Last week I received a lovely message from Sally at Lens and Pen by Sally extending an invitation to participate in this Virtual Blog Tour. The purpose of the tour is to introduce bloggers to a wider audience by answering a series of four simple questions related to their current and future work. New posts are added to the tour every Monday and to keep the series in motion we are asked to nominate a new blogger to take part the following week.
1. Why do I write/create what I do?
Really this is supposed to be question #3 but the photo above doesn’t make a lot of sense without the answer so I’m taking creative license and jumping ahead. I’ve always felt lucky to live in such a beautiful part of the country and as you can see my exploring days started as soon as I could walk a trail with my own backpack. I’ve made many return visits to Artist’s Point with Ryan and John but this is the view from my first trip up to the top of the Mt. Baker Highway. Before publishing my first blog post I spent a lot of time thinking through my motivations to pin point if I really had anything unique to share and if so would anyone find it interesting? After a few months of thought I decided to use NW Frame of Mind as a way to capture what I see during my daily life here in the corner of the country. Since these pages are full of my personal point of view they are by nature unique and I hope my enthusiasm for our surrounding beaches, mountains, forests and towns comes through in the images I choose to illustrate our adventures.
2. How does my work differ from others of its genre?
Well, since I’ve kept the focus of this blog on my personal views of the Pacific Northwest that should serve to keep it at least slightly different from others of its genre. I’ve been thrilled to discover so many great people sharing their experiences in this area through blogs but only I see through my eyes and when Ryan and I sit on the beach or the three of us escape weekend chores to take a walk I’m the one snapping pictures and thinking about how I can compose a new post to share the moment with you. Happily I think this approach works when we travel outside of the area too since I’m by default looking at new surroundings through the point of view of someone who spends most of their time by the water and evergreen trees. My photos from the southwest part of the country may be quite different from photos taken by someone more accustomed to the geography and climate.
3. How does your writing/creating process work?
I take most of my photos with my iPhone and occasionally pull out my little point and shoot camera for a change of pace. Since these two cameras are small and portable but limited in their abilities to capture big landscape vistas I’ve adapted my workflow and photo choices to make the most of what I have. Typically photos are edited before I post them, usually because I have fun with the process but also because sometimes what I see in the moment doesn’t become visible in the finished product until after I’ve tweaked things a little. I have some favorite Lens/Film combinations in Hipstamatic that I use a lot and my first step for editing is always Snapseed. After this I try a few new variations with at least one additional editing app just to see what I can do and finally, I chose my favorite to post.
4. What am I working on?
People who know me in real life never ask this question, my list is always too long! If I narrow things down a little and stay focused on mostly blog related things I can share that I spend part of every day working on my newest venture, the 1 Day 1 World Project. Participation grows every week and I’m so happy to see the idea catching on and traveling around the world. Tonight I’m also working on my latest Black and White iPhone Monday post and I’ll admit I don’t have a clue what I’m going to post for Wordless Wednesday. Slightly off blog topic but exciting none the less I hope to have an Etsy shop open by the end of the year featuring something completely new… more details to come when I’m ready to share. 🙂
The final part of my Virtual Blog Tour post is to introduce you to a blogger I enjoy tremendously. Meghan’s blog at firebonnet.com is full of her fun, vibrant and creative spirit. Meghan is an artist who loves color, design, motorcycle riding and living life to the fullest but really, her tagline says it better than I can: All about Mirth, Art, The Art of Life… and Two Cats and a Cattle Dog.
Since I opened with an old family photo, I’ll close this long post with another peek into my past. Most of you probably don’t know I’m the oldest of four kids, some of you may know I learned to drive in a VW Bus and quite a few of you read my post wishing my Grandma Emma a Happy 96th Birthday. All of these elements are here in this one image. I’m the barefoot one in the front surrounded by my brothers, sister and our first dog, Sam. Our grandparents are behind us by their camper and we are getting ready for a fun family get-away exploring my favorite part of the country. Sharp eyes might notice the red VW Bus in the background and hidden in the corner is our VW Bug. My childhood and my blogging inspirations together in a snapshot. 🙂
Northwest Frame of Mind 
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