Sunlight

"Sunlight" - Harlem Shakes from Matt Broach on Vimeo.

Harlem Shakes- Sunlight

It's freezing & I could use a little sunlight right about now.

Resolution #1

Ahh so I have been putting off updating. I wanted to do the typical resolutions post that everyone seems to do in the new year, but I always have to make things more complicated in my head, and then I get overwhelmed and put it off (resolution to fix this also required). Anyway, I figured I would keep things simpler and just post about one of my resolutions.

Before I moved to Beacon, I gained an addiction to Fresh Direct. It was just so convenient to look up ingredients for a meal, put them in my cart and get them shipped to my door! On top of that, they have really nice fresh produce and fish. We didn't live too far from a grocery store in Brooklyn, but I didnt like walking along a highway to get there and having to lugg back bags that would make my arms feel like they were going to fall off. I even tried bringing my own rolling cart thing, but then I realized they have these short concrete poles in the way so you can't steal their carts. Too complicated for me.

So I was ordering all these fresh ingredients and making nice meals from scratch. I was quite proud of myself and having fun with it. But after the move to Beacon we barely went to the grocery store, even with it being a short walk away. They don't have the freshest produce and it's just an annoying task without a car to plop the grocery bags in.

So for the past year we have been borrowing a car when we can and doing big grocery trips (hauls) of mainly non-perishables. For the most part, our diet has consisted of frozen this, canned that. I am really in the need for some variety and fresh food from scratch.. a real meal! I was googling vegetarian meal plans and came across this website, Veggie Meal Maker.

What I really like about meal planning is that you're using similar ingredients throughout the meals. It can be tough to first choose meals and make sure there are similar ingredients while also making sure the meals arent too alike. I also like that following someone's meal plan will give me ideas for meals that I might not have thought of. If I look up something to cook, I usually end up looking at something pretty complex, so I am trying something different. This site offers simple recipes so that making something fresh for dinner every night wont be a big ordeal.. while also teaching me new recipes so I am not always stuck on the same "quick ideas".

I feel like they are paying me to endorse this, haha, but really, I am just excited to start cooking and eating healthier again. I signed up for the trial first and now the three month subscription. I will let you all know how it goes!

But We'll Have a Fine Time

Behind The Scenes

So I did manage to get some shots in with Madison before my camera died (although the battery charger is still missing in action). I wanted to show a sort of behind the scenes with her. I found this backdrop paper and stand on Craigslist for a good price. This was my first time trying it out and ideally it would be wider, but I guess that's what cropping is for! When I looked for the seamless paper, I also looked for lights, but found that they're quite expensive, and just too far out of my budget, even for the older lights. I also don't have a whole lot of space at the shop, we tried to do this while customers shopped around us, haha. So basically I am at the mercy of the sunlight or lack there of, and the rest is made up with Photoshop editing.

Before-

Once upon a time I wanted to be a graphic designer, back when I would make artsy graphics and avatars and graphic design was the new hot thing (wow that kind of ages me, but what's weirder is to imagine a world without so much computer generated design). Since then, I am not as in practice. I learned a few years ago that in Photoshop you can use Levels (under Image>Adjustments) to kind of fix the lighting if it's too dark or add some darkness for contrast (for some reason it works better than just changing the brightness/contrast.. I think). For my pictures lately, I have been using Auto Tone and Auto Contrast quite a bit. You'd be surprised the difference it makes with my photos because I have yellow lighting in my store that doesn't always make things look so pretty. I also sometimes use Auto Color although it doesn't always look as accurate. Besides that, I might Filter>Sharpen to give it more crispness.

After-


The above photo didnt need a ton of work in my opinion, besides I really shouldnt have had that sunlight in the photo, but I am not a pro, okay!? I wanted to lighten it a bit more, but then her face was getting too white. I'm sure I could individually select her skin/head, but that is getting complicated for all the photos I have to edit. I am still learning, so if anyone has some tips for me, please feel free to pass them along!

A lot of people use different filters/actions on images to make them look vintage and I am interested in learning how to do that as well, although I wouldn't use this effect for clothing I am going to sell because it wouldn't truly represent them.

So anyway, I am editing pictures and getting a few items up on Etsy! Will post more about that soon.

I Won't Slip

This video might induce motion sickness, but I dig the song. Pvt - Window.