A Little Help, Please!

A while back, I was lucky enough to get a Canon Rebel DSLR that was slightly used, but in great condition, and since then I have been having a blast learning how to use it and how to take better pictures of my home and projects.

On the fall day I took it with me to Jordan Valley Park and downtown Springfield, I noticed a light leak that was happening when I shot into the sun. It looked like a half circle, like something was reflecting off the edge of the lens. Here's a couple of examples from that day:

More recently, I put my cat in the snow and tried to take some pictures of him (I'm a jerk), and with the bright white snow, the same thing happened again. 

This doesn't happen every time, just when the light is bright and just right, but when it happens, it's always in the same place. I've done a little internet searching, and I've come across some promising leads, but I'm still not even sure what words I should be searching for.

One explanation I've come across (and it's sort of common sense) is that the lens needs taken apart and cleaned. This involves purchasing a cleaning kit.

Another possibility is a light leak, but every source I have found on light leaks talks about them in a positive way. I like cool effects on my pictures, but I want to control them, and this is not something I can control. I want to be able to take photos without this weird crescent shape across the middle, and I haven't found any sites that address light leaks as a problem.

There's a store in my town that specializes just in cameras, so I might stop by and ask them. I hope this isn't a permanent problem with my beloved camera (although for the price I paid, I still got a pretty good deal, I guess). 

So, any thoughts? Anyone out there have a DSLR and had a similar issue? Are there any great resources you know of that might help me? 

My Christmas Wishlist

Almost all of my Christmas shopping is done, so I thought I'd go ahead and share my Christmas wish list, just in case anyone out there is looking for last minute gift ideas...maybe even for me. (Wink, wink, Rand!)

Here's what I dream of finding under my tree on Christmas morning:

1. Anna Dorfman now has a Society 6 shop! I really admire her and I would love to have something she's created hanging in my home! This Focus print is my favorite, but there are so many beautiful things in her shop to choose from.

2. These boots look like something I could wear all the time, in every season. 

3. This is another Society 6 print featuring the characters from my favorite TV show ever, Arrested Development. LOVE. I especially love that Tobias is blue!

4. Morgan Satterfield is another blogger I find really inspiring, and this Daily Pill Necklace is her design from her shop, Camp Provisions. Both are beautiful, but I think I want the circular one.

5. I would really love to be able to run errands on my vintage bike, but it's so hard to bike around carrying my purse and anything I've purchased. A bicycle basket would be a huge help, like this one.

6. These TOMS wedges also look like they would go with so many, many outfits.

7. I can't stop thinking about the Stendig calendar. Time to get one!

8. This Stay Home Club shirt is perfection.  So me...and it also reminds me that I need two more cats. 

Do you see anything you like? What's on your wish list this year? If you've blogged your wish list, please share a link!

Vinyl

This weekend my record collection was this close to sliding off the record cart, so I started shopping around my house for a container that could keep them from toppling over. I was surprised that I had this basket on hand and it fits perfectly!

I have no idea where it's from. In fact, I think my mom gave it to me.  I set it on the floor in front of the fireplace, and it's created a nice little music nook in my house. Not that I really lay there to listen to records that often, but it's cozy. Now I would love to have these record dividers by designer Kate Koepell.

A lot of the records I have here are actually my mom's. When I was little, she stayed home with me, and she said we would listen to records all day while we went about our routine. One Christmas Day, years later, my sister got my mom a new turntable, so she dug out her records from the closet and we started listening. I discovered that I recognized and knew the words to songs I hadn't heard in years, like Simon and Garfunkel's "I Am a Rock" and Peter, Paul, and Mary's "Lemon Tree," (which I seriously thought for years was a kid's song...). Music has incredible power to take you back in time, even when you were so young you don't have a clear memory of what that time looked like.



Since the day I rediscovered my mom's music, I've been slowly gathering up a collection of my own. So I made you a little playlist of some of my favorites from my mom's and from my own records.  My musical tastes are all over the place, but perhaps you'll hear something you like. So press play, turn up the volume, and let's rearrange furniture....