camera strap giveaway!!!

Howdy friends! It's been such a long time since I've written a post for Paper Heart Camera. I actually thought the whole blog was dead (didn't you?) but then I got an email from Sarah who was set on breathing new life into it and bringing it back from the dead! I tried to tell her I was out but she sweet talked me into staying. (So you can thank her or blame her, depending). : ) You've probably noticed there's a new look around here, and some new contributors as well.

Anyway, let me introduce myself, in case you're new around these parts. I'm Rachel. I'm a wife, a mother, an accountant and I blog at AND THEN SHE SNAPPED. Sometimes I pretend I'm a professional blogger and other times, well, reality sets in. One thing I am not, though, is a professional photographer. I'm just a mom with a camera. And you know the old saying, practice makes perfect? I think it's totally true. The more you play with your camera the better your pictures will become. And the beauty of digital is that it doesn't cost you anything to shoot 100 photos and keep 4. Not like the old days anyway. So play around with your settings, try different modes (I shoot mainly in aperture priority, but my 12 year old daughter shoots in strictly manual!), try different perspectives, and try different subjects! You might end up with something you love. And if not? Well, keep trying!

In honor of Paper Heart Camera's comeback, I'd like to offer one of our readers one of my handmade camera strap covers. They are all one of a kind. Which means, I go to the fabric store, I choose fabrics I love and only buy enough of each to make ONE strap. The winner will be able to choose from my current inventory which can be found here. This giveaway uses rafflecopter, so please please please make sure that your rafflecopter email is current, because that is how I will contact that winner. (I'll also update this very post, so check back here next Friday to see who the winner is).

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Real. Life. Photography. | Book Launch Party & Giveaway

I was so thrilled and honored that Rebecca asked me to be a part of her book launch party. If you don't know Rebecca, she is the author behind Simple As That. She is seriously talented. I look up to her photography and craftiness.

About Rebecca | A professional photographer and mother of four children, I make my home in Alberta, Canada. I'm the author of two previous photography eBooks, 40 Top Tips for Better Photos and Don't Say Cheese!, both published through Ella Publishing Co., as well as a scrapbooking inspiration book, Real.Life.Scrapbooking., published in 2008.

About Real.Life.Photography I believe strongly in encouraging women to take more photos of everyday moments—it's my absolute favorite part of photography! I started working on this 68-page, professionally designed and edited eBook more than a year ago. I spent months carefully assembling my best tips and tricks, gathering 127 real-life photos, and writing hundreds of useful photography tips. My goal is to inspire women everywhere to pick up their cameras more often and to be happier with the photos they take.

 

Excerpt "Photographing real life isn’t always easy. In fact, it’s a lot harder than taking family portraits in a well-lit studio or outdoors at the perfect time of day. Real life passes quickly. It doesn’t wait for you to pull out your camera. It doesn’t wait for ideal lighting conditions. And it doesn’t wait for your house to be spotless. But I promise that capturing everyday moments is worth the extra effort. Capturing life as it happens helps me see things differently. Boring becomes beautiful. Ordinary becomes extraordinary. Life can get so busy and crowded with distractions that it’s easy to forget what matters most. Pausing to take photos along the way helps me slow down and just enjoy my life exactly as it is." —from Real.Life.Photography.: How to find magic in everyday moments by Rebecca Cooper

I loved everything about this book. It was set up so easy to read and follow. I loved how she shared her settings for every photo and what lens she used. I have really wanted to learn to take more natural photos of my kids doing what they do. This is the perfect book for me. It inspired me in taking these photos with Dustyn. I really hope to do more with them in the future.

If you are looking for an easy to read book with lots of awesome tips check it out. Just like shooting kids in AV mode instead of all manual. It makes perfect sense, but I never thought of it!

She really jammed this full of tips, tricks, and techniques. She even talks a little bit about editing. Christy from Addy Lane created a Simple Fixes Action Set that go perfect with Rebecca's ebook.

Here is an edit of a photo of Carsyn side by side. I didn't do anything else to it besides using the Simple Fixes Action Set.

I used Goodbye Red Skin, Simply Lighten and Simply Boost. I love how easy and fast they were to use. I will be using them in the future.

You can purchase the ebook or the action set for the introductory price of $9.99 each (the regular price will be $12.99).

If you purchase both the book and the actions together, you can take 20% off with the promo code PHOTOFIX. 

You can enter to win a copy of the ebook and the action set below in Rafflecopter.

  a Rafflecopter giveaway


Thanks so much Rebecca for including me in your Book Launch Party. I really enjoyed reading the book and trying out the actions. Product Provided

GIVEAWAY: Pamela Topping Actions AND a Necklace! {CLOSED}

The super talented/amazing/awesome Pamela (http://www.pamelatopping.com/) has offered to give away some goodies to one of my readers!

What can you win?

A Camera Love Necklace (your choice of color)

AND

A $25 gift certificate towards her wonderful actions (http://www.pamelatopping.com/)!

Pamela was sweet enough to let me try out a couple of her actions for myself. Here's what I did:

For this first photo I ran a couple things from the Bella action set.

Before:

After:

For the next photo I ran a few bits from the Blonde action set.

Before:

After:

I'm LOVING these actions.

How do you win? Please follow these steps... AND make sure I have a way to contact you through e-mail. If I don't... I'll have to delete the entry... :(

Mandatory entry:
1) Just leave a comment telling us about how amazing you are!{1 entry}

Optional entries (You only have to comment once for each of the following):
1) Follow Paper Heart Camera (see sidebar) {1 entry}

2) Tweet or Facebook about this giveaway... {2 entries}
3) Like Pamela Topping on Facebook {2 entries}
4) Blog about this giveaway... linking back to my blog (please post blog post link in comment). {3 entries}

Last day to enter giveaway is January 19th, 2010 at 11:59PM Pacific time.