Me-Made-May 2016 Days 8 - 14

As we head toward the middle of Me-Made-May, one of the primary things I've noticed, is there's not been many garment repeats.  Maybe the odd neutral pair of pants here and there, but with different tops, it feels like different outfits.  A pleasant feeling to see how the persistence of adding to my handmade wardrobe through the year(s) is paying off.   :)    

This week I took the opportunity to focus on improving my photography skills.  Specifically how to work with shadows and light, and how to tell my camera to focus on me and not my surroundings.  Most of my photographs are self-taken by me, unless I happen to be out and about with a member of my family, using a Nikon D3300 camera with a tripod and wireless remote.

So let's see how this week fared.  I'll share a few thoughts about each day and there's all the garment information with a few more details on the link under each individual picture.
 
Day 8 was Mother's Day and no photo was taken that day.  Oops.  First day so far missing a photo, so that's really not bad for me.  Enjoyed a low-key day with my family spent mostly in handmade comfy clothes.

On Day 9, dressed in clothes so old and worn I save for cleaning, spent a few minutes fooling around with my camera's settings in our back woods before working around the house.  Later this day I was shocked to find the photo made flickr's Explore page!   This photo was straight out of the camera.  No photo editing was done, other than cropping into a square.  I was pleased to find the right camera settings for the shadows of our woods and figure out where to stand in the filtered light.

Day 9

On Day 10, took a little field trip to the beautiful historic Hagood Mill built in 1845, near my home specifically to catch a little of the mill's wooden water wheel in my photo.  It was a very bright, sunny morning and I struggled with setting my camera correctly for the light conditions.  Also, by the time this photo was properly set up, there were other people walking about and I was beginning to feel kind of stressed taking my photo like this in front of the public.  You can maybe see a little 'stress' in my face there.  ;)

Day 10

I feel the photo above, in hindsight, was edited too much in my photo editing software program, but it is all about a learning experience, so I'm leaving the photo in as is.  A few months ago I invested in Adobe's Photoshop Elements 14 photo editing software program and really, really like it.  It's a stand alone program, purchased for less than $100, and for a person who really knows n-o-t-h-i-n-g about photo editing, it's great!  It has a guided tutorial built in, if you need it like me.... as well as all sorts of cool features for when you understand what you are doing.  I need the guided tutorial..... still.  ;)  Anyway, one more thing..... this mill is an operating grist mill and it is so cool to watch the corn being ground into corn meal.  We are fortunate to have folks interested in keeping old traditions alive in our area.

Hagood Mill wooden water wheel

Day 11, because of my struggle the day before photographing in bright sun, forced myself to work with the camera settings standing in a sunny spot at our home.  After much time, and many photos, it was funny to use one of the very first photos taken this day.  ;)  For some reason I had trouble finding the center of the camera line, and always seemed to be standing off-center and a little too close. 

Day 11

Day 12, this morning got outside a little earlier than usual and caught some of those lovely early morning rays using the surrounding trees to filter the light.  Used the very last photo taken today.  This is another photo with very little editing..... pretty much straight out of the camera.  Learning if your camera is set correctly, there is very little photo editing needed?

Day 12

Day 13, this photo, below, was taken very late in the day when the sun was at its highest peak and most bright and sunny.  Challenged myself to figure out, again, how to use the trees to filter the bright light.  Almost got it right, other than the bright sunspot bouncing off my silver hair.  This photo was also about how to show my pretty skirt's matching stripe detail at the side.

Day 13

Day 14 was spent working outside on our land with my husband all.day.long and I was so tired and exhausted by day's end it was hard to think about a photograph.  After dinner, (and after cleaning up!) and determined to not miss another day, using my iphone, tried to be creative in showing a little of the modifications I made to the dress, pattern m, from Yoshiko Tsukiori's 'Stylish Dress Book' including a little of my favorite mug full of Chai Latte.  I love Chai Latte and only recently figured out how to make my own!

Day 14

So this brings us to the 2nd week's end and almost to mid-month.  Now on to week 3!

Mountain Laurel in bloom at Hagood Mill

Happy Sewing Everyone!
UPDATE:
Journal of Days 1 - 7
Journal of Days 15 -21
Journal of Days 22 - 26
Journal of Days 27 - 31