MomShots

I received an email from MomShot’s reader and mother of two seriously adorable twins and five other stunningly beautiful children, Stesha . You know how I love my questions!!! Thanks for sending it in.

Stesha said:

What photoshop actions do you use and prefer?

Well, Stesha that’s a great question. Since I’m a cheapskate I only have free actions. I haven’t found room in our current budget to purchase any of the cool action packages that are out there. But within that limitation, there are many options available. I have both of Pioneer Woman’s action sets but tend to only use a few of them regularly.

I almost usually always use her actions called Define & Sharpen as a first step. Then I often use Boost. I really like vivid colors so that one is my favorite. I like to play with some of her others like PW’s B&W but I don’t use that regularly. I also use the Slight Lighten or Slight Darken if my exposure is not quite how I want it. From her 2nd set I like to play with some of the actions like Seventies, Sepia, Sunshine, etc. Those are more fun things to play with than my regular standbys.

After I’ve got the photo how I’d like it I usually save it as a .PSD file and then use the Flatten action to get rid of all the layers and save as a .JPG so I can work with it in either a collage for my 52 week project or upload to Flickr to be used online on MomShots.com.

A few other actions that I use are the Triptych and Diptych action from the Coffeeshop. She also has other storyboards that I really like to use occasionally. The Coffeeshop also has some actions that relate to color but I don’t use them very often. I suspect that I will use them more after my daughter is born because there are a few that give the photo that soft pink glaze that I think is sometimes really cute on little girl photos. Those just haven’t really gone with my sons’ photos very well. I really should go through her list of actions and figure out if there are anymore that I could use.

If you are in the market to purchase actions there are some really great ones available. MCP Actions, Eye Candy and Totally Rad Actions all have really great packages for sale.

I just did a Google search and came across quite a few other places that have cool free actions like these. I am kind of excited to search some more and see what other gems I can find!

Do you have any favorite Photoshop actions? What’s your favorite process using Photoshop actions?

May I introduce a two new words to your vocabulary?

Triptych - pronounced Trip-tick. Originated from the Greek words, tri- “three” + ptychē “fold”
Diptych - pronounced Dip-tick. Originated from the Greek words, di- “two” + ptychē “fold”

These words were introduced to me about a year ago from the Digital Photography School. They had an assignment that centered around Triptychs. I can’t remember what I submitted or even if I did submit anything. Prior to that I don’t recall ever hearing those words. Since then, I have really enjoyed putting together both triptychs and diptychs. They seem to speak to my indecisive mind. I don’t have to choose just one photo, I can go with all three.

Lately I have been making a lot of triptychs. I have been using this free action a lot instead of making them from scratch in PhotoShop. It’s pretty fast and I like the result. They also have a great diptych action as well; also free. I love the CoffeeShop site. Rita makes wonderful actions that are really fun to play with for storyboards and photo editing. However, you don’t need an action to make these. They aren’t hard to make and you may really enjoy the results.

This is one of my recent favorites. I couldn’t decide on these so I put them all together in one triptych. It makes making up my mind so much easier!

If triptychs and diptychs are new to you, I hope you give it a try and see how you like them.

Zoooooom!!! This week went by fast! I realized last night that I had not taken any photos of all my kids together so I had to put some effort into it today. I took them for a little hike to a nearby trail and brought my camera along. This is my result.

I love a lot of the free digital scrapbooking kits from Shabby Princess. You can download quite a few here. Did I mention that they are free? The kit I used for this is called Happy Go Lucky. I think it’s really cute. I will be using it again as there are many papers and elements that I didn’t use in this collage.

If you want to share your current 52 Week project results, enter your info in Mr. Linky below.

If you want to use the little 52 week graphic, feel free. The html for posting it into your post is:

I live in a house with six giant windows in the living room. Not your average home at all. It has many crazy features, one of which is that it is round. That causes all sorts of decorating dilemmas. I’m not even going to mention that the moron person that built it had no idea what a straight line was. I digress. My house has many, many faults but the large windows in the living room is not one of them. I love them. I want every house I ever live in to have such wonderful windows. Always.

One of the wonderful things about these windows is that on overcast days I have the most wonderful light that comes in. I can set children pretty much anywhere and they are bathed in beautiful, soft and multi-directional light. I don’t get harsh shadows and can get bright skin tones with ease.

One sunny days, it proves to be a challenge because I can get too much bright light but it is a challenge I gladly accept. If I weren’t so lazy about decorating I could probably solve that bright light problem with a few translucent or hazy curtains. But I am. Our living room has no furniture in it. Why? Because I’m lazy. Also because I really love the large open space that is always being used by my sons and husband as a wrestling ring, Jedi sword fighting arena or Nerf gun battle zone. Who needs furniture when you have great light and children with imaginations? Not me!

I took these photos yesterday of my adorable niece. She was over for a few hours and when she’s here I can’t help but get out my camera. I need to start thinking of more creative ways to photograph her but for now, this will do.

Thank you wonderful overcast day for your beautiful light filling my living room. You are welcome to come back often.

So I recently discovered a fantastic photographer out of Southern California named Liz Kuball. She’s really got an interesting style and I found many pieces very inspiring. It also makes me a little bit homesick for my dear early married days in sweet San Diego.

Liz has a great idea on her site that I decided to carry onto mine. She is very much in favor of sharing photography information. This, as you probably know, is a passion of mine as well. So in the spirit of sharing information and answering questions to the best of my ability, I have added this button and link to the right sidebar of my page. If you click on it, it should generate an email to me and you can ask away. You can also leave comments, click on the Contact page or email me directly at momshots@yahoo.com.

If you have questions, don’t hesitate to ask. I love questions! While I will freely admit I don’t know everything, I am a dang good researcher and have many fantastic photographers to reach out to in the event of a question that totally stumps me.

Obligatory MomShot:

Magnus, my 2 1/2 year old. Photos taken yesterday (2/16/10). He was playing with his robot in the perfect light. I couldn’t pass up taking a bunch of shots. Then when I was playing with the photos in Photoshop, he saw this compilation of photos and he started squealing in delight. I think I’m going to print them out and put them up on the wall.

I big pink puffy heart my camera strap cover. It makes my strap so much more comfortable, helps me easily distinguish my camera from my husband’s and helps me not to be such a walking billboard for Nikon.

You can possibly tell how much I love it by how dirty it is. I think it’s time for a new one!

Many times since I made my strap cover I have wanted to put together a MomShots tutorial for anyone who may be interested in making their own. I still haven’t done that. I’m a pretty big procrastinator sometimes. Have you noticed?

So in the meantime, I thought I’d post some links to camera strap cover tutorials that I found online.

Strap cover #1, similar to the ones I make. Made by the creative Tidy Mom.

Strap Cover #2. Made by Design Sponge. I really like the tight fit of this cover. I’m thinking about trying my hand at one of these.

Strap Cover #3. This patchwork cutie is great. I love the idea! This is on the Fabric Family Fun blog.

Strap Cover #4. Lil Blue Boo made this adorable strap cover using leftover pieces of ribbon. I am really impressed. It’s a super fun way to use up pieces of ribbon you might have laying around.

Strap Cover #5. A strap cover with a pocket is on my list of must make items. I don’t always have a pocket in my clothes to put my lens cap so this is a perfect alternative. This great design is made by Simply Modern Mom.

Strap Cover #6. A great basic strap tutorial found at Made By Petchy.

Strap Cover #7. Adorable strap cover that is a great way to use left over scraps of fabric you may have laying around. This was made by Make It and Love It.

Strap Cover #8. If you don’t want to design your own pattern, The Sweetest Patterns on Etsy offers a downloadable PDF that you can purchase for only $4.50.

Well that’s a pretty good list of sites that can get you started and on your way quickly. If you make a camera strap cover, I am sure you will love it as much as I love mine! If you don’t want to make one and would like to purchase one already made there are some adorable ones available on Etsy at really great prices.

I’m kind of inspired and thinking that I need to keep my eyes peeled for some cute fabric this week and make a new one. Mine is starting to look a bit dingy. But really, do I need an excuse???

Note from Jessica: I’m super excited about this guest post. Kim, from our post on Friday, is going to share with us information about her 2009 journey of documenting her families adventures. I was really inspired by this, I hope you will be too. Plus, I’m also excited to use these great coupons and add to my digital scrapbooking folder!

Hello Momshots readers! You may be wondering what a girl whose camera is too big for her britches is doing writing up a Momshots post. That’s right. I have a more than awesome Nikon D40 and I still use automatic settings and only dabble with manual. I’m overwhelmed. But that camera, ooooooo how I love that camera. And I WILL learn how to use manual settings!!! And being a Momshots reader myself, I’m learning more and more all the time.

My photography story begins in the middle of January last year. My partner in crime, Glenda, and I decided to partake in the Project 365 hype that was going down. We started a little late, but technically, my adventure is from 2009. And here’s where I give you Momshots readers some ideas…what do we do with our photos once we’ve taken them? Most everyone I know these days has a digital camera, and because of this, all of our awesome shots are stuck on our computers. This is one of the reasons that I started digital scrapbooking. Momshots’ very own Tye offered a class at the local community college and after taking that, I was hooked.

So I started taking at least one picture every day. But what do I do with all 365? I decided that since scrapping was my ‘thing’, 52 layouts to showcase my photos was the way to go. “Seven pictures on one page?” you ask. That’s right. But, I had help. A lot of digital scrapbook designers specialize in templates. Some of my favorite templates were from Sweet Tomato Designs, but there are a ton of options out there. And kits to make each page unique, they’re out there too. Some of my favorite designers are from Stuff to Scrap. Most designers sell their kits, but on occasion will offer freebie add-ons or even full kits for free!

Some examples of my adventure (click on them if you want to see them a bit larger):

Week 9 Credits: My Kind of Rocket collab. from Digital Candy and Template by Yin Designs

Week 27 Credits: 365: International Edition - Take 2 by Studio MGL

Week 52 Credits: Feeling Good collab. by The Daily Scrapper and Template: Photo Booth 01 by Bunny Cates

And just for being Momshots readers, Digi-Designs by Nicole, Nibbles Skribbles, and Flower Scraps are offering coupons to their stores!!

Click here to go to Nibbles Skribbles’ store and use coupon code: NS_MomShots50 (50% off your next Nibbles Skribbles purchase and expires March 31, 2010).

Click here to go to Digi-Designs by Nicole’s store and use coupon code: 1offDDBN ($1.00 off any product priced at $3.99 or above).

Click here to go to Flower Scraps’ store and use coupon code: DJFS_Momshots (30% off and good for one year, one use per customer).

Well, Momshots readers, I hope I have inspired you at least a little to get out there and scrap those pictures sitting in a file on your computer. As for me, I’m off to reread Jessica’s post here and take some more pictures!!

If you’re interested in seeing some more examples of my work, you can check out my gallery here and check out my blog where I will on occasion let you know where to snag some super scrapping freebies!!!

We’ve been battling a cold this week. We pulled the memory foam mattress off of our guest bed and put it on the floor in front of my bed, pulled my pillows and comforter off my bed and have been snuggling and watching movies all week. I hate when my babies are sick but I also love it because it makes for excellent snuggle time.

This is my 52 Week project for result for Week 2.

If anyone wants to share their project, enter your info in Mr. Linky below. As a sidenote, if this Mr.Linky thing isn’t working the way it should, would someone be so kind and leave me a message about what it does. I tried testing it but I’m not sure… This is the first time I’ve used it.

If you want to use the little 52 week graphic, feel free. The html for posting it into your post is:

My friend, Kim made an adorable Valentine collage using photos of her kids to spell the word “Love”. I just can’t get enough of projects like this. They always inspire me and make me want to round up my kids and try to do something similar. I mean seriously, how can you possibly get any cuter than this?!? You can’t. Just not possible. Any grandparent or family friend would love to get a valentine in the mail like this. Plus it would also make a fantastic framed picture for your home.

Great job, Kim and thanks for being willing to share here on MomShots!

This is a cross post from my family blog. It was photography related so I thought I’d share it here too. Happy Valentines’ Day!!!

After much deliberating, I finally decided what to do for Uly’s Valentine cards for his kindergarten class. I was originally going to make this really yummy looking candy popcorn. I liked the idea of sending Uly with a treat instead of a traditional valentine card. However I started realizing that it was going to be a bit more work than I wanted to invest for all of his classmates.

This morning, (my sister) Olea sent me an email with a blog post to check out with a note that said, “Wish Lala was bigger so we could make these!” When I read that, before I clicked on the link, I was wondering what she was talking about. I started thinking about sewing for little girls or something like that. I wasn’t thinking Valentines’ Day. When I finally clicked on the link I was excited by what I saw because it incorporated photography, my kids and candy. I don’t think you can go wrong with that combination!

This photo of the finished product is not as good as I’d like it to be, but I think you’ll get the idea. You take a picture of your child with his hand in a position like he’s holding flowers or something. Then cut out a slit, punch a hole, or cut an “X” above and below the child’s hand. Then insert a lollypop. It looks like he’s handing you the sucker.

I loved the idea. Plus it looked easy!!!