To Blog or Not to Blog

Last week I brought up the idea of starting a Blogging Basics series.  I struggled with writing today’s post because I just didn’t know where to start the series. And then it hit me. 

Why don’t I start at the VERY beginning? I know some of you mentioned wanting to start a blog but you just haven’t made the leap.  Let’s hope you leap away after today’s post!  Post a link in the comments to your brand spanking new blog!

Should I start a blog?  What would I write about?  How do I come up with a name for my blog?

I am going to answer these questions from my perspective.  I would love if those of you who have been blogging awhile would answer them in the comments.  Please and thank you!

Should I start a blog? 

Well of course!  Blogging is such a fun hobby.  It’s a great way to share your creativeness/hobbies/passions/thoughts with the world.  My blog is like a little diary for my house. Blogging is also a great way to meet people who share similar interests. 

I do recommend that you like writing.  (I had forgotten how much I liked to write before I started this ol’ diary on the interweb.  I always loved English in high school…so naturally I chose a career based on biology and math.  Always the smart one.)  You should have a decent understanding of grammar and spelling.  Do you need to worry about an error in your grammar here or there?  Nah.  It’s a blog.  But others should be able to read it without cringing………..like if Nate was to write a blog.  The boy can build things and photograph things like none other but ask him to write you a photography post and you’ll be editing it all night. 

What would I write about?

Anything you want.  It’s your blog.  You make the rules.

In the beginning I was writing about a bunch of different things..the house, books I had read, food, the weather.  I have learned that my best posts are those related to my house and Ike…because I am most passionate about my house and that darn dog. I also think most of you read because of the house…….okay, fine…..because of Ike.  I get it.  How can you not love this fuzzy face?

Don’t touch that messy beard though….he gets grouchy.

How do I come up with a name for my blog?

I struggled with this one. I almost gave up on  blogging before I even started because I couldn’t come up with a decent blog name. 

My original thought was Drugs and Décor…because I am a pharmacist who likes decorating.  And then I began to wonder what kind of readers a blog with drugs in the title would attract.  I quickly went back to the drawing board.  Even though I am a pharmacist, I didn’t plan (and still don’t) plan to blog about my career.  I later decided on Décor and the Dog because I knew Ike would most definitely sneak his way into every house photo.  I was right.

Who’s going to start blogging now?  Get that first post ready.  How’d you come up with your blog name?  I think next week I’ll discuss finding your niche…unless I change my mind.

DSLR for Dummies- Lenses

Today we will continue our DSLR for Dummies series.  I’ll do Blogging 101 tomorrow..if I get my act together.  Today, I will be represented in pink.  Nate will be black.

Ok, lenses.  Teach me everything I need to know…but not in a boring way.

I can’t promise it won’t be boring but here we go…

When researching cameras I focused mostly on what body was going to be best.  I did not do much research on what lenses to purchase because i planned on buying the kit.  The kit contained an 18mm-55mm and 55mm-200mm lenses.

Uh, what’s that mean.  DSLR for the dummy, remember.

The lower the mm, the less zoom.  The higher the mm, the greater the zoom.

I  figured that these lenses would cover most all of the shooting situations I would want to shoot (the 18-55 for the closer shots and the 55-200 when I needed to zoom in). When I made the decision to purchase the Nikon D5000, I waited for the kit to go on sale with the two lenses.

A couple of months after buying the camera we decided to go on vacation to Colorado. After some online research, I decided that I could use a good landscape lens….a Tamron 10mm-24mm would be a good fit for me.  This lens is what is considered an ultra wide-angle lens.  I used is a lot when we went hiking in the mountains as it was able to get a lot more of the breath taking views.



Another advantage of this lens is the ability to photograph a smaller room because of the wide angle.  It does have a trade-off as it does tend to distort the picture, so some caution has to be used when using it.  In the following picture of our mudroom, the room appears to have more room on the right side of the bench than there actually is.



After about 9 months of shooting with the kit lenses, I found myself being irritated with either having the wrong lens on (needed the zoom when I had the short range on, etc), or missing shots because I was in the middle of switching lenses.  Again, after doing a lot of research, I found that the Tamron 18mm-270mm had everything I wanted in an all-in-one zoom lens.  If I were to do it all over again, I would have skipped the kit lenses and purchased this one instead.  The lens does cost a little bit more than the two lenses but the convenience and zoom range (getting the additional 70mm) is well worth it in my opinion.

So, how is all of this changing lenses business different than me changing shower curtains and paint colors every other month?

It’s totally different.

Of course. Right.

I received my latest lens for Christmas, it is the Nikon 50mm f1.8.  This lens (or the Canon equivalent) is a must if you ever plan on wanting pictures with really nice bokah (we will talk about bokah and how to get it in a later post).  This also makes for a really nice portrait lens or a lens that will work good in low light.

Here are some shots with each of the lenses discussed above.  All of the pictures were taken on a tripod at the same spot in the room.…

Tamron Wide Angle 10mm

Tamron Wide Angle 24mm

Tamron All-in-One 18mm

Tamron All-in-One 270mm

Nikon 50mm

I still want to know why it’s a problem for me to switch out decorating type stuff but it’s okay for you to change lenses more often than most people change underwear.

People only change their underwear every 4-5 months.  That’s gross.

Lesson over.  I think I actually learned something.  But when do I get to touch the camera?

I didn’t think about you touching my precious camera when we started this series. Is it too late to stop?

Yes! Mwah ha ha.

Tell us your thoughts on lenses!  Any preferences.  Any questions?  Next week we’ll the camera settings from Auto to Aperture. Oooo, fancy.

Something Is In The Water

Is everyone you know having babies?  Yeah, me too.

That means lots of baby showers.  I loathe showers of all kinds (well, besides daily cleaning myself showers.  Eh, nevermind…I hate those too).  I’m the worst female on the planet.  The games, the “oooing” and the “ahhing”.  Drives me bonkers.

I do love my friends and their soon to be spawn though…so I go.  With a fake smile on my face…and a lovely handmade gift in hand.

This week-end I attended a shower for a friend from pharmacy school.  I whipped her up my go to baby blanket….the day before the shower. If I can make this, you can make this…

Her nursery is brown and pink so I decided to stick with that.  Always the safe one.

I tried to take step by step photos but I got bored/forgot after about step 1.  I promise I’ll do better on the next one.  In the meantime, you can check out a similar blanket pattern here!

I also decided to try out a project I have been meaning to try forever…appliqueing a onesie…

These may or may not have been made to represent the lovely Iowa Hawkeyes.  I can’t tell you for sure because I am sure there is some kind of copyright law.  But it’s an “I”…there is no copyright on the letter “I”….or black and gold.

These are so easy. 

Buy some Heat n’ Bond iron on adhesive.  Follow package directions and iron on Heat n’ Bond to fabric of your choice.  Trace object of your choice onto fabric (“I” in my example).  Cut out object.  Remove paper Heat n’ Bond paper from fabric.  Place object in desired position on onesie.  Iron into place as directed on package.  Stitch around outer edge of object in whatever stitch/size you prefer.  Done-zo.  I told you it was easy.

My stitching isn’t perfect but I think it gives it character.  People at the shower were asking where I bought them.  Yay handmade!

What’s your favorite go to baby shower gift?  What’s the worst baby shower game you have ever played?  I think if we ever decide to have spawn, I will have a couples shower to make Nate suffer too.  I’m a good wife….

Linking up to: SerenityNow