Whenever I think of a charm bracelet, it brings to my mind something that teenagers wear; the last time I owned a charm bracelet was on my 16th birthday (I’m 51). I recently found said charm bracelet, admired it, then put it back in the jewelry box. All those charms represent an aspect of my life when I was 16.
During a recent wedding which I photographed, the groom gave to the bride a beautiful little bead bracelet made from Pandora beads. Each bead represented some aspect of the bride’s life.
I’ve seen Pandora stuff before, and never gave much thought to it. I like jewelry – far more than I probably should. My tastes are eclectic and I especially like hand-crafted things; two of my favorite jewelry artists are Vickie Clark Rafael, who has a jewelry stall in Pike Place Market in Seattle (but no discernable website that I can find), and L.V. Design Jewelry (I actually met this charming woman at the birthday party my sister threw for my brother-in-law).
After seeing the bride’s bracelet, I admit to being totally taken by these beads. I Googled sites that carried Pandora bracelets/beads, and while looking through the myriad bead choices, I came across the sterling silver camera bead.
I was hooked.
Of course, I didn’t realize how pricey these beads are. I’m glad I have a day job.
In for a penny, in for a pound.
I am now making my own Pandora bead bracelet with each bead representing an aspect of my own life. I’m awaiting the arrival of the last four beads and then I will be done.
Note: all but two of these beads are Pandora-brand beads. They didn’t carry everything I wanted, so I had to look at a couple of other places carrying beads to fit the Pandora bracelet.
The beads I have thus far represent my initials, my photographic passion, my love of travel, my trips to London and Ireland, my fondness for coffee, continuing good luck, and the $$$ I hope someday to accumulate with my currently-fledgling photography business. Although the beads on the side are difficult to make out, can you guess which bead represents each of the above-mentioned aspects of my life?
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For these images, I used Canon 5D Mk II and Mk III bodies, along with a 70-200mm f2.8 lens, and a 24-105mm f4.0 lens. I also used a Canon Powershot G11 for a couple of shots since it does great macro work (in lieu of a dedicated SLR macro, which I still need to purchase someday).
Where The Trails Take You Photography 
I wanted to thank you for this fantastic read!! I definitely loved every little
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