MomShots

So how are you?  

Autumn is in the air here in Utah.  I went away for two weeks and came back to dramatically colder weather.  When we left the temperature was in the high 90’s and now it is about 15 degrees cooler.  I am a bit shocked by that sudden change!  I also noticed that at the very top of the mountains some of the trees are starting to put on their fall colors.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s not freezing here or anything; far from it.  I guess after living in San Diego for 11 years I am still surprised by the changing seasons of Utah.  Strange since I didn’t grow up in a seasonless climate.  I guess we learn to acclimate to where ever we are.

The kids in my neighborhood have all gone back to school and the street is so much quieter in the day.  We are the noisy house on the street now.  We’re a noisy family anyway so that’s no surprise!  We have also started homeschooling preschool this year.  We are having a blast.  My son, Ulysses is always asking me if we can have school at random times in the day.  It’s so cute.  He is such a sponge; he just wants to learn and learn and learn.

Let’s see.  What else?  Oh, I got such a great complement from Tanya today.  Thanks.  You made my afternoon!  She left a comment and said that she was looking at older photos of her son and thought to herself that they weren’t very good “Momshots”.  She wished that she had gotten down to his level to take the photo.  Yaya, Tanya!!!  I love that you were thinking that.  I think if I had to pick one Momshot Tip it would be to get down on their level.  Over and Over and Over and Over I have to remind myself of that.

This week we have a cool Tip of the Week.  Tye tells us how to add SPOT COLOR to a photograph.  It is a great technique to draw the eye of the viewer into your focal point.  It is also just a really fun thing to do!  You an show off your babies big brown/blue/green, etc. eyes or that fiery red hair or a beautiful pink bow.  Thy sky is the limit!  It’s a lot of fun.  Try it out and see what you come up with.  Post it on Flickr and let us know where it is.  We would all LOVE to see it.

Here’s my attempt at Spot Color.  In Palm Springs we took the boys to play at a water fountain one afternoon.  It was a blast.  I love going to new places to photograph my kids.  Seriously, I get pretty bored of photographing them in my backyard…  :)

Oh man!  That’s a bad title isn’t it?  hehehe…   Someone help me, please?  :)

Title aside, my bright, hot sunny sky has taken a small reprieve and given us rain and grey clouds the last few days.  I love days like that, not only because I grew up in Washington State and so overcast skies pull at my heart strings, but because the lighting is much, much softer.  I can take my kids outside and get some Momshots without those pesky harsh shadows that the afternoon sun brings.

Trying to find good lighting is a challenge every photographer (I’m including every person who picks up a camera in this category so don’t feel intimidated) faces.  But as a mother, my photographing schedule is often dictated by nap times and the moods of my three boys.  I often find myself trying to capture Momshots in harsh sunny light.  Overcast days offer many more natural light situations.

My big plan for the day was to take my kids up to a nearby waterfall and take some photos, utilizing the overcast light.  That plan was scrubbed because of the whole nap time thing.  I guess my guys didn’t sleep last night because my two older boys are grumpier than a jack rabbit with a burr in its fur.  My youngest is still sleeping off his nap.  It looks like we’re not going to the waterfall.  Well, at least the intent was there.  I get a couple points for that, right?

Maybe I can get a few photos from the back yard…  I’m kind of sick of photos from the back yard.  I need to try harder, I guess.

The photo here is of my youngest son.  He is sitting in the stroller (Phil & Ted’s - the best stroller in the world, in my opinion) with a blanket pulled up around him.  This was taken over our 4th of July vacation up to my parent’s house in beautiful Bellingham, Washington.  We had many an overcast day.  I kind of went nuts taking photos.  I surprised myself by how many I took.  That reminds me… I still need to burn copies of all the photos for my siblings.

Have you heard that term before?

There is a special window of time that is about an hour before sunset where the natural light is so perfect for taking photographs that photographers the world over have coined the term, “The Magic Hour”.  There is also another window of time that is bright and early and first thing in the morning.  Both of these times are ideal for taking awesome Momshots.  

This time is also called “The Golden Hour”.  Can you guess why?  The light is soft, even and warm - sometimes it has almost golden hue to it.

My suggestion for your photographing children adventures or your Momshots experience is to try a little photo shoot with your kids during The Magic Hour.  You can play with the light and deep shadows or you can get some great diffused and even lighting on your subjects.  Play around and see what fun results you can get.

I’ve mentioned it before and I will mention it again. And again. And again. It’s that pivotal to taking good momshots that I won’t let it become a subject that we read about once and then forget. What is it you ask? It is the concept that when we photograph children we need to experiment with bringing the camera down to their eye level. We can try different angles besides directly in front of them, but as a general rule we should avoid taking photos while towering above them.

One of the concepts of taking portraits is to bring the viewer and the subject together in a conversation. A conversation where the two parties are generally on equal terms. When we shoot children looking down on them, it separates them dramatically from the adults. It impresses our adult superiority on them. That’s not really the goal (unless that is your goal…).

These two momshots are taken from different angles. One is taken at Ulysses’s eye level and the other is taken from below. Neither of these impose our adultness onto him, they bring us into his world because we can see as he sees.  I really like the camera angle for these two momshots, I like the lighting as well.  I am also a little bit enamoured of the “noise” in these photos.  I need to work on using the correct ISO setting a little better, but I kind of like the result.  

The Momshot tip of the day is to experiment with the angle from which you are photographing your little cherubs.  Try something new and see how it turns out.  You may be pleasantly surprised!

Lately, I have been messing around in Photoshop, mostly converting some of my momshots to black and white. The reason? because I have taken alot of random momshots that have a loss of color coordination, due to giving up and letting my kid dress herself. The result, to many colors in the photo that are not pleasing to my eye! I noticed when changed to black and white, I just see pattern and different values of the same color (Black & White is color without hue). It seems to eliminate the non-important information and keep the essential. I have also noticed that the momshots that look good in black and white must have good lighting to begin with, because the lighting in black and white, clearly manifests itself.

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.  

This little cutie pie is Thyssen, Katie’s son.  He’s just so dang cute you just want to munch him!  I love this momshot.  Katie did a great job of capturing this fun moment while his face is covered in cupcake frosting.  She used the natural light very well, framed her subject so he fills the frame and got down on his level.  Great momshot, Katie!!!

I have a very artistic and creative sister in law who has two beautiful children.  Her name is Katie.  She recently made a post on her family blog about how she is practicing her momshots and learning how to use her camera.  This is what Katie said:

I have been trying to use some of the features on my camera like shutter speed and zooming and whatnot. I also have been working with filling the frame with my subjects (kids) and lighting, as I just read about on Jessica’s blog. I took Jessica’s momshots advice and started to read the manual for my camera. I had a few realizations: One, that I have no clue how to operate my camera, two, that my camera is pretty rad and it does a lot of stuff. I think that if I learn one new thing a week, I will know how to successfully operate it in about a year.

I love her realization that her camera is actually pretty cool.  I think this is generally the case of most digital camera owners.  These new fangled digital point and shoot cameras have so many more features than the old school point and shoot film cameras.  I think that often we are stuck in a film point and shoot mindset and don’t take the time to really learn all the spiffy things our cameras can do.  

I LOVE, love, love her weekly goal to learn a new feature each week.  Not only will she be practicing her momshot skills but she will be able remember the new features she learns because of all that practice.  I really look forward to watching your progress, Katie!  I know you are on your way to some incredible momshots!

(This picture is of the adorable Luke - a friend, Mandy’s son.  Katie did such a great job of getting down on his level, framing the shot and using the natural lighting available.  Awesome momshot, Katie!)

I haven’t been using a DSLR camera for very long. I am learning everyday how to take better momshots, but from the ones I have taken, both on my Canon and on my Kodak point and shoot camera, I have noticed that the more simpler the background, the better the photograph. Its easier to get a simple background if you can throw the background out of focus by using an aperture like f/2.8 or f/4 with a portrait focal length you like best. But if you cannot or you are using a point and shoot camera, its best to keep the backgrounds plain or simple. this way you are focused completely on the subject. 

I have taken the more “artsy” approach on this one. When I was at a local carnival and noticed this angel wing detail in the side on one of the rides. I thought it would be kind of fun to put my daughter next to them and take a momshot. It wasn’t good lighting at the time, and is very busy, but to me it is kind of interesting to look at.

Or at least blackmail worthy photos of your children when they are young.  

Think to yourself, “Self, is this a photo my son/daughter/niece/nephew would like me to show to a future girlfriend/boyfriend?”  If your answer is a resounding “NO”, than you really should take the photo.  You should take the photo and save it.  One day you will be sitting on a couch going through an old family photo album showing the new young couple photos from your child’s youth.  You will find the picture of them in an awkward position and they will get embarassed.  It will all be worth it!  Or if you’re horrible like me, your kids will find photos of themselves peeing in the backyard on their mom’s website…

Even if embarrassment is not an issue, it sure is fun to have photos that remind you of the innocence and wonder from childhood.  These kinds of momshots will surely remind you of that precious time.

Officially it’s Summer! June 21st brought warm weather in my neighborhood. My oldest son walks outside and proclaims, “It’s just a beautiful day, Mom!” With that proclamation I am reminded of all the possibilities that Summer brings and those possibilities mean many opportunities for great Momshots.

Summer has barely begun and we have already been to two parades and two carnivals. Daily we have been playing in the sprinkler and little wading pool, we have been to the park numerous times and spent much time riding bikes and practicing riding the scooter. We have had a few picnics, campfires, s’mores and even an attempted camping trip. I feel like this Summer is a good one and it has just barely started! Bring on more fun!

These adventures have brought on many Momshot opportunities. They have given me many chances to think about composition, lighting, focal points, capturing action and trying to photograph these fun moments in a way that I find visually interesting.

My Momshot Tip is to take these fun Summer adventures and try to visualize photographs that capture the atmosphere and emotions of the subjects.  Try to think about the whole picture and not just your kids’ cute smiling faces.  Most importantly, take your camera with you everywhere.  Then be sure to take it out of the camera bag and use it.

My philosophy is that if I take enough shots, I’m bound to have one or two good ones!