directly to your comment instead of the top of the post. Very annoying.

A Couple More Tips/Tricks:

Google Image Search

If you simply cannot find the original source but really want to share a photo, try using the Google Images search. Right click on the photo you want to share and hit “copy image URL.”

Go to Google Images and hit the little blue camera button on the right side of the search bar.

Simply paste the URL you just copied, hit search, and you’ll be shown different sources of the image. You may have to do a bit of digging to find the original source, but it’s usually quite possible.

Did you Know you can edit your board cover?

Have you noticed how your pin boards have a photo representing the entire board? You can either let Pinterest choose that photo, or you can decide for yourself.

Click on one of your boards and hover over the picture you want to use as your “board cover.” Hit the “Set Board Cover” button.

You’ll be taken to a pop-up that allows you to drag the photo around until it looks just right. Hit “Set Cover” and you’re done.

So there you have my tips for better pinning.

Do you have any tricks/etiquette to share?

Hope ya’ll found this helpful!

xoxo

Erica Lea

My sister and niece, so happy together. I love Janna’s blissfully happy smile.

For the I Heart Faces photo challenge.

Make sure to check out the other “happiness” photos here: {link}

I’m on Instagram

You can find me on Instagram by searching for ericaleaphotos (my username), or online here.

I’ve been posting photos every day following the prompts by Chantelle. Who knows? I may make it all the way to January.

Are any of you on Instagram?

Have a lovely day!

Love,

Erica Lea

Photo by Daniel

Stylish:

This outfit. | This girl’s style. | “Femme Fatale” |Ruche | eShakti | “Mint Milkshake” on Modcloth | French Connections | “Vast Wrap” skirt on Anthro |

Hairstyles:

“Quinn Fabray” Tieback | Pincurls | Loose Waves | Lovely Braid | Waterfall Braid | Jennifer Lawrence | Fishtail Bun Tutorial | How to Curl Your Hair with a Flat Iron |

What sorts of pretty things have you been discovering lately?

xoxo

Erica

This last Friday, we decided to try our hand at “rustic” camping.

We constructed our shelter from scratch. First, we built the frame for our lean-to.

We held the support sticks in place with young, lithe saplings.

Next, we Reuben gathered spruce boughs and we layered them on our frame.

The finished shelter. I placed pine boughs on the floor to keep it soft and dry.

As the day grew just a bit chillier, we started a fire with the wood we had sawed by hand and batoned (batonned?).

When the fire burned down to coals, it was time to toast some cheese & pepperoni sandwiches.

They were delicious.

Soon it was time to turn in. I won’t say it was the most comfortable night’s rest I ever had. Reuben had to wake up several times during the night to attend to the fire, so we didn’t get quality sleep. But it was amazing to sleep in a shelter we had built completely by hand.

The morning dawned breathtakingly gorgeous.

We grilled the remaining sandwiches for breakfast, packed up and headed home, very tired but satisfied with the knowledge we had survived the elements.

Then we took a shower, put on clean clothes (I wore flats and a knee-length skirt) and went to town (I went to the mall, Reuben to Gander Mountain). The end.

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Please watch in HD.

Here in northern Minnesota, even though the temperatures have consistently been hitting the 60’s the past week or so, the snow is still holding on, refusing to melt completely. So, even though we’ve switched to light jackets, there’s still bits of winter hanging around, reminding us of the cold, making us grateful for spring.

Are you glad to see winter go?

You may think because the only camera you can afford is a point-and-shoot that you can never take professional-looking portraits. Wrong! With a little knowledge & practice you can make your camera perform. Here are a few tips.

#1: Turn Off Your Flash!

Instead of relying on your flash to provide adequate light, move closer to a window. The lighting is much more natural and soft. Most point-and-shoot cameras should have an option to turn the flash completely off.

Probably the best thing you can do to improve your photography is to ensure that you have great lighting. Even with a very expensive camera, it can be quite hard to get a good shot in horrible lighting. Experiment with different light sources. Natural light from a window is usually the most flattering, as is the light outside just after sunrise and just before sunset.

#2: Be Aware of Your Focal Length

Did you know your focal length changes the appearance of your photos? At the wide end (zoomed all the way out) your photos are distorted; zoomed in, they’re compressed.

Say you want to take a closely cropped portrait. Instead of just moving in close, back off a ways and zoom in. Notice how distorted John’s face is in the first photo. His nose is disproportionately large. This is fine if you’re going for the wide-angle look, but it’s not the most flattering composition. Now notice how much more even the second photo is and how the background is blurred. All I had to do was back up and zoom in. That simple.

#3: Shoot at Eye Level or Slightly Above

This is the most flattering position, especially for models that are overweight. Also, have your model tilt their chin up slightly. This will ensure that you get no double chins!

#4: Shoot at an Angle

Instead of just shooting your model strait on (the mug shot), angle yourself so that the face and body are 3/4 in view. This is much more flattering.

#5: Decide Whether to Crop Close or Tell a Story

There is no right or wrong here. Just make sure that you decide whether or not to tell the story or crop close.

#6: Edit Your Photos

Most photos can be improved with a bit of editing. Adding contrast, fixing color casts, and softening facial imperfections can really boost your photo. Brighten the eyes a bit (if needed) and sharpen. There are many good free photo editing tutorials online, and even some free photo editing software.

Then again, you don’t want to go overboard on the post processing. Heavily altered images just look unrealistic.

And there you have – my six tips for improving your portrait photography with a point-and-shoot.

All photos were taken with a Sony DSC-H3 and edited in Paint Shop Pro Photo.

Do you have any tips for point-and-shoot users?

P.S. Yes, a good camera can really make taking good photos easier, but don’t let your cheap camera stop you from practicing!

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