I told the boys all to make faces and be goofy in an attempt to get them happy and ready for a few more pictures. It’s always nice to have a little break when mom is pointing the camera at you. I love how the dog is busy with his little chewing project and he is the focus while the boys are going crazy in the background.

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.

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

Confession: I am a snob. A Manual function snob.

Learning to use my DSLR, rubbing shoulders with some really talented photographers and reading photography blogs and books has made me a Manual function snob. I have swallowed the whole school of thought that if you don’t know how to shoot completely in Manual then you can’t be a good photographer.

I very rarely turn my function knob off of the little black M surrounded by silver to any of the other letters. Once in a while I would flirt with the S or even the P but I would always quickly switch it back to the M while I furtively glanced over my shoulder to make sure no one saw my little foray into autonomy.

The day after Christmas I had a realization while walking around The Living Desert looking at amazing desert animals and thinking about how much it would hurt to fall onto one of the bajillion types of cacti lining the pathways. My realization was this: As Miss MomShots, I need to get off my high horse and embrace the Auto function. My goal is to teach parents photography so that they can take beautiful photos of their children. While I want people to really learn to use their cameras and learn the art of photography, there is no reason that the Auto function can’t be a valid method of learning those skills.

I completely believe that learning to shoot in Manual is something that anyone can achieve. However I feel like I have done a disservice to Auto. If Auto is necessary for you to use your camera then I think it needs be embraced. Then when you feel more comfortable, take the steps to learn Manual.

I spent the day with my camera in Auto function. It was kind of refreshing. It was kind of fun. I generally feel pretty comfortable with Manual but when using Auto, I just let go and completely relied on my camera to make the choices for me. It was actually kind of freeing.

So I say if you are out with your family and are chasing the kids around with the camera, don’t hesitate to use Auto if you feel more comfortable in that mode. Manual function can be saved for a time when you can give it more attention and spend some time learning to use it’s features. Spend the time you have enjoying your children and use the tools that are available, such as the flash turned off Auto feature with out guilt!

As an after thought, one benefit of having the camera set in Auto is that you can pass it onto your 7 year old son and he can take a photo of you. It’s nice to have at least one photo of yourself per year, right?

The MomShots Tip of the Day is to keep your camera close by. Someplace out of the way of rough housing and great big hugs but someplace close by that you can grab it and shoot some of those beautiful holiday memories in action.

My mother in law has a bookshelf that has a bunch of photos on top. When I am here, I like to hide my camera back behind the picture of my kids. It is safely hidden from the eyes of kids who might want to play with it but easily accessible to grab when cuteness spontaneously happens.

Here’s my camera in it’s secret hiding spot:

Here’s a shot of my boys’ Christmas letters to Santa hung on the tree.

Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Festive Festivus and Crazy Cool Kwanza to everyone!!!

One of my favorite things to do lately is to turn my screensaver on and just watch my computer pull photos from my files for me to look at. Is that the 2011 version of a photo album? It is at my house. My kids will sit with me and we will all comment about who is in each photo, what that person was doing. It’s been great fun and really shown to me the importance of photo albums. Which is something I need to rededicate myself to for 2012.

Here is one of my favorite things about photos, and I’m sure yours too: You can look back and see the details of that growth from baby to toddler, toddler to big kid, big kid to teenager, etc. You get my point.

This photo is from September 2010 and she was just a little 4 month old baby.

Now she’s rapidly growing up and using tools like chairs to get what she wants.

So the MomShots Tip of the Day is to take a minute and compare those little bodies to how they looked a year ago, two years ago, five years ago or more. Take a minute to enjoy who they were and who they are now. Give them a hug and tell them that you love them. Saver that moment in time.

Another thing I have been thinking about… Camera Straps. Will you please leave a comment and tell me about yours and why you like it? Seriously. I will love you forever.

Well, first off I had a hard time picking which photograph to use. I knew I wanted to use a shot of my baby girl since she’s 18 months and I still hadn’t printed any photos of just her for my wall. Then I couldn’t decide if I should print a current shot or one from days past. After thinking about it for far too long, I decided to go with a shot from July of 2010, when she was just a couple months old. She is wearing her little Blessing/Christening dress. It’s just a head shot but you can see some of the white lace from the dress and the fuzz from the sheepskin she’s laying on.

I ended up cropping the shot a little bit so that it would fit on an 11″x14″ canvas. Here’s the original with a yellow line showing how I cropped it:

You have some choices as to how the edge is treated. You can do a mirror image, which works great for solid or patterned areas. You can kind of stretch the image out around the edges, called Image Wrap or you can have a solid color put around the edges. You can click on each option and see how it would look on your finished canvas so you know exactly what you are choosing.

An Image Wrap and Mirror image didn’t really work for my photo. I thought it looked kind of messy and distracting. But that was just because of my specific image. Other images look great this way. I chose to do the solid color around the edges. You can enter in a specific Pantone color or you can use a dropper and select a color from your photo. I went with the creamy white of the sheepskin.

The entire process is really easy and fun. Easy Canvas Prints navigation system is not hard to use at all. Any upgrades or options that you might want to choose are laid out before you, plain and simple.

I received my canvas a couple of days later. I was so excited I tore it open like a kid on Christmas. My babies big brown eyes were staring out at me, printed on canvas. It was love at first site. I got a nail and hung it up in my hallway right away. I love walking past it. It has transformed a boring little wall into my own private gallery show!

Here is the canvas in my front entry with my other family photos. This isn’t her permanent home but it photographed here a little better. You can also see how well it goes with framed photos in this shot. I love it!

I would be remiss if I didn’t tell you the one teensy negative thing that I found. The image that I used has a large spot on her cheek and temple that are very light. They are not completely blown out on my original. I can see the skin detail when I look at the original in Aperture or Photoshop, but on the canvas they are pretty blown out, which means it looks like it’s a big white spot with no skin detail. At first it kind of bugged me but it has grown on me and now I really like how it adds to the “painted” kind of look that a canvas portrays. However, if that kind of thing would bother you, make sure that the image you use doesn’t have highlight areas that are almost blown out. I may have chosen a different photograph to use if I had known that would happen. BUT, like I said, I love it now. I don’t even notice the blown out areas anymore.

These canvases would make AMAZING holiday gifts for grandparents or other family members. Easy Canvas Prints is in the midst of a pretty great sale right now too. You can get 25% off of any standard canvas plus free shipping. Woo-hoo! That’s a great deal!!! I highly recommend using this company. The hardest part of the whole process is picking the photograph to use!

Here’s a shot of it in it’s permanent home, the hallway wall between my boys’ bedroom and the hall bathroom door. I wanted to show you how great it looks here but I couldn’t manage to get a good photo of the whole hallway. This will have to do.

The end result of all of this is a canvas print that I will treasure forever. If you get one, I’m sure you’ll love it too!

If this photo was a dish on a menu it would be listed as Big Brown Eyes on a Bed of Black and Grey with a Dusting of Grubby Face. I’ll take one, please!

While looking through my photos, I found the PERFECT one to use for a theme called Yellow. So I’m hoping that color theme comes up in the near future!!!

Leave me a comment and I’ll come comment on your photo. I promise.

The theme is Let Them Be Little. Which I think is a tough one. Not tough for lack of photos but because there are WAY too many that fit this theme. I have tons of great shots of my kids being kids and enjoying childhood. How do you choose? Pretty much just close my eyes and stick my hand in a hat!

I remember the first camera I got; it was payment for a babysitting job when I was a kid. I don’t remember much about it or even if it worked. But I remember holding it in my hands and feeling deep inside me the possibility that was there. Holding a camera is like holding a whole new world in your fingertips. I could feel that.

Since that very first camera, I have had a small handful. I remember my first SLR, it was a camera I bought at a used camera shop. I didn’t know how to use it. I didn’t know anything about lenses, aperture, shutter speed. I took it to Europe with me in my backpack. It was some off brand and I broke it somewhere between Germany and Turkey. I have a few blurry pictures from that trip. It’s for the best.

I have been very interested in photography for quite a few years. As I know many other parents are. Our children are born and we suddenly have a REAL reason to pick up the camera and increase our knowledge and interest. No parent wants to be blamed for a lack of baby pictures!

I kind of got my hackles up this morning reading a blog post by a well known photographer. I have read the term “mom turned photographer” over and over for the past few years. There is a trend in photography where women, and this tends to be women more than men, decide to open up a photography studio in their home. It is often looked down on by the “professional photographers” who have been in the business for a long time.

These old school guys complain about many different aspects of why this is bad for business. I won’t go into the reasons. There are many and they are varied. I understand their concerns. They are trying to feed their family too.

However…

I want to be an advocate for being the best mom turned photographer you can be. Or dad turned photographer. I want to be an advocate for learning to use your camera and to develop a style that you are proud of. If you have a goal of opening up a home studio then I am completely behind you. I suggest that you practice, practice, practice. Then practice some more.

I have flirted with the idea of opening a home studio and I know that’s not the right choice for me. I do however, want to be good enough to open my own studio. That’s my goal.

What’s your photography goal?

I want you to have your cake and be able to eat it too.