I'm back from Oppikoppi & guestpost

This post was supposed to be up on Friday, but technicalities made it impossible. I thought I would say hi! I'm back from Oppikoppi! Posts about this will come soonish. Since this post was written for Friday, I thought I would leave the words as they were typed originally. enjoy

Hey people! I'm leaving for Oppikoppi soonish, and I am so excited.
Would you believe that our power went out last night and I couldn't pack anything.
Just teaches me not to leave anything till the last minute!

Luckily, I have a guest post lined up.
It happened entirely by accident. Breeanna and I were chatting via email and the thought just came to me that I should ask her.
I simply love her stunning photography skills.

Here she is:

Hello there! I'm Breeanna from A Brilliant Melody. Thank you to Megan for inviting me over to her lovely blog for the day! I’m so excited to be here and share my passion of PHOTOGRAPHY!

Last year my wish came true when I bought my first ever DSLR camera, the Nikon D90. I had been using a point and shoot camera for years and I felt like I need something more to let out the creativity hiding inside me. Megan wanted me head on over here and share some things I’ve learned as a new photographer.

So here are 4 important things I’m taking from my personal experience and giving over to you.

1) The best way to learn is by using manual mode.
My camera is always in manual mode, and even though it may take more time to get the shot, it helps me learn. Every mistake I make is a new lesson learned (even though at the time it may be frustrating).




2) Lighting is key
Using natural light is my favorite. It gives things a very soft and natural appearance. I hardly ever use the flash. It’s also important to know what time of day has the best light (for me I like morning or evening). Direct sunlight can wash out your subject, so find a nice shady spot. In a few weeks I’m attending a seminar on using natural light in portraits. I’m excited to learn more!




3) Take a lot, I mean A LOT of pictures!
If you take 10 pictures of the same thing, there’s more of a chance that one will turn out how you like. That’s the beauty of using a digital camera! Also the more you take, the more experience you get!



4) Have fun and be creative
If the shot is not working out, it can be frustrating. Try a new spot or angle. Take pictures of things you don’t normally take pictures of. Mix it up and just have fun! Taking pictures is very relaxing for me, especially if it’s just me and my camera out alone.



Well, I hope my experience of learning about photography has helped or inspired you in some way. Thanks again Megan for having me over!

Thanks Breeanna for stopping over!
I might use some of these tips for the weekend.
Hope everyone has a lovely Friday and an AWESOME weekend!
I know mine is going to be FANTASTIC!
See you on Tuesday, or maybe Wednesday.
Oh, and don't forget to enter the giveaway.

Aaah, bless! I have internet

Hey guys! I am over here at Kenzie's cute blog Cameras & Cupcakes  (actually, I got there yesterday) doing a guest post. 

I am talking about the time Flip and I went to Phuket, so go check it out! 

Further, I just want to say that I am so thankful for my internet working again. We have experienced some difficulties after my Mac was switched off one night, only to find everything the next day gone. The pictures, the music, the internet, all gone. Luckily, I had the photos and music on back up memory sticks, but the internet was a bird of a different feather. Luckily we sorted it out.

Meanwhile, I have been having a really sucky time. On Saturday evening, about 7ish, I started itching. This itching was soon followed by a break out on my skin. I thought it was flea bites. And then my whole body got covered in it. By the time I went to bed my wrists were swollen about two times their normal size. I kept on itching and Flip kept on moaning that I shouldn't scratch.

In the middle of the night, I had enough and stood up to search for anti-hestamines or celestamines. Luckily, I had some celestamine, but then I realised that I looked very funny in the mirror. I will save you the gruesomeness of how my face really looked like, but what I can show you is that I kind of looked like this.

Not pretty hey? But my upper lip almost looked like The Wildenstein's lower lip.

And it hurt like hell. By the next morning, my lips were even more swollen and my wrists were now about five times their size. Flip took me to the doctor's office as soon as they opened. It was a Sunday morning, so we didn't expect it to be earlier than nine. Eventually the doctor saw me, but we still have no idea what caused my body to react this. He did mention that it was an allergic reaction to something I must have eaten or drank, but I have never in my life reacted like this before. I recapped everything I ate the previous day and nothing was out of the ordinary. But it really hurt like hell. And itched. A lot.

I am going for blood tests later this week to find out what I am allergic to. I sure as hell hope it's not bacon and eggs, one of the things I so thoroughly enjoyed on Saturday.

I also wanted to upload pictures of my arms, so that you can see that, but alas, my internet is being a stupid little asswipe. I hate my internet connection!

Hopefully, I will be back in the bloggosphere for good now. 

Here's holding thumbs that I don't swell up again and here's holding thumbs to a great internet connection.

You can find me here...

Sheesh! Today is cold, it's -2 degrees! I want to crawl up in a little bundle and never get up again. To those in the Northern Hemisphere, I am jealous. I also want a summer! But you probably can't have all the good things all year long, then it wouldn't have been good in the first place and we would have nothing to look forward to. Right?

But just to show you how cold it is today, take a look at this.
This is our complex, earlier this morning. The water feature is literally frozen!
And again the Northen Hemisphere might be shaking it's head, because it gets snow and colder weather.
But that's just it! We never have cold winters like this. It's not called Sunny South Africa for nothing.

I blame all of  global warming.

Enough moaning about the weather now. Yes, half the world's conversation's wouldn't have existence without it, but I have something better to talk about. Do you guys remember that time I only ate tangerines, so Sweet and Joooocy! No? Because it never happened. That was Regina Spector.

Something that did happen was our trip to Durban in April. Something that also happened was my guest post at over at Jenna's blog Home away from Home. Right now. So you better go check it out. Ane be nice, it was my very first guest post.

Why are you still reading this? Ha! GO!

Love
Megs