It seems that the photos I am most proud of or cherish the most are never “technically” perfect – at least not in the conventional measurements of composition, focus, clarity, story, art or whatever.  However, they are perfect in a way that those measurements could never describe.
I created this image as part of the Dogwood 52 photo challenge, for the week 7 theme “Portrait: Faceless” with a description of “Tell someone’s story without showing their face”.
First let me state that I was NOT given a free or discounted product in return for this review. I received the CASE Remote for Christmas from a family member, and decided to write down my first impressions and overall opinions in this blogpost, to provide more information to anyone on the fence about buying this device. This review is for the CASE Remote (original)
and not the CASE Remote Plus (which I now want!!). The Amazon links are affiliate links.
The Case Remote (original) charging under my iMac.
Recently I braved the frigid cold of Chelsea Michigan on a Saturday morning with an adventure pal of mine to take our first class at Breathe Yoga Chelsea. I say adventure pal, because this whole yoga thing is a stretch (pun intended) for two fluffy, non-bendy old ladies. We were not sure what to expect, and were a little nervous – were we wearing the right thing? Would we be faced with judgy flexible yoga people who were appalled that we could barely get our jackets off without breathing heavy, let alone touch our toes?
Walking in the front door, the immediate greeting from desk personnel was a warm smile and encouraging words, and I thought…this might be ok.
Matt was our instructor, and he assured us that there would be modified poses for those of us who were a little “challenged” by the moves in his class. He was kind, and very understanding of our limitations. Before class we discussed the alternate moves and what we could expect.
And then we got started!
Those who know me in person are most likely aware that I am an “out loud observer”. So throughout the class, I had an extremely difficult time listening, as I was expending so much energy simply trying to keep my mouth shut. Don’t judge, we all have traits we need to work on. I will proudly say, that only ONCE did a “yeah, sure we will” escape my filter in response to the instruction.
The class was certainly challenging, even in the modified poses – but I know that very often things that are difficult for me are things that I just need to practice more. And I definitely need more flexibility – in mind, body and life in general.
One thing my adventure pal and I agree on, is that we will arrive much earlier for our next class at Breathe Yoga Chelsea – because the only thing worse than being a fluffy, non-bendy old lady in a yoga class, is doing it in front of the rest of the class, right next to the instructor. (kind as Matt is, I’m pretty sure he didn’t enjoy my “yoga face”. Gah.)
Bottom line? Breathe Yoga Chelsea was a warm, inviting and challenging environment – exactly what this fluffy lady needed, and I can’t wait for round 2. Thank you for that Breathe Yoga staff!!
(Image by Burrill Strong, courtesy of Breathe Yoga Chelsea, used with permission)
Breathe Yoga Chelsea Instructors
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Tressie Davis is a blogger and photographer located in Chelsea, MI.
This past spring I was asked to create a softball banner for my daughters team. For the record, I am in general not a photographer who does composites, and had never created a banner like this – it was a little nerve wracking! The first thing I did was pay a visit to my favorite template designers site – Ashe Design and selected “Stormy Arena” which I thought best fit the photos I had previously taken of the Hurricanes softball team (in addition to matching their name!).
Working with the coach, the team image was selected and I set to work masking it into the template. Not as easy as it seems like it should be, but there are great tutorials on the Ashe Design site.
Once my image was added to the template I modified the text, added the girls and coach names, removed raindrops from awkward places, blended small areas that were not quite right and modified the size. The Ashe Design template had separate layers for everything and it was incredibly easy to modify the composite to get the image EXACTLY how I wanted it by moving components/masking/changing the opacity/etc. I was SO pleased with the results, and it looked amazing when printed. The girls loved their banner!!!
My first love as a photographer will always be portraits, but I have to admit that I really had a good time with this. Also Ashe Design rocks 🙂
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Tressie Davis is a blogger and photographer located in Chelsea, MI.
(which I now want!!). The Amazon links are 
