Going Vintage

Trending through my life these last several weeks is reinvention, restructure and structure, organization, and cleaning up.  Maybe it has something to do with spending more time inside, and thus being more present with the walls and inners of our house; whatever the reason, I’ve been sorting through our stuff, moving things around, and cleaning the baseboards.  And before we start jumping to conclusions, no, I’m not pregnant.

As part of my current focus on reinvention and organization, I’ve cleaned up my presence on the Internet.  I’ve removed photos and albums from my Flickr account, my portfolio, and from Facebook.  I’ve even untagged photos of myself, managing my “Profile Pics” and selecting only those photos of myself that I really like.  Meanwhile, I also opened up my archives here on Days of You and Me, clearing out content that no longer resonates with me (posts where I allowed a product or even a nonprofit to swagger in and get all preachy).   This clearing out involved going back to 2007 when I first started my Green Mamma blog, otherwise known to me as the early days of Annabelle’s life.  I have to say, I really enjoyed rereading some of those older posts and I have to laugh at myself for the titles of some articles (“Bottled Water is Bunk Y’all”).

As I moved through older content on my blog, I noticed how the focus of my posts changed from being about the environment and natural parenting to posts mostly about parenting and being a creative family.   All the while, my passion for photography peaks through and grows stronger and stronger, and then bursting forth just as I made up my mind to open my photography business.   What also coincides with the transition of my content from environmental issues and parenting to mostly personal or photographic content was being diagnosed and treated for postpartum depression.  Over the last year and a half,  since getting care for depression and anxiety, I did indeed change.  I’ve noticed that I’m more outgoing, am less shy and passive around new people and people who I know well and care a great deal about, and that I am okay with valuing my passions and myself.  And all this brings me full circle because it helps me look back on my past and appreciate all that I’ve experienced and all that is what got me to where I am.

I’m thinking this is a good end of the year post.

What I’d intended to bring to your attention, though, was not my personal transformation but just that I’ve noticed how my content has changed and that if you are still here with me that I appreciate your staying with me through my ups and downs, twists and turns, and content changes.

Thank you.

Now, for something else.  Something that could be an entire other post, but that I think is short enough and fun enough to go here.

While examining my own blog/diary, I’ve also been looking over the content at some of my favorite blogs, many of which are crafted by other photographer/writer/artists.   What I’ve noticed and what I find really cool is that these bloggers are going vintage; that is, many photographers, professional and amateur, are processing amazing photos that look as though they were taken a century ago or that have a vintage tint.   I think I’d fallen in love with vintage the minute I saw it.   Below are a few of my favorite photographers with a flare for vintage:

Wendy at Mother Rising, check out her for sale prints.  beautiful.

Jose Villa, especially this post on going old school with vaseline.

Erin at Bluebird Baby, who crafted this great post on using expired film.

and last but certainly not least

Beth at I Should Be Folding Laundry, who is an amazing amazing photographer.

And because I too love vintage, I’ve been playing with my photographs trying to process for a little vibe of vintage.  At first, I used processes developed by other artists, like this “old generator.”

These are few pictures that I submitted to the generator and “made” old:

I also found these great tutorials for snagging the vintage look with photoshop. Click here and here.

So I decided to give it a whirl in Apple’s Aperture. Here’s my first attempt, tweaking the contrast, the blacks, the brightness, the reds and the greens. I also burned the image right through its center.

the original

While playing in Aperture, I clicked on my hub’s presets and noticed that “vintage” “toy camera” and many other effects were available to me all along at a single click. I’d never noticed it before, and while I’m not positive, I am pretty sure that these presets were not around with the last version of aperture, when I completed a home course on the software.

Below is a vintage photo via Aperture and moi.

the original

Oh, and all of these “vintage” photos were taken on our family’s vacation to the Ringling Art Museum in Sarasota, Florida.

What about you? Do you like to go vintage, whether it be art, photography, or consigning? If you are a photographer, do you have a favorite style or technique?

And last, have you observed content or passion changes in your own blog/diary?