MomShots

Last night I was so inspired I couldn’t sleep. I laid in bed trying to will myself to sleep while my uncooperative brain kept running around like an over active 4 year old.

Earlier that evening I spent some time cruising the Internet. I was looking at galleries and portfolios of professional photographers. I was specifically looking at baby and maternity shots with some older children thrown in just for good measure.

You see, we are going to visit our family in Southern California for Thanksgiving and we have recently had a new member addition and another to be born in early 2009. I really want to try my hand at both photographing babies and pregos. I was looking at all these sites to get ideas of shots I could emulate and props I could use. I am hoping that I can produce something that looks halfway professional.

I’m planning on bringing both the D100 and the D40x. I decided on using the D100 with the 50mm lens because then I can use the auto focus feature. My eyes play tricks on me and when I think it is in focus it isn’t. Then I also plan on using the D40x with the kit 18-55mm lens so I can utilize the zooming features. Plus that lens will auto focus with that camera. I was thinking that I had better be using auto focus because I don’t want to have to reshoot the same shot over and over and over and over and over again while I’m trying to find my focus. Anyway… just some thoughts about that.

So the new baby is a girl, which is totally fun for me. I’m the mom of three boys so I don’t get a lot of sugar and spice photos. I get a lot more frogs and puppy dog tails kind of photos. That’s kind of where my mind is most often so it is really fun to think outside of my self-imposed box. So I’ve got a piece of pink textured faux fur, a hunk of black fleece and a cream colored sheep skin in my mental prop arsenal so far. I’ve also got a basket. So those are a few of the things I’m thinking about bringing with me… I am sure her mom (on the left) will want some pictures taken with this tutu wearing sock monkey (made by her sister on the right) as well…

Suggestions for props or sites to be inspired from are MOST welcome!

Well, back to our regularly scheduled Tip of the Week. We’ve got a great Tip for you today and I really hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Tye really makes a good point, but I won’t spoil it for you. Read it for yourself and give it some thought.

I hope you have a great day. I’m having a lot of thoughts running through my head that I want to share with you but I think I’d better save those for another day. I’ll leave you with a Momshot I took of Gar last Friday. We went up to a ranger station and got a tag for a Christmas tree - this is a ticket that lets you go out into the National Forest and cut down your own tree. We went for a walk in the snow and I took a few shots of the kiddos.

Really I have no idea how to spell that word.  It is “two” and “for” shoved together.  Hopefully you’ll read it and understand.  Basically, this week’s Tip of the Week is a double whammy.  Tye wrote us up two tips for the price of one!  They are both awesome tips and I’m super excited to put my kids to bed and play around with Photoshop tonight (only 8 more hours to go; I don’t think putting them to bed at noon would really fly that well…).  I want to try out both of these processes very much.

I realized the other day that I really need to learn Photoshop much better.  I am just limping along using my actions and a few things I know (that I have learned from Tye’s Tip of the Week tutorials) but I have a long way to go.  I see so many photographers and I often think that their post processing skills are what makes them great.  There is usually a little more to it than that, but I think if I had better post processing skills my photos would look a bit more professional.  So I need to practice that.  Just like I am practicing my photography skills, I need to focus on post processing as well.

So I will.  Practice that is.  Tonight after I put the kids in bed, I will try to get some practice in on these two Tips.  I’m excited!!!

So… you read the post where I got a new camera?  I still am limping along.  I have really been struggling to find time to read the manual.  I took it with me to the gym yesterday and read it while I was on the stationary bike, but this morning I decided to sleep in instead.  Tomorrow!

I guess I have the Auto mode fully figured out.  And the preset modes aren’t that hard to understand either.  I am just having a hard time figuring out how to use the manual modes.  I mean, I can’t figure out how to adjust the aperture.  Strange.  It’s a pretty automated camera and that’s cool.  It’s kind of a cross between automated and manual.  I just haven’t figured out how to use the manual yet.  I will.

More practice.  And reading.  And then practice.

I thought my learning curve would be a little less steep.  I thought I’d pick it up and be as comfortable with it as I was on my old Nikon D100.  I know I will in a week or two but it’s just taking more time than I thought it would.  Plus, I have felt really busy and haven’t actually been able to set time aside for playing with it.  I grab it when I’m cooking dinner or when I am waiting for something.  I haven’t really given it my full attention.

Ok, I should sign off.  Mag just unrolled a full roll of paper towels and is playing in it.  He’s wrapping paper towels around himself like a cute little mummy baby.  Insert imaginary picture here -> <- 

On last thing…  Don’t forget to think about what you would like to learn to be able to scrapbook your photos.  We got some great ideas yesterday but would love some more.  Let us know what is on your mind.

This is a blog dedicated to reuniting lost cameras and memory sticks with their owners.  I think it is a wonderful idea.  If you have lost a camera check for it there and if you find a camera post it there as well. 

I would like to type up a long post this morning about something fun but I don’t think it is going to happen.  My kids are all antsy to get going with our day.  Magnus is literally climbing on my back right now.

So instead of posting something about nothing I will make a quick note about the new Tip of the Week.  This week’s tip is about using the Eyedropper tool.  This is a very useful tool.  I think you are really going to like this tip.

And also a reminder that we save all of our past Tips.  You can pull up any of the Tips by simply going to the Tip of the Week tab (up above).

This post’s obligatory photo is from last year.  One of the first snows.  My boys were so excited to go play in it but I made them slow down for a second so I could get some shots of them.  We are starting to get excited for snow for this Winter.  I’ve been going through the checklist to make sure everyone has all the necessary gear for warm, cold weather fun!

I got an email the other day from Momshots reader Aubrey.  She said

 I tried out the duotone one & loved how it worked on a pic of my son.  The original pic was a little too bright; the red of his shirt really stole the focus away from his face.  I tried black & white, but it wasn’t giving the image the soft angelic look I felt it needed.  So I tried the duotone with a blue cast and I love it! 

Here are the photos Audrey sent.  I’m sure you will agree with me in saying that her son is just totally adorable.  

You can see what she means by the red in the color photo being a bit much.  Your eye is drawn away from his cute little mug and onto his shirt.  The black and white is lacking something but the blue duotone definitely gives it that look she was going for.

I’m so glad you emailed me Aubrey!  Thanks for showing us all a fantastic practical application and example.  I love, love, love that you tried all three versions and sent copies to me.  It is so helpful for not just me, but I am sure, many other Momshots readers.  Thanks!

Did you try a Duotone photo?  How did it turn out?  

Shelle tried her hand at the spot color.  Don’t you think she did a great job?  I love the spark that the spot color gives her photo.  She’s such a great photographer.  I’m definitely a fan!

The new Tip of the Week is up!  It’s a great one, as usual, brought to us by Tye Durbin.  Tye talks about how as photographers we are telling a story and we can use color to help express that.

Tye issues a challenge to take some photos and experiment with colors.  I am going to do that this week and post them here for you to see.

Check it out and let us see some of your results.  Leave a link to a photo on your blog, Flikr, etc. in a comment.  The more discussion we have, the more can all learn together.

If your kids are anything like mine, they are always going full speed.  There is no chance that I can gather them together, pose them in a sweet angelic way and then be able to snap some beautiful photos that show how cute and adorable they are.  Not gonna happen until they are maybe 20…

Does that sound familiar?  Well if it does, you may think this Momshots Tip is pure genius.  I do!  

Contain them.  Put them in a box.  Put them in a basket.  Put them in something that makes it difficult for them to run away.  They enjoy the novelty of being inside a container and you get to snap some shots while they are immobilized.

I took a series of photos with my three boys in this wooden planter bucket.  We use it as a laundry basket and so the boys thought it was really fun to climb in and play around it.  

Try this tip yourself and let me know what you think.  I would love to see some of your results.

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The next item of business is the new Tip of the Week.  We are focusing on the letter B this week.  For B we are discussing Backgrounds.  Check it out and the next time you start snapping your Momshots, think about what is behind your subject.  Are your darling kids going to end up with a tree or telephone pole growing out of their head?  In some situations that would be really funny.  However if that is not your intended purpose you might be disappointed.

I love your feedback.  Don’t forget to leave a comment.  Do you have any funny shots where shovels are growing out of your kids’ ears?  Do you have any great ideas of containers you can stick your kids in to get some good shots?  Let me know.  I love to hear it.

Our newest Tip of the Week is up and it is a really good one.  It is about Adjustment layers in Photoshop Elements and CS.  I highly recommend checking it out - there is some really great information there.

We are starting a new Tip of the Week theme; each week the Tip of the Week will relate to a letter of the alphabet.  Part of this could be because I have preschool aged children at home but part of it is because there are so many things to learn that the alphabet seems as good a place as any to organize our thoughts.  I hope you enjoy these tips.  We have some really, really good ones planned.  By the end of the alphabet we are all going to have learned so many cool things.  I’m super excited!!!

On another note, my children and I are working on two projects.  Both have to do with photography.  I have been sharing my love of photography with my kids.  We have been working on two photo books.  One is based on the alphabet.  We work on learning one letter, it’s sounds, shape, drawing it, etc.  Then we go around our house and neighborhood and photograph items that start with that letter or the actual letter itself.  We have only done three letters so far; A, B & C.  We will probably do D tomorrow or Friday.

Here is an example of one of our pages…

The other project we are working on is a book on colors.  We photographed a whole bunch of objects yesterday and I will put them all next to the appropriate color.   I was inspired by this crafty lady.

Here is an example of my layout for Blue. This is not finalized but it give you an idea of where I’m going with this.

I guess the point of what I want to say here is that photography can be a whole family experience.  It doesn’t have be just mom or dad behind the camera documenting everything.  It can be a tool that helps build teamwork and unity in your family.

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…  :)