I’m trying this again. Kelty made me these great little buttons and I wanted to share them with you. If you are so inclined to put them up on your site, I will think you’re pretty snazzy. I already do. If you’re reading this than you’re pretty darn snazzy! And smart too!!! 
I crack myself up.
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!
So I checked into Twitter this morning and saw a Re-Tweet that Tye sent. It pointed me in the direction of this fun website post . It is a post that is dedicated to having fun with images in the background and sometimes in the foreground. I do have warn that there are a couple that are PG-13, just because I’m like that.
We briefly discussed being aware of our backgrounds on the 5 Easy Steps page. In that post the idea is to make sure we don’t have any strange things sticking out of our kids’ heads but this site takes that idea to a whole new level. In a really good way!!!
It is a prime example of learning the rules so that you can break them.
Jessica Kettle, one of my favorite Salt Lake City based photographers, was on the local news today talking about how to pose and direct poses for the camera. She also touches on what to wear.
She always does a fantastic interview. I always think she’d be such a fun person to be friends with.
You will probably have to click out of your reader to see the video but it’s worth the extra couple of clicks. Jessica does a great job and offers many great tips that can help you on both sides of the camera.
If you haven’t, you might want to stop by and spend a few minutes perusing the group Photostream. There are a bunch of great shots there for your enjoyment and inspiration.
Also, if you haven’t joined the group yet, I hope that you will. Feel free to post up your favorite shots of your kids.
Last, just a side note, even though the name is MomShots, that doesn’t mean that Dads can’t participate too!!! Don’t let that deter you from joining as it’s not meant to be literal! :0) We are an equal opportunity picture posting group!
I’m laughing at myself. I know this doesn’t really sound that funny but I just think that last paragraph really is hilarious. It’s hilarious that I even thought to write it. Like you wouldn’t already know any of that?!? Of course you do!
Ok, three posts in one day… I’ll probably be quiet for a few days now.
So for now:
First off… Thanks for all your comments and love with the guest post. I had a lot of fun writing it and it was really fun to read your comments and support. You are all a great group of people!
So onto the meat of this post! Our Tip of the Week is back!!! I know you have been excitedly waiting patiently. Your patience has paid off today! So check out this page and remember to Keep It Simple Silly!
If you are new to MomShots don’t forget to stop by the parent Tip of the Week page and brush up on past topics. Tye’s written a lot of fantastic advice for Photoshop Elements, CS and design in general. She is a fantastic resource for us all!!!
In case you were wondering, this picture is pretty much only here because I like it and I like the majority of my posts to have at least one photo in them. That doesn’t always happen but today it did!!! Red Cowboy Hat Ulysses for you viewing. I was playing with Pioneer Woman’s actions. I used three of her actions. That’s still keeping it simple isn’t it??? :)
Enjoy the newest Tip and keep those cameras ready!
*Edit*
Thanks to Melinda for showing me to the I heart faces site. I’ve entered this shot into their current contest.
If you are on Facebook, check out MomShots on the Blog Network.
Random photo from our walk the other day. Yeah, I let me kids eat snow. I’m one of those parents!
My friend, Kate over at Chronicles of a Country Girl told me about this fantastic mosaic maker by Big Huge Labs. It is super easy to use and the results are pretty fun.
This is what you do… Go here. Now upload your photos to Flickr. Then copy and paste the URL of each photo into the mosaic maker. You can choose different formats, backgrounds and borders. Then you hit the big “Create” button at the bottom of the page.
Then voila! your mosaic is made. You can download it by hitting the save button or you can try again until you get a result that you are happy with.
Now, yes, yes, yes; you can do all this with Photoshop. It’s really fast with the mosaic maker but you don’t have as much control if you did it yourself in your editing software. It is just a fun thing to do that may produce some great results.
Have you made any mosaics? Post them up on the MomShots Flickr group.
Check out The Vintage Pearl for her new camera strap cover giveaway. Totally cute stuff!!!
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.
