MomShots

There is a really great online community called Digital Photography School.  They have a blog that I subscribe to and have read some really good tips and been inspired by other members posts and photos.  Today, I received a note about their weekly challenge.  They choose a topic and then people post their photos that are taken within a given time frame and meet the the challenges requirements.  This week the challenge is a Sunny Day.  You post a photo that fits your idea of what a sunny day is.

I have never participated in their contest before.  I have thought about how I would compose a photo for a few of their topics, but I have never submitted.  That is until today.  

Last week my family and I went up to Washington State for the 4th of July holiday.  On that trip, I was a serious camera nut.  Capital N-U-T!  I took so many photos is was a little ridiculous; but oh so fun!  I decided that I would submit an entry into their Sunny Day challenge because I knew I had a few that would meet the criteria.  My problem was that I had so many Sunny Day photos that I had a really hard time picking.

I ended up submitting this photo.  I chose it because it showed my son, Garland, playing in the sun.  I think it captured his action really well and I liked how the sun looked on the water and on his back.

These are the runner ups of my choice.  They are more like still life’s.  That’s really the reason I chose the one with Gar over these two.  I just liked that it had him in it.
 

Anyway, what I wanted to throw out to you, is to challenge yourself.  Whether it is to break out of your comfort zone and submit a photo to a contest or to plan, in your head, a photo you would like to take and then attempt to take it.  We grow and learn by challenging ourselves.  Give yourself a challenge.  Whether large or small, it matters not.  

I have been thinking about a basic concept of photography. The concept is that we are taking photographs of light, not necessarily of objects. This makes sense when you think about basic biology of the eye and how we see; we are not actually seeing an object but the light reflected off of an object. I know, it sounds crazy, huh?

So when I use my camera to capture the light that is bouncing off of my kids, I need to think about HOW it is bouncing off of them. Where is the light source? Is it bright? Is it muted? Where does the light bounce off of their face? Are there any body parts that are hidden in shadows?

If you take a look at any clothing catalog or magazine, you will see a ton of photographs where the subject has no visible shadows. Now if you look at your stash of Momshots, if you’re anything like me, you’ll have a whole bunch that have shadows all over the place. Shadows in the eyes, around the nose, mottled leaf shadows, you name it.

I think that people who have had some artistic training may be more used to looking at the shadows and light areas of what they are photographing. I think learning to look at the light is a trait that most artists use. It is a trait that I must learn how to use if I want to progress.

You can see, on the Momshot above, that there are shadows all over the place. My son’s nose is in the sun, his eyes are in the dark and there are crazy shadows all over his jeans. It is really distracting. My eyes can’t focus on his cute face, they dart all over the photo. That’s part of the problem with harsh shadows.

This Momshot is a lot better. In fact, I really like the bits of sunlight that are on the edge of his arm and in his hair. I think having his face in the large shadow and not in little shadows, helps my eyes to look at his face better.

As I look at this photos, i realize this would have been a great opportunity to practice using my flash to fill in the shadows.

I take a lot of photos in the mid afternoon. Everyone I talk to and everywhere I read says that this is the worst time of day to take pictures. The sun is bright over head and this creates harsh shadows, as you can see on my Momshots here. The problem is that this seems to be the best time of the day to go outside and play. It is after naps and everyone is feeling happy and can usually tolerate mom chasing them around with a camera.

So what are you gonna do? I guess that’s where you have to learn how to really watch the light and shadows. Be ready to snap a Momshot when your child runs into the shade of the house. You can also try using your flash to fill in any shadows caused by harsh sun. I think I am going to try this tomorrow afternoon on my daily “Chase the Kids with the Camera Time.”

You can see in the Momshot below that I took it when my son was sitting in the shade. He does not have any harsh shadows on his face. You can kind of see that there is a light source to the right of the pictures, but it is muted. The light source is just the sun, but it is hidden behind part of the train engine that Mag is sitting on.

I just wanted to share some of my thoughts about using the light better. I have so much to learn in this area. I have just become aware of looking for the light. It is a skill that I really want to develop. It is a huge basic concept that, I believe, can transform anyone’s photography. This is a concept that needs to be understood no matter what kind of camera you use. It translates into all sorts of areas of photography.

I am trying to make it a habit to look for the light so I try to remind myself to look for light and shadows on every object I see. The toaster, the ottoman, my purse, the cat… You name it and there is light bouncing off and shadows playing around. I have to teach myself to see them.

I would like to issue a challenge to you, to start paying more attention to the light on objects and especially on the children as you take your Momshots.

So a while back I started a personal challenge. I was going to take a photograph a day for seven days.  I had this plan that I was going to post my photos from all seven days.  I posted three days worth. 

After I started this challenge, I realized that I didn’t want to stop at Day Seven.  So instead of stopping at Day Seven, I just kept going.  I have no idea what day it is.  

Maybe I should count.  

It looks like I issued this personal challenge on May 17th.  Today was June 10th so that has been 24 days.  I missed a day here and there, maybe three days all together.  I missed today, in fact.  I got out my camera but only downloaded the images off of it.  I haven’t been feeling that well so I’ll take refuge in that excuse…

I really love this idea of taking Momshots daily.  It has really helped me become more familiar with my camera.  I think that is really important.   

I was just remembering back to Halloween, just 8 months ago…  I carved a pumpkin and tried to take a picture of it.  I was super frustrated because each photo I took came out really, really dark.  They were all too dark to be usable at all.  My husband was out of town for business that day.  I kept trying to call him to get his help but he was in the air flying from Chicago to Las Vegas and didn’t get my calls.  For some reason, I couldn’t use my Coolpix to take the picture.  

Now, just 8 months later, I totally wouldn’t have that problem.  I am MUCH more familiar with my camera and could just decide if I needed to increase or decrease my shutter speed or open the aperture, etc.  I am very excited by that progress.

So… Lately I have been experimenting with using the Aperture Priority mode.  I’ve also been experimenting with the focus brackets.  Plus just normal (for me anyway) things like being aware of the light and shadows, framing and backgrounds; these are all things I have been focusing on while I take my daily Momshots.

I am still making mistakes left and right but often I can look at the results and decide what I could have done to make it a better photo.  I think that is how we learn.

Here is a Momshot that I took this past weekend on a little camping excursion into the Uinta National Forest.  There are elements of it that are good and there are elements that are not.  I like the green background and especially love the flames from the fire.  They kind of have a ghosting type effect over the boys.  

One element that I really don’t like are the harsh shadows around their cute squinty eyes and necks.  If I would have waited until later in the evening than I probably could have gotten a similar shot but with more even lighting.  The problem with that is that I didn’t pose them for this shot; it was spontaneous.  I don’t know if I would have been able to get them in a similar position later in the day.  I guess that is just part of the Momshot dilemma; Spontaneity vs. Posing.  Or maybe it’s just a Jessica dilemma…   

Today was day 3 of my personal 7 day challenge. My challenge is to get out the camera and take at least one photo every day for 7 days.

I have had some good Momshot opportunities lately. We’ve had some really summer-like weather lately and the neighborhood has seen an epidemic of kids running through sprinklers. Warm weather means lots of bright sunshine, but that also means heavy shadows. Sometimes that is OK, I think. I think shadows can sometimes add interest - but maybe I’m saying that because I’m not a professional… I don’t know, I just say it like I see it and I sometimes like shadows.

Day 1:  My oldest son drinking water from the hose.  I love how the water is frozen.

Day 2:  My oldest son eating birthday cake at my uncle’s birthday party.  I like how intent and focused he is on this bite.  I love that he has frosting on his nose.

Day 3:  The day was very hot and two of my sons were playing in the sprinkler.  Can you see my son trying to catch droplets on his tongue?  I love his facial expression and how ridged his whole body is in anticipation.

So I have been thinking about something.  I was thinking about how photography relates to playing the violin, or any instrument for that matter.  When I was a kid, I learned to play the violin.  I took private lessons and I played with school and city orchestras.  I loved it.  It was something that I really enjoyed and something that I began to get pretty good at.  It was a really enjoyable creative outlet.  I could really see how my playing and skills would get better when I would practice daily.

Since life has gone on, I don’t pull out my violin and play as often as I should.  I really enjoy playing but for some reason I always have an excuse not to pull it out.  When I do, I know that my playing is not as good as it used to be - because I don’t practice.

So I’m relating this to my photography skills now.  I want to get better.  If I want to improve than I need to practice, practice, practice - just like any art form.

I am issuing myself a challenge to pull out the camera and practice every single day.  I am going to start small with a 7 Day Challenge.  I am going to take at least one picture every day for 7 days.  I’ll let you know how this goes.