WHY DID YOU START THE BLOG?
We moved to southern Germany at the end of 2000. I couldn't find any furniture to fit my style so I started to 'make' my own. Everyone kept telling me, I should start a blog to teach others how to do the same – so that's exactly what I did!
And Now?
We loved Bavaria so much that we built a house, a hop, skip and a jump away from a lovely natural lake. We called our house 'Ty Glas'.
WHERE DO YOU LIVE?
Our pretty little blue house is nestled in the foothills of the German Alps in Bavaria.
We are surrounded by forests and lakes.
In fact, in German, our area is called ‘Fünfseenland’ which in English, means ‘Five lakes land’.
I’m from Wales in the UK and that’s where our house name comes from. ‘Ty Glas’ is Welsh for ‘Blue House’.
HOW DO I FIND WHERE TO BUY THINGS IN YOUR HOUSE?
I love to upcycle, repurpose and reuse.
That sometimes means rescuing items destined for the tip or picking up second bargains from flea markets.
My favourite place to buy second hand is ebay.
What can I say? I'm a lover of pretty things. What I can't buy second hand I buy online.
You can shop my house here
WHAT CAMERA EQUIPMENT DO YOU USE
I use a Canon EOS 80D.
I almost always shoot with a tripod. You can find my tripod here
When it's dark inside I use this photography lighting kit.
My all-time favourite lens is the Canon 50mm F/1.8. It creates that gorgeous bokeh effect professional photos have. (Have you ever seen photos where one item is in focus and all of the background is kind of fuzzy and blurred? That's bokeh).
UPDATE: I recently bought the Canon EF 50mm f / 1.2L USM lens and there is no doubt that it has taken over the F/1.8 lens above, to become my all-time favourite lens. It's ideal for those low-light shots and allows excellent control of the depth of field for creative effects. The bokeh effect is amazing, with this lens making the out of focus area appear particularly soft. I just love it!
Because I don't live in a mansion house, my rooms can be kind of small and hard to shoot with my 'nifty 50'.
That's when I use this genius camera lens.
I'M THINKING OF STARTING A BLOG, DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE?
Yes, I'm so glad you asked. There is so much information out there and not all of it is good!
Ask me how I know?
You can read my experience and learn from my mistake in the post 'Tips for choosing the right web hosting for your site'.
My Resources Page is a great place to start.
I also have a shop selling gorgeous stock photography.
It's no secret that projecting the right brand image is a key to success. That's why I aim to deliver beautifully styled and affordable stock photography so that you can concentrate on what you do best!
DO YOU ACCEPT GUEST POSTS?
At the current time Chalking Up Success is not accepting guest posts.
CAN WE WORK TOGETHER?
I love partnering with brands and discovering new products to showcase.
You can learn more about partnering with Chalking Up Success here or email me at jayne@chalkingupsuccess.com
