Clipboard Change-A-Roo

Hello boring clipboards. Let me introduce you to one of my favorite design philosophies.

Interesting shape (ornate, simple, classic or familiar) + unexpected color = new fun accessory.

Was, a boring clipboard. Now, frames in the boys' room.

A little red spray paint was all I needed to give them some "wow". And to hang them sideways, I used Command strips.

Ah, who am I kidding. Is anyone looking at the clipboards? The boys are too dang cute.

I took these pictures of the boys this fall. We went apple picking at an orchard, and I brought along two children's chairs for a quick photo shoot. They turned out so cute, and I'm so proud of myself because this was my first "real" photo shoot of the boys.

Look at Zack the ham. And he's usually the QUIET one! ha!

Linking to some of these parties.

This project was featured on Simply Jenna, Under the Table and Dreaming and A Little Lovely.

Photography

Because I don't want to leave out my other son, Clayton, here is the little turd in the back yard. He's beautiful too!

For those who asked (or who are lurking and wondering) Mr. RBR isn't a professional photographer. He's an engineer for a large-ish furniture manufacturer. Neither of us have much photo experience.

Shortly before the boys arrived we bought an Olympus E510. It's a nice camera. But the shots still looked a little... ordinary. Nice ordinary, but they lacked punch. That is until I found The Pioneer Woman and started using her free action sets.

I know a lot more about photoshop (being a graphic designer) than I do about photography, so I started editing our digital photos heavily in that magical program. And it's really made a difference! I am starting to learn more about the camera so hopefully my SOOC (straight out of camera) shots will improve.

If you don't have Photoshop, there are free online programs (so I hear), like Picasa. Or more inexpensive programs like Photoshop Elements. Check them out!

To show you the difference, here's the before and after of Zack.

Before (taken by Mr. RBR, SOOC)

Yeah. He really took it sideways like this. Weird.

And After (edited by me in Photoshop. Rotated, cropped, color enhanced)