Q + A // camera vs. lenses

People ask me quite frequently what kind of camera/lens I use, usually during their quest to find out more info before making a camera purchase.  My short answer: Buy a great lens.  If you have a DSLR already, and you've got a lower end kit lens, ditch that baby and purchase yourself a nice lens.  Lower end DSLRs aren't too big of an investment (in comparison with higher end, more pro DSLR's). For example a Canon Rebel EOS T3 runs about $275 and a Canon T3i runs around $500, which is pretty decent when you consider that you can pay around 3 to 4 grand for something like a Canon 5D Mark III, which is an amazing camera, but definitely more geared for professional photographers.  

I started this blog using a Canon Powershot, which was just a little digital point and shoot that probably took worse photos than any iPhone these days.  Once that broke I finally caved and started using the hand-me-down DSLR that my Mom had given me:  A Canon EOS 300D from about 2003.  I used this camera with the kit lens for about, eh, a year before I started wanting more from my photos.  I really wanted the shallower depth of field (subject in focus, background totally out of focus and blurry) and asked a photographer friend what I needed to get that look.  He recommended I get a lens that was f/1.4 or f/1.8, which meant that the lens would have a very small depth of field.  He suggested the EF 50mm f/1.4 lens, which runs around $400.  A similar lens, the 50mm f/1.8 lens is much cheaper and produces similar photos, but I chose to go for the higher end lens (against my more frugal urges), because I knew the higher quality lens would be a) more durable, and b) give me better, sharper images.  I bought that lens in fall of 2009 and I've been using it almost non-stop ever since.  I've dropped it a few times and had to send it in to get fixed, but I still use it every day.  It's the lens I use for all of my outfit photos, food photos,  and pretty much everything else.

I used this lens for a long time on my old 300D camera body, which, by the time I was using it in 2009/2010, was a very out of date DSLR.  But the difference in my photos between my old images with the kit lens and the images with the 50mm was really quite amazing.   Would the difference in my photos be noticeable if I had chosen to buy a fancier camera instead of the lens?  Probably not.  A good lens on a bad camera will probably always produce a better image than a bad lens on a good camera.  In the winter of 2010 I upgraded to a Canon T2i, and really, my images didn't change all that much.  I gained more megapixels, much better low-light photography, and the option to shoot video, but daylight images didn't really change that much from camera to camera.

Here's an example.  The first photo was taken with the kit lens (28-80mm), the second was taken with the 50mm.  Now, neither photo is great to begin with, but I like the second one way more.  The image color is better, the image is sharper, the depth of field is shallower.  To me, the first looks like it was shot with a point and shoot, and the only difference is the lens.  Same camera, same location, same time.

So, long story short, if you're thinking of making the leap to shooting with a DSLR vs your old point-and-shoot, consider buying a cheaper camera body and using your money to buy a great lens.  If you buy a Canon T3i and a nice lens, you're still going to be spending less than if you spend all your money on a super expensive camera body.

*I use Canon as my example because that's what I shoot with, but other camera manufacturers like Nikon also have similar lenses/bodies

candid thoughts on changing

I've been thinking about change lately, specifically in terms of how a person changes over time.  This train of thought mostly started as I was thinking about one of my favorite bands, Against Me!, and how they've changed over the years.  As frequently happens with bands, their more recent albums have had a different feel to them and many fans feel like they've "sold out."  I don't know if that's the case or what have you, but it made me think about how people change over time.  How their tastes change, how their interests change, how their perspectives change.  When I think about Against Me!, maybe they did sell out or change their music in order to make a living, but what if they just wanted to move in a different direction with their music?  Would we as fans let them do that?  I know that I'm not making the same art that I did in high school.  But if I got famous when I was younger and people grew to know that version of me, would they let me change and become a different version of myself, let me grow?

Even with blogging I've seen that people aren't necessarily fans of change.  I was just recently reading a post on James' blog where she discussed the changes her blog has gone through in the past few years.  How her life has changed and how that has necessitated a change in her blogging as well.  But seeing someone change is hard.  We grow to like that person how they are.  We're used to Miley Cyrus' long hair, so it's jarring when she cuts it off.  We're used to a blogger blogging a certain way, so it's unsettling when it goes in a different direction.  I think this even happens with people we know.  We're used to seeing them a certain way, so if they decide to make a lifestyle change or something of the sort, we can get upset by it.

Like James' blog, and unlike a strictly "fashion" blog,  Delightfully Tacky incorporates so much of my life (even if most of my posts are outfit posts), and so it's unavoidable that change on the blog will occur.  For instance, I'll probably become a mom someday in the (distant) future.  While I have no current desire for Delightfully Tacky to become a "mommy blog," what do I know about what life will be like at that point?  Maybe motherhood will be something I have a lot to say about, and I don't want to keep from sharing my thoughts and life for fear of losing followers who are disappointed that my blog isn't the same blog they were reading before.



Sometimes we just put too much stock in our own importance.  "That person shouldn't change because I liked them the way they were!" It's obvious how arrogant that thinking is when it's said like that.  Whenever I hear people say, "Never change!" I feel like it's such a harmful thing to say (though I understand what it meant by that statement).  Growth only happens through change.  When you push yourself out of your comfort zone.  I'm glad I'm not the same person I was in high school or college.  Not that there was anything terribly wrong with me back then, but I'm glad I've grown into who I am now.  And I'll be glad to have grown into future-me.  I have no desire to become stagnant.


This is not to say that change is always a good thing.  There is bad change as well.  Some bands really do sell out.  Some blogging really does change for the dishonest reasons.  Some people really do make bad lifestyle decisions.  It's part of the journey, though.  I've made bad life decisions before, and I've grown because of it.  I would even say that most of the growth that I've experienced is due to poor decisions, and learning from them.  As Alexander Pope said, "To err is human; to forgive, divine".

I'm going to change.  I have changed.  The me who started this blog almost five years ago isn't the same me who is writing it now.  I have strong resemblances to that girl.  I like her.  We have similar characteristics and a lot of who I am at my core is completely the same.  Life is change, though.  My situation now is completely different than what 22 year old version of me was dealing with.  My situation is even completely different than 25 year old version of me!  I liked what my life was then, but my life couldn't stay in that situation forever.  Forward motion must be made and I'm excited to move in that direction!

To be honest, Against Me!'s earlier albums are my favorite, but I'm still excited to see where they go with their music.  Perhaps it won't be as honed to my particular taste, but I'd rather see them making music that they enjoy making and that brings them joy in the making of it, than for them to forever be making music that I like.

the winds of change

Lately I've been thinking about food.  My goal to only purchase ethically produced clothing is probably a catalyst for this.  I felt much more passionate about the issue of sustainable clothing mostly due to my relationship with clothes being a large part of my life due to this blog.  But food.  Food is a big part of my life too.  I mean, I'm eating something every day.  I need food to sustain my body.  I kind of felt like making the commitment to shop and eat sustainably simultaneously would be biting off more than I can chew.  But I figure, I can at least start making changes.  At least move in the right direction.  I'm already trying to be healthy with being active, but that doesn't make a lot of sense if I'm not eating healthily as well.  And part of the thing is that I don't eat "unhealthily" in the sense of eating fast food and mega processed foods all the time.  We eat pretty simply, mostly out of frugality.  The amount of quesadillas consumed in this house is kind of embarrassing.  In comparison to a lot of regular Americans I suspect we probably eat relatively healthy.  But I know that I'm not eating anywhere near as healthily as I should.  And not only am I not feeding my body the way I should, I'm also not eating in a way that is sustainable for the planet.  

I'm just in the nascent stages of thinking about instating a gradual change in my diet to be a) more healthy and b) more sustainable for the planet.  Clothing is much easier to make a big, instant change because I'm not forced to go out and get clothes every day.  But with food, I am.  I have to eat every day.  I need to be constantly putting food in my body, so making a big change right away can be overwhelming.  Not to mention you still have to eat through all the food you already have in your pantry/fridge.  So I'm thinking of making this a goal that I slowly start to bring into my life as I'm educating myself simultaneously.  And the more I learn, the easier it will be to know what is going to be the best food to buy.  Thankfully, we've got some great stores nearby that stock just the kinds of food that I'll need to buy.  

dress/modcloth :: jacket/courtesy of tulle :: boots/courtesy of blowfish  necklace/courtesy of adorn jewelry :: tights/target cardigan + top/thrifted :: bag/courtesy of handbag heaven I'm being a little vague on what changes I'm talking about, mostly because I'm not sure yet.  Vegan?  Vegetarian?  Pescatarian?  A mixture of various healthy diets?  I'm not sure yet.  I do know I'd like to phase out meat.  I love me some meat, but we already don't eat a ton of it, and I'm not anemic or anything (in fact Dan has the opposite problem, his body makes too much iron!), so it really makes sense to remove meat.  Fish?  I only get wild Alaskan fish whenever I get fish, and after working as a fisherman in Alaskan fisheries and knowing that fishery I feel comfortable eating that fish.  Besides, there's just nothing that can match the taste of wild Alaskan fish.  I'd love to eat more local PNW food.  We've thrown around the idea of starting getting CSA produce deliveries for about a year, and it's probably time to just go for it.  I love the idea that I can support my local community through something that I do every single day.  Eating! Anyway, I'm sure I'll be updating with more thoughts after I actually get into this.  This post is mostly just thoughts that are sparking this desire for change.  But that's where change starts, right?  Just a little seed.  I'm excited about 2013.  I feel like 2013 is a great year for change.  

master of none

Lately I've been feeling like I want to commit.  I've always been a sort of jack-of-all-trades, mostly out of my desire to DIY things I felt like I could make rather than buy, out of frugality.  So instead of hiring out certain things, or buying stuff, I'd do it myself.  I figured I could figure it out and it'd turn out just as good.  And everything I DIY tends to turn out nicely, but because of that I've never focused myself.  I've never chosen to set my sights on one thing that I want to really excel at and commit to becoming proficient in that.  And at this point, I'm really desiring to narrow my sights.  To weed out things that I don't want to commit to and focus on something I'd like to become really good at.  I suppose that's what college is kind of supposed to do.  You major in one thing and focus on that.

Something that probably made me take notice of this, in a more obvious way, is our home exterior renovation.  Since we're doing it ourselves, we're definitely saving money, but I have almost no time to do anything else.  So we're saving money, but if we paid someone to do it, we'd be spending more money, but saving time.  And they say that time=money.  Most of my "do-it-yourself-ing" isn't as huge as that project, but if I extrapolate all those little DIY things, I can tell that the time I'm losing to being a jack of all trades is keeping me from focusing on important things and doing them well.

dress/courtesy of mata traders :: boots/courtesy of blowfish :: hat/nordstrom

jacket/courtesy of asianicandy :: belt + scarf/thrifted

In a lot of ways, I feel like my frugality is to blame.  I don't want to buy books or invest in classes and courses because I figure I can figure it out myself, or find free resources online.  In some instances, this makes sense, but in a lot of ways, investing in learning from someone else is more cost effective.  And I think my pride is to blame as well.  There's a certain pride that comes from being like, "oh, I'm self-taught."  But if my progress is being stunted because I'm hell bent on telling people I taught myself, rather than fast tracking my progress by learning from an expert, that's just idiocy on my part.  There are a few things that I really want to become better at, and taking classes or investing in resources is worth it.

Don't get me wrong, I'm still a huge advocate for DIY, and will continue to DIY a lot of stuff in my life, mostly because it's not only cheaper but less work (ex: cutting my own hair).  There are a lot of things that we think are difficult because we can buy them, so we figure they're probably too hard to figure out, which often isn't the case.  But I'm going to try and evaluate which things are going to limit my time doing stuff I really want to focus on, and which things are still logical to continue DIYing.  I absolutely love doing things myself, when it makes sense, and before I feel like I used to push to do as much as physically possible myself, which is kind of awesome, but at the same time I think it could come from a selfish and/or prideful place of wanting to be able to say that I did everything myself.  As I get older, I think it will be important to prioritize which things are good to do myself, and which things are best left to outsourcing.

style yourself e-course!

Happy Valentine's day!  Today of all days, the day of love, I'm launching my newest e-course!  As a personal style blogger, I get lots of questions about personal style, how to wear certain items, how to banish the self conscious bug that keeps you from dressing with confidence, and how to dress for your body shape, among many other questions.  I love answering questions like that and I figured making an e-course all about personal style would be the perfect way to put everything in one place! Style Yourself is an e-course all about discovering your personal style, learning how to express your amazing creative and beautiful personality through your clothing, and gaining the confidence to rock the styles you feel like you were born to wear.
Discovering your own personal style is fun and exciting, though we all know how frustrating it can be when you're in the dressing room or standing in front of your closet and nothing seems "you."  It's not always easy, and can take a lot of trial and error trying to figure out what style makes you feel the most and best you.  Hopefully this e-course will help with that process!

In addition to the e-course, if you sign up in the first two weeks, you'll have the opportunity to enter a giveaway with over $400 total in prizes from Emerging Thoughts, Ruche, Lulu's, Blowfish, ModCloth, Minnetonka, Radiant Cosmetics, Spotted Moth, & Lace Affair.  Nine lucky e-course students will win prizes including gift cards and merchandise from those sponsors!  So not only will you jump start your personal style, you'll have the opportunity to win prizes that will let you go out and buy new clothes which match your personal style!  The giveaway is open to anyone who signs up in the first two weeks of launch, so if you sign up before February 28th, you'll be able to login to the e-course and enter to win!
I believe that style is something totally unique and individual, and much more than just what's trendy or walking down the runways that season. Style is about expressing something about yourself through the medium of clothing. Whether we like it or not, our clothing says something about us. We assess things and people around us based on appearance, even though most of us try not to "judge a book by it's cover." When I get dressed in the morning, I feel like it's an opportunity to say something, visually, about who I am to the world around me. And depending on the day, that could be something totally different from yesterday! The beauty of style is that you aren't limited to just one style, though fashion magazines sometimes give the opposite impression. I can wear a vintage 1950's dress one day, and a body-con dress the next!

There are no rules. Many of us were taught "fashion rules" as kids. Don't wear black and brown together, don't mix prints, no wearing white after labor day, etc. etc. This e-course is about throwing the rulebook out and starting from scratch– starting from YOU. Personal style is something that should emanate from within. Your passion and personality should dictate your personal style!

In this e-course I'll cover topics including wardrobe basics, finding your style inspiration, dressing for hot/cold weather, layering, mixing prints, and tons of other fun stuff! Let's go!

Session List:

 Personal Style: Catalyst for Confidence
 Thoughts On Style
 Wardrobe Basics
 Your Style Inspiration Board
 Vintage Style
 Bohemian Style
 Tomboy Style
 Classic Style
 Rocker Style
 Fashionista Style
 Jessi Arrington on Personal Style
 Embrace Your Inner Pin Up
 Your Body Shape
 Tips for Thrifting
 Expand Your Wardrobe by Swapping
 On Remixing
 How to Mix Prints
 My Closet Tour
 Spring + Summer Outfit Ideas
 Hot Weather Styling
 Fall + Winter Outfit Ideas
 Cold Weather Styling
 The Evolution of Style
 Thoughts on Style and Age from the Advanced Style Ladies
 Expressing yourself at work



Any questions? Don't hesitate to email me!

e-course giveaway will be open until 2/28 at 11:59 pm and can be accessed to enter on the front page of the e-course. all sales on e-courses are final and non-refundable.  This giveaway is a work at your own pace giveaway and can be started at any time and worked through as fast or slow as you like.  The e-course will be accessible for at least 1 year after you've signed up.  You will be emailed your username and password to access the e-course within 24 hours of purchase.