MomShots

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

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

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!!!

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!

So I’m pregnant with my 4th child, as you know. With this pregnancy and my love of all things photography, I have been really attentive to pregnant and newborn photography. I have no maternity photos of me with my other three children except for lame snapshots that my husband took in our backyard. I am glad I have those few shots though instead of nothing. I also do not have many good shots of any of my babies when they were newborn.

What I mean is that I have tons of shots of my babies but not many artistic, “wall worthy” shots. I didn’t get into photography until after my 3rd child was born. A bit late in the game, but better late than never, I guess. I am determined not to have that “problem” with this baby.

So while I help this 4th baby grow I have been thinking a lot about ways I can take some good shots of her when she is born. Thinking about posing, props, lighting, etc…

I have also been thinking about possibly paying one of my photographer friends to do some maternity shots for me. The cheepskate in me screams, “Noooo!!!”. The artist in me says to do it. I have had offers by a few friends to do free sessions for me, but I know how much work they have to do and I don’t know if I am OK with that. I don’t want to take advantage of them.

Anyway, personal dilemma aside, I have been looking through blogs and flickr trying to get some good ideas for photographing both myself and our new baby girl. So when I found the new digital magazine called TAoPaN (The Art of Pregnancy and Newborn) I had to sign up, especially since it is a free publication.

I just received my first issue, TAoPaN’s second issue; I was thrilled. There are so many wonderful tips, ideas and suggestions to help photographers in all aspects of photographing pregnant and newborn subjects. I have read through half of this current issue and am really excited for a quiet time this afternoon to read through the rest.

I have already learned a few tricks like using a bean bag to help pose the baby and putting a heating pad under where the baby will be to make it more comfortable. I think many of the tricks and tips offered can be used by photographers of ALL levels, including the point and shoot wielding parent who wants a few good shots.

If you are interested in signing up for a subscription of this wonderful online publication go here.

UPDATE Photo Camp Utah 2010 has sold out. If you still want to go you can sign up for the waiting list. Apparently they sold out in only six hours. Pretty crazy, huh?!? I hope you were able to get your tickets if you wanted them.

Registration is now open and going fast. If you want to go, I strongly suggest signing up this morning. You can go directly to the registration page by clicking here. There has been so much response that the Photo Camp site has crashed. They’ve been working on fixing it but I haven’t been able to get to it yet today.

To go directly to the registration page click here.

I am so excited!!!

I hope to see you there!

This photo has absolutely nothing to do with this post. It really relates to the previous post about White Balance since I took it in natural light with no flash, with my White Balance set to Shade. I can’t have a MomShots post with out any MomShots, can I? Besides, I love how clear and sharp his eyes look. This image is straight out of the camera. No messing with at all.

Goals. Resolutions. Whatever you call them, they represent milestones we set for ourselves and a pathway in which we can accomplish them.

Personally, I have always liked the word goal better than resolution. I feel like goal is more solid and will actually be completed. Resolutions have never really symbolized permanency to me, not like the word goal.

My goals for 2010 are few:

That’s about it. I’m not setting out to have a giant list of goals this year. I think my main goal is probably to remain sane in the midst of becoming the mother of four children. I also hope to be able to maintain time to pursue my own creative goals.

Can I just brag for a moment?

My husband is awesome. We have had a pretty challenging year. My husband has been working really hard to help develop a new business. He has been working long and crazy hours and our pocketbooks have been a bit tighter than we have been used to. It’s been a good adventure though. We have really got a chance to think about the things that are important to us and why. I love my husband’s entrepreneurial spirit. He is wonderful. I love that guy!

Anyway, like I said. Money has been tight. I actually had to sell my camera so that we could go on a very important trip to visit our family in California. It was a hard sacrifice for me to make but it was the best decision for our family at the time. I still had my husband’s old camera so I wasn’t completely cameraless just very set back in the early days of digital SLR technology. It was a bit frustrating but I managed. I even think I did a pretty good job of not complaining about it (very much).

My husband knew how much it means to me to have a good camera. He loves me and he surprised the heck out of me on the 30th. Much to my complete surprise he got me a Nikon D90. Brand new. Can I just say that I had to really fight the tears? I was so excited that I was bouncing all over the place freaking out. It is the most wonderful present ever! He bought the whole kit that included an 18mm-105mm lens, which I am finding to be super fun to play with. I am completely ignoring the financial irresponsibility of the whole thing and really enjoying the wonderful gesture of love.

He said to me, “What’s MomShots without a camera?” I can’t argue with that, can I?

Now I have a new camera that totally rocks. It takes fantastic pictures. They are so crisp and clear and there are no missing pixels or anything! The 3″ LCD screen is a total dream. I am so excited to learn all the in’s and out’s of this new camera. Just comparing the menu of the D100 to the D90 is insane. Technological advances since 2002, when the D100 came out, have been great and I am very excited to take advantage of that.

Ben will most likely never read this post but if you do, here’s another chance for me to tell you that I love you and am so thankful for this new gift!

Rachael Bosko Grotegut has recently opened her photography business, called Time Held Photography. I have always been blown away by her talent and fresh eye for capturing the sweet moments of life. I also love that her photos always look clean, polished and colorful but not overly processed, like so many photographers seem to do these days. She’s got mad skillz!

Not to mention, she’s funny as all get out! She never fails to make me laugh by her comments on Facebook and Twitter.

Rachael has two sons, Gavin and Keaton, who she loves to dress up in adorable outfits and photograph. As a mother of boys, I have always been inspired by her fashion sense and ability to coordinate adorable outfits.

When Gavin was two he was diagnosed with high functioning Autism. This was an earth shattering event to Rachael and her family. Suddenly developmental milestones that other children would reach easily were farther away and seemingly insurmountable. One of the ways Rachael found to cope with her feelings was to photograph the little stepping stones and huge milestones that Gavin reached. She was able to document the joy that they shared together in a beautiful and creative way.

As a mother to an Autistic child, Rachael has special insight into the challenges of photographing children with Autism and their families. She is aware of the types of questions to ask you and the time and patience it takes to bring out your child’s personality so their photographs can be something you will cherish for a lifetime.

Gaver by grotegut, on Flickr">

Project Gavin is a service that Rachael and Time Held Photography offers to our community; families with Autistic children are given free photography sessions. She understands that many families are faced with large medical expenses and this is a way that they can have beautiful family portraits done without impacting that budget.

Project Gavin sessions are limited to families with children on the Autism Spectrum. To apply for a session send Rachael an email at timeheldphotography@gmail.com. Enter your information and mention you are applying for a Project Gavin Session. Or go to her website and click on the Project Gavin link.

I have to say that I am really impressed with the generosity of Project Gavin. I think it is an awesome gift that Rachael is giving. In fact, I was so moved when I first found out about Project Gavin that it brought tears to my eyes. Ok, I’m a big softy anyway, but still it is a pretty fantastic opportunity.

If you have an Autistic child in your family or are aware of others who do, I really hope you will point them in the direction of Time Held Photography. This would be a gift that will be cherished.

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At our recent family reunion I was able to spend some time talking photography to my extremely talented uncle, Eric. He has been shooting for years and years; since before I was born. One of my favorite shots of myself as a toddler was taken by him. He has kind of always been an inspiration to me.

Lucky for me, he shoots Nikon too. This is nice for me but not nice for my cousin Kristina, who shoots Canon. Nice in the sense that I have a general knowledge and familiarity with the equipment he uses and he even lets me try some of his lenses (a.k.a. glass) on and play with them.

I always feel like I am bragging when I tell Kristina, “Check out this lens Uncle Eric is letting me try!!!”

He brought his Nikon D90 with his 500mm lens to the reunion. His lens was as long as my 2 year old’s arm. Literally. I was surprised when I held it how light it was though.

The funny thing is that I didn’t realize until after I got home that I never actually looked through his camera with that lens attached. How silly is that?!? I can’t believe it didn’t even cross my mind. Strange!

He brought a few lenses for me to play with. Lucky for me I brought both of our cameras just in case of this situation. If Eric brought some glass for me to try it was very likely that it wouldn’t auto focus on my little D40x so I also brought the D100. I’m so glad I did. I ended up using the D100 exclusively with a 70mm-210mm lens from Eric. I had so much fun playing with it that he sold it to me for a great deal. He won favorite uncle status that day!!!

So I spent our reunion running around with this 70mm-210mm lens taking pictures of everything. The thing I love about that range is that you can kind of be sneaky and take candid shots of people. You can be so far from them that they don’t know they are being shot. Here are a few shots that I took with that glass.

My cousin Tara was talking to my sister Sariah. I loved the way the shadow and light were playing on her face. I love this shot. It’s a great candid moment courtesy of the 70mm-210mm lens!

My cousin’s daughter was sitting on her lap in the sun. It was a too much to pass up. Especially since I was about 15 feet away! Thank you 70mm-210mm!

Just a candid moment of my niece Cora sitting on a blanket looking adorable. Thanks again 70mm-210mm.

My adorably handsome nephew Matt. This was not candid. He knew I was pointing my lens at him. He’s just so handsome. How can you not photograph that kid? My only regret is not getting more shots of him. There is never enough time…
Do you see that bokeh (blurry background)? Thanks 70mm-210mm.

My uncle Tim brought a paddle boat to my Grandma’s house. It was such a fun water toy. All my sons loved it but Magnus was especially partial to it. Here he is with his two cousins. I was probably about 30 or 40 feet away when I shot this. Thank you 70mm-210mm!

Another shot of Cora. I can’t get enough shots of her. It’s such a bummer that I can only see her once or twice a year. When I see her I have to take lots of shots. She’s got those big blue eyes and blonde hair that is so different then my boys. I love the green bokeh in this shot; rich green.

Here’s a great candid shot. Cora and Uly were playing Photoshoot. Cora was directing Uly. She was telling him, “Sit here”, “Put your arm here”, “Move your legs over here”, “Smile big”, etc. It was so cute. But it was one of those instances where I didn’t want to get too close and ruin their moment. Thanks again 70mm-210mm!

This is one of my favorite candid shots. My uncle Randy has his grandson on his lap. I think it is such a sweet moment and I am very excited to have captured it. Hooray for the 70mm-210mm!!!

I lived my life just fine without a 70mm-210mm lens. I would continue to do so if I didn’t have one. But now I do and I think it is my favorite lens so far. Well for this week anyway…

I like being sneaky!

Have you seen this yet?

Third place!

Thanks to Olea & Adam for being such great models.

I know I’m tooting my own horn but it’s such a nice way to start my weekend. I wanted to share it you, my friends.

Obligatory MomShot for the day. It reminds me of warmth and summer.

60mm, shutter speed: 1/2000, f/2.8
Processed with PW’s action Define & Sharpen and Totally Rad Action (TRA) Cinnamon Toast at 70%

So after talking about how I was going to write this post, the actual post is going to be like those stories your friends start to tell you and then end up stopping in the middle. You are anticipating the ending for a few days and you ask about it and they say they’ll tell you later. Then when they finally do tell you, the story is not even as funny or as exciting as you had it built up in your mind. Anyway, here you go…

The subject is Catchlights.
The message is to look for them and photograph them.

So backing up, some of you may be asking what a catchlight is.

“Jessica, please tell me what exactly a catchlight is. I keep reading this word but I’m not sure I know what it is.” There, I asked the question for you.

Well, a catchlight is simply the reflection of your light source on your subject’s eyeballs. As fun a word as eyeballs are, catchlights are even more fun. I say that because catchlights can come in all sorts of shapes, sizes and colors. They can be the blue screen of a computer monitor, the yellow light of the sun shining through a window, the reflection of your flash or the glint of a birthday candle or like in one of Luann’s example the reflection of a hot air balloon. Sometimes, when looking closely, you can see the your own self portrait.

Wikipedia says this:

…Catchlight is a photography term used to describe either the specular highlight in a subject’s eye from a light source, or the light source itself. They are also referred to as eye lights or Obies, the latter a reference to Merle Oberon, who was frequently lit using this technique. A catch light may be an artifact of the lighting method, or have been purposely engineered to add a glint or “spark” to a subject’s eye during photography. This technique is useful in both still and motion picture photography. Adding a catch light can help draw attention to the subject’s eyes, which may otherwise get lost among other elements in the scene.

One of the results of a photo that has catchlights is that it gives your shot more dimension and depth. Catchlights help the photo not look so flat. They help to bring your photo to life. They sometimes appear to be the embodiment of that “sparkle” or “twinkle” in the eyes that is so often mentioned.

Since I have become aware of catchlights I notice them all the time. I will be watching my kids while they watch a DVD and I’ll notice the reflection of the TV in their eyes or I’ll notice the reflection of the blue sky while we are going for a walk. I see catchlights in their eyes all the time and have really enjoyed thinking about how those moments would turn out in a photo.

My challenge for you is to start noticing catchlights. See how varied they are. Look for different colors and shapes. Notice how much dimension they give to the eyes.

The following are your photos that have catchlights. I was so excited by the response of people sending in pictures for me to use. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!!!

Click on the images below to see them a bit larger. You can see some of the detail a bit better that way.

Edit: I really wanted to do a better job of giving credit to each of these contributors. The following list is their names and a link to their blog if I have it. Thanks again for your help in putting this post together!

Luann Hawker
Jennifer Cavanaugh
Clint Long
Julie Taggart
Kerry
Rachelle Kolb
Jen Iverson
Gayle Vehar
Lindsey
Celeste Grover
Melinda Brookshire
Jenna Nelson
Bethany Balsis
Rachel Land

I had a blast at Photocamp. It was so much fun to just hang out with people who were into the same thing as I. I got to meet a couple MomShots readers and a bunch of people from the Flickr group Photowalking Utah.

I felt like my presentation went OK. I had a lot of fun doing it. Hopefully I was able to give some information that was helpful to someone. If nothing, at least it got people thinking about taking pictures of kids. I was hoping that people would participate and offer their thoughts and tips and I was really happy with how much participation I got. I think it helped that my presentation was in the afternoon and so people were a bit more relaxed.

In the morning sessions, I was feeling really anxious about my class later in the day but my anxiety was for nothing. I am notorious for doing that.

I put my presentation in PDF format on a new tab called Photocamp Notes. You can download it if you are interested in reading the gist of what we discussed.

I feel so honored to have been asked to speak. The other presenters were all very talented and skilled photographers who I learned so much from. I am super excited for next year!!!

These photos of me were taken by Luann, who I finally met in person and had a blast hanging out with and going on the photowalk with. Thanks Luann!

And Kerry; I didn’t get to talk with you. Thanks for introducing yourself. I wish I would have talked with you more. I thought I’d see you again and I never did. I hope you had a fun time and learned some good stuff.