The Meteor Shower...that wasn't.

So last Friday there was supposed to be a meteor shower between the hours of 1am-4am on Saturday Morning. Its been on my Bucket List to see a meteor shower so I was extremely excited when my uncle suggested we go. I went along with my uncle, niece and sister. We drove out to a spot in Caledon, just after midnight on Saturday, called The Forks of the Credit to set up our cameras in hopes of getting some photos.

The weather was extremely overcast but quickly cleared up by the time we got out to Caledon. We were lucky that only once during the night did we have cloud overcast but it eventually thinned out and we could see the stars again. But as you can tell by the title of this post the shower never happened. We were all pretty bummed out. But we all learned a lot about night time photo taking, and my Uncle and niece were able to get some pretty amazing photos.

An even bigger disappointment for me was that my camera just would not focus. Imagine turning off all your lights in your bedroom and trying to see a piece of fluff on your floor. Its not exactly easy. My uncle was able to focus his own lens and helped my niece focus hers but none of us could get my camera lens to focus. It was extremely frustrating and the more I tried the more I wanted to cry. I tried for about an hour and half  to work with my camera taking just under 50 images by turning my lens this way and that, trying to see what I could do. Around 2:00am I just said 'fuck it' and turned off my camera. Out of all the photos I took I was able to play with only 3 of them but like I said it was a learning experience and I'm glad I went.

All of my photos where shot on ISO 1600 at a F-Stop of 4.0 with Shutter Speed at 25-30 seconds.

I edited them in Photoshop Elements 11 changing the White Balance a bit and upping the contrast.

Despite not seeing a meteor shower I did get to see a dozen or so shooting stars. I've never seen a shooting star before so every time it raced across the sky I let out a little 'Ohh' and 'Ahh'. Which was quickly followed by my niece screaming "MAN...my camera was faced the wrong way."

Photo Adventure: Toronto Lakeshore

On Saturday Hillary and I went on another photo adventure. We haven't done one since the fall and this weekend seemed like a good opportunity to get together. The weather was a little cold in the morning and I was afraid that it was going to rain but luckily the weather held out and we were able to get a lot of shots in.

Hillary and I were practicing some action photos which unfortunately didn't work for me the way I would have liked but I was able to get some great scenic photos. I'm more and more impressed with my own photos of late and I think a large portion of that has to do with the fact that I'm taking more photos on a day to day basis.

Anyway lets get to the photos I took from this weekend. Enjoy.

This is one from Hillary's photos of me trying to skip stones. The most I got was three but we didn't get a photo of it. So mostly it was just me failing and watching one stone plop into the water.

Eff Your Beauty Standards

I got to meet TESS MUNSTER!

For those who don't know who that is, Tess is a Plus Size Model, Make-Up Artist, Body Positive Activist, Blogger and Founder of #EffYourBeautyStandards. Impressive Right?

I started following her on Instagram after a friend from work, Amanda, posted a picture of her on her IG. Tess is such an inspiration for not only plus size women but to all women. She lives in LA but was traveling and doing meet and greets with fans and Toronto happened to be on her list of cities. Amanda, who is a huge fan of Tess, showed a couple of us from work that she was coming up and three of us agreed we had to meet her.

The day started out with us all meeting at Yorkdale where I broke my Sephora cherry and bought a brand new lipstick. I was feeling sassy and ready to take on the world. Have you ever noticed that when you feel pretty you give off a different chemistry? I swear it happens every time I wear a new dress or even just a new Bra and Panties.  Like I can be wearing an over sized T-shirt and crappy jeans but if I'm wearing sexy new underwear...WATCH OUT WORLD! Like for some reason I feel pretty so I stand a little taller, look people in the eye and smile a bit more. I get more compliments and feel pretty, which is something I don't feel on a day to day basis.

Well with my new 'Hot Tango' Red lipstick on I was feeling just that. Funny how little things like that will help. So after shopping for a little bit we headed down to Gussied Up Plus, where Amanda would meet one of her idols. There was a buzz happening between the three us, that only got stronger as we lined up with the rest of the women and men outside the store.

Everyone in line was so positive. It was amazing how many people where just dealing out the compliments to everyone who passed. Especially towards Amanda who looked fierce with her Ariel red hair. While we waited outside two people asked if we would answer a couple questions while they filmed us. James and Giovanna are the two filmmakers filming a documentary on the plus size industry called A Perfect 14. Tess Munster along with two other plus size models are their subjects in the documentary that will explore the personal struggles and success of these woman. We were asked some questions about Tess Munster and our feelings towards her positive attitude on the plus size community. Hopefully we will have a little bit in the documentary which would be fantastic. Also I can cross being in a movie off my bucket list. So in the event that James and Giovanna actually stumble across this post, my name is Paula Vaughan and I was the chick with the sassy red lipstick. Just to narrow it down for you all. :)

Tess Munster, where do you start? Well, how about with the obvious. She's gorgeous. You look at photos now a days and know that photoshop is going to be used at some point, but honestly she is stunning in person. Photoshop is not needed with her at all. She was talking to her fans one on one, and while we waited in line we saw how she interacted with people. She was so nice and willing to share stories and answer peoples questions. She was taking photos with people and asked after every photo if they liked it. If not another one would be taken. She wanted everyone to like the photo that was taken and would continue to take photos until the person was pleased with it. She was signing autographs and selling her custom Eff Your Beauty Standards T-shirt, which the three of us purchased.

It was an amazing experience to be a part of it and to meet such an incredible woman but also to see Amanda meet her idol. Amy and I were both more excited for Amanda to meet her then anything. 

Being a plus size woman is hard. I have always been on the fatter side of what society deems as beautiful. What can I say I love to eat and hate to exercise. Could I lose some weight? Of course I could. Is that anyone's business but my own? Hells No.The amazing thing that I'm finding going on right now are all the plus size women that are speaking out about what its like to be on this side of the social norm and love your body. You have women like Tess Munster, and Brittany Gibbons with her Curvy Girl Guide Society. Chelsea McGowan and her Girls on Film photo shoots, where real woman of all shapes and sizes show their confidence in their own skin. You have actresses like Rebel Wilson and Melissa McCarthy owning their bodies and showing that having curves isn't something to be ashamed of but something to embrace.

We need more women like this in the world. We need to stop with the Fat Shaming and the Skinny Shaming. I've said it so many times before about actresses who are skinny, mostly because I'm jealous that they look the way they do. They work their asses off (literally) to look the way they do. Good on them! Love your body and yourself just the way you are. If you want to get healthy and feel more confident in your own skin then fucking go for it, and if that's not for you then so be it, but be confidant in yourself.

Honestly life is hard enough without everyone else picking on each others appearance. So in the words of Tess...Eff Your Beauty Standards.

**Side Note: I edited most of these pictures using the A Beautiful Mess Actions for Photoshop Elements. I'm really loving the look they give to my pictures.  

March Photo A Day Challenge

I am officially addicted to these challenges. I already love taking photos but with this monthly prompts put up by Chantelle over at Fat Mum Slim, I now take photos everyday. I also feel that I'm learning more about photography from it. I think my composition and style has improved over the three months I've done them. To see my January and February Challenges just click on the them out below.

January Challenge

February Challenge

Here are this months photos and daily prompts.