The Post About Photography: A New Series

I'm starting a new series on photography. 

Let's dissect, shall we?

1. "I'm starting..." Please know this means nothing. Don't ever be foolish enough to think it means I'll continue or finish anything that follows that phrase. 

2. "...new series..." Again, this indicates there will be more than one. Who promised that?

3. "...photography." This is the big one. I'm not a photographer. Do I own a camera? Do I take pictures with it? I know answering "yes" to those questions has raised up a generation of people who call themselves "photographers" but are no such thing. I bow at the feet of professional photographers who capture moments in time with skill and talent I do not possess.

Still...I'm starting a new series on photography.

It will include tips, tricks, suggestions, and lessons learned by an amateurish photo snapper who stumbled into a hobby she quite adores. 

There will also be guest posts by real photographers with wisdom for amateurish photo snappers like her.

As a preview...

Tip #1: Always fix the things you can before you click.

My sweet friend, random greasy hiking stranger on the Makapu'u Lighthouse trail in Hawaii, should have done just that.

What could he have fixed? Or rather asked me to fix so I didn't have to blow my rape whistle?

Yep, I wore pocketless everything on that hike so gadget storage was minimal. Now I'd need to spend quality time in Photoshop in hopes of making this picture usable.

Here are things you can check on the front end:
1. Subject: Make sure hair is in place, teeth are clean, clothing is covering important bits and pieces, and hair ties are in the hair, not on the wrist.
2. Background: Are there people with weird faces? Is there a pole coming out of your subject's head? Does this particular background take away from your subject at all? Sometimes we get so focused on the subjects that we forget to look behind them.
3. Personal Space: Don't be afraid to zoom, whether with the button on your camera or your feet. This is especially true when the background has a lot of "noise." Why crop later when you can crop now?
4. Lighting: It's crucial to think about the lighting in a scene. Is it too harsh? From which direction is it sourced? An amateur rule is keep the lighting to your back as the photographer. However, with practice you can learn to bend the light to your will in the most delightful ways.

Bonus: Be Bossy! You're holding the camera so you're in charge. Don't be afraid to tell people how to stand or where to look or how to remove that iPhone from their dainty parts.

So stuff like that there in the new series I'm starting on photography.

But don't get your hopes up...

What questions do you have about photography that we could answer together?

{image: random greasy hiking stranger on my camera}

The Post About The Rabbit Recommends v.101

Each week or so I post a readable or watchable and/or a listenable of which I'm fond. You can choose what happens after my recommendation. Ignore, embrace, debate. 

Earlier volumes of The Rabbit Recommends can be found here.

All Hallow's Eve Eve Edition. In honor of Halloween tomorrow, this week's list includes things that freak me out. In a good way. The list of things that freak me out in a bad way is long and starts with ladybugs and lizards. Therefore my posing skills were lacking in the above group picture in Hawaii. Lizard.

Read

The Turn of The Screw by Henry James. For many of us, this was required high school reading. Especially if you had a slightly grumpy AP English teacher who was so close to retirement, yet so far away. It's a thriller/horror tale of a governess and the children she supervises. The kids are either manipulative or demon-possessed. I find these are often your only options for non-fiction kids as well. Free on Kindle.

Watch

Stephen King's Pet Sematary. I know there are probably scarier flicks on IMDB, but for me, this is it. I was creeped out until... Yep, still creeped out.

Listen

Is there such a thing as scary music? I'm sure there are haunting tunes, but I'm highlighting 3 albums that freak me out in the sense I adore them. And I don't think I should.

1. Unbroken by Demi Lovato
2. When The Sun Goes Down by Selena Gomez & the Scene
3. My World 2.0 by Justin Bieber

Judge as you will. 

Which books or movies always raise the hair on your arms? Or however fear presents itself for competitive swimmers?

The Post About Pausing For Life Outside of the Internet

My Twitter friends Burrill and Kristen nudged. 

Rabbit Sidebar: Burrill is a crazy great photographer, particularly when it comes to sports. Please join me in staring at his blog. Kristen is my musical twisted sister. Every Monday I tap my fingers waiting for the email indicating a new Monday Playlist has been posted to her blog. Subscribe and you'll tap too.

Unlike the Freakout Flatline of 2010, my most recent blogging disappearance has simply been the case of me living life. Outside of the Internet.

At first I was all sad and sloppy and itching to be with you here in this small space of chasing rabbits. And then I found myself in Hobby Lobby. Where Jesus and decorative pillows meet. 

One knickknacky frame read: Nothing is worth more than this day. Goethe.

• Could God be speaking to me in this religiously-infused retailer? 
• Am I living a life worth blogging and tweeting about? 
• Is this insightful moment making me emotional or is it the 10 aisles of Christmas decorations in October?

Questions for the ages.

I decided to answer "yes" to all three. A quick glimpse at how I tried practicing what He was preaching.

Hobbies should be embraced. Then shared with those who struggle with a possible sugar addiction. 

I'm not your sponsor.

I spent time with 14 and 15-year-olds in the foster care system whose futures are actually quite bleak.

They wrecked me.



I spent time with an 8-year-old whose future is bright simply because she is surrounded by people who think she hung the moon.

She wrecks me.

The blogging break wasn't without moments of great plotting and planning.

Some involved fixing the child and family welfare system. Some involved combining my birth and THE MOST PHENOMENAL GAME THAT WILL EVER BE.

You're invited to be a part of both.

Roll Tide.

Most importantly...I was present for this.

Now back to balancing living life and hugging this small space of chasing rabbits that I quite like.

What about you? How do you balance it all?

{images: Jamie}

The Post About Random Rabbits

1. My friend Cadie retrieved this note from a 5th grader in her class this week. Is it embarrassing I may have had a similar exchange with a former boyfriend? And not when I was 11? To the girl named Madison or Ashleigh who was the intended recipient of this valentine, here's a heads up. It may take 20 years to learn the most valuable of love lessons, but one day you will realize you shouldn't go back to your ex. YOU CANNOT CHANGE HIM.

2. How do I know I'm aging fast? I love Frontline on PBS. So much. I woke up on Tuesday with a morning-after feeling and I hadn't done anything the night before. Once this week, I was talking to someone on the phone and asked them to "hold on" while I looked for my iPhone. I watched Justin Bieber: Never Say Never and discovered his mom and I were born in the same year.

3. My new online dating profile biography:

"I want someone who will be monogamous and nice to his mother. And I want someone who likes musicals, but knows to just shut his mouth when I’m watching “Lost.” And I want someone who thinks being really into cars is lame, and strip clubs are gross. I want someone who will actually empty the dishwasher instead of just taking out forks as needed - like I do. I want someone with clean hands and feet and beefy forearms, like a damned Disney prince. And I want him to genuinely like me. Even when I’m old. And that’s what I want."

- Liz Lemon, 30 Rock

P.S. This blog is actually my online dating profile biography. It clearly needs tweaking.

4. Expanded Tweet of the Week: "1-Click Buying" is the antichrist. At least I'll have a nice array of music & Amazon boxes when I'm homeless. Now I know why Amazon may be willing to lose money on each Kindle they sell. They depend heavily on the impulsive nature of customers like me. E-book bundle on sale...I'm reading. Coffee grinder at half price...I'm drinking. Wheelmate Laptop Steering Wheel Desk for $19.98...I'm wrecking my car.

Speaking of reading... We have a rabbit winner in the Kindle Giveaway:

The winner is Molly Graham who won for following me on Facebook, BUT she had the following to say about her favorite book: My current favorite book is Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World by Tracy Kidder.

Congrats Molly! Email me at jamiesrabbits@gmail.com to collect your bounty!

{image: Cadie Frazier}

The {Guest} Post About Brown Spots

Today's guest rabbit chaser is Amy from Ordinarily Extraordinary. I met Amy through a local super conductor, Alabama Bloggers. We became fast online friends as we realized we shared a love for singer/songwriters and stacks of books by the bed. Amy writes posts I both crave and despise. I hear my own voice as she processes her faith and sigh with relief that I'm not quite the outlier I feared. But I also hear another voice reminding me I should continue to work on things like love and patience and kindness and other attributes that don't always litter the hours of my day. Enjoy my struggle.

I like bananas. They aren't my favorite fruit, but I like them. I keep bananas and if they start getting a bit yuck, I'm happy to make banana bread with them.

I like them even better when they are in banana pudding because you know us southerners had to help God out by making his sweet foods even sweeter. Maybe even better than banana pudding is a banana pudding milkshake from Chick-fil-A. Chick-fil-A doesn't count as calories since they are closed on Sundays. Being God's favorite fast food and all. When, pray tell, will they bring it back? My hips are probably thankful it's not a year-round addition to their menu.

But never had I been compared to a banana. Not until my chiropractor did so when we were discussing my headaches.  

"If you were a banana this would be your brown spot" he told me. My tension settles in the back of my head just at the top of my neck causing the headaches.

His comment got me to thinking.

What areas of anxiety cause 'brown spots' in my life? In my faith?

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:7 NIV)

It is easy to quote a verse. Knowing it in your head is easy.

Knowing it in your heart? Not so easy. At least not for me.

Oh sure. I wear the mask that projects hunky dory.

If we're honest, though, we all have brown spots in our lives. Some spots may be just fine. But others? They’re pretty brown.

I hold on to the fear I'll never be a good enough writer. I let that worry and fear paralyze me too often; giving into the resistance instead of pushing through.

I worry our son doesn't want to try in school because his learning style doesn't fit well in a traditional classroom and he is bored. I worry what others think of me as a parent because he doesn't measure up to what they expect.

My insecurities appear most often as my brown spots.

For you, it may be your job or finances or family or relationships.

And guess what? I don't have an answer. I can't wrap up with a pretty little bow how to "cast all our cares."

Maybe, it takes discipline. Disciplining your mind to pause in the midst of the busyness and pray. Disciplining ourselves to remember scriptures.

Oh yes...discipline. Another brown spot of mine, but let's save that for another time, shall we?

What areas of life are your banana's brown spots?

Hello! I'm Amy, a wife and mom who spends her days doing laundry, taking photos, writing, substitute teaching on occasion, and a myriad of things that moms do. Born and raised in the Appalachian foothills of northeast Alabama, I now live in east central Alabama with my husband and our son. I blog at Ordinarily Extraordinary. Life, no matter how ordinary it may seem, is extraordinary. Sometimes we have to look, but every day is filled with the extraordinary masquerading as ordinary. It’s up to us to slow down and see the extraordinary gifts of grace God gives us. Each person has their own extraordinary story to tell. I write to process all God teaches me and hopefully encourage others along the way. You can find me on twitter as @amykiane.

The Post About Getting Lost in Hawaii

Might a recommend a trip to Hawaii?

Spending 8 days on the island of Oahu was dreamy. 

Dreamy like a commute composed only of green lights. Dreamy like a pumpkin composed only of Reese's peanut butter cups. Dreamy like a painting composed only of colors God has in His palette.

I journeyed with girlfriends who are originally from 5 different states. 

Sidebar Rabbit: I prefer friends who live in other cities. It makes mooching much more productive. I'm currently looking for new friends who live in San Diego, Miami and a ski-in/ski-out chalet in the Rockies.

Our trip was made possible by my friend Caryann's Aunt Marie. She generously donated a gorgeous timeshare for her niece and her niece's freeloading friends to enjoy. 

I encourage you to find out who in your family has timeshare points and be particularly kind to them as the holidays approach.

My only complaint was the food. Too much chewy pork. Not enough pineapple whip. PINEAPPLE WHIP 2012. 

I'm a firm believer that sophisticated travelers will always find the local haunts serving dishes lovingly designed by the hands of an impoverished, yet talented cook named Mel.

However, the best meal I had was after an ugly hike to Makapu'u Lighthouse. Ronald McDonald says "Aloha."

I wish I was the type of person who only drank organic milk from Whole Foods and had season passes to the opera and didn't steal Splenda packets from restaurants. But I'm not.

I'm the type of person who takes time out of paradise and maps out filming locations for Lost. 

No shame.

So what about you - what's the best vacation you've ever taken?

Follow-up: May I stay at your house in the 2012 Rabbits Across North America Tour?

Finally, feel free to wander around my Hawaii 2011 photo album. More stories will be shared here soon...

{images: Jamie}

The Post About The Rabbit Recommends Kindle Giveaway

I'd like you to believe I'm a deep ocean of intellect and compassion and sacrifice.

Unfortunately, I think you'd discover my shallow charade when you learn how much I like "stuff." "Stuff" is what financial guru Dave Ramsey suggests you have less of in order to live debt free. 

He's the deep ocean. I'm the puddle in the driveway. The puddle filled with stuff. And APR charges.

My favorite new "stuff" is this Amazon Kindle gifted to me by my parents with a case lovingly sewn by my mum. She's adorable.

In celebration of my most recent Rabbit Recommends v.100, I'm giving away the same great "stuff."

Giveaway: New $79 Amazon Kindle

• Less than 6 ounces, 6" screen
• Advanced e-ink display, reads like paper 
• Built in Wi-Fi - Get books in 60 seconds
• Massive book selection, over 800,000 titles are $9.99 or less
• Borrow Kindle books from your public library

That last bullet has changed my life. Visit Overdrive to find out if your local library offers e-book checkout. Compatible computers and devices include PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Phone and Kindle.

How To Enter:
Leave a comment answering the following:
Name a book you love.

**2 Extra Credit Entries**
Each of the following will give you 1 extra entry. Make sure to leave a separate comment for each, whether you're doing it for the first time or you've already been there, done that.

1. "Like" Jamie's Rabbits on Facebook.
2. Follow Jamie's Rabbits on Twitter.

Important Details: Open to anyone in the US or Canada. Must enter before 11:59pm CST on Monday, October 10 to qualify. Winner will be chosen randomly using Research Randomizer and announced next week. Obviously, anonymous folks can't win unless they leave a name in the comment.  

Note: Although Amazon has a way of suggesting items for me to buy as if they live in my spare bedroom, they don't know the first thing about this blog or this giveaway. Sponsored by yours truly.

The Post About The Rabbit Recommends v.100

Each week or so I post a readable or watchable and/or a listenable of which I'm fond. You can choose what happens after my recommendation. Ignore, embrace, debate. 

Earlier volumes of The Rabbit Recommends can be found here.

As you might have noticed, it's #100. Unbelievable. Not because I've made that many suggestions. I'm a superfan and not afraid to share. It's startling because ADD survivors such as myself rarely commit with such consistency.

The first thing I've done to celebrate this centennial is gathering all the previous favorites in easy-to-browse lists on Amazon. Note: These aren't affiliate links. This means I don't earn any Kindle moolah by you clicking on any item. I did this because I want the creator(s) of the things I love to get their full due.

Especially considering I may not have paid for it in the first place.

Ahh...Napster. It was the best of times, it was the most illegal of times.

Rabbit Recommends - Reading 

Rabbit Recommends - Watching

Rabbit Recommends - Listening

Have I highlighted anything you think is especially delightful? Do you have a recommendation for me? I'm sure I can keep the thermostat on chilly so I'll have more cash for downloading your suggestions.

The second thing I've done to woohoo this milestone is giving away my newest favorite gadget. That post is here.