Angle-poise lamps?

Doing my rounds of WOYWW blog posts yesterday was very enlightening. It's great to see how other people craft. Amongst other things I saw a pillowcase being used as a background for taking photos of cards. Wonderful idea. 

It got me thinking about how everyone here takes photos of their layouts before putting them on their blog.

Do you take great care to get perfect lighting and a plain background for your photos? I have pictures in my mind of people precariously climbing on steps to get the perfect shot. And positioning angle-poise lamps to prevent unwanted shadows!

Are you a perfectionist? Or are you more laidback and anything goes?

I tend to use a wooden table or the lounge floor for my photo-taking but I'm never totally happy with the end result. Cropping the photo doesn't always remove the background either if I haven't got the camera perfectly straight to begin with. And lighting is always a problem in the evening when I tend to take my photos for the blog as I'm at work all day.

My daughter often uses large pieces of white card as a blank background for her photography shoots. She has even hung sheets from the  lounge walls - but come on, I'm not taking an 'A' level here - I just need a decent picture of my layouts for others to see! And layouts tend to flippin' bend in the middle if stood upright I find! Not helpful at all.

So, any tips shared on how you overcome these pesky problems would be gratefully received.

Rainy Days and Thwarted Plans

I'm feeling bored.

The weather is awful for July, even for England! Thunder storms last night and windy and wet today!

If that wasn't enough to keep me indoors, my daughter's borrowed the memory card from my camera to take with her to Italy, so I have no way of taking any photos. And I had such plans for today...photos I've been meaning to do for ages.... like the garden walls along the coast that are eaten away by the salty air, and the Brighton buses with pictures of local residents on the sides, advertising slogans on the back, and names

on the front! Yes, Brighton buses have names!

All photos that I planned to use to inspire blog entries. Just not meant to be today. Sigh.

Can't seem to get into a creative mode either. I made a few cards this morning by stamping onto patterned paper, then using a stamp resist technique. But then what's the  point in telling you about it when I can't 'show you' with a photo?

I never quite realised how important photography was to me before today.

Roll on the next ten days when my daughter returns and I can get my memory card back! No, I won't mention the temperature's 32 degrees C where she is!

If you can't wait to see the Brighton Bus names (as it will be a while before I get to do my blog entry on them) here is the link:

//www.buses.co.uk/information/busnamesintro.aspx

The photo above was taken at Newhaven Harbour near where I live. I love the sea and all things nautical and have many shells and seashore-finds in the house. Lighthouse ornaments and cross-stitch pictures too.

I have (distant) sea views from the windows in my house so I'll go take a look.

That should cheer me up!