Back in focus

Confession time: I've feeling iffy on my Nikon DSLR camera for the last few months. Most of it is because with my model, the focus options  were really out of place on most of the settings I tried, making most of my photos pretty blurry. After spending lots of time trying to sharpen and correct a bunch of outfit photos, I was pretty much ready to call it quits on my camera and just go back to the point-and-shoot, thinking the problem was that my photography skills had disintegrated over the last few months. Turns out, the focus feature is a common problem with my model, and after finding a few how-to hacks to the settings, I think I am back in business! It's always rewarding to see photos reflect reality.

I've wanted to wear this outfit for months. It's bright and academic-ish, and perfect for campus and work. 

credits- dress, nine west | blouse, vintage thrift find | shoes, talbots | bag, stone mountain, thrift find | pocket watch necklace, waltham, heirloom.

Real self vs. Blog self

So lately more people in my graduate program are finding out about my blog. I'm in a program where social media skills are a huge asset to classwork and to professional experience, and sometimes we talk about blogging in class, so sometimes I mention my blog and my experiences in the fashion blogging community. When I started graduate school, I originally thought I'd keep this hobby under wraps -- after all, it seems to be a common theme in fashion blogging to be discreet with real-life companions because fashion can sometimes be seen as too trivial or shallow or narcissistic in professional settings (okay, maybe these were most of my fears about sharing within my academic circle, all fears that I'm slowly trying to quell).

Blogging has become a big deal in my program and in the industry, and we talk quite a bit about personal branding and online identities in class, and it's interesting because the blogosphere always deals with these themes. 

My real, tangible identity and blog identity are merging as more of my professors and fellow graduate classmates find out about this blog. I'm not quite sure how I feel about it -- it's a bit relieving to finally feel like I can open up about my hobby, but a bit unnerving that I now know more of my audience in real life. It's also made me hyper-conscious of these identities I've balanced for the last couple years, and whether it's possible to really portray more reality on a blog, and whether identity really matters.

I guess what I'm trying to say is: If you're my classmate or my professor, hi, welcome. I take photos of my outfits in front of pretty landscapes and sometimes wonder (navel-gaze) too much about  existential blogging identity issues.

I've written before about online identity and online relationships, but I wonder how many of you have dealt with sharing your blog experiences with your real-life friends/family/work? If you have shared with others in your real life, what made you choose to do so?

credits- sweater, skirt: talbots | shirt: arizona jeans co, thrifted | boots: tj maxx | watch: waltham, vintage, heirloom.

P.S. Speaking of online behavior, my class is researching social media. If you have a few moments to take our short survey, we'd love your insights!

Last breath of summer

I've gotten way behind with my photos from late summer that the only way to move forward with blogging is to  do a giant post of all of them now, and move onto real-time writing. So here they are,  not in order, the last of my summer outfits. Most of these were taken right before Jeremiah's move to NYC, so I was way too busy packing/studying for class to be bothered too much with thinking about clothes or photography. 

One interesting thing about these photos is how my bangs' length changes. They're so long now that I'm itching to get them cut into short, razor-fine wisps again soon...

The trials of photo-taking in public places

Dress: Giorgio Kauten, thrifted; Sweater: Loft; 

Watch necklace: Waltham pocket watch, heirloom (read story here);

Boots, tights: Target.

It had been raining for a week straight here, so over the weekend I was determined to take sunrise photos on Sunday, early time and chilly temperatures be damned. When I drove close to my usual park, I saw that police had cordoned the stretch of highway my park was at to let a mass of cyclists ride on the road. I thought the cyclists were part of a trial run for an upcoming bike race that's in Athens every spring, so I decided to wait another hour or so and I would try to get into my park at another entrance.

A while later, I enter my park from another entrance, and though there are police cars nearby, I have no problem getting into the parking lot and driving down the lane to the park. I'm not doing anything wrong at all, I thought, and look there are other people here early this morning too!

And there were. Lots of them. Running. And some in bathing suits. Bathing suits?

The two situations were not isolated. The cyclists and the runners were part of one big event, and somehow I had managed to drive right onto the course for a triathlon. I drove through a triathlon. 

When I got to the parking lot, I was soon trapped because the runners were using the only way out of the park as the course, and I didn't want to screw up their running times by driving on the course again. So I quietly went into the park, shot some photos. And while there, I found out from a nice girl in the parking lot it was the first time there was a triathlon of this kind in town, which may explain why there were no signs around the park publicizing it.  Then I sat in my car very awkwardly for 30 minutes until I could exit the course without running any errant joggers over with my car. All the while thinking that I had probably gone insane, going through all of this trouble on a weekend to snap the two photos above. 

I am sure there are many lessons here, and they may involve checking park schedules and knowing that a public place, no matter how many times you may visit it, never really belongs to you and can be converted on a whim to suit public needs. And uh, being sane enough to know when to sleep in.

I actually  have had this vintage Giorgio Kauten dress for a couple years, and have only worn it a couple times. Any ideas of how to style mint green? Here's how I've worn this dress before:

Back at my old farm park location a couple years ago.


Have you had any awkward photo-taking experiences? This was just one of many for me.

The conspiracies of nature

Blouse: Banana Republic; Shorts: American Eagle; 

Belt: from camp a million years ago; Sandals: Tevas:

Pocket watch (converted as necklace): Waltham; Headband: from Philippines. 

The change in weather coincided with an uptick in academic work, all of which made the goodbye to summer extra cruel last weekend. Summer lingers for a month and a half longer here in the South until well into October, but a shift happened here that I think only Mother Nature knew about herself, and so we're experiencing fall temperatures like everyone else. I wore this outfit last weekend, but now I'm actually breaking out sweaters and jeans, and the experience is a little bewildering.

I had a major project due at the beginning of this week (a 40-minute presentation on Facebook marketing, in case any of you social media-philes were interested), so unfortunately, my poor camera remained neglected for a few days. I'm still trying to figure out balancing my hobbies against my academic life, so that I don't feel like a prisoner breaking free every time I don't have readings or papers.  It's been hard, but I think I've managed a better sleep schedule so I can have more of my beloved sunrise sojourns during the week.

Happy weekend! What are your plans? Football season is beginning its stronghold here in my Georgia town, so I'll be tailgating tomorrow with Jeremiah and my family. Outdoor picnics are always a nice interlude away from the books ...

Murmur

 Dress: vintage, thrifted; Sweater, boots: LOFT; 

Tights: Simply Vera; Pocket watch necklace: Waltham.

 Photos of me by Jeremiah.

One of my favorite things about Athens is the amount of cool places to take photos. Sunday was a great day because Jeremiah and I finally took photos in one my favorite sites, the Murmur trestle.

It's an old railroad trestle that's deteriorated inside of one of the town's parks, and it's so dilapidated that it leads to nowhere. It's kind of a stark contrast to the natural tranquility of the park, and it's a reminder of Athens' historical roots. It became well-known back in the 1980s when REM used it on the cover of their "Murmur" album. REM hails from Athens, and the band used a lot of local sites for their musical projects (the church steeple, which I've featured here before, is where they played their first show; and the Georgia Theatre is a place where they filmed and played a lot of their shows).

Just about every year, there are talks of razing the steeple and the trestle, because of their deterioration and lack of public funds to maintain them. Because of this, I have tried to make a concerted effort to take photos at each place, because they really are quirky little pieces of music history in this town.

I repeated my birthday outfit this weekend when I failed to take photos of it on my actual day. This vintage dress was one of the reasons I broke the 30 for 30 Challenge shopping ban (and at $3, I wasn't upset about it).  Its print reminds me of the photoshoot in the cotton field. It was a really cloudy day on Sunday, but I love that Jeremiah was able to capture these photos -- the color setting is a little off because of the grey day, but its appearance gives them a bit of a haunting quality, perhaps?


So obviously, I've got a fondness for the music scene/history of this city. What's your favorite interesting piece of trivia about your town? 

In the shadows of tall buildings

Coat: H&M; Tights: Simply Vera; 

Boots: Target; Necklace: Waltham pocket watch.

Thank you so much for your nice comments and messages on my birthday -- they really helped make my day special. It has been a fantastic couple of days, full of good food and family and some shopping. I felt very lucky and grateful through the whole day.

I didn't manage to take any photos the last couple of days, but these are from last week when there was still quite a bit of snow on UGA's campus. I thought it was a great juxtaposition to the photos I had only taken a few days before that.

The last week has been really rough for me and writing. With the snowstorm, my birthday, a longer work schedule and keeping up with grad school stuff, I've been pretty busy. I should be back to my normal posting schedule next week -- and I've got some birthday treats to show you all!

Hope you have a great weekend!

January's tides call for home

 Dress: Arlene Airess, thrifted; Tights: Target;

Sweater (underneath) and boots: Loft;

Jacket: Aeropostale; Pocket watch: Waltham.

These photos were taken before Snowmageddon (Snowpocalypse? Ehh), so no fluffy precipitation here. Because of the cold weather and the holidays, this past weekend was the first time I've been able to go take photos in the morning at my beach. As much I might experiment and try new locations, one of the reasons I always come back to this spot is because of the reflections in the lake. I haven't worn my Arlene Airess prairie dress since fall, and it felt like time to try again by toughening it up with my anorak and my lace-up boots.

How are you styling your warmer-season clothes in winter weather? 

Some ways I've remixed this dress before:

What remains when the hours pass

 Striped sweater: Ralph Lauren; Floral blouse: LOFT;

Wool pants: J. McLaughlin, salvaged from Aunt P.;

Pocket watch (as necklace): Waltham; 

Stone bracelet: gift from Marilou; Jade & cougar bracelets: 

Finder's Keepers store, vintage; Boots: Target.

On Saturday, when almost everyone in town was at the big basketball game, I had some time to explore my alma mater's campus and take photos by one of my favorite buildings, the chapel. The weather was relatively nice, though super windy, so I took the opportunity to take more pictures than I normally would in a really open public area. I also tried some more pattern-mixing with my new LOFT blouse and sweater -- for whatever reason, the stripes from this sweater really lend themselves well to experimentation. I also tried some skinny pants, which I've never done before, and I love this wool variety that I got from Jeremiah's aunt. This silhouette is much different from what I usually go for, but I really like it.

Some of my other blog features are going to start this week! I've decided I want to start sharing more of things I like -- some inspiration pieces, movie reviews, etc. but almost all of it will be style-related.

Anyways, today's a snow day throughout most of northeast Georgia, so I'm going to go out and play for awhile ...

The duck whisperer

 Dress (as skirt): J. Crew; Sweater: LOFT; Boots, tights: Target;

Poncho (as scarf): Burlington Coat Factory; Leaf brooch: thrifted; 

Belt: from Boy Scout camp (when I worked there);

Pocket watch necklace: Waltham, gift.

Shop similar: Dress, scarf, brooch, necklace.

Outfit 22 in the 30 for 30 Remix Challenge. I could tell you about this outfit, and how every piece comes from a different stage in my life, and that I am such a sentimentalist about them. How I like how natural the colors are in each piece and how they align well with the scenery behind me. Blah, blah, nostalgia. Blah, blah, tree hippie.

What I'm actually excited about is my fashionable fowl of a friend up there. Please note the duck -- it's already made an appearance on the blog before.  It must have recognized me again, because it showed up in half my photos, and followed me from the beach to the dock. When I got to the dock and realized the duck was close by and getting (wanting to be?) in the shots, I actually said out loud, "Hold still. Let me take your picture." And it did stop, and that's the portrait you see above.

You guys, I might have a gift here -- the uncanny ability to talk to ducks. Like Harry Potter and snakes, or Jennifer Love Hewitt and the underworld. Our national nightmare of not understanding our bird friends may soon be over. We may finally know why they prefer regular white bread to ciabatta, how they manage to look calm with their legs kicking furiously underwater, and why Donald Duck wears a shirt and no pants.


It'll be hard, but I'll try not to quit my day job.