Addison WORLDFEST was this weekend. If you are at all interested in other cultures, good food or creative outings-you should definitely go to WORLDFEST next year. Let’s start with the Bulgarian dancers, shall we?…

It was such a beautiful day. There was a storm blowing in which created an amazing looking sky and extremely comfortable weather.

WORLDFEST is broken into different sections which represent different parts of the world. In each section there is a performance stage and then food & craft booths representing that culture. This booth was set up by Honduras Threads which is “a nonprofit organization that supports the work of women’s embroidery cooperatives in rural Honduran villages.” I love finding new organizations like this to support. These pillows and table runners would make great Holiday or Birthday gifts. You would be giving both a gift to your friend and a gift to the women in Honduras. Just in case the link above doesn’t work, here is their website: http://www.HondurasThreads.org

This next booth was instantly near and dear to my heart. These products were made in Kenya! M-Kenya Designs is owned by Rael and Bill Eckenroed. I had the pleasure of meeting Rael. She has been living in the United States for 7 years now and her mother and sisters (and a few others from her village) make these items and send them over for her to sell. They do not currently have a website, but if you would like to order something you can email Rael at: Rael_Eckenroed@yahoo.com or contact me! I would love to be the middle man and connect you with these awesome people.

I purchased a pair of the shoes above. I’ll give a $20 Starbucks Gift Card to the first person who guesses the correct pair. I have loved all of your emails in the past few days, but I would really love your comments ON the blog, so I thought I would give you a little incentive…

I REALLY wanted these shoes, but they were too small…

I’m going to pause for a small word to the photographers out there who have stumbled upon my blog. First, thank you for stopping by! Many of the emails that I get from beginning photographers ask about what equipment I use, or specifically what setting or lens to use in what situation. I’m currently working on a “For Photographers” section on my blog. It will contain instructional videos, beginning tips, editing techniques and everything you need to know about ISO, F-stop, Lighting etc… but for now, I’m going to try my best to leave a few pointers or info on posts that I think you may be especially curious about. All of the pictures from this post were taken on a Canon 5D with a Canon 50 mm 1.4 Lens. If you are going to be at a place like WORLDFEST where you don’t want to carry a bunch of lenses around, I have found the 50 mm to be a great all-around lens. Canon has three different “levels” of 50 mm lenses. Mine is the mid-range. The cheapest is the 1.8 and the most expensive is the 1.2. If you look at my gear list you will see that I recommend the 1.8 for beginners because it’s around $100. –ok, so here is the point I really want to make– You don’t have to have a $3,000 Tilt-Shift lens to take “Tilty-Shifty” pictures. The 50 mm has similar capabilities because of its f/stop range. The lower the f number the more specific the depth of field. If you will notice in these last two pictures there is a very specific in focus depth of field. This is because I was shooting at 2 or 2.4 ish (I can’t really remember). Because it was so bright outside I didn’t go all the way down. The pictures near the top (of the Bulgarian dancers) were shot at 5.4ish. No lens change, just a settings change. Before you go spend a ton of money on equipment, just learn how to use what you have. Start cheap, and if you can get your cheap equipment to produce awesome pictures, just think of what you can do when you acquire the really expensive tuitsy-fruitsy equipment! More later… Now, back to WORLDFEST!

YUM!!!

Dan and I LOVE pasta, and when we saw that they had Portobello Mushroom Pasta Sauce…we cracked. Lets just say we went home with enough pasta to last us through the winter… These amazing herbs, spices, pasta-sauces and home-made pasta is grown/made by Lucido’s Pasta & Herbs. They were located in the “Americas” section. Yes, of course the great U.S. of A. was represented. They are located in Coppell, TX.

Are you ready for the next booth? I’m not sure that you are, because I definitely wasn’t.

Yes. Wood ROSES! How cool! I really have a serious issue with fake flowers. I don’t think they should exist. Wooden flowers however, are one of my new favorites. The craftsmanship is amazing.

Last but not least, is the dress that I did not buy. I resisted the urge to increase the size of my closet.

That’s it. See you there next year!