Are you getting excited about your next getaway? You’ve made all the necessary reservations, planned activities, shopped for a new swimsuit and started packing your bags. But have you thought about how to stay healthy while on the journey? Changes in routine can cause havoc with your digestive system. Eating new foods and not getting enough rest or exercise can quickly turn your vacation from fun to troublesome. To help combat some common issues and help you have an amazing trip, I’ve put together 10 tips to stay healthy while traveling. Follow these tips and hopefully you return home with stories of adventures.

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With a lot of us not being able to travel – it’s the perfect time to perfect our photography!

As a Mom, traveler, and blogger;  I am constantly trying to learn the art of photography.  One thing I’ve learned over the years is that shooting on manual will create the best images, but requires a bit of skill to get that perfect shot.  I worked with Jennifer Carr to help take my photography to the next level.    She was patient with my extreme lack of knowledge and when my camera battery died just as we started the lesson *blush*.  She taught me a ton of tips that I put to use during our summer trip to France.   My husband even commented on how much better my photo’s looked! 

I asked Jennifer to share some basic tips to help you get off auto and start taking control of your camera.

The Basics of Exposure

Exposure is the single most important aspect of photography. It is defined as the amount of light that falls onto your digital camera’s sensor when capturing an image. Too much light and your image looks white. Too little light and your image looks dark. The goal of learning exposure is like to get just the right amount of light into your camera.

There are three factors that determine how much light enters your camera. ISO (pronounced I-S-O, not eye-so), Shutter Speed, and Aperture.

ISO

ISO determines your camera’s sensitivity to light. If your scene has a lot of light (think at the beach at noon on a sunny day), you will use a low ISO number. If you are shooting indoors or in darker settings, you will use a high ISO. The downside of using a high ISO is that the picture quality decreases. The higher the ISO, the more noise or grain the image contains. In the above images, the image of the beach is crystal clear, the only grain is in the sand. The image of the right has lots of grain and demonstrates that noise doesn’t have to be a bad thing, if you use it properly.

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What’s on your bucket list for the holiday season?

There are too many places to go and things to do on your holiday bucket list.  Apple picking, skiing, baking Christmas cookies with Grandma, and road tripping to Florida is at the top of our list. Hopefully, our bucket list provides some inspiration as you create your own.  Make your bucket list and don’t forget to check it twice!

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