Resources for the Dabbler and Designer, alike

I thought I would do a follow-up post to my How-To post yesterday. I received a comment asking where I go to learn more, and then where someone just starting out, or dabbling in photography and design can go.

To answer the comment I received about where I go to learn more, honestly I just Google any question I personally have. Everything I learned about Blogger HTML was learned online, or by asking other web designers. I am primarily a print designer. I have an undergrad and graduate degree in graphic design (and digital illustration, and some printmaking). My education didn't include much interactive or web design (just because I wasn't that interested in it at the time, and I still have no intention to go full web designer).

But if you are starting out and want to learn some graphic design, and would like to implement it in print or on the web, I can offer some ideas. You obviously have to learn the programs first, in order to create and design. I taught Adobe Illustrator to undergrads when I was a TA. And my favorite books were Adobe's Classroom in a Book. You can find the entire series HERE. I haven't checked them out lately, but when I was using them, they were very visual (a must for the creatively inclined, no?), and they had individual step-by-step lessons. They were a great supplement to my in-class tutorials, and if used alone, can definitely hold their own as a teaching tool for the beginner or dabbler.

Of you are looking for online graphic design help, just Google away. You can probably find what you are looking for just as well as I can. Although I do recommend Adobe's site for specific software tutorials and resources found HERE.

If you have specific intentions of doing blog or basic web design (or even digital scrapbooking), I recommend these sites:

Blog tips and tricks of the trade:
bloggeruniversity.blogspot.com
momswhoblog.blogspot.com
bloggerbuster.com
tricks-for-new-bloggers.blogspot.com

Free stock images and vectors:
Stock Xchange (free stock images and illustrations)
DaFont (free fonts)
Vecteezy (free vectors)
Brusheezy (free brushes for Photoshop)
Fresheezy (free website themes)

Tools that I use on a regular basis as a designer also include the entire Adobe Creative Suite, found HERE. As well as my handy dandy Pantone sets, found HERE (a must if you are doing actual print design for clients). I could, of course, list all the "necessary" books if you are really wanting to study design. But how boring is that. You can look up any college graphic design curriculum for that list. Instead, I'll list interesting design resources that adorn my bookshelves, that I thumb through on a fairly regular basis:
Geometry of Design
Any of the "Index" books by Jim Krause
2 Color Graphics: Unlimited Design Solutions
Forms, Folds, and Sizes
Graphic Artists Guild Handbook (if you are serious about design for profit)

A series I want to own:
Repro Depot's Folk and Flora books:

I just want to end on one note. Typography. There is some serious liberty taken when it comes to typography and blog design and digital scrapbooking. I find myself using curly swirly fonts, and colors like fuchsia. Eeeek! My thesis advisor would be running away screaming. But if you are going to work on anything for a reputable company or client, please oh please do not create anything in Comic Sans, Curlz, Lucida handwriting, or Sand. Stick to the classics. Something in the top 10 of this list:
FONTS

You can find more of my work on my design site (which at the moment is in need of a face lift):

*****

Now, on to photography. I thought I would ask Wes what he thought about the question. And instead of saying "just look online," he said "How about buying a good, old-fashioned BOOK on photography?" :) I asked him to list a few, but we then realized that he would just be listing a school curriculum of books (my same problem). Then he said that if anyone is starting out in photography as a hobby, chances are they have a nice camera that is honestly going to be doing most of the work for them. Although, if you do decide you want to go all manual (like I attempt to do, sometimes unsuccessfully), you will need to purchase a good book on digital photography. Just check out books on Amazon. You can't go wrong. You just need to understand how shutter speed and f-stops all correlate. Not to mention light and composition. Which brings me to Wes's ACTUAL answer to the question:
"A book on 2 dimensional design is the best book that somebody can read—understanding how things translate form a 3D reality to a 2D medium of interpretation. That was the first class they put me in at RIT. It's the smartest thing that anyone could have ever done for me. You need to understand shape, form, color, and composition."

Hmmm. That is the same class I took as an undergrad. Could there be a connection between the two?? ;)

So if you are going to buy one book based on that conversation, here it is:
Principles of 2Dimensional Design

And while you're at it, why not try these:
Principles of Color Design
Principles of form and Design

Of course, there are a myriad digital photography resources online. When I got my Canon 30D, I went to their website to learn some more about my camera. They have an awesome Digital Learning Center. Find it HERE. And if you want to check out Wes's website, and find out if he's really qualified to answer any questions at all, visit him here:

*****

If you have any more questions for me, click my "email me" link in the sidebar, or leave a comment. I will be doing more posts like this in the future. Cheers!

Phone conversation with Wes today:

Wes: "How are you?"

Me: "Good. I got dressed today. And I look really good!"

Wes: "You always look really good."

Me: "Not yesterday."

Wes: "Were you dressed yesterday?"

Me: "In the PJs I slept in the night before. So I wasn't really dressed."

Wes: "Well then you look really good when you're dressed...... And also, you look really good all the time."

Nice save. :)
But still sweet!

How To: #1. Color and sizing adjustments for your blog photos

I get lots of e-mails and comments about my photos. First off, I assure you I am not a "real" photographer. But I am married to one (he's now turning cinematographer, so I have taken up all the photographing lately, seeing as he's been so busy with school). He gives me tips (and a decent camera), and every so often I get lucky. And I thought I would share some of the ways I achieve the effects in my photos in a series of video tutorials. I should tell you that I use Photoshop, and for the most part I go about things the long way. But I like to have control over my photos. It's a graphic designer thing. It's an OCD thing... So if you have ways of coming to the same conclusions that I do in a speedier, less "designery" way, please share for my readers' sakes!

The first video in this installment is on Color Adjustments and Sizing Your Photos for posting. And you can find it HERE. And I have to apologize for the crazy noise in the background at times. Maya was jumping in her exersaucer, and it sounds like she's building a house with her little bare hands. Oh, and apparently I am a Valley Girl. I didn't know it until I was reviewing my video. Great. ;)

To supplement the video, here are some links to products and tips:

• Find the Photoshop family HERE (you can find free trials there, too).

• To turn blogs into books, visit BLURB.

• The cameras I use: Canon 30D
Canon Elph Powershot
Trusty iPhone

• My tutorial on posting larger photos is HERE.

Breath of fresh air

We bundled up and took Finn to the coast to breathe the cool, damp, salty air. It was a good change of pace. Welcome to December!

And thank you all for your comments and e-mails about Finn's croup. The suggestions have been very helpful!

X Ray Day

Disclaimer: This post is going to probably be super boring. It's all about the woes and ailments of the Johnson household right now; To update the family, and add to this little online journal of mine...

Today has been a whopper. Just as Finn seemed to be getting better, he woke up wheezing and coughing and crying last night. All it took was one "My chest hurts" out of Finn, and Wes and I both agreed. Emergency Room. After last year's horrible events, there is no messing around with Finn and his lungs. Last year I wasted time at a pediatrician who failed to give the problem enough attention. And Urgent Care initially landed us with more problems than it did good. So I've learned my lesson when it comes to the ER. I don't care if it means I have to pay my pricey co-pay to get Finn a chest x-ray pronto. I don't care. Anything is better than what he went through last year (what we all went through). Don't ask me why, at the exact same time of year this year, Finn found himself in the ER again. I just hope it's not a holiday tradition! Thankfully this time he had a clear chest X-Ray. He was, however, diagnosed with some serious croup. And a bad cold. And he has the honking cough, hoarse voice, and wheezing to prove it. They prescribed a steroid. Since Finn's lung was so compromised last year, it was important to me to get him on something effective, fast, so that the problem doesn't have the chance to migrate into his chest. Let me tell you something. It was a good thing my mom warned me about the side effects of Prednisone (and steroids in general). Finn has been BOUNCING OFF THE WALLS (well, furniture) for the last 2 hours, sneezing and wheezing as he goes. He's repeating sentences in a giddy frenzy, and trying to launch himself onto my back. WOW. It's intense. Then about 10 minutes ago he sat down on the couch in a dazed crash. I said, "Finn are you sleepy? Do you want to go rest in Mama's bed?" "No! I AWAKE! And I happy." He said this while yawning and trying to smile: poor kiddo

And as I type this, Wes is off to get an MRI on his back. But guess what? A few years ago he got a teensy piece of metal stuck in his eye. Yep! His EYE. So before they can do the MRI, they have to X Ray his head to make sure all of the metal is gone from his eye. That way the metal won't be sucked through his eye and into his brain during the MRI. I am serious. But hopefully this MRI will provide definitive say on what is going on with Wes's back.

So through all of this, at least I seem to be slipping by with only a wee cough. It feels more like a little asthma. Fingers crossed it stays that way. I truly hope that your house is healthier than mine!

Simple Sloppy Joes for dinner. Mmmmmm.



POST EDIT: Sorry for the fuzzy iPhone photos lately. I've been lazy. Wes kindly pointed out that you can actually FOCUS the iPhone by tapping on the item on screen that you want to focus on! Everyone else probably already knew this... Anyhoo, I am going to be doing a series of video tutorials about how I create blog-worthy photos. You know, when I am actually using the real camera that I own. :) And the techniques I use to post multiple photos at once, how to get the simple polaroid look, photo edges, etc. So stay tuned for that!

A Day at the Museum

A couple of weeks ago we went to the Natural History Museum. It was so fantastic! Hardly anyone was there, so we had the run of the place. I can't remember the last time I went to a Natural History Museum, but I had forgotten how much I love the quirkiness of the animal exhibits, the dark and quiet expanse of each Hall. It's not as hot as the Zoo, and the animals are permanently ready for the viewing. My personal favorite was the Hall of North American Mammals. The L.A. Natural History Museum has the youngest full skeleton of a T-Rex on display fighting a Triceratops ("Trirerapops," according to Finn). Needless to say, Finn was in heaven. Then we came home and I mapped out a museum on the wood floor with masking tape. Fun times!

Exhibits.

Fidgets.
(If you could see his face on the left, he's NOT happy about this photo.)

Skeletal.

Nautical.

Textural.

Bringing it home.

Sunday Faces: Sickies and smiles

Maya's got slug boogers. It's super gross. And I can never seem to get to them in time. She sneezes, I scramble for a Kleenex, and by the time I get to her she's sucked them in. To her mouth. GROSS!!! I mean, REALLY GROSS. Poor little angel. She's been so sad and sick. I am a mean mommy for photographing her instead of snuggling her.
Finn and Wes have the same cold, but are coming out of it. Finn has hardly any voice at times, but he has lots of energy and acts like he feels fine. And Wes, well, is just being a trooper, per the usual. Except that he also has a torn disc in his back. And was told not to "bend, twist, or lift" for 4-6 weeks. To which he answered with laughter and disbelief. No twisting? Just try not twisting for an hour. Bet you never knew how much you twist! So even though he's been home all week, he's been trying to take it s-u-p-e-r easy. We had a very low key Thanksgiving. All trips were canceled. But we got to spend an entire week in each others company, which is a rarity. Tonight Finn kept Dad company while he reclined and I documented. :)

Happy Sunday!

Thankful

Wes's family has a nice tradition of going 'round the table on Thanksgiving and saying what they are thankful for. I love this idea. So this year, since we are doing Thanksgiving with just our little family, I thought I would post what I am most thankful for. I, of course, have much to be thankful for. But most of all, the thing that comes to mind repeatedly, is that I have a happy healthy Finn this Thanksgiving. Last year, and it's hard to even "go there," Finn was days away from having to be hospitalized and undergoing surgery. I didn't know that was going to happen. I just knew that he was starting to get very sick. (If you want to know the whole story, revisit November and December of last year in my archives. I won't be, however!) So this year we all may have a few sniffles, but Finn is a smiling, running, roaring, pretending, recovered little big boy. And I am most thankful that he is here to celebrate Thanksgiving with us this year. And for all the years to come. I love you, my little turkey!

A little "In The Buff" reading on a lazy day.

Westache

This is why I love Wes. Because he can send me this photo, with a dead-pan expression of complete seriousness. All of you should know that Wes DOES NOT sport a mustache. Although, ironically, he usually has a face full of black, two-week-old beard. So to see him clean shaven with a FAKE mustache was so funny to me. I swear to him that he is a bowler hat and pin-striped-three-piece-suit away from looking dapper. (Look, his top button is even done up. Tee hee.) It was "Mustache Day" over at that crackpot school he attends, AFI. I mean, what do they think they are over there—a bunch of filmmakers?!

And Wes, darling, please don't hate me for posting this photo of you. I couldn't resist! Oh wait. That's right. You are too busy to read this blog anymore. What do you think you are doing for 15 hours a day—applying yourself?!

Mustache kisses! ;)



(Want to know more about what Wes is up to over there at AFI? Visit HERE.)

POST EDIT: When Wes saw this he said "People are too scared to comment..."
Hahaha!

Supermom Series II: Starting things off with the wonderful Stephanie Nielson of Nie Nie Dialogues

I am so excited to be kicking of another round of the Supermom Series!! Earlier this year I featured some amazing women in the Supermom Series. You can find all of those posts HERE.

And throughout this holidays season I will be featuring more inspiring women. I love doing this series because it gives us a glimpse into the lives and hearts of other women and moms. To see how they do it. To see what makes them unique and inspiring. And to see some of ourselves in them, and hopefully grow in the process. This time I have asked the same three questions to each Supermom:

What inspires you?
Where do you find it?
How do you live it?

The answers range from simple and to the point, to quite detailed. Each one in the series is fantastic, and I can't wait to share them all. It's been wonderful seeing them grace my inbox, and hard to keep them all to myself. So without further ado, let the sharing begin!

Most of you know Stephanie Nielson of the NieNie Dialogues. You can find her blog HERE to learn more about her, and the inspiration she is to so many people.

(Photo courtesy of Stephanie's blog.)

What inspires you?
Color inspires me. Happy children inspire me, and good food.

Where do you find it?
Mostly in nature, and in my dreams.

How do you live it?
I enjoy life everyday. I use every moment to enjoy my surroundings whether it is a snow storm outside or laughing children inside my home. Beauty can be found everywhere if we become aware with ourselves and where we live. I believe there is beauty and goodness everywhere.

*****

Would you like a Super button? You don't need to be a mom to be Super, of course! Just copy and paste the code for the button you want into the HTML/JavaScript of your sidebar. And voila—SUPER! (The buttons will link to the entire Supermom II Series.)

<br /><a href="http://lyndsayj.blogspot.com/search?q=Supermom+Series" target="_blank"><img src="http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll208/lyndsayjohnson/supername.jpg" /></a><br />

<br /><a href="http://lyndsayj.blogspot.com/search?q=Supermom+Series" target="_blank"><img src="http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll208/lyndsayjohnson/7ab6e4ce.jpg" /></a><br />

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<br /><a href="http://lyndsayj.blogspot.com/search?q=Supermom+Series" target="_blank"><img src="http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll208/lyndsayjohnson/reallysuper.jpg" /></a><br />

Table Manners

(Warning, this contains multiple references to my breastmilk...gasp!)

Tonight Maya was HUNGRY. I'm talking 2 entire jars of stage 3 baby food and one sizable bowl of baby oatmeal hungry. And I am sure she'll be asking to nurse here in a few minutes, to wash it all down. Maya is a champion eater. Only, she doesn't always exactly correctly utilize a spoon. She often tries to suck the baby food off of the spoon, rather than open and take a proper bite. Maya has always refused a bottle, and much prefers to nurse. She has already submitted a formal request that my breasts start dispensing oatmeal, and bananas, and harvest squash. But that is entirely unnatural, and kind of a gross thought, so I have had to deny her request. (I mean really, Maya, is it not enough that my milk just knows to adjust to accommodate your growing body at every new stage that you happen to be reaching? Day one: Colostrum. Boom. 3 months and need to put on a few pounds: Milkshake. Boom. 5 months and starting solids: Amped up vitamins. Boom. Pretty remarkable, actually.) So to compensate for the fact that she has to resign herself to using this clunky plastic Ikea utensil that is, frankly, quite beneath her (or so she says), she has a system. She takes a big goopy bite by way of sucking it off the spoon, then shoves her thumb into her mouth along with the food, and proceeds to suck suck suck. Only sometimes it's her fingers, and then back to her thumb, while her sweet-potato fingers smear orange goo all over her fine brow. Tonight I literally had to scrub sweet potato out of her eyebrows! She seems to be completely oblivious to the fact that food is in her hair, up her nose, and all down her front. She is happy to eat anything, at any time. Well, except for peas. She'll still eat them, but the entire time she stares me straight in the eye as if to say, "Mom, how could you subject me to such an inferior vegetable. I am only eating them out of courtesy because YOU are feeding them to me, and I don't want to be a disappointment."

Now on to Finn. Oh, Finn. A few weeks ago Finn picked off a teensy weensy piece of broccoli from a piece of delicious pesto pizza and proclaimed, "I do not like it!" Finn has always been a picky eater. Always. No matter how much variety, no matter how many times I expose him to specific foods, he just will not eat certain things. I have learned to not be bothered by it. It's not MY fault he hates broccoli and despises mushrooms. Or prefers canned peas to frozen. He's even skeptical of kiwi and avocado. There is a lot of hiding things that are green in other foods in order to sneak them past Finn. And then there's the matter of eating in and of itself. He won't eat a single bite of anything if I push him in the least. He's expected to come to the table, say a prayer with us, and at least sit there while WE eat. Then I just leave the plate out. Usually he'll wander back over and finish eating later, pick at it throughout the evening, sometimes sampling something new. But the silver lining? Tonight Finn ATE that teensy weensy piece of broccoli attached to the piece of pesto pizza, and when asked if he noticed it, he said, "Finn like it, Mama!" (Even though I fully understand that might have been an anomaly in Finn's Food World.) But it was still a piece of broccoli.

As far as I'm concerned, I eat almost everything. Except onions. And liver. So what do I have to say to liver and onions? "I do not like it!"

How do you get your kids to eat?

******

P.S. On a totally unrelated note, I have been getting a few questions in my comment section about my photos and how I post them. I am going to do a whole post about them. Your questions have not gone unheard! :)

'Tis the Season

Holiday banners up over at Beautify My Blog! Get thee hence.

Almost there!

Sorry for the poor iPhone quality of this. Honestly, it was miraculous that I even captured the moment at all! I was casually sipping my tea when I looked over, did a double-take-almost-turned-spit-take and scrambled for my phone. In my haste, my slippery fingers almost failed to take the shot. But I got it: Maya's first real all-fours attempt lasting longer than 2 seconds, and it seems to be on purpose!

She's almost there—moving out of the Infant stage into the Baby stage. And then from Baby she'll become Toddler, and that's that. No more Tiny Maya. Oh stay small, Maya! Please do! Although the bigger you get, the cuter you become...

The Gardens

This is Sarah, my partner over at Beautify My Blog, and her darling girls, Holland and Darcy. This week they all moved to Missouri, which has bummed me out because we had all become such good friends since I moved to California this summer. So as a final hurrah, we decided to visit the beautiful Descanso Gardens. I thought we had a grand time, even though the train was broken, and the kids threw various tantrums, and the trip ended with a Koi pond incident similar to this season's episode of The Office. But overall, it was a gorgeous day and the kids loved it. We'll miss you girls!

The lookout.

The hedge maze.

"Fishing" in a fountain.

Ivy, falls, Koi, bougainvillea.

Sunday Faces: Maya turns 8 months old!

I can see the green spreading through her almost completely hazel eyes, now!
Happy Sunday!