MomShots

Over at my newest favorite site, I heart faces, there is a really great article about reading your camera manual and understanding what it means. It is focused toward beginner level photographers and is a wonderful resource. So if you have heard me shout over and over again, “Read your manual” and you are always thinking, “I tried that and it didn’t make any sense!!!” then read this little post and you will be suddenly shot up into a whole new world of camera understanding.

This post uses a DSLR as an example but it all applies to any camera. A point and shoot works on the same principals as the DSLR.

So the MomShots tip of the day is to go here to read the article written by Rachel Durik.

Have you heard about #GNO? If not you might want to check it out.

Especially tonight, if you are into photography like me. Tonight’s discussion is about photography and how it can help to build meaningful relationships. It should be a really fun discussion.

#GNO is held every Tuesday starting at 6pm PST. I jumped on for a few minutes last week for the first time and was really excited to meet so many cool new ladies. This week the topic is something near and dear to my heart so I’m going to be sure to be there as long as I can.

Check out this link to learn more. And if you don’t have a Twitter account, it is free and super duper easy to set up. Set it up and join in the fun. You can go to TweetChat and enter #gno as the room and you’ll be in a chat type environment that will be easy to follow.

Obligatory photo:

Ok, well maybe not gold, but for something so inexpensive it can be an invaluable purchase. Check out Luann’s story and you’ll see what I mean. You should spend some time checking out her blog and Flickr photostream. She’s a super talented photographer who I follow regularly.

This is what she said:

I teach a little community photo class, which reminds me, it’s time to set a date for another meeting. Anyway, a few months ago I advised the other photographers in the group to get a UV filter for their lenses and keep it on at all times. The only exception would be to temporarily remove it if they needed to use a different kind of filter.

A UV filter helps a little with image quality by absorbing ultraviolet rays and cutting through some haze in outdoor photos, but the main reason I gave them this advice was to protect their lenses. A cheap $10 filter can be your first line of defense against scratches, curious babies with slimy fingers, dust, dirt and any number of other every day hazards that may threaten an expensive SLR lens.

Occasionally a more dramatic accident will occur, like what happened to me last Saturday. The short version is that my camera fell from a height of about 3 feet and landed face first on the concrete, jamming the lens cap down into the front of my favorite lens. When I picked it up I could hear the sickening sound of rattling shards of glass under the cap. With the help of my auto mechanic father-in-law, we eventually got the UV filter unstuck from the lens and this is what we found underneath.

The lens cap and filter, laying to the right, are still jammed together and all the broken glass you see on top of the lens is from the filter. I used dry canned air to very gently remove all the pulverized glass from the lens before I tested it. It looks like my little filter did its job and absorbed most of the impact from the fall because thankfully, I haven’t been able to find any problems with my $500 camera or my $200 lens. First chance I got, I was happy to shell out another $10 at my local camera shop for a new UV filter. It’s my little hero.

Seriously, after reading that story how could you not rush out and buy yourself a filter if you don’t already have one?!? All my lenses have filters on them and I highly recommend you doing the same thing if you haven’t already.

There are many different types of filters that you can buy. Some filters filter out the UV light and some filters are polarized making your colors a bit more vibrant. You can also find filters in colors like blue, red, green, etc. that can add a fun tint to your photos if you are feeling a bit bold. There are lots of different options. You can find them at any camera store and also at my favorite online haunt, B&H Photo and Video.

Fitting a filter to your lens is really simple. Look at the end of your lens and there is a number like 52mm (the size of my 18-55mm kit lens and my 50mm lens), or 62mm (the size of my 60mm macro lens), and many other sizes. You just screw the filter on and you are set. You never have to take it off again.

Hopefully you will never have to test out the protecting power of your filter like Luann did, but if that day comes you will be so thankful that you spent the few extra bucks and got a filter!

That kind of sounds like a Dick and Jane title.  See Jane focus.  See Jane snap a MomShot of their children.

Anyway what I wanted to share with you was a couple of photos I took the other day.  I took the boys out for a walk and we found a fun hill to climb and play on.  I had a lot of fun playing with my camera while they enjoyed the snow.

This first shot is one I find interesting.  I love that Uly and Gar are in the background and are in focus.  Mag is in the foreground and is out of focus.  I like that my eye is drawn to Mag because he is in bright colors and in the foreground.  Then the older boys are more subtle in their dark colors but yet they are in focus.  So my eye stays with them trying to figure out what they are doing.  Personally, I think it’s a pretty cool shot.  

I used my 50mm lens with a wide aperture of f/2.0 to achieve this effect.  The wide aperture is the reason I was able to get the out of focus section in the photo.  

When you have a narrow aperture it kind of works like squinting your eyes to get things to appear more clearly.  So the opposite is what occurs when you have a wide aperture (Remember low number = wide aperture).  When you use a wide aperture you can focus on areas of your photo and have the rest be out of focus.  It’s a fun benefit of using a lens with a wide aperture.

This photo is fun too.  I caught Uly jumping off the top of the hill into the snow.  I love that if you look closely you can see the snow coming off of his boots and his is clearly caught in mid jump.  

This action was caught by using a very fast shutter.  My shutter was at 1/500 second.  Fast enough to catch snow falling off his boots and freeze his hands and body in mid air.  My aperture was quite a bit more narrow than the above photo at f/7.1 so you can see that there isn’t any blurred areas.

I think the composition is kind of fun.  It would probably be a bit better without the tree or the stuff in the bottom left hand corner but it’s not a snowboard magazine cover or anything like that.  I could crop it to just include that small section with Uly jumping but I personally like the top of the hill in the shot.  It’s a great shot showing Uly having a blast in the snow.

So all my boys had a blast in the snow and I had a blast playing with my camera settings.  It was a fun time followed up by delicious hot chocolate!

Sounds like Martha Stewart, huh?  :)  I do like Martha.  She has a lot of great information.

Enough about Martha.  This is not a Martha post…

This is a post about cropping your photos to enhance or create a focal point.

I know most people know what a focal point is, but in case you are not sure, my definition of it is the area where your eye is directed to look.

As a photographer we are like the director of a movie.  In a sense we are like Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, Ang Lee or Nora Ephron in our own right.  We get to decide where we want the viewer’s eye to go.  

There can be multiple focal points as well.  You can say look here and now move your eye over here. 

Here’s a little assignment for you:

Part A:  Open up a few of your favorite photos and figure out how your eye moves in each one.  Can you pin point a specific focal point?  Are there a few that direct your eye in a sequence? 

 On this photo my eye moves from Gar’s face to their hands and out with the ball.  In kind of a story telling fashion.

I believe that Magnus is the focal point in this photo.  My eye is drawn through the trail of snow directly to his little body and that’s where I stop.  I can take my eye off this trail and look around and the other elements in the photo, but I always go back to Magnus.

Part B:  Open up a few of your not so favorite photos and see if you can find a focal point.

This one has no clearly defined focal point. Is it the point of the shadow? Is it the two boys? Is it the horizon? 

Where is the focal point.  Where is my eye directed?  Is it Ulysses sitting in the snow? It it my sister standing close to where the curb is pointing? Is it the power box in the background?

I think this is one of the major things that makes a snapshot.  I think that in most snapshots you don’t have a clear visual path.  When I look at a photo like this, my eye is darting all over the image trying to decide where to land.  What is the most important thing that I want to stop and hang out on for a while?  That’s what my eye is thinking (or would be if it could think).

Onto Cropping:

My Sister in Law, Thorey took this beautiful picture of her husband holding their new baby.  I love her sweet little face peeking out.  I also really like the light that is coming from above and shining on his hair and her face.

I love this photo but I find the walls and Brian’s shirt a little bit distracting.  I know the focal point is Charlotte’s sweet little face but my eyes get a tiny bit distracted.  This is by no means a bad photo, it just has a little bit of extra stuff in it that could easily be trimmed out.

So I asked Thorey for a copy of it and then I cropped it a little bit.  Ok, I cropped it a lot a bit.  I really wanted Charlotte and Brian’s heads to fill the whole frame.  I tried to balance the black or negative space between Charlotte’s ear and the edge of the frame with the negative space between Brian’s shoulder and the edge of the frame - so they were kind of centered.  

I also added a very, very slight black vignette around the edges.  I think it tones down Brian’s shirt a tiny bit and puts the focus on Charlie and Brian.

So… the moral of the story is, sometimes a photo that has a vague or confusing focal point or has distracting elements can be enhanced by cropping it to only include the items you want the viewer to see.  As directors we need to think about where we want our viewers’ eyes to be focused.

It is OK to not have the focal point right in the center of the photo.  It is OK to have multiple focal points, in a story telling fashion.  It’s OK to do pretty much whatever you want.  

You are the director, after all!

Cut!

That’s a wrap!

This holiday season brings out so many much loved traditions.  Most families have unique activities, foods, decorations and music that makes this season so special and individualized to our families.  (Obviously, right?)

I have been thinking about this a lot lately.  This is the first Christmas in my entire married life - that’s 11 years, folks- where we will be home for that day.  I want to make it special for my family and to be honest, I’m a little bit intimidated.  I am just not sure where to start.  It might partly be that I am still feeling overwhelmed from moving but I also have big shoes to fill and big expectations (my own) to meet.

We have the tree; which in itself is a wonderful tradition.  In November we got a permit so that we could go up into the National Forest and cut down our tree.  That was a really fun time.  A great tradition.  One we will absolutely be doing year after year.

We also put together a gingerbread house the other night.  We had so much fun building it and decorating it.  We decided to eat it right there instead of keep it around as a decoration.  Much better that way, I think!

Other traditions that we are starting this year is a beautiful advent calendar (Thanks, Noni!!!) and a feast on Christmas Eve.  We will read the story of Christ’s birth and we will sing carols and discuss what Christmas is all about.  I am looking forward to this special night.  I know my children are going to be filled with excitement and wonder.  

But first I have to solve the stocking predicament.  It’s a predicament because Ben and I have conflicting traditions.  His family had beautiful handmade stockings that they brought out each year and left hung up as a decoration to be filled by Santa on Christmas Eve night.  

My family didn’t have stockings - not in the same sense as Ben’s family.  Our tradition was to run up to our sock drawer and find the biggest, best sock to use.  I had a red and white striped sock that I like to use year after year.  After we found our socks we would race down to our living room and everyone would find perfect place to position our sock.  Santa would always fill them with wonderful things, candy, toys, nuts, a mandarine orange (note to self:  buy mandarine oranges today), a toothbrush and always a silver dollar (additional note to self: also find silver dollars).

I love that tradition but I think I am going to make stockings this year.  But we will see.  I am quickly running out of time…

So… The MomShots Tip for this post is to remember to photograph your traditions.  It is nice to have a visual reminder and to re-affirm what your traditions are and why they are special.  When our children are grown they will love to see those photographs.  They will remember the things that made this holiday season so magical and exciting for them.  We will also be reminded.

The CD is finally done and I want to thank those of you who sent me some really great suggestions!

The CD is officially called “A Taste of Scrapbooking Sample CD”, because it is a small sample of what is available.

So if the following people would please email me (tye @ DurbinDigital . com) and leave your name and MAILING address. I will be sending you a copy of the CD! I have listed below what I used from your suggestions to add onto the CD!

Suzanne - I put a section in the Read-Me file dedicated to “How to Create Vellum”.
PixieMegh-  I put 12 patterned papers on the CD (didn’t get a chance to include the tutorial on ”How to make patterned papers”, so when P comes around it will be the TOPIC! Also, I think creating Alpha sets needs a tutorial and CD all its own! Realistic shadows might be able to be slipped into the “S” T*O*W… I have some great tips for shadows!!
janet & Trena- I have a small section and some tips for starting out.

NOW, I really, really, really want to stress that when you get your CD, READ THE READ-ME FILE!!

The READ-ME file is the meat of the CD, meaning that is where you will fine the “How-To’s” and other awesome info!

ThanX again for sending suggestions, and if certain things didn’t make it on their that you are really wanting to know, I probably have them lined up for a future T*O*W. Just to make sure I get it on the list of things you want to know, you can ALWAYS comment here or email me with your ideas.  When the time comes around for a Full Content CD I will be putting a shout out for suggestions again, so stay tuned!

Hope you enjoy the CD! Once you get your CD, PLEASE send me your thoughts! I want the CD’s to get better and better, so your feedback is strongly taken into account for future planning!

ThanX again!

On a recent driving adventure with my sister in law and our two oldest children (I was driving in the snow so therefore it was an adventure), we stopped at a grocery store.  Katie, my SIL, went into the store while I stayed in the car with the kids.  B was sleeping but Uly was awake and starting to get restless.  So in an attempt to stay off the inevitable freak out session that would likely ensue, I pulled out my camera and told him to make funny faces.  

The light was very low and so I had my ISO boosted to about 800 and and my shutter speed was super slow too.  It was a fun experiment for both Uly and I.  He got to explore his funny face arsenal and I got to try to get a low light photo that wasn’t blurry without using my flash. 

After a bit, B woke up and joined in the fun too.  She was pretty sleepy still so her silly faces were mostly just sweet angelic expressions.

So I am thinking that there is a MomShots tip here somewhere.  Perhaps the tip is one that I have gone back to a few times and will probably continue to go back to: the camera doesn’t have to be a solitary observing activity; it can be an activity for the whole family.  I think MomShots are a chance for the whole family to enjoy the fun and unity that we enjoy, plus you get the added bonus of being able to document those fun moments.

Now go photograph some fun!  Make a silly face!  Encourage your kids to be wiggly and precocious!  Then get your camera out and snappa! snappa! snappa!!!

Greetings all—my name is Anna, and I’m a mother and photographer blogging at HankandWillie. I’m delighted to be invited by Jessica to contribute the occasional post here at Momshots!

Photo day for Hank & Willie and a friend. Weather was below freezing and children were miserable. Note chocolate-bar-as-bribe in my hand, bottom left. Note also that it is not having desired effect.

So folks, it’s December. I have no idea how that happened, but here’s another bulletin—Christmas is THREE WEEKS from tomorrow. Never mind the shopping, have you done your holiday cards yet?

That’s a superhero face, in case you aren’t fluent in the expressions of four-year-old boys. Also not using this one.

For us moms who love pictures, this is our SuperBowl. I’m still figuring out which image to use for ours—and believe me, these boys didn’t give us many choices—and what it’s going to look like—make my own? Use one of the designs at the excellent design and printing companies out there, like Posh Peacock, Tiny Prints, Moo? Try the new and improved offerings at the photo-sharing sites like Smug Mug, Shutterfly and Snapfish?

Looking for ideas on making your card uniquely yours?  Try these nine fantastic tips for making your own creative photo cards at Martha Stewart, or head to ShutterSisters and read their great series, Great Greetings!, on taking better photos and sharing great ideas about holiday cards. And for further inspiration, check out their Flickr pool for finished holiday cards and photos. Where else have you discovered great resources for making, designing and printing holiday cards? Share it in the comments below!

And if you’ve got your photo, but it needs a little something before you create your final card? As my gift to MomShots readers, I would be happy to try a little Photoshop magic on your photo this year.  So far this year for friends’ photos I have:

A) Swapped heads on a lovely family for optimum smileage

B) Removed a silver picture frame embedded in the head of a handsome preschooler

C) Done basic contrast/curves boost and color boost (Falls under the category of “make it better and brighter!”

D) Done black and white conversions

E) Done vintage and faded conversions

If you think you need help with one of those areas and if you think I might be able to make your photo look better than it already is, send me your original, unedited high-resolution file.

But remember, pictures that tell the story of your family don’t have to be perfect to be great!

The fine print

Send me your photo at hankandwillieATgmail.com by 12/8 and make sure you put Hank & Willie/MomShots in the subject line. And, if you send me a photo, it is fair game to post the before and after on H&W and here at MomShots, but I won’t use names if you don’t want them published. If I get too many to work on, I will select a random few—it is just three weeks before Christmas, after all, and my Christmas card isn’t going to make itself!

Beyond Megapixels is a great site.  Have you seen it?  I have it in my RSS feed and love to read all their great posts.  Today they have a great post that covers the basics of printing your photos.  I enjoyed it, I hope you will too.

This photo has nothing to do with anything…  I just took it in my backyard.  This is Ulysses tight rope walking on the garden hose.  I kind of like the perspective.  My kids don’t know that it really is too cold to go barefoot.  I don’t have enough sense to put shoes on my own feet so I can’t very well tell them to…  At least it isn’t snowing yet.

Oh wait!  I just thought of a Momshots tip.  Woo-hooo!!!  

Momshots tip of the day:  Try out a new perspective.  

You don’t always have to photograph happy smiling perfect little faces to have a memorable photograph.  Try something new and see how you like it.  Let us know what you tried.  We’d all love to hear about it.