Ha! How many of you clicked over thinking I’m announcing T2? Sorry kids, it’s not time yet.

My big secret?
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I’ve given up on trying to take my photos on the assigned day. Instead I’d rather focus on using the photos as prompts and trying to do something (somewhat) interesting. I took the first three all on the same day because my weekend was so packed I didn’t have time to sit down and create something good. And the last four were taken yesterday because the sky was finally nice and sunny, giving me much better light in my apartment.

Day 15: Silhouette

I thought maybe taking the picture in front of the tree would make this more visually interesting? And I ended up flipping my hair because I couldn’t figure out how else to pose.

ISO 250

50mm

f/3.5

1/200

Day 16: Long Exposure

I loved this prompt because it gave me the push I needed to finally try out light painting! Very fun too. I commented on Twitter that if we taught kids how to do this, I think they’d stay away from drugs and graffiti because I promise you, running around painting with your cell phone and attempting to pose is much more fun than ruining pretty buildings. I did this by using bulb mode, using a wireless trigger to open the shutter, using my iphone to paint my name (backwards with my left hand, mind you), sitting on the couch, triggering the flash, and then using the remote to close the shutter again.

ISO 125

35mm

f/4.0

32 sec

Day 17: Technology

For this day I decided I wanted to take a page from Ryan Brenizer’s book and use only my cell phone to light the shot. This shot is a little view into my life too, as I always have my cell phone on me and I’m constantly checking it for emails, texts, or tweets.

ISO 1250

35mm

4/2.5

.4 sec

Day 18: Your Shoes

Whenever we leave the entryway closet door open, T1 is there, pulling our shoes out and trying them on. He’s getting pretty good at walking in my high heels.

ISO 320

50mm

f/2.2

1/400

Day 19: Orange

I have a shot of this carrot soup that’s more isolated, but I liked this one where I pulled back and demonstrated what it’s often like for a mom with a toddler trying to do just about anything. T1 has learned how to pull the dining room chairs out so he can climb up on the table, which means if I want to get a picture, I better do it quick.

ISO 320

50mm

f/3.2

1/200

Day 20: Bokeh

I picked up some free Christmas lights at our ward swap meet, and so I thought I’d use them for the bokeh shot. I had this picture in mind when I thought of the T1+Christmas lights idea, but once I started shooting I remembered that to get bokeh you need distance between your subject and the “bokeh generator” (haha, not sure what else to call it) so instead I piled them on the couch and had T1 lay some distance in front of them.

ISO 2500

50mm

f/1.4

1/200

 

Day 21: Faceless self-portrait

I was going for some sort of “mom playing with her baby” faceless portrait, but this ended up being my favorite one. This one meets the rules a little bit better, but I don’t like it as much.

ISO 800

35mm

f/4.0

1/320

Just over a week to go! If you haven’t been taking pictures on the day they are assigned, be like me, just take them when you can. It’s fun to look at the prompt and dream of interesting ways I can create a photo around them.

Pinterest is awesome, but how do you know which recipes are any good? I had an idea how we can sort through the duds… a collaborative recipe board! Go here and see the recipes I’m loving lately, and what changes I would recommend.

Like this carrot soup from Eat Live Run. I think the changes I made are a must try. I’ll blog the process the whole recipe some day, but for now, check out my pin for the changes I made.

Would you like to join me as a collaborator on this board? Remember this isn’t a board for repinning things that just look delicious or pretty, I want to see recipes you’ve actually used and loved! That way I can make them and love them too.

If you’d like to be a collaborator I need you to comment below with a link to your Pinterest profile. I will start following one (or all if I like them!) of your boards and once I’m doing that I can invite you to be a collaborator on the group board. This may take some time, but I’ll try to get to it this weekend. Then we can start having fun, swapping recipes!

I’ve been skeptical of mineral makeup. I’ve always used liquid foundation because I think it looks a bit more luminous, and I thought that mineral makeup would just look caked on and unnatural. My mom uses it though, and loves it, and I admit I’ve been curious what it might look like on me. So when Pur Minerals offered up the chance to test out their 5-piece Start Now Kit I was first in line to give it a try.

Instead of prattling on and on about this product, why don’t I just show you a picture? Here I am on the left, absolutely no makeup straight out of the shower. On the right, after 10 minutes in the bathroom. Isn’t that difference amazing? I used the primer, the pressed mineral makeup foundation all over, the mineral glow on my cheekbones, and the impact+ mascara on my eyelashes. The eyeshadow, eyeliner, and lip gloss were items I previously owned.

I still use my liquid foundation sometimes (I don’t want good money to go to waste!) but I find myself preferring the flawless look that the mineral makeup gives me. I plan to always use this when I get my picture taken from now on, because it looks so good, and I would love to have my Jenna Cole clients do so as well. I knew that people loved mineral makeup for the even coverage, but I didn’t realize how much I would love the look. The other bonus? Putting this on feels so fast and easy. Sometimes if I’m in a hurry I skip the primer and just brush on the foundation, a bit of mineral glow, and some mascara. So fast, so easy, and impossible to mess up.

I think if there was anything I don’t like about the product/experience it’s that I think I chose a shade that’s a bit dark for my skin. What do you think based on the picture? Maybe I’m just over-analyzing. You can find Pur Minerals at a variety of retailers, and once we move back to Dallas I plan on dropping in to Ulta and trying the different shades out in person.

Details below for how you can enter to win your own starter kit to see if you love it as much as I do!

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I’m not sure I believe it myself, but somehow I managed to convince over 75 of you to send me your before picture. 75!!! If I manage to collect money from everyone who pledged the $10 AND sent in a picture, the winner of TWLC2 is going to come away from this challenge feeling very, very happy. I don’t want this round to be like last time though, with dozens of people signing up but only a handful sending me a results picture at the end.

The key to lasting change, is going to be vocalizing the changes you want to make right from the get-go. Here are the changes I’m committing to over the next few months:

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