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Hello! I'm Suzannah, a serious DIYer and mom of two little ones. Follow along with my DIY fixer upper house renovations, sewing and crafty projects, real food recipes, and de-stressing goals.
I believe you can love your home just the way it is, AND have the power to design and make big changes to make it better.
I'm also the author of DIY Wardrobe Makeovers!

Photography workshop recap--Portland Bloggers' August event. Plus, How to Wear DIY!

Finally sharing pics with you from the Portland Bloggers August event. I am so excited to be part of this group and love the great people I've been meeting through it, and all the stuff I've been learning!

The August event was particularly educational and informative. It was a photography workshop, with lessons/tips/practice sessions led by two local photographers--but of course, as always, there were plenty of cute treats and extras put together by the talented Jenni of A Well-Crafted Party.

How about these little notebooks Jenni made...

And, no Portland Bloggers event is complete without prizes!! These beautiful jewelry pieces were provided by Dijana's Designs, a Portland-based Etsy shop of jewelry and pretties... talk about good photography--very pretty lookbooks and such shown on Dijana's Facebook page!


Our first guest speaker was Becky of Studio 623 Photography, who shared some simple tips with us for switching from automatic to manual or AV mode on our cameras. Becky has been a portrait and wedding photographer for quite a few years now and I was so excited to hear her tips for photographing in tricky lighting, like full sun. And I learned a few extras--how to set the focus point in your camera, and how to adjust the viewer to correct for bad vision!

Our next speaker was Macey of Motormouth Studios--Macey is a portrait photographer who also does a lot of iPhone photography and Instagram-ing, and actually sells her Instagrams on Etsy. Macey talked about how to get the best photos out of your smart phone, and about good apps available for editing etc.

Then we went outside to practice! We each had a partner and practiced the tips we'd learned. I love my 50mm lens that lets me get a great blurry background portrait look, and Megan of The Boho Mama and I played around with outfit photos! Here she is...

Oh, and How to Wear DIY--of course! I wore the Kate Spade-inspired navy twill dress I made not long ago, dressed down a little with my fave denim jacket and a bright necklace. Megan took these photos of me following Becky's lessons!
 

We played around with different settings... like white balance! 
 
Jean jacket: Nordstrom Rack (similar). Necklace: Forever 21. Belt: Charlotte Russe.
Watch: American Eagle. Shoes: Me Too, Marshall's. Dress: DIY, posted here!

I love meeting other local bloggers, and of course I have to show off what I do on my blog--hence the DIY outfit! =) Thanks to Megan for the photos, and thanks to all the Portland bloggers who showed up and helped out! If you're local, hope to see you next time!

12 comments

  1. I wish there was something like this where I live - it would be a great way to meet other bloggers and learn some new techniques.

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    1. Yes, it is awesome for that! You can always start one... ;) even if it's just a few people to begin with!

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  2. It was fun to meet you in person :)
    I have been totally practicing my new photography knowledge. Haven't put the camera back to the auto setting once!

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    1. You, too! That's awesome, congrats! I loooove AV mode too!

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  3. Great pictures from the event! It was fun "playing" around with your camera and I've been perfecting my little point & shoot with some better results. Looking forward to seeing you at the next one...OR a girls night out ;)Happy Weekend!

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    1. Thanks! Glad you were able to learn some things, and will definitely see you soon!! =)

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  4. I love the pictures! I must start searching for a photography class in my town as well! Sewing stylish is one thing but you have to have good photos to show it as well. I really can use some improvement on that regard :)
    cheers!
    irem
    http://sewingyourstyle.tumblr.com

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    1. It's SO true. My first photos of dresses I'd made, etc. were AWFUL!! It is so important to show off your hard work with photos that do it justice. There are some great photography courses online you could try, too! Or the local community college?

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  5. First off, this dress that you're wearing, I just got this from Kate Spade this past Friday. The fact you were able to make a similar one os just pure talent in my book. I have to spend more than what I wanted to spend on a dress. I had to have it because its name is Talitha which is my name!!! I wish I had your talent!! Congrats:)
    Also thanks for posting this blogger event. It inspires me to have my own for Chicago!
    If you have time please check out some of my looks on BestTrendsForever.com!!

    XOXO

    Ty

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    1. Oh, that's so cool! Yes I had fun making that one, it's a simple dress style but done well it's very elegant!

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  6. Anonymous9/10/2012

    love the dress and the shoes!

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  7. So fun! Thanks for including me!

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