Friday Feature: bokeh leaf photography

This week I'm featuring gorgeous leaf photography with lots of bokeh. I kept all of my picks light and summery, as I know that most of us don't want to see anything else this time of year. Enjoy!

Outdoor photography green leaves honey gold sunlight mustard bokeh photo print 8x10 by PhotoWhisper

Glow - 8x8 Fine Art Photography Print - nature natural green purple spring bokeh tree woods forest woodland photograph by riotjane

Light, leaves - 5x7 Fine Art Photo Print by wingedpaths

 Weeping Branch 10X10 Photograph Green Autumn Trends Withered Branch Winter Coming Woodland Forest Print by machelspencePHOTO

Leaf Drops - 8 x 10 Fine Art Print, green, macro, bokeh, raindrops, dots by BackyardPhoto

Nature Photograph - Maple Leaf Print - Nature Art - Bokeh - Woodland Art - Earthy Decor - Fine Art Photography - Green Maple Leaves 8 x 10 by ChasedByBeauty

Spring photo - Sun and leaves - Fine art photography Green home decor - Digital download by sunshineartdesign

G is for Grant Park

Happy 4th of July!

I hope that everyone in the states has a wonderful holiday filled with food and fireworks or whatever you enjoy most on this day. Normally I would put together a short holiday greeting and leave it at that, but it's another week of Alphabe Thursday. Are you ready? Let's go!

I recently made my second trip to Grant Park in Milwaukee. Grant Park is best known for its expansive stretch of beach and collection of bridges, which were two of the main subjects that I photographed the first time I was there back in April.

This excursion took a completely different direction that didn't include the beach (from beach level anyway, views of the lake were still abundant) or the bridges. And there were so much to see! I still can't believe it. The excursion didn't even begin to scratch the surface.

Check out what the other Alphabe participants posted this week for the letter G right here!

special feature for Jake's birthday

Some of you may remember that I put together a special feature for my husband's birthday last year. Or not. No worries. I couldn't tell you most of things that I did yesterday let alone one year ago. Anyway, I enjoyed writing that post and wanted to bring back the feature for his birthday today. Thanks again to Paige for the original inspiration for this idea. Enjoy.

 I bought Jake a watch for his med school graduation two years ago that has never worked as well as it should have, even after multiple repair jobs. You don't win them all. This is one of those presents where I got specific recommendations so it will only be so much of a surprise, but at least I know he'll like it (and wear it everyday).

I'm really sad that this is sold out right now. I contacted the seller about ordering one and haven't heard anything back yet (which is in really poor taste for a successful Etsy seller, but that's another post for another day...). If I do hear back at some point, I'll get it and save it for another occasion.

Jake and I are going to steampunk it up at the Renaissance Faire this year, hopefully on steampunk invasion weekend. More details about that later this summer.

Jake really enjoys funny t-shirts. Sometimes I take a break from the t-shirt gift, and it's always a mistake. You should go with what you know will go over well. Anyway, I may get Jake something Book of Mormon related for a future gift.

 When I first started dating Jake, I never would have believed that he'd want to own multiple nice hats and wear them to work everyday. He has two now and wears them to work as well as a lot of other places almost every day.

Jake and I recently had some amazing grilled chicken drumsticks at a friend's house. We love to grill during the warmer months of the year.

Funfetti cake of some sort is always a part of Jake's birthday. Adding multicolored sprinkles to the frosting is very inspired.

What items would your significant other enjoy?

June Top Commenters and July News

This summer is going way too fast, but I'm doing my best to enjoy every minute of it!

Christmas in July

....is coming soon! How's that for an exciting way to start off a monthly post? It is a huge amount of work getting a big group of new sales items up and running on Etsy, and I haven't been able to make it my top priority this week. But I'm slowly pushing ahead on it and will have more details for you soon. This is the only time you'll be able to get these kind of discounts until the 2013 holiday seasons so get them while you can.

 

Top Commenters

It means so much to me that so many people take the time to stop by and leave their feedback, insight, and questions for me everyday. These lovely ladies all have handmade shops that you need to check out.

Summer Garden password notebook with index tabs, mini, 100 Web sites, spiral bound, tangerine blue pink green by MisterPenQuin

Wooden Post Earring Studs - Sunburst Design by memoriesforlifesb

Orange Sunset Artisan Lampwork Glass and Crystal Sterling Silver Earrings - Fall Sunset by BeadedTail

Romantic Floral Infinity Scarf. Circle Scarf. Women's Scarf. Spring. Pink rose print. Fresh green. by PeriDotbyDuni

Handmade Artist Notebook - Childhood Circles by storybeader

Nautical Sailor LOVE Signal Flag Resin Pendant Swallow Charm Necklace Silver by StalkingTheWildSnark

Color Block Necklace - neon, coral, mint, yellow, statement necklace by OhNostalgiaDesigns

Red Leaves Greeting Card by Pictimilitude

 

Blog Sponsors

I have an awesome round of blog sponsors! These lovely ladies all have Etsy shops and/or blogs. Check them out on the left hand side of my blog under "Private Sponsors." Would you like to join them? It's only $3 per month or $10 for 4 months to advertise with me. Check out all of the details about it right here.

 

Bring It On July!

• A lot of people in my family have early-mid summer birthdays, and I get to help celebrate with them in various Midwest locations the first week of July.
• There is so much amazing stuff that takes place during the summer! I always think that it will be a great time to get ahead on show inventory for the holidays and catch up on things around the house, but the weekends are way too busy for that. It's a good problem. There is plenty of time for those other activities during the cooler fall months.
• My freelance client loads have been so big lately that I haven't found much energy to get over to HubPages during my spare writing minutes on the computer. This is another good problem. June is the first month that I published less than 4 articles on HubPages since I started writing there over 2 years ago. I don't feel like I owe anyone any apologies. It will still be there when I do have the time to add new content.
• I put together an ambitious set of June through September goals for myself related to selling photography. Aside from not uploading on SmugMug as much as I wanted (largely because the uploads really slow down the internet so I have to remember to set them up while I won't be online), I did well with my June goals. I've been making some changes to my online routine so I can make this a bigger priority for the remainder of the year.
• June was an amazing month of getting out and taking pictures. I had a number of planned excursions as well as some completely unexpected opportunities, which was a great mix. I'm hoping for the same in July.
   

What is going on with your blog and/or business for July?

photo share: Botanical Gardens

Happy July!

Where did June go? Summer always goes way too quickly, but I'm doing my best to enjoy every minute of it. As you know, lately this has included getting out and taking a lot of pictures. I was able to get out to the Boerner Botanical Gardens last month and capture some of the gorgeous colors. Enjoy.

 

Manual focus: If you have an SLR lens with manual focus, I highly urge you to try it and experiment with blurred vs. focused shots. I cannot get enough of these blurred shots lately as well as the general range of possibilities that manual focus offers.

Some of these blurred floral shots remind me of paintings. For those of us who have very limited painting skills (like me), it's really amazing to achieve this kind of effect through photography.

Stay tuned tomorrow for my monthly top commenters and news post!