MomShots

That is goals for 2012. Not actually 2012 goals. That would be a lot of goals. I’m not that much of an over achiever!

Happy New Year!

This is an exciting time of year for me. I love to reflect on the goals I made last year and create new goals for this year. I did pretty well on my 2011 goals except I didn’t complete two of them. I did not run a 5K race and I started a 365 project but gave it up after a good few months. You can see my 102 days worth of effort here.

This year I have a good little list of goals with such standards as loose weight and make a conscious effort to be more cheerful. I just realized that I didn’t put any photography goals on my list. I believe that I need to add one on but I don’t want it to be another 365 project.

A few things I really enjoyed about that project was that I had my camera in hand all the time. I had a fun time thinking about photography so frequently and sometimes I felt like I was growing a little artistically and technically. However, I also found that I enjoy taking photos much more than I like uploading them, sorting through them, editing them and posting them online. That was my downfall. That whole editing and posting part really killed it for me.

I think I could do a photo project if I took a smaller bite. I’m thinking of doing a year long project for 2012 with weekly photos and month long themes. I still need to work out the details.

Are you planning any photography goals for 2012? Any big projects? Or just working on learning some technical information like how to shoot in Manual?

Here are just a few of my favorite MomShots from 2011. These were taken early in the year during my 365 project.

< &nbsp>

What are your 2012 goals? Do you want to work on a goal together?

As I pulled down my bookmark list at the top of my browser for the MomShots admin login page I heard haunted creaking door sounds in my head. The kind of sounds that are in a horror movie and the people victims are opening a door that hasn’t been opened in years. That’s kind of how I felt about writing this post.

Creeeeeeeeeeeak!

If you follow MomShots on Twitter or Facebook, then you may have saw the note that I have decided to not quite retire the blog. In fact, I decided to start working on content and begin posting again. I just miss it too much.

So we are starting out slow this week. I Heart Faces theme this week is Pink, in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness. I decided to throw out a photo to get the ball rolling. This is me and my baby girl about a year ago. This is also a self portrait. I also need to learn how to smooth skin in Photoshop. My imperfections are glaring out at me!

This photo was entered into the I Heart Faces photo challenge – www.iheartfaces.com

In other news, have you started thinking about those holiday cards we like to send? I am going to try to get my kids out of the house this afternoon and take some shots of them. Hopefully we can come up with something usable.

What about you? Have you even thought that far ahead yet? Did you have any luck getting the shot you need? If you are having trouble, you might be able to piece something together like I did last year.

Talk to you soon! I promise.

Does anyone else use the iPhone app called Instagram? It is my current favorite photo do-dad right now. It is part social network and part photographic self expression. I’m loving it. I take so many more photos with my phone now.

In fact, I was up in the mountains with my kids yesterday. As we were driving up, I exclaimed that I was bummed because I left my camera at home. One of my sons said, “Don’t worry mom. Just use your phone!” So I did.

If you do have the Instagram app, my username is jessicastier. Follow me. I’ll follow you.

Did I mention that it is free? I love awesome apps that happen to be free.

So with my iPhone, this entry for I Heart Faces current theme was taken. < --- Did that just read like Yoda?

This is my five year old son watching the first snowfall out of our family room window.

I have shown this photo previously but I love it. This is part of my documentation of Eva Marie’s fourth month. She’s nearly six months now and I should really do another little shoot to document her fifth month. In the mean time, I am offering this photo as I think it fits into the current theme at I Heart Faces this week. In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month they are doing a pink theme. While this photo is not specifically pink, I think it has very pink undertones. Eva Marie’s skin, the white and red of her dress all blend together and make me think of pink. Maybe I’m stretching it a bit, but I guess it’s open to interpretation…

I have been enjoying a new photography blog that focuses on inspiration. Mortal Muses offers a common theme to use as inspiration. Right now that theme is Morning. They discuss various aspects of inspiration. I find it very… inspiring.

I love mornings. I love that time around sunrise where everything is kind of doing a figurative stretch and yawn in order to get ready to bound into the new day.

I have recently started experiencing mornings again since school began. I have been enjoying walking with my oldest son to the bus stop. Some of those mornings we are accompanied by my youngest son. These are lovely ways to begin the day.

Here is a close up shot of Magnus with a drop of sun kissing his nose. I love the half smirk thing he’s got going on too.

Speaking of smirks, that is the theme at I Heart Faces this week. Two themes in one photo! Huzzah!

This is my current favorite postcard from my postcard project. I love detail shots. Shots of cute little piggies, eyes, ears or even an adorable curl are the kinds of things that as mothers, we want to bottle so we can pull them out and remember how cute they were at that specific age. Photographing those details is a great way to do that.

Here’s another detail shot from my postcard project that I love. My Magnus’s eyes will melt my heart every time. He gets in trouble and then smiles up at me with those sweet chocolate eyes and my anger is always lessened. I love those eyes!

Summer is in full swing. Bike riding, playing in our wading pool, parades, carnivals and lots of beautiful sunshine and of course fireworks. We even managed to sneak out and take a trip up to Bear Lake (on the Utah/Idaho/Montana boarder) and have a mini vacation. We have been busy, busy, busy. It has been fun.

And busy. Did I mention that?

I have been trying to grab my camera bag every time we leave the house or venture out to do some kind of activity. My goal for this summer is to try to take more action and bright sun photos. But the catch is to try to make them look professional and not snapshottish.

Snapshottish. That’s not a real word but I’m using it anyway.

One of my goals in starting MomShots was to discuss how I am learning to take more professional photos of my kids. To me, that doesn’t always mean in a studio setting. In fact, not in a studio setting is my favorite way to view my children and other children. I enjoy photos of children that are more natural and free flowing. Don’t get me wrong, I feel that there is a place for studio photos and I do enjoy looking at them and trying to figure out how the light was set up and such. It’s just not my thing right now, but one day I am sure I’ll venture into that area of photography. I do want to. Just not today.

Anyway, summer is busy. Take lots of photos. That’s my shpeal today. My MomShots Tip of the Day, if you will.

I haven’t been very active on here recently. That’s not likely to change for a while. We’re too busy having summertime fun. I love my MomShots readers, but I’m sure you will understand if I say that I love my kids a tad bit more… So I am soaking up every moment I can with them. That may be why it’s 3am and I am writing this… If anyone has any post ideas that they would like to contribute to MomShots, I would love to put them up.

What have you been photographing this summer?
Has your photography moved outside in this nice weather?
Do you have any specific photography related goals that you are currently working on?
Are you working on any fun projects?

I would love to hear from you and find out how you are doing.

Here are a few MomShots from the last few weeks:

Does anyone else read and love the Shutter Sisters’ site? I love their blog. It has great little posts that usually inspire the heck out of me. The blog populates on FaceBook in the middle of the night and so when I wake up to feed the baby I often read their latest posts on my phone.

This morning their post was about finding hidden smiles/faces in random places and it made me think of a certain hidden smile we have knocking around our house.

My kids have a StarWars Storm Trouper mug. It looks like this (sometimes it is actually clean, today not so much):

One day I found it upside down and this is what I saw:

The goofiest looking face. I laugh every time I see it. It never gets old!

What makes you smile? Post it up on the Shutter Sisters post comments. Or here if you’d like too!

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.

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.

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???

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!!!