New fun toys! {the homespun life – photography; embroidery; sewing}

It’s been almost like Christmas around here lately! The hubby and I both celebrate our birthdays in August and our wedding anniversary is in July, so the summer season in our household is always showered in gifts. This year was no exception. Remember my gorgeous antique singer sewing machine? Well I finally got it back to working order about a month ago, and to celebrate the hubby got me a gorgeous cast iron treadle table and a lovely all-wood antique sewing box that is now home to my embroidery floss and tools.

I was thrilled to come home and find these antique beauties! But it got even better a few weeks later when my birthday gift arrived: a brand new lens for my beloved Canon! I’ve been needing a zoom lens for portraiture (my wide angles are no help in that department), and the new one is a perfect multi-purpose lens. I’ve already found it to be useful in all sorts of different contexts:

I even took it with me last week on my photo shoot with Kay Harmon Photography and got some great shots! Needless to say, I’m head over heels for both the hubby and this wonderful lens. I’ve also got a 5-in-1 reflector coming my way, so be on the lookout for more portrait shoots showing up here in the next few months. I’m so excited! And speaking of portrait shoots, if you live in the Houston, DFW, Austin, or San Antonio areas (or anywhere in between), check out my new portraits section – I’m looking for volunteers to help me build my portfolio, and there’s a lot of freebies in it for you if you want to join the fun!

University of Notre Dame: A Springtime Photo Shoot: {The Homespun Life Fine Art Photography}

As many of you know, the hubby and I will be saying farewell to South Bend in just a few short weeks. There isn’t much about the town that we’re going to miss (besides good friends and the wonderful Red Purl!), but we are going to be sad to leave the beautiful campus at Notre Dame. We took advantage of gorgeous sunny weather today to wander about and enjoy the lovely spring blooms starting to appear, and I snapped a few shots. Boy, did it feel good to take the camera out again!

Photography Book Review: The A-Z of Creative Photography

Recently, while browsing the Art section of Book People in Austin, TX, I came across the perfect Christmas gift for a good friend of mine. She’s a budding photographer, and I was hoping to find some sort of book that might provide inspiration for her artistic endeavors. What I found was something much, much better. So much better, in fact, that I ended up buying a second copy for myself.

What I found was Lee Frost‘s The A-Z of Creative Photography.