Guest Post from Sarah of One Chance

Today's guest post comes from one of my newest friends, Sarah from One Chance.  I met Sarah through Emily a few years ago, but we've just recently gotten closer through our mutual interest in blogging.  Sarah is an amazing photographer.  I am always in awe of the pictures she takes and shares on her blog.  She truly has an eye for capturing the little everyday moments and making them come to new life through her lens.  I was so happy to see she decided to share some photography resources she utilizes because she is definitely one to learn from!

Hello everyone! I'm Sarah and I blog over at One Chance I can also be found here photographing semi-regular OOTD collaborations. I was thrilled when Kassie asked me to guest post for her while she and Jason are living it up on their trip to the Pacific Northwest. I hope you'll enjoy reading some of my favorite resources for photographers.

My interest in photography really peaked in high school in yearbook class and in college I was fortunate to be able to minor in photography. Learning to shoot film was pivotal in my understanding of the camera. It forced me to get out of my comfort zone, step away from auto and really learn the process for shooting in manual. If you have the opportunity, I can't recommend taking a film photography class enough. A lot of photography classes come with a lengthy list of prerequisites that, unfortunately, may make taking a class unattainable. Luckily, the internet is a great supplement and I am going to link you to some of my favorite photography resources. 

Intro to photography final - July 2010

Jasmine Star
Jasmine is a great resource for photography tips, although she is a wedding photographer, the tips she shares easily transcend a specific genre of photography. If you read any of the tips listed below, I urge you to start with Jasmine's! 1. How to shoot in manual 2. The benefits of using prime lenses  3. How to photograph with wide apertures

Melissa Jill
Melissa is a wedding photographer based out of Arizona and like Jasmine, she loves to share her knowledge of photography. Here is a link to her blog featuring her photographer resources.

July 2013

A Beautiful Mess
I love their photography section because the girls tailor their tips to a non-professional audience. A few of my favorites are photographing with backlight & sunflare, tips for lifestyle photography, tips for outdoor photography.

Delightfully Tacky
Elizabeth is a fast favorite for inspiration and she offers a ton of tips and how to's for those interested in photography. Self Portraits - This resource is one that I keep returning to. It is chock full of tips and how to's, it definitely pushed me to think differently when behind the camera. Camera vs Lens - This post is a great point of reference for those looking to but their first dslr or lens.

Creative Live
This online resource streams live courses online that are taught by top-notch photographers. You can watch live for free or purchase a course after the original air date.  Watch their calendar for topics that might interest you.

August 2013

I hope you enjoyed these links, as they have helped me learn a lot along the way and I continuously look to them for inspiration. Be sure to leave your favorite resources in the comments!

Guest Post from Esther of Today Is My Favorite

Happy Friday!  Today I bring you a beautiful little post from one of my lifelong friends and cousin, Esther of Today Is My Favorite.  I've always been a little envious of Esther's constant optimism, supreme organizational habits and charming way with words.  She is the most graceful of artists and rightfully received her degree in Creative Writing at Stephen F. Austin State University in her hometown of Nacogdoches.  She is one of the most uplifting people I have ever encountered, and I feel so lucky to be able to call her family and even more so, a best friend.

Like Kassie, I work in hospitality, and frequently my “Mondays” and “Fridays” are not the same as everyone else’s.  I work at a Summer Camp and Retreat center, and, in the Summer especially, I don’t even pay attention to what day of the week it is, it’s just Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, etc.  I always know when it’s Friday, though, because, every Friday at 9:45 am, my phone sends me a reminder that says “Chickens!”

Just three minutes down the road from Camp Tejas, where I work, is a charming little farm complete with Chickens.  The owner of this farm is only there on weekends and holidays, so he’s asked a few of us at camp to take care of his chickens on the days when he’s not there.  In exhange for cleaning out the coop and feeding the 17 chickens, we get to gather the eggs.

Friday morning is my time to take care of the chickens, my happy time, the one thing in my week that is truly consistent:  I show up, the chickens greet me at one side of their run, follow me along the fenceline, and rush into their coop as I open the door.  I really think they actually miss me when I’m not there.

Okay, maybe they just want their food…

I grew up in the country.  My family moved around a lot, but most of the time, we were at addresses that didn’t even exist according to most GPS systems.  Despite living in the country, though, I don’t have much of the practical knowledge that you would expect someone to gain from country life.  I sure do know the value of garden vegetables that come out of your backyard, and farm fresh eggs, but if you asked me to produce those garden vegetables or take good care of the chickens who produce the eggs, I wouldn’t know the first thing about how to do that.  My parents and little sister were the true country folks.

Stepping out on a limb and offering to take care of the chickens down the road was exactly what I needed .  Just the little actions of gathering the eggs, scraping and washing the coop’s concrete floor, and feeding the chickens have taught me so much about what I am capable of.

When my parents had chickens, I was terrified to go into the coop.

Last Friday, I successfully coaxed a “broody” hen out of her nesting box, and retrieved the 10 or so eggs that were underneath her.

I may have been a little afraid that she would fly in my face in her fury, and she may have, in reality, gone calmly to eat with the other chickens, but, regardless of whether my fear was grounded or not, I conquered it!

I’m a big-picture person - I see things in terms of years, future possibilities, and eventual outcomes.  Sometimes it’s hard for me to sit back and just participate in a moment without analyzing it.  But, when I’m taking care of the chickens, that’s all I’m doing - spending a slice of my Friday morning taking care of the chickens.  There is no big picture for me to look at while I’m adjusting the spray strength on the hose to wash out the coop, or filling the feeders.  There are no far-reaching outcomes of my small actions on Friday morning, and I’ll be performing those same small actions next Friday morning, also with no far-reaching outcome.  The chickens' lives will not develop new future possibilities because I fed them and cleaned their coop on a Friday morning.

I so often fail to see the big picture going on in my own life because I‘m hyper-aware of the one going on all around me.  While I’m performing these seemingly trivial tasks, though, there is a big-picture change happening in me, and I can see it.

For that, I am grateful.

Guest Post from Emily of Brown Eyed Girl

Today, Jason and I are on a plane to the first stop of our Pacific Northwest adventure - Seattle!  After a couple of days in Seattle, we are going to trek down to Portland and then down PCH 101 to the fabulously colorful city of San Francisco!  I simply can't wait to share our experiences with you all as soon as we return, but for now, I've lined up some posts to keep you interested while I'm away.  Throughout the month of September, I will be participating in Blogtember, a series of post prompts thoughtfully created by Jenni from Story of My Life so you will be seeing a few of those over the next week, in addition to some guest posts from my lovely blogging besties.

Today, I'm so excited to start things off with my dear friend Emily from Brown Eyed Girl, who will be sharing one of her favorite Houston restaurants with you!  Although we met in college, Emily and I are both from North Houston and have lots of pride for the city we call home.  Many people don't know about all of the fun, cultural aspects of Houston, so I was really happy when Emily told me she would be writing about a popular Houston eatery.  Emily is fairly new to blogging, but has already accomplished so much in just a few months!  I am thrilled to have her here as a guest blogger, so I'll shut up now and let her take it away.

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Hi there, I'm Emily and I'm so excited to be guest posting for Kassie today! I've known Kassie since we were freshman in college and I'm so glad to still call her a best friend, despite having graduated and moved to different cities. I have really enjoyed reading Kassie's blog over the last couple years, and that was a big part of my motivation to start my own blog.

I wasn't sure what to post about when Kass first asked me, then I thought what better than food? We all love to eat so I figured I couldn't go wrong with that! I'm bringing y'all a review of one of my favorite Houston restaurants, Niko Niko's.

Niko Niko's is located in the Montrose area and has been there for years. I remember going as a child when the building could barely hold 20 people. It's grown now but the food is still just as good! My personal favorite dish is the spanikopita platter and I order it every single time.

Most of the meals come with a Greek salad that's pretty darn delicious. I opted for the regular salad and my mom went for the farmer's salad.

After the salads came the main entrees and we had some excellent options. I always order the spanikopita but after taking a good look at my dad's gyro (pronounced your-oh) I think I might actually try that next time. My brother got the stuffed grape leaves, which he swears are the best.

I didn't manage to get a great picture of my dad's gyro (I have a thing against flash) but basically a gyro is a pita bread stuffed with lamb, chicken or gyro meat and some veggies and topped with tzaziki sauce. It's a little bit of amazingness all wrapped up and I highly recommend it!

Sometimes when we go to Niko Niko's we end our meal with either some loukoumades or baklava (or usually both). This particular night we didn't, although I did sneak a longer-than-necessary peek at all the bakery goodness.

Doesn't that look delicious? It is, so if you're in the Houston area you should give Niko Niko's a try ;) Thanks for indulging me, and thanks to Kass for having me!