So the Rule of Thirds. Have you heard about it?

No? Hmmmmm…. How can I explain it?

I like to think of it as splitting a photo into thirds, both vertically and horizontally.

What exactly does that mean?

This is what you do… Place an imaginary grid over the top of your composition, like such.

Your goal is to make the subject line up with one of the lines.

That’s the gist of it. There really is a bit more to it than that, but that’s the starting point.

Here’s an example of a handsome young man I was recently able to photograph, Zack. See the original photo and how I framed him? He was right in the center. I did not follow the Rule of Thirds.

When I edited it, I cropped it and laid a Rule of Thirds grid over the top and rearranged how Zack sat in the composition.

I want to say that I didn’t actual place a grid over the top. Is that silly that I feel like I should say that? I just want you to know that this is an imaginary grid. Got it? OK…

I lined Zack’s body up with the far left line and also put his face on the top horizontal line. It’s kind of a double whammy since I lined him up with both horizontal and vertical lines. That’s not really necessary but it can’t hurt, right?

Here’s another example. My niece Gina. I can’t get enough of her! She is so beautiful. Here is the original:

I really liked this one. Her one eye is in sharp focus and you can see that when you lay the imaginary Rule of Thirds grid on top, it matches right up with the bottom horizontal line. Score! I didn’t have to do any editing or make any changes except to make it black and white.

The last example I want to show you is a bit more interpretive.

I really liked this photo of my son at the beach. I thought it caught a bit of the whimsy and joy he was experiencing. Every single time we would see a beach on TV, drive by a lake, river or even a puddle, Magnus would shout out, “Beach! Beach!” He has been wanting to go to the beach so bad this entire summer and this was his two hour chance to go. He was making the very best of it.

Sidenote: Did you see what I just did? I totally accessed the emotional aspect of photography for myself. This is why I take photos. This affects no one but me, but it is the number one reason I point that camera at my children. I’m sure you can all relate. It’s a MomShot and DadShot thing, isn’t it?

Anyway, back to the topic at hand.

Now I lay the Rule of Thirds grid over the top and I see that things don’t quite line up. Not exactly, anyway.

But do you know what? I really like it like this. I think that the lines on my Rule of Thirds grid line up enough that it works.

Or maybe that’s my motherly emotions shining through.

Either way, I like it!

Plus, that’s the awesome thing about holding the camera; you are the boss! You get to choose how you want to frame the photo. You can choose to follow this rule to the letter, or you can choose to interpret it anyway that you would like.

Remember this photo that we talked about a while ago?

Before:

After:

Magic? Yes!

My dear friend, Tye offered to fix the background for me. She used her White Photoshop Magic and made the background look so much better. She got rid of the car and now it looks like a photo I would like to print out and give to my sister in law as a gift.

Now my stance on photography is that we need to do as much “in camera” as possible. We need to try not to make mistakes like this that need to be fixed in Photoshop. But when we do make those mistakes, sometimes they can be repaired with a little help from Photoshop (and awesome friends who can make the fixes look amazing).

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!

What else can I say about this? Why wouldn’t we want to fill the entire frame with our subject?

Composition is a great thing to think about. We haven’t really discussed the Rule of Thirds much here. I haven’t been really sure how to explain it. Look at the photo below and see the yellow lines I drew on it. These lines break the photo up in three sections both vertically and horizontally. Basically you want to put the subject of your shot on or around one of these lines. It is more pleasing to the eye.

We will discuss this more in depth later, but think about it next time you have your camera out. Put the eyes of your subject, or your subject itself on one of these lines and see how you like your photo. Do you like it better?

The final C is Cuteness. Is this self explanatory or what?!? Just get out that camera and capture all that cuteness that is dying to be photographed! It just never stops. All stages of your child’s life need to be documented and you have the skills to do it. Take lots of shots and then take a few more!

I wasn’t busy enough… (sarcasm is oozing between these letters)

so I challenged myself to create a set of postcards.

I was trying to keep them within a self imposed range of non-personalness (yes, that is a made up word). I don’t usually take photos of object, mostly children, so this was a fun foray into another field of interest for me.

Shutter Sisters had a pen pal challenge a while back. You signed up and they paired you with another reader and then we would send snail mail to each other. I jumped at the chance to meet someone new and to send/receive snail mail. I love mail. Finding mail in my mailbox is just so fun. Especially when it is not a bill!!!

So with the pen pal project as my inspiration, I decided to make these postcards and then either send them to my new pen pal and/or to send them to people I actually know, kind of as a surprise.

I printed these through moo.com. I was really pleased with how fun and easy the whole process was. I made each image in Photoshop and then uploaded them. Then I received them about a week later in the mail. The quality was great. I will definitely order from them again!

Did this just turn into an add for moo.com? Unintentionally.

Just a fun thing you can do with your photos. You can use them for all sorts of things; invitations for parties, thank you notes or a fun surprise in the mail for your mom or a friend from high school. Your imagination is your limit!

Photographically speaking, I have been trying to work a little more on my composition and focus. I have also been trying to think a little bit more creatively in my shots and using composition and focus to help them turn out better has been fun.

One of the things that I have been reminding myself about is to check the background. Is there something in the background that is distracting or unsightly? If the answer is yes, then I need to get up and move to a different angle. If that doesn’t help, then I may need to move the subject to a different spot.

Here is one where I wish I would have paid more attention to the background.

I like a lot of things about this picture, but there’s a pesky car in the background. Even though it is blurred, it is still really obvious that it is a car. I don’t know what I was thinking!! I cropped it and the car is mostly gone, but it is still there.

This shot, below, was taken in the same yard. I was just facing slightly more to my left. No pesky car in the background, just a nice bokeh tree.

Backgrounds. Pay more attention!!!!!!!

Action shots have been fun to play around with. Using a fast shutter speed, I am able to freeze the ocean, water droplets or kids in mid stride. The trick with a fast shutter speed is to use an aperture that is wide enough so that enough light gets in. Here is a sequence of Gar sliding down the slide into the pool:

Another trick is to set your camera to take multiple shots. I hold down my shutter release button and it takes a whole bunch - click, click, click, click, click, click, click. Until I let go. Most point and shoot cameras have that option too. It is a great option for active kids.

So next time you are out with the kids, think about action and backgrounds. See what you can do to avoid ruining great pictures by putting cars in the backgrounds and think about what you can do to capture the daily action that these rambunctious kids are overflowing with.

that I want to print as an 8×10 and hang on my entry way wall.

MPix.com is having a sale on the printing of 8×10s. 50% off, to be exact! Just my cup of tea.

The sale ends tonight at Midnight, CST so you don’t have much time to take advantage of it. If you do choose to get something printed, use the code 8×10printsale when you check out to get 50% off your purchase.

MPix produces excellent results or the highest quality. I have never been disappointed with any photos that I have had printed there.

Anyway, just thought I’d pass on the word to you in case you’re thinking of getting some 8×10s printed. Today…

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:

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!

We don’t get to go up to visit my family this year. I am quite sad about that. I didn’t realize I would be until this morning. I am going to try to make this weekend one full of fun for my kids anyway. Maybe create a tradition or two.

This is a very good holiday to practice taking photos of your kids. There are usually many community festivities that offer up wonderful photo opportunities; carnivals, parades, fireworks, the vibrant colors of our flag and the many other symbols of the wonderful freedom we enjoy here in the United States of America.

I hope on this holiday weekend that you are safe. I hope you get to enjoy it with the people you love. I also hope that you remember to grab your camera and shoot some photos of those symbols of freedom and your family enjoying them.

Here are a few photos that I have taken over the past few years that fit into that category to me.

Happy 4th of July weekend!!!