Special Announcement!

I love blog stalking. I stalk everything from photography, to scrapbooking, friends….food…you name it! My daily routine is to check email, run downstairs to make sure the kids are ok, run back upstairs to attempt to “stalk”, run back downstairs to ask, “what happened?”, run back upstairs, attempt to “stalk” again, then run back stairs and finally give in to the kids and put on a show. After multiple runs up and down the stairs, I usually just give up or continue stalking.

Well, today on one of my blogs I stalk, Justin and Mary announced that they will be giving away one lucky blogger the new Totally Rad Actions Lightroom Presets! SCORE! I use Totally Rad Actions to help me with my editing process and just recently Doug Boutwell came out with Presets for Lightroom! I can’t tell you enough how awesome his actions are, how much time they save me, and how much I love playing around with them to create my own actions. I would LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE (get the idea) to own the TRA Lightroom actions…it would be like celebrating Christmas in March, or better yet…like wearing flip flops in March…or even better….celebrating Christmas in March while wearing flips flops and enjoying a Mai Tai (Oh beach and warm weather, how much I miss you)!!

So in addition to the cool presets, I wanted to encourage all those Photographers who will be attending WPPI in Vegas next week, to be sure to attend Justin and Mary’s Platform speech a week from today. I broke the rules a bit because I do not tweet via twitter, however, I think a blog is just as powerful to spread the word to all my blog stalkers. So in lieu of a tweet, here’s the info:

justinmarantz and @marymarantz are giving away "STUFF WE LOVE" at their WPPI Platform one week from today. Tuesday, March 9th 3:30pm Pls RT"

And if you haven’t checked out Justin and Mary’s blog yet, please stop by and take a look. They are EXTREMELY talented photographers and I know that you’ll become a blog “stalker” too! http://www.justinmarantz.com/

One Man’s Trash is Another Man’s Treasure…

You’ve heard that saying, “one man's trash is another man's treasure." So often this has become a reality of mine. I love garage sailing, hitting flee markets, even going to thrift stores. I remember when I lived in California, we lived amongst the rich and scored so many deals on their “charity”. There was a Salvation Army right down the street where we lived and every now and then, I would go in and take a peek. I was always amazed on what was donated there….pretty much brand new merchandise was available. I love finding the needle in the haystack, even if it means I have endure the awful smell of a thrift store and sterilize my clothes and self after rummaging through all the junk….I guess that is part of the fun.

During the spring, I especially love going garage sailing! I will checkout Craigslist to “map out” my plan of attack and either drive throughout the neighborhoods or plan my run around areas that are close to my neighborhood. Even Travis has gotten in on the fun and asks, “are we going to look for junk today?” Currently, I am in search of a Victorian Style chair to use for my photo shoots which you will most like see once I find the perfect score, but until then, I will keep searching online and visit our local antique stores….which brings me to the whole reason for this post :)

When I was in Californian visiting, I went shopping at this huge antique store called King Richards. There is so much to see, it could seriously take HOURS of visiting every booth that is set up. When I was there, I found my first “antique” camera. It’s a 1970’s Polaroid camera…and if you look at my profile picture at top, you will see it. It came with it’s original case, the flash, instructions, and even some old film. Eventually, I will order some new film and give this Polaroid a whirl. Today, I added another addition to my camera collection…and old antique Kodak camera. I completely love all the intricate details and am curious wondering who’s family, memories, hobby, and travels it captured. It is a bit beat up on the outside, which to me, only adds more character and charm to it. I look forward to using it in an upcoming themed photo shoot I have in store and putting this camera back in to use….or at least back into the “picture”.