GIVEAWAY!! - Bella Pop Photography

One of my proudest in-progress accomplishments this past year is learning to take better photographs (yes, you can have an in-progress accomplishment, look it up (no, don't)). I was never a huge picture-taker before, but I'm completely hooked now!

I also know how frustrating it can be to feel like your photos aren't matching your vision, so today I'm so excited to offer you lovely insideways readers the chance to win $60 towards a Bella Pop Online Photography Class!



A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to take the Bella Pop Shooting in Manual class and I LOVED it. I can personally vouch that these classes are high quality, totally manageable if you have a busy schedule, and super fun. FYI, you don't need a fancy camera to take a Bella Pop class - they even offer a Point and Shoot: Creative Basics for Any Camera class!



Let's get down to business...

How to Enter: Check out Bella Pop's classes and leave a comment saying which class you'd like to take.
Additional Entry (optional): Tweet about this giveaway, then come back and leave a comment telling me you did. If you need help thinking of what to say you can use, "I'm crossing my fingers to win the photography class giveaway @jeneralisation is hosting at insideways! http://www.insideways.com/2012/04/giveaway-bella-pop-photography.html"

Rules and Regs
1. This giveaway is only open to US citizens - sorry international readers, legal trickiness :(
2. You have to be 18 years or older to enter
3. Only one entry and additional entry per person please
4. One (1) winner will receive a $60 US credit towards a Bella Pop Online Photography Class
5. This giveaway ends on Friday, April 6, 2012 at 11:00PST and the winner will be announced/contacted shortly
6. The winner will be chosen randomly via Random.org

Good luck!

Must Try: Bella Pop Photography Classes

You know why blogging is awesome? Because it connects you with awesome people. Case and point: Brandy from Bella Pop sent me an email a couple of months ago asking if I'd like to be in her "test class" for her new online Shooting in Manual Photography Class. Um... Yes!!

So here's the deal (for full disclosure), Brandy has several new photography classes, but she invited a little group of bloggers to be in her Shooting in Manual - Photo 101 test class in exchange for our feedback. Well my friends, Brandy is the real deal and so are her classes.

First of all, she's totally sweet and funny so learning from her is fun. Even all of the technical parts of learning to shoot in manual (ISO, aperture, shutter speed, etc) felt fresh and relevant!

Shooting in Manual - Photo 101 last for four weeks. Each week Brandy posts a new lesson full of really clear instruction via text and video. I found her videos especially helpful and a nice change of pace from classes where you just have to read a bunch. At the end of every lesson there is a small photo homework assignment that relates to the session topic. I don't know about you, but homework keeps me on track - so important. Does that make me a nerd? I don't care... :)

Anywho, you upload your homework to a private facebook page where you 1) get individual feed back from Brandy herself and 2) get to see the photos and feedback from your classmates! I learned a LOT from the facebook group, and Brandy's feedback was so so valuable.

So here's my recommendation: this is a super excellent class for anyone who wants to take their DSLR camera from auto to manual. (PS that's exactly when the photo magic starts.) By the end of four weeks you'll have all of the basic tools you need to start taking charge of how your photos look! Trust me, you're smarter than your camera, so don't let it tell you how to take photos for long ;).

If you're comfortable with manual, definitely look into other Bella Pop classes - I'm positive their worth the investment too. For those of you not interested in photography classes, be sure to at least check out the Bella Pop blog. It's chock full of adorable photos and great photography tips.

A huge thanks to Brandy for sharing this course with me: THANKS!!!!

Collected Random Announcements

There's a part of me that always feels a little guilty writing posts like this. No big theme, tutorial, or tips, just a bunch of little things I wanted to tell you - I hope that's ok and at least some of you enjoy reading this :)

insideways is now on Facebook!

I was nervous about adding insidways to Facebook for a long time (I don't really know why), but I finally decided to just do it! I'll be posting links to all insideways posts, but I'm also excited to start sharing in progress photos and status updates. I'm also thinking this will be a nice place to share links to other or interesting blog posts I see. It would make me feel very very special if you wanted to hop on over to Facebook and like the insideways page. Be my Facebook friend?

Much to my surprise and honor, Georgia from More Like Home gave me the Liebster Blog award last week! What a crazy huge sweetheart right? Thank you Georgia!! Now I have to admit two things 1) I think I'm technically not qualified for this award - oh well too late now :) and 2) I actually got this award once before and didn't do anything with it. I'll admit, sometimes I feel really intimidated by these things, oops.

When you win the award, there are a few rules to follow:

1.) Thank your Liebster Blog Award presenter on your blog.

2.) Link back to the blogger who presented the award to you.

3.) Copy and paste the blog award on your blog.

4.) Present the Liebster Blog Award to 5 blogs of 200 followers or less who you feel deserves it.

5.) Let them know they have been chosen by leaving a comment on their blog.

So here's the thing, I don't really know who has how many followers yada yada, but I wanted to share 3 amazing blogs with you that might be under your radar. So apparently I'm thoroughly breaking rule 4. Another oops.

Here they are!!!

K. - I'm so so so glad I found this blog and I've never seen 

anything like it before. Just trust me and go check it out :)

Salvaged Spaces - Leslie and Pete have THE COOLEST 

projects that they post all the time - such good DIY porn ;)

Scribbles and Such - Katie is just so crazy super sweet and 

writes the super sweetest blog ever.

GIVEAWAY

Don't forget to enter the Bella Pop Photography giveaway here on insideways. You have until Friday, but don't wait!

Giveaway Winner!!

Hello hello! I hope you're having (or had) a very wonderful Sunday. I let Maggie venture onto our porch for a few minutes and I think she fell in love.



We have a winner for the Bella Pop giveaway wooo!!!

Congratulations Cate! I'll be contacting you shortly with the details.



To everyone else, hope you had a few moments to relax in your special sunny spot today!