Reflector Experiments

A week or so ago I bought a new 5-in-1 collapsible reflector. I was so excited I took advantage of Niall's lunch time to try it out. It makes a huge difference! Check out my test shots.

Silver

White

Gold

Light Gold

A Moment to Myself

to say ahhhh. . .

Today was a good day but we had a few rough patches. Niall didn't take a nap, and I tried for an hour to get him to sleep before giving up. He was so tired and grumpy, but then we went to a fantastic barbeque at our neighbor's house and life was good for a while. He played with the neighbor's daughter and was having the best time, until he fell over. Then there was no recovering, it was time to go home.

We've been trying to get him on an earlier schedule, so I was hoping this would work out in my favor but you never know. Sometimes when they're over tired it becomes even more difficult to go to sleep. It turns out today IS my lucky day. I brought him home, gave him a bath, and he was asleep before 8 pm. Unbelievable!

Now I'm enjoying a nice quiet house and a moment to myself. There are a million things I should be doing right now, but I'm taking a deep breath and enjoying the quiet. Tomorrow is another day, and this might not happen again for a very long time. Ahhhh. . . peace.

Non-Technical Tips to Take Better Pictures of Your Kids

I originally wrote this article for our preschool newsletter, but I got several requests to post it on the blog as well so here it is!

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Most parents would like to take better pictures of their children. Although I have always loved to take pictures, in many ways my journey into photography started with a desire to take better pictures of my son. With photography I wanted to show who he was and tell his story, to capture the sweet moments in time as he was growing and changing so quickly.

In the last two years I've learned a lot about the technical side of photography, and I've made a significant investment in equipment. However, while both of those help, there are several things you can do to improve your pictures without a big lens or ever even knowing what an "f-stop" is. Here are some non-technical suggestions that you can use regardless of what kind of camera you have.

1. Fill the frame
I've heard this said in many different ways. A friend told me that his high school photography instructor used to say, "The three rules of photography are: get closer, get closer, get closer." By filling the frame with your subject, you minimize distractions and help the viewer focus on what is important.

2. Get down to their level
For photographing children, I like to get right down to their level. I generally hold the camera right at the child's eye level, or just slightly above. As adults we are so much taller than children we're used to looking down at them. By shooting at their eye level you make the child a more powerful subject, and the shot more interesting. I was literally lying on the floor to get this shot of Niall playing with his cars on Easter morning.


3. Off-center is more interesting
Instinctively we tend to compose pictures with the subject right in the center. For more interesting compositions, put the child slightly off-center in a way that makes sense. For more detail on this you can read up on a rule of thumb for composition called the rule of thirds.


4. Take pictures that tell the story
Take pictures of your child while they are playing with toys, with their friends, or doing something that they're struggling with. Look for shots that capture how small they are, like reaching way up to open a door. This shot is of my niece, Asha. She was working so hard learning to throw the frisbee that day!


5. Take more pictures
Increase the odds of getting a good shot by taking more pictures! Many cameras have a continuous capture mode, in this mode as long as you are holding the shutter button the camera will continue to take pictures at a certain rate. I use continuous mode 99% of the time.

To get this one shot of Annabelle, I watched and waited, clicking away. I took about 15 shots to get this one of her struggling to ride her bike up over the edge of the mat.

6. Pre-focus to minimize shutter-lag
If you have a Digital SLR camera you probably don't have this problem, but some digital point and shoot cameras have a very long pause between pressing the shutter button and taking the picture. If your camera has a significant shutter lag, one thing you can do is pre-focus. If you know where the action is going to happen, focus on that spot by holding the shutter button halfway down. Continue holding it, and your camera will be ready to take the shot when you are. When it's time, press the button all the way down to take the picture.

7. Go outside!
The idea here is to avoid using the camera's direct flash. The best days are bright and overcast with a lot of diffused light. In sunny weather look for bright shade without dappled sunlight. One idea for older children is to set up an activity on a table lined with white butcher paper. The white paper will reflect light on the child's face, and the activity will keep them in one place, or at least slow them down long enough to take a few pictures.

What's next?
If you already have a Digital SLR camera and want to take it to the next level, here are some suggestions.

• Learn to use your camera's Manual mode. By adjusting ISO, aperture, and shutter speed you can get more creative results. It's not that difficult, it just takes practice.
  


• Shoot in RAW (instead of JPEG) and learn to do post-processing in a program like Lightroom, Aperture, or NikonView. In JPEG, the camera does a great deal of processing and then compresses the image. In RAW, all the original data is preserved, and you do the processing afterwards to make sure the image looks just right.

Recommended Resources:

• Local photographer Me Ra Koh has an excellent DVD series to help parents learn photography. The first is Refuse to Say Cheese and Capture the Story. The second, Beyond The Green Box: Understanding Your Digital Camera, is all about learning to shoot in manual mode. These are a great introduction to digital photography and she makes everything very easy to understand. She also does photography workshops for mom's and posts tips on her blog.

• Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson

• The Digital Photography Book by Scott Kelby

• Baby Photography Now! by David Nightingale

Experiment with Cross-Processing

Jude and I were out for a walk last week and we came across this really cool, old truck. Luckily I had my fabulous Canon G9 with me, and I snapped this picture. I've been wanting to experiment with cross-processing for a while, and this seemed like just the right shot for it.


I played around with it many different ways, and found I liked the effect best when it was subtle, so I've used it to make the car stand out a bit and add a bit of drama.

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Myth of the Supermom

Last week one of my friends paid me a huge compliment. She said she had been talking with a mutual friend about how I'm one of those supermoms that can do it all. Who, me? What?! This came at a time when I was feeling quite the opposite of super, and struck me as both hilarious and shocking.

When she told me this I was ready with all the evidence to correct her, my long to-do list, my lack of sleep, my perceived inability to look more than halfway decent on any given day. This really got me thinking. How could the outside perception be so different to the way I feel?

I think the answer is simple; she was focusing on the positive, on the things I had accomplished. I seem to always focus on the next thing to do, on my list that is 10 miles long. Am I really being too hard on myself? I wondered if I focused more on the positive, would I start to feel like a supermom?

As I went through my day, I made a conscious effort to recognize things I was doing. Everything from the dishes, grocery shopping, and making lunch, to taking a deep breath and putting Niall down when he smacked me in the face. All important things! It turns out I do a lot of things every day that I wasn't really giving myself credit for. Maybe I'm not ever going to get everything done, and probably my list will remain long. However, I am getting the most important things done. Does that make me a super mom?

Ok, so I still don't really feel like a super mom. That language implies that I am endowed with some super-human ability that is inherently useful in motherhood, something that almost nobody else has. I'm fairly sure that isn't the case. In fact, the more I think about it the more convinced I am that we are all super moms. I know a lot of moms and I can't think of anyone that isn't super!

I know there is always room for improvement, efficiency, etc, but we should focus on what we are already doing right. We are doing so much! The next time someone gives me a compliment like that, hopefully I'll be ready to accept it gracefully!

Jude has High Cholesterol

We just found out that Jude has high cholesterol. Apparently 171 is not a good number if it's your LDL Cholesterol. For some reason it feels like this is all my fault! When we were first married and getting our life insurance policies we both had to have a physical, and it was very irritating to discover that his cholesterol was actually lower than mine! I was a vegetarian at the time, and I was sure that guaranteed superior cholesterol numbers.

Five years later, we're both busy working and with Niall. Obviously we haven't been eating as well as we should have been, quick and easy meals had become the priority. All that is changing starting today! I've been busy looking up healthy recipes for next week's meal plan, then Niall and I went grocery shopping and came back with loads of healthy veggies, beans, rice, and fish.

Since Jude's cholesterol has changed so dramatically I should probably get mine checked too. Hopefully with improved diet and exercise we can get these numbers down!

Evening in the Garden

What an amazing day! It shouldn't be suprising to have such a nice day in the middle of May, but the weather hasn't been great so far this year, at least until now. It was so warm and wonderful, Niall and I even walked to preschool!

We had a little barbeque for dinner, and I took a few pictures before it got too dark. It's so nice to get outside again! This first shot is of the Swales family's signature martini, a Godiva Chocolate Martini with cream. Yummy!

Motherhood: The Toughest Job You'll Ever Love

Living with a toddler is not always easy. However, it can be wonderful, exhausting, annoying, and hilarious. A good sense of humor is required!

Niall and I are having so much fun right now, I just love this age! Did you know that I had a song in my hair? Last week the funniest joke in the whole world was "David said pizza", and everything is described as "big and strong", including cars, trucks, diapers, and Mommy. At meal time I can move things along with a variety of bites; I've become very good at ambulance bite, school bus bite, and police car bite. Whatever works!

Mother's Day has me thinking about how lucky I am. It's easy to get overwhelmed when there is so much to do, the house always seems like a mess, and there is little time for the "alone time" I used to treasure. However, with all this mess, all the cooking, shopping, laundry, and sleepless nights, becoming a mom is still the best thing that's ever happened to me!

We had a great Mother's Day today. We went out for brunch complete with my favorite, a Bloody Mary. Yum! Then we went to Third Place Books, where I sold some old books and found a used copy of A Photographer's Life by Annie Leibovitz. It's an amazing book, what a great find! Perhaps the best thing about today is that I didn't cook or clean anything :)

After more shopping and a failed nap attempt, we ended up at Blue C Sushi, one of our favorite family restaurants. Niall loves it, there is cheap food that he will actually eat, and it's loud enough that if he makes some noise it's not likely to bother anyone else. They also have the cutest chopsticks for kids, it's hilarious to watch him eat with them.

When I saw this last shot at home later I got so annoyed, this is just typical me! I get up to take a picture on Mother's Day, and there is my husband, my son, and my empty chair. We're in a restaurant full of people that I could have asked to take a picture of all of us, and when do I think of this? At home, when it's too late. Just when I thought I was doing better! For the background on why this is so annoying, see my Invisible Mom post.

By the way, in case you were wondering, the song in my hair is "Let's Go Crazy" by Prince.

Happy Mother's Day, everyone!

Exciting Announcement from Blurb!

Blurb.com is a great resource for photo books. I've used them for the coffee table book, and paperback yearbooks for preschool. They're great! The one thing that was notably missing from their offering was a hard cover book with a printed cover, rather than a dust jacket. The good news is they've just announced this as a new product called ImageWrap. Also, some of their prices are going down.

I'm so excited about this for two reasons. First, because every time I make a book for Niall, I want it to be hard cover but it doesn't make sense to order a book for a child with a dust sleeve because it will just get destroyed anyway. I end up ordering from Shutterfly, but to be honest I find overpriced and under quality. The second reason is because I'm starting my business soon, and I've been thinking about including photo books in some of my packages. If these books are as good as they look, they might be it!

Kelly and Pat's Wedding Slideshow Posted!

Check it out here!!! Gerald and Airika from Gerald Pope Photography did such an amazing job, I had tears in my eyes watching this slideshow! Niall loved it too, every time we got to the end he said "Should we do it again!". The photographs really capture the emotion and feel of the wedding, and the fun personalities of everyone involved. Beautiful work, Gerald and Airika!

Fun with Camera Obscura

When Niall and I arrived home from preschool, Jude had a big suprise waiting for me! I could tell something was up because when we drove up, I could see that there were Pampers boxes covering the bedroom window. I wondered what in the world he was up to. I thought maybe he was fixing something and wanted to protect the windows. I had no clue!

After I was done giving Niall his lunch, Jude carried Niall and made me close my eyes and walk upstairs. After bumping in to many things along the way, he had me sit down in a chair, shuffled around for a minute, and then told me to open my eyes. I could tell immediately that it was camera obscura, however it took a few minutes for my eyes to adjust before I could see it well. We could see cars parked on the street, the lamp post, neighbors houses, cars driving by, people walking. It was amazing, and confusing since everything was upside down and backwards.

He wanted to be able to adjust how much light was coming in, so he made this incredible aperture. With a tiny opening we could see a lot more detail and color, as you would expect. After we (finally!) got Niall down for his nap, I took some long exposure shots with the tripod to try to capture the experience.

This is our bedroom with camera obscura! If you look closely, you can see the outlines of the doors and a step ladder. The white circle is so you can see that Niall and I are actually in the shot even though we're too small to really see. I set everything up, and then Niall and I went outside and Jude took the picture.

In case you are thinking of trying this for yourself, I should tell you that it doesn't look this clear to the human eye. The reason is that our eyes refresh 24 times per second. To get this shot, I set the camera on a tripod, ISO 800, aperture 3.5, and shutter speed 30 seconds. The camera had 30 seconds to absorb all this color and light! So the pictures look much clearer than it looks when you're sitting in the room, but it still looks very clear and is totally worth trying!