MomShots

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:

After yesterday’s great post by Rachael and Shanda, I realized that I wanted to get in on the action of the 52 week project too. I have been noticing that I have been taking fewer photos than I used to. I have lots of excuses, like being tired, sick, trapped in the house by cold weather, etc. It’s all just excuses. I am the master of excuses. I will transcend those excuses!

Another reason I am excited about this is because I have such a hard time putting together compilations of photographs of my kids. Again, I have good intentions but poor follow through. You might think that since I take so many pictures of them that I would have photo albums all over the place. I have none. That’s right; none. That HAS to change.

I tried the yearbook challenge last year and got a month into it and then I didn’t keep up my motivation. I just can’t let that happen anymore!

I decided to participate in this project so at the end of the year I can easily print out the 52 pages and have a great compilation of the past year. This will also force me to weekly work on my Photoshop skills. Hopefully that will also help me keep my goal of getting better at Photoshop.

I have decided that all my pages will be 8.5″x11″ at 300 dpi so printing and compiling should be a breeze. I am going to do it scrapbook style - or at least my version of what scrapbook style is. Sometimes I will add embellishments sometimes I won’t. Who knows? I’m spontaneous like that…

Here is my week 1 page.

Anyone else up for joining? Or have you already started? I’d love to see and/or share some of your 52 week project pages. Email me at MomShots@yahoo.com.

I am excited to see my Photoshop and photography skills by the end of 2010. I can’t help but get better if I keep up with this project and forcing myself to take pictures and compile them. It’s going to be fun!!!

I have mentioned DPS on here before, but it’s been a long time. I love that site. DPS stands for Digital Photography School and it is a forum for all kinds of things photography related. They often have challenges and contests that make me think about how I can stretch my photography brain and try new things.

I follow DPS on Twitter (@digitalps). If you don’t, you might like to.

Today on Twitter I saw a post about a challenge they issued called Recreate a Famous Portrait. I think this sounds like so much fun! A chance to look through portraits and art and a chance to try imitating the lighting and composition of something that obviously has worked in the past. A chance to learn from the greats, if you will.

I am going to try to take this challenge over the weekend. I don’t have any idea what portrait I will attempt to recreate but I am going to figure that out.

Maybe you’d like to join DPS and their challenge?

If you see me on DPS, my name in Winyari. Say hi!

So I was thinking that I need to remind myself to get the camera out every single day and practice what I am learning. Maybe you need a reminder to take a MomShot every day too. Maybe not. Thinking about learning how to use our cameras and thinking about what makes a great photograph is nice but unless we actually get out our cameras and take those MomShots, we are not going to progress as fast as we’d like.

Some people are involved in projects like the 365 Project. That is where you take a photo every single day for a year. Can you do that? Personally, that’s too much pressure for me right now. I know I will miss days and then I’ll probably end up abandoning the whole project. That’s setting myself up for failure and I don’t like that. However, I could probably do a 52-Project or something less demanding. A photo a week is better than nothing, right? I DO take more than one photo a week so right there I know I’d be OK.

I am going on a road trip next week. My sister and I are going to drive up to Bellingham, Washington to visit our parents. It’ll just be me, my boys and my sisters. We are going to have a blast. While I am gone, I plan on getting out my camera every day and taking a MomShot. I always find inspiration when I travel, it’s the nature of going to new places. I’m excited.

I think I am going to do a MomShot a Day Project for the time I am gone. I’ll try to post them as the week progresses. Anyone want to participate with me? We could put them in a special Flickr group if that works for you. Let me know. Its always fun to have company!

With 2008 coming to a close and 2009 already underway, now is the time to remember and record all of your family’s adventures. There are 100’s and 100’s of events and moments worth recording from just one single year. So how do we organize and and stay on top of all those stories? How do we record, organize and remember the most important events? We start right now…         

Many of us take 1000’s of pictures each year to find them stored up in virtual folders all over our computer. Sometimes they get printed and shared, but more often than not the story behind the beautiful pictures is never told and soon forgotten. The Family Yearbook Challenge was started to help all of us grasp the moments and stories that are happening right now, record and store them so by the end of the year we have a collection of photos and stories.

Each Monday on my blog, www.publishourstories.com, I post “Homework” that readers can follow and use to help them capture the moments week by week. I give story and memory prompts as well as questions and reminders of events and important dates. At the end of the week readers then store and organize all their photos and stories in designated folders. By the end of the year their folder will be filled and ready for publishing. One lucky participant will get their Family Yearbook printed and bound by Cherish Bound for FREE!

If you would like to join the Family Yearbook Challenge Click Here to get started. Then click here for Week 2 & Week 3. It’s never too late to start telling your story. Grab the button, invite your friends and get your family involved.

Thanks Tara!!! I’m so excited to get started!

I’m taking a short break right now.  I am a human superhero cape factory today.  I am in the process of making 9 capes for a horde of little boys.  I know at least three of them will be loved.  I am not sure how the other 6 will be received but that’s OK.  At least I know my boys are going to wear them silly.  That makes it worth it.

I wanted to point your attention to a post on the MomShots Flickr Group by Clint Long.  He wrote a great article about balancing your colors, including adjusting your white balance.  This is super informative and interesting.  He delves into the topic further than just the white balance.  I learned a few neat things and I bet you will too. 

Thanks for such a great article, Clint!  

You should also check out some of Clint’s Photostream.  He’s got some great skills and talent!

While you’re cruising around Flickr, add some of your photos to the MomShots Group Pool.  Come on, it’s fun!

After reading Clint’s article do you think this is too cool?  What do you think?  I’m having a hard time telling because of the blue shirts but I think it is slightly off.

Ok, now back to my superhero cape production after I guzzle a can of Cherry Coke Zero.  It is one of those nights where I need some major caffeine flowing through my veins!

Oh wait, not yet… I was thinking about something else that I wanted to share with you.  That is learning from your shots and trying to retake ones that can be improved. I have this picture of Mag that I love, however it is slightly out of focus. I just wanted to say that I am going to try to redo this. Of course I won’t get it exactly the same, but I really want to get another shot from a similar angle and as close up as this one, but in focus.

That’s my personal challenge for the next few days.

Do you have any shots that you would like to retake?  Let’s retake them together.  

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, my friends!  I hope your days are filled with friendship, love and much joy.

The current weekly assignment at Digital Photography School is called Contre-Jour.  That is a term I had not previously heard.  Wikipedia says it is French for “Against the light”.  I take this to mean that the subject in a photo is backlit.  This means that the subject is lit from behind or the light source is in the background, not the foreground.  This offers a contrast between the subject and the light.  It can be a dramatic contrast or a more subtle contrast.

I am not sure how well the above photo of Gar’s curly head fits that description.  I think it does to an extent, but maybe if there was a greater contrast between Gar and the background it would be better.  Anyway, I decided to step out of my comfort zone and enter this into the weekly assignment.

I think these two above fit the description of Contre-Jour as well.  The fish tank one is open to interpretation as there is obvious light in the foreground, lighting Gar’s shirt, but I think the main light is coming from the fish tank and you can really see the contrast between the light (fish tank) and the subject (Gar).

The other one, the sunset on the road is definitely Contre-Jour but it’s not as fun as a photo that has a kid in it.  I just wanted to show another example and this is the next best one I had.

Have you stepped out of your photographic comfort zone lately?  

I challenge you to experiment with taking a Contre-Jour shot.  You might have a lot of fun playing with the light and the foreground.  Let me know what you find.

This photo was entered in the 5 MInutes for Mom Summer Fun photo contest.

It’s familiar, I know.  It’s the same photo I used for the Sepia posts.  I tried to find one that was a bit more “summery” but I think I’m going to stick with this one for now.

Black & White Personal Challenge Status Report:  

Well, I did take a handful of Momshots yesterday, but I don’t feel that any of them really lend theirselves to being converted to B&W.  My boys were painting on easels and we made homemade doughnuts.  We also had a torrential summer shower and Uly and Gar went out and ran in rain with the rest of the neighborhood children.  I took a handful of shots.  I’m not really happy with any of them.  There is nothing really special about any of them.

I do like this picture of the paint brush.  I think it could be post processes some to bring out the blue more.  That’s something I’m still very much learning.  

So anyway, I’m going to try again today.  Did you have any luck with your B&W photos?

So in light of the new Tip of the Week which covers converting color photos into cool black and white images, I have decided that I am going to issue myself a personal photo challenge for the day.  I am going to have my camera slung around my neck all day and shoot a bunch of photos, all with the intent of capturing a few that will look great converted to B&W.  

Anyone want to take the personal challenge with me?  I bet you’ll find some great momshots today!

I’ll let you know how it goes.  :)