Hannah With A Camera

The Everlasting Road Trip

May 29, 2016 1 Comment

Last weekend, my family and I went on a road trip down to Dallas, TX and made some stops along the way! Our first stop was in Stillwater, Texas, home of Oklahoma State University. I can see the appeal–the campus was gorgeous. We stopped at Eskimo Joe’s for a quick lunch.

Then we kept going down to Roanoke, Texas (population 6,400) to visit my grandparents. We had to go to my all-time favorite place to eat there, Babe’s. If you live in the Dallas area and haven’t been there, you’re missing out! When you order, all they ask is if you want chicken or chicken-fried steak, and then they bring out your choice and a ton of sides. Biscuits, creamed corn, mashed potatoes, you name it, they’ve got it. Helpful hint, though: always be sure to split your order in half. We accidentally ordered four portions and they brought out a huge platter of chicken, half of which we ended up taking home. Don’t stuff yourself when you can save some for later!

After eating at Babe’s, we headed down through Fort Worth and hit up Steel City Pops. The first time I had this was in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and I couldn’t miss the opportunity to have it again! I had the strawberry lemonade and my mom had the coconut. The best thing about Steel City’s popsicles is that they’re not overly icy or just strawberry lemonade poured into the molds. They have creamy pops too (i.e. the coconut) and they’re absolutely amazing. I had a cookie pop (chocolate brownie) in Alabama and it was a flattened brownie inside a chocolate fudgesicle. Could that combination be any better?

Once we finally made our way down to Waco, Texas, we walked around Baylor Univeristy’s campus. Long story short, it was way too spread out for a very hot place, but it’s always interesting to see other college campuses.

I put together this video of our trip for my family to look back on. Let me know in the comments below if you know the place featured in the last part of the video–a post will be up next week all about it!

xo, Hannah

blogging, design

Branding and Blog Design: Updated

May 2, 2016 3 Comments

Back when I started my blog, I had some design experience, but not much! I created my blog design a year ago in February with a modern and classic design in mind. Since then, I still love my design, but I feel like my personality has changed a bit and I have a bolder taste in colors. I took my old design and updated it a bit, in part after taking inspiration from my graphic design Pinterest board.

I first created a vision board by taking screenshots of a lot of my favorite graphic design pins and arranging them how I liked. After, I found a common theme of hand-drawn graphics, sharp photography, and bright colors.

Hannah With A Camera vision board images via Becca Clason, Peyton Perry, Sophie Ledesma, Lucia Litman

I definitely recommend creating a vision board or a board on Pinterest when you’re designing anything. It helps you find a common theme with the colors and photos that you usually gravitate towards. My design taste has changed a ton since I first created my blog, so I was due for a redesign.

Hannah With A Camera Blog Design Branding Board

The biggest difference that I think you can see with my old design and this new one is the color scheme. These colors are so vibrant and make everything bolder. I kept the typefaces the same, but I changed my patterns and my header to reflect the hand-drawn aesthetic.

What’s your favorite thing about the new design?

xo, Hannah

design, photography

Adobe Bridge Camera Raw Editing Tutorial + GIVEAWAY

April 25, 2016 1 Comment

Today I’m sharing with you a look inside my photo editing routine. I’ve done this post before, but I wanted to do an updated version now that I have a lot more experience and knowledge with playing with Photoshop and all it has to offer. Warning: this is going to be a photo-heavy post to help explain everything! I also have a giveaway at the end of the post, go check it out!

Above is the original photo. For this post, I’m using Adobe Bridge CS6’s Camera Raw function to edit my photos. I usually use Bridge for editing and then sometimes I’ll use one of A Beautiful Mess’s photoshop actions from the Fresh Collection for a final touch. I shoot every photo in Camera Raw. (I can do another post later on this if you all would like, but here’s a more in-depth explanation on why you should shoot in raw vs. jpeg.)

1) I started by increasing the exposure by +.65 to make the photo lighter. This is a step that a lot of people overuse, so be careful about your exposure usage!

2. I increased the contrast by +50 to fix the fade that occurred when I lightened the photo. This draws out the dark tones and the light tones in the photograph, and you can tell it made a huge difference just in one step.

3) I decreased the highlights by -8. I shot this photo in direct sunlight, so I had to find a way to take out the glare caused by the harsh lighting.

4) I decreased the shadows by -28. I say that I’m decreasing them because I’m referring to the sliding scale, but I’m actually making them more contrasted by drawing out the shadows. You can see the difference when you look at her hair.

5) I increased the whites by +18. This isn’t making the whole photograph lighter like exposure, instead, it makes the whites crisper and sharper.

6) I decreased the blacks by -18. This is the same process with the shadows–it’s not actually decreasing them, it’s drawing out the black tones in the photo to make it a lot richer.

7) I increased the vibrance by +51. This is the step I messed around with the most to be sure it was just right, because it’s so easy to overdo it! Notice that I used vibrance and NOT saturation for this photo. Here’s why.

Look at the difference between these two photos. The one on the left looks like your elementary-aged cousin edited this on Picmonkey. Her skin is way too orange, and there’s no way her hair is that yellow. The one on the right, while still a little overdone, is much better. Her skin tone is even and looks natural, but the background is still rich and vibrant. The key here is using saturation (on the left) for landscapes and vibrance (on the right) for portraits. This is a huge mistake I always see people making, so please, for my sake, don’t do it.

8) I increased the sharpening to +75. This feature is on the detail tab (third one) and I like to use it for portraits. (This is another classic example of landscape vs. portraits–when you’re editing landscapes, use clarity, when you’re editing portraits, use sharpening.)

9) Last step! I increased the vignetting by +5. This is another step I see being misused all the time. I wouldn’t recommend going past +10 for portraits, unless you’re going for a really dramatic look.

Here’s the final photo! This may seem like a lot of steps, but it didn’t take me long at all to go through and make my decisions in editing. It just takes practice to know what looks best on your photo.

You should go enter my giveaway for a sorority gift set on Instagram! Giveaway closes 4/27.

What’s your favorite photo editing tool?

xo, Hannah

style

A List Greek Jewelry Review

April 19, 2016 1 Comment

I’m so excited to share this collaboration with A List Greek today! Their founder, Hope, was kind enough to reach out to me and send me some fun jewelry to share with my friends. A List Greek is sold in a couple local boutiques around town and it’s definitely a popular way for girls to wear their letters in a way that’s not overly flashy.

This is my cousin Rachel rocking the Sigma Kappa state necklace and the Sigma Kappa stack rings. Even though the necklace is small, it’s a great way to combine a piece of home or your university with your letters. The rings are adjustable as well, so you can make it fit your fingers and they won’t fall off easily.

This is my friend Emalee wearing the Gamma Phi Beta state necklace, the Gamma Phi Beta stack rings, and the Gamma Phi Beta hair ties (in the confetti picture)! My favorite thing about all this jewelry is how transitional it is–it’s subtle enough to wear to work or to class, but super cute to wear out or for a sorority photoshoot! The hair ties are a great way to show off your sorority without even trying, because let’s be real here: when are you not without a hair tie?

Along with the jewelry and the hair ties, Hope sent me metallic flash tattoos for everyone too! While they’re not the type of thing I’d throw on for class, I’m excited to save them for bid day or date parties coming up in the fall. I’ll be showing off a couple photos on my Instagram throughout the week with my Alpha Delta Pi jewelry, so be sure to follow me to get a look at how cute everything is.

While A List Greek is primarily a website for sorority women, they also have a lot of custom jewelry options for girls looking to customize their jewelry with their initials or their favorite phrase. I think their bar necklaces are one of the best options for custom engraving with a lot of space.

Thanks for reading and thanks again to A List Greek to giving me this opportunity!

xo, Hannah

school

Preppy College Dorm Room Tour

April 16, 2016 3 Comments

I’ve been meaning to do this post since August when I first moved in, but I’ve never had a room this clean since the initial move in! Honestly, the only reason there isn’t a bag thrown on the floor or a sock somewhere in these photos is because my mom came up this past weekend for Mom’s Weekend with my sorority. So while my room might look somewhat like #goals currently, it’s definitely not that way all the time!

I have the Peyton bedding in Royal Navy from Pottery Barn Teen and I absolutely love it. (It’s on sale in the pink and light pool colors!) My all-time favorite color scheme involves some variation of coral, turquoise, and navy, so this was a perfect way to combine them. I also have a long body pillow in coral (on the left). My roommate Jordan and I are in the same sorority, Alpha Delta Pi, so we hung our flag from bid day up over the window.

I have this strand of photo clips from Urban Outfitters that’s been great for hanging photos without sticking holes in the wall. Before college, I printed out a ton of photos from Mpix and I definitely recommend using them for printing photos! The tea towel of Lawrence is from Tammy Smith Design–it came in a print version too, but I like having the bigger size of the tea towel to hang for decoration. She has a ton of cute drawings of other cities as well and if you’re from a big city area, that’d be a great way to have a little piece of home in your dorm.

I used washi tape to put up the photos on my wall and the majority of them have stayed up since August. The two canvases on the left are from my friend Abby (top) and my big diamond sister Mackenzie (bottom). I painted the ‘h’ canvas myself. In the space under the canvases on the left, I had a Hogwarts travel poster (this one is similar), but it fell from the command strip recently for some reason! On my desk I have a lamp with two outlets on it (which has definitely come in handy), my alarm clock, a couple decorations, and a plastic organizer from Target with 3 drawers to hold my jewelry.

Under my bed I have a butterfly chair, another organizer with 3 drawers to hold some random craft stuff, my dresser (provided by my dorm), and some more boxes on top to hold random things that don’t have a specific category to them. I also have a shoe hanging organizer to hold random things like command strips and nail polish.

The majority of these have come in handy, but I definitely didn’t need it all. Keep an eye out for an updated post of my college dorm essentials!

Thanks for reading!

xo Hannah

blogging

All About the Instagram Algorithm

March 28, 2016 No Comments

If you haven’t heard already, Instagram is changing its algorithm, and everyone is freaking out.

Here’s the deal with the algorithm (this only applies if you have the latest update). Instagram is taking a cue from Facebook and switching from the normal order of posts showing up in chronological order…to what they think is what you want to see.

You have two options to make the algorithm what you want. First, you can follow all the other blogger’s pleas to turn on post notifications.

To do this, you just go to a profile (like @andrewknapp, one of my favorite photographers) and click on the top right corner with the three dots.

Then all you have to do is tap that ‘turn on post notifications’ button, and you’ll get a notification every time that account posts a new photo.The perks to this is that you’ll never miss a post, except your battery will drain asap depending on how many people you turn on post notifications for. I personally wouldn’t recommend doing this for more than 5 people.

The easy option is to just keep doing what you’re doing: comment every once in a while and like people’s pictures like normal. Instagram will curate your feed based on the photos that you engage with. If everyone follows this rule of thumb, then you won’t have a problem.

Want a more in depth post? Krista from Covering the Bases has all the details.

xo Hannah

design, school

Thursday Threes

March 17, 2016 1 Comment

It’s only been two weeks since my last post, but a lot has happened! I’m currently on spring break and while I’m not relaxing by a beach or exploring a new city, I’m happy to be home with my family. Here’s an update on what’s been going on lately.

ONE

via sadp.ku.edu

I got accepted into the design school! My parents encouraged me to apply last minute (literally 6 hours before the application was due) and I just learned that I’ll be starting in the fall. I’ll be double majoring in strategic communications in the journalism school and graphic design (visual communications design if you want to be fancy) in the design school. I’ve been interested in the idea of pairing the two with creative advertising or working in the magazine industry lately, so I think this is a perfect fit for me. Plus, there are several amazing and innovative ad agencies in the area that I would love to move forward with a possible internship come junior or senior year.

TWO

I updated my portfolio website to a cleaner, more colorful design. I’d love to upgrade my blog website to a WordPress domain with a customizable website, but right now I feel like I don’t have the time! A summer project might be in the works.

THREE

I can’t say a lot about this yet (I want it to be a surprise) but here’s a not-so-subtle hint with the picture! Keep an eye out for a future collaboration.

xo Hannah

uncategorized

100 in 1001

February 26, 2016 No Comments

This post is inspired by Mackenzie Horan of Design Darling, who created her own 101 in 1001 list! As she said, it’s a happy medium between a to-do list and a bucket list. This list is to be completed November 22, 2018, or 2.75 years. After that I’ll create a new list! I’ve had this draft in the works for a long while, since junior year of high school, and it was interesting to see some of the things on my list that I wanted to do that I’ve since achieved only in my first semester of college.

Complete all 101 items.
Have a picnic
~~Go to an FCKC game~~ (April 16th, 2016)
Purchase a domain
Get registered to belay at the rec
Drink 64oz of water every day for at least one week
Join a youth group on campus
Make ten recipes off Pinterest
Read at least thirty new books
Find the perfect way to curl my short hair
Keep up with a solid editorial calendar for at least a month
Donate blood
Save $25 out of every paycheck for a year
Do yoga every day for a week
Collaborate with a brand that I love
Find a devotional and read a chapter each week
Make a video documenting every single day for a month
Have a filing system for my college classes
~~Design a solid resume~~ (April 4th, 2016)
Hit 10,000 Fitbit steps every day for a month
Finish an entire scrapbook
Apply for five scholarships
Take a self-portrait every day for two weeks
Find a signature scent
Go on a road trip
Do a thirty-day photo challenge
Take care of a plant all the way up until it blooms
Finish my San Francisco video
Do five random acts of kindness in a day
Try sun butter
Sew a skirt
Hit 100 balls successfully at the golf course
Buy flowers for myself
Reach 1,000 followers on Twitter
Intern for a company either online or in real life
Become a campus ambassador
Visit one of my friends at a different college
Make a tassel garland
Read ten nonfiction books
Go to sleep at 8:30 every night for a week
Learn how to use Adobe Illustrator
Throw a surprise party for someone
Take a Skillshare class
Have a Spoon University post go viral
Journal every night for a month
Go on a spring break with friends
Take photos for the Lawrence Humane Society for their social media
Get 100 service hours in a year
Go to every KU football game in a season
Learn how to cook a signature dish
Score in intramural outdoor soccer
Reach 1,000 Instagram followers
Take my brother to a KU basketball game
Try cutting out added sugar for a week
Leave a 100% tip
Finish all Codecademy courses
Learn how to use a film camera
Call my grandparents at least once a month if I don’t see them in person
Go without social media for a week
Be an adoption ambassador for Lawrence Humane and get at least 5 dogs adopted
~~Run a 5k~~ (April 24th, 2016)
Find a solid workout routine
Go to the ballet
Go skiing
Make a stop motion video at least a minute long
Take a cooking class
Visit 10 new cities
Study abroad
Put away $10 in a savings fund each time I check something off the list
Reach a $100 payout on Redbubble
Get a 4.0 GPA
Finish Mad Men
Join ad club or marketing club
Dress nice for a week (i.e. no leggings/tennis shoes)
Rock climb at the rec once a week for a month
Get a signet ring for my pinky
Apply for the Amazing Race (or at least have an application ready for when I’m 21!)
Visit one of my friends in their hometown over break
Go to a Kansas City away game (Royals/Sporting/FCKC)
Go blueberry picking again
Design a media kit for my blog
Do a film/photo essay with my sorority on defeating stereotypes
~~Go back to Dallas to see my grandparents~~ (May 22nd, 2016)
Go horseback riding
Develop my own version of a capsule wardrobe and use it for 3 weeks
Create my own font
Get a position in my sorority that I love
Purchase pointed heels/flats
Redesign my sorority chapter’s website
Go to a concert at the Granada
Finish giving away my deck of Sneaky Cards
Use my DesignLoveFest gift card on a really cool painting
Go to a drive-in movie
Upgrade my phone
Try a workout class
Go at least 10 Royals games
Sit in the Blue Hell at a Sporting Game
Try Glace ice cream from Christopher Elbow
Host a friendsgiving
Clean out my closet using Poshmark

style

Thursday Threes

February 18, 2016 No Comments

I’m rounding up the week again with some links I’ve been loving recently.

Have you heard of the idea of a capsule wardrobe? With the lack of style I’ve been sporting lately (you can only do so much when you need to stay warm), the idea of spring and warmer temps definitely appeal to me. The Everygirl rounded up a guide to a capsule wardrobe for spring, and I’m considering putting together my own version (most likely with way more prints though)!

If you follow me on social media, you’ve probably seen that I founded a chapter of Spoon University at my school. (You can follow us on Twitter and Instagram to get a sneak peek at content!) We’re launching soon, and I’ve been way busy with interviewing people, brainstorming ideas, emails upon emails, and holding meetings. Naturally, I’ve been looking for inspiration for articles, and I came across this one about 13 new ways to eat vegetables. This actually has helpful tips and while I can’t use a lot of these when I’m at school, it’s given me some ideas for those weekends that I get to go home.

I saw Nike Women’s Instagram on my recommended page and gave it a follow a while back, so I’ve gotten sucked into their 21 Days of Better for It program. It takes 21 days to build a habit, and while I’ve tried using the Nike Training Club app before and I’ve gotten to week 2 of Kayla Itsines’ BBG challenge, I was never really committed enough to continue. I just finished week 1 today and it’s super easy so far, which is encouraging me to keep going. We’ll see if I finish it though!

Have you tried any of these? Let me know in the comments.

xo Hannah

school

College is no fun

February 7, 2016 2 Comments

Second semester only started in late January, but I already feel like I’ve done a ton of things since then. While my classes have hardly started getting into the real projects, I’ve been committing myself to making videos throughout the semester to keep my family and friends updated on what I’m doing. Plus, if YouTube is still around by the time I have kids, it’ll be a cool thing to look back on and show them my college experience.

On January 30th, the Jayhawks played Kentucky in basketball and College Gameday on ESPN chose to come to Allen Fieldhouse to host their show. It was really cool to see all the behind-the-scenes production, and my group got to be on TV several times and meet Jay Bilas (because one of my friends had a great sign that he wanted a picture with). Once it got to game time, everyone was already hyped up from College Gameday and the atmosphere was incredible. (Even though I think the Oklahoma game with 3 OTs over winter break was better, this was a close second!) At one point, the Fieldhouse hit 120 decibels–for reference, a jet takes off at 100 decibels. Be sure to watch the video in HD.

On Friday, I went to Snow Creek with my sorority sisters. While I wasn’t about to trust myself with skiing for the first time, going tubing was definitely fun and I think it’d be cool to make the trip back at some point. It’s not every day that you can go skiing in the middle of Missouri.

Thanks for watching/reading!

xoxo Hannah