Open Shutter

If you've known me for awhile you would know that I have always had a love of photography, so much so that since I can remember I have almost never gone anywhere without a camera. Because life happens at the speed of light you have to be ready when it's time to snap that one in a million shot before it's lost forever. They are little glimpses of time, but even as insignificant as they can be to the grand scheme of things we have to capture them on film to remember how awe inspiring they were.

In my days of toting a camera I've caught dramatic lightening displays from my back porch, the heart wrenching aftermath of a car crash from my days of volunteer fire fighting, an elephant playing in a water fall, black and white crescent-shaped shadows from a total solar eclipse and of course the cute "this is too easy to caption" pictures of my kids. Again... tiny moments in a glimpse of time, but because I caught them I will never forget.

In high school my dad gifted to me his Nikon 35 mm camera (totally not the days of digital) which I grew very attached to and loved using so much that I took a photography class my senior year. I learned the process of how to take some amazing pictures, including open shutter. After a few came out really cool I was smitten with it. This first picture was me experimenting out of the classroom for the first time ever. I was standing on a pedestrian bridge over highway 70 here in St. Louis with no tripod, just a steady hand hoping to catch a cool effect. Check out the blinker exiting on the right... awesome.

(fyi: you can click on the pics to get a better view)

The next picture was actually an accidental picture I snapped with my cell phone. Not necessarily open shutter, but still... it was pretty cool.

The rest of the pictures were from this past Monday on the 4th of July. I shared some pictures I took of the fireworks in downtown St. Louis last year in my Happy 4th post, but I was determined this year to have my little tripod with me to capture some less shaky pics.

Here's some kids playing with sparklers in the small field before the fireworks started that evening...

Check out the roman candle going off in the background of this one. So cool...

Someone lit a fountain right when it got pretty dark outside....

And here's some shots of the big stuff going off.... this one looks like a dandelion!

Chaotic colors...

These two remind me of sea urchins but they were actually the fireworks that go off in the shape of a single circle.

And this one by far is my favorite from that night... Lots of squiggles!

One day I hope to be able to invest in a very nice camera, not only for the business but because I've wanted one for oooooh so long.

Thanks for stopping by today to check out my completely non-furniture related post! haha! I promise a furniture transformation will be coming your way before the weekend begins!

xo

Say hello

...to B's Vanity!

My friend B scored this cute vanity from my friend A and all this girl needed was a quick clean, oil and beeswax, just like AM's Vanity! It's a miracle what a little elbow grease and oil can do for a piece of furniture. I love the glass inserts, especially the one that was etched with flowers. It had the date stamping on the back which I thought was pretty cool. I swear one day I will have one of these, I've always wanted one, just never had the room yet. 

Anyways, I couldn't believe how well she cleaned up, though I did have a few stubborn spots that didn't want to give... like the cute pink finger nail polish on the middle section and some green colored something (I'm thinking marker of some sort) on the right side. I figured hey, I know my friend B well enough that she'll think it adds character to it rather than ruining it. It was loved and that's all that mattered.

I hope your 4th of July weekend was wonderful! I love long weekends.... 

I have more to share with you this week, including some open shutter shots I took of the fireworks on the 4th and another furniture transformation. As always, thanks for stopping by today and remember to mention Retro Restyling to your friends. It's always great to get the word out there!

xo

Happy 4th!

Hello everyone! I have a busy weekend ahead of me and will be introducing you to a few new transformations next week, but for today I want to share with you the things I love about the 4th of July.

I'll always have love for any vintage pin-up...especially one celebrating our independence day!

These are a few pics that I took last year of the wonderful fireworks display St. Louis puts on every year on the riverfront. I was standing on the Eads Bridge facing the Arch... the show was spectacular and I can't wait to see them again this weekend!

This spring to summer season has been filled with lots of nature's fireworks... these were some I just recently took sneaking out behind some ominous clouds rushing towards my house.

Every year I think about the summers I spent at the Lake lighting smoke bombs on the concrete, dancing through the different colored smokes, making crawling "snakes" and twirling sparklers around in circles... all the while ooooh'ing and aaaahhhh'ing to the huge fireworks my dad would light off on the deck over the lake. They were always awesome days of tasty BBQ, hot sun, swimming and family fun!

I hope you all enjoy your 4th as much as we plan to and I will catch up with you after the holiday!

Enjoy!

xo