guest post:: Under the Sycamore

A while back I asked one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE bloggers, AshleyAnn from Under the Sycamore,  if she would write a guest post for me.  It must have been my lucky day because she said, "Yes!" 

 Last year I was browsing through the diy project archives over at design*sponge.  I came across a doily canvas tote project I was intrigued by and quickly followed the link over to Under the Sycamore.  There I was met with not only more fabulous craft and diy ideas but the most delightful blog.  I love getting a glimpse of AhsleyAnn's day to day life {with her hubby and four super cute kiddos} via her camera lens.  Read on to learn more about AshleyAnn and to know doubt get inspired along the way.

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Hello all - I'm AshleyAnn! I'm excited Abby trusted me to share a bit on her blog today. I am also jealous of her recent NYC trip. That life sized Lego Batman she posted caused some excitement in my house. My boys (ages 2, 4, 6) are borderline obsessed with Legos. Their 11 month old sister is sure to follow their lead soon. In fact I spend most of my days buried in Legos, dirt and crafty stuff. I write a blog called Under the Sycamore that is just a random collection of things I like...kind of like my house. If you read my blog long you will hopefully quickly see that I relish capturing the everyday of life with my camera. My favorite pictures are the ones that capture the essence of my kids and what life was like for them at that particular moment in time.

Today I wanted to share how I try to capture a very mundane, everyday occurrence through the art of photography. My favorite photography tip (at least my favorite right now) is to CHANGE YOUR ANGLE. Every angle communicates something new, fresh and interesting.

From Spring to Fall in Oklahoma we have weather that works for outdoor eating. My kids eat nearly every meal at the picnic table under the sycamore tree (hence the name of my blog). It is a seemingly boring, everyday event. However, I love to capture just those types of things. Maybe because my day to day life doesn't involve many frills or glamour!

The kids eat outside for several reasons...no sweeping the kitchen floor is the biggest. One other reason is they are ALWAYS dirty from playing outside. In this picture I changed my angle to focus just on capturing that sweet little dirty leg.

Part of the story of lunch is what they are eating - right now in summer life it is a lot of sandwiches. I could have cropped out my feet, but I think one day I'll like to look back and remember my flip flop tan lines!

These two are ages 4 and 6 right now. They are best of friends, but also have their share of daily fights. As they were eating and talking about whatever is exciting at that age for boys (probably the crawdads in the yard). They didn't seem to notice what they were doing with their feet. It was a sweet moment, one that I will be so grateful one day that I happened to be laying on the ground with my camera at the right moment to capture.

Thanks for taking the time to read. I hope your imaginations and creativity are sparked a bit to capture the beauty in your everyday life...even if all that is involved is a lawn that needs mowed, shirtless boys and some PB&Js!

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Head on over to Under the Sycamore but be prepared to fall in love with AshleyAnn's site.  Stop by the fridge first and pour yourself a tall glass of sweet tea because you'll probably want to sit for a while and soak up all of AshleyAnn's wonderful images and her fun projects/crafts.  If it's more photography tips you are interested in, you can find those here.  


Also don't miss my personal favorite diy projects: her doily table runner, the anthro inspired pendant light and the mini globe collection in her kitchen remodel, and of course baby sister's nursery.  What I wouldn't give to have that nursery as my own little sanctuary.  AshleyAnn really outdid herself with that one!