MomShots

I had a little experience yesterday that made me remember that not everyone has the same cavalier attitude about snapping about on a camera that I have.

After church everyone was asked to go out onto the lawn and pose for a congregation photo. Everyone scrunched together and waited for the person who owned the camera to make sure he could see everyone in his viewfinder. There was a little drama about getting everyone in but after that passed, the camera was handed to someone who was not in our ward (congregation) to actually take the picture.

He stood up there and took one picture.

Yes, I said ONE.

Then he looked out from behind the camera and asked the owner if he should take another one.

So he then proceeded to take ONE more. Then he looked up again and asked if he should take a one more.

I shouted from the throng, “It’s digital, take a bunch!” A few laughs were emitted around me.

He proceeded to take ONE more.

A total of three shots were taken for a giant group of people.

My mind was blown! I couldn’t believe that anyone would ever consider taking so few pictures. But then I was brought back to reality. My attitude toward taking photos must be atypical from the average person’s attitude. I am whole heartedly of the belief that taking more photos is much better than not taking enough. I push that shutter release button with no fear.

So I want to share my experience with you and remind you to push that shutter release button with out fear. You are not shooting on film so don’t be afraid to fire off 10 shots in a row. Then you can choose the nice ones and delete the rest.

Push that button. Over and over and over!

Obligatory MomShot of the day is a slight smile on the face of my 6 week old. She just started smiling for real now.

They aren’t called Fan Pages anymore are they?

Well whatever they are called, I would love it if you would click on the “Like” button and become a fan of MomShots.

Maybe one day soon I’ll even post a new, exciting and informative blog post.

Maybe, if you’re lucky.

hehehe…

If you see this post today, I would like to encourage you to click on this link and head over to JPG Magazine and vote for one of our favorite DadShot contributors, Shaun Nelson. He has a great photo of his son in his luchador costume that is perfect for the current theme of Heroes.

I voted.

I hope you will too.

Because it is an awesome DadShot.

I am comfortable with my actions. I am comfortable with the mid-levels of PhotoShop that I know. I have learned so much since I started using the program and am MUCH more comfortable with it than I first was. I’m not totally intimidated by it anymore. I can let myself experiment and try new things.

But I am comfortable in the little rut I have gotten into.

Curves are an important and useful tool in regulating how your image looks. I have never really played with them. I didn’t really “get” it. I still don’t totally “get” it, but I am now inspired and excited to learn and eventually fully “get” it.

I found a great post by Mommy’s Camera in my RSS feed this morning about using curves. I tried it out and it turns out I’m not totally scared of them.

Yay me!

If you are like me and would like to understand Curves a bit better, check out her post and then pick a photo and go experiment.

This may not be the best example but it is one of the best ones from a little photo shoot yesterday. Here is a picture of Eva Marie (and the back of her adorable cousin Miles’ head, who happened to be born on the very same day!!!). It was a bit dark and I used curves to lighten it up. Ok, so it’s not a good example at all because I hardly did anything. I don’t even know if you’ll see the difference.

Original:

Curves adjusted to make slightly lighter and brighter.

Well, that’s all I’ve got today. Go check out the post on Mommy’s Camera about curves. She has a some great examples and gives some really great advice and thoughts about using curves. I really enjoyed it.

Since Eva Marie has been born I have taken a lot of pictures. I’m sure you can imagine! Today I stripped her down and took a bunch of photos using the natural light that comes in through the large East facing windows in our family room.

I tried to figure out some props to use. I pulled a couple of things from around the house; an old scratched up kitchen chair, a sheepskin, a cute pillow, a knit yarn sack thingy, a baby blanket from when I was a baby, a few cute flannel blankets and the Boppy. I also used our olive colored love seat and my old wooden desk since they were pretty basic back grounds.

I had a little trouble with my white balance. I wasn’t sure if I should use the cloudy or the shadey preset. I think I should have actually done a custom white balance because I had slightly adjust each image. I will try that next time. Maybe tomorrow!

I also am going to try that chair image again but instead of on the carpet of our family room, I will try it on the hardwood of the living room. I think that will look a little better.

I also pulled my older boys in for a few shots. I made them all take off their shirts. I just liked the look of that better than the mismatched t-shirts they were wearing. It also adds an organic element that looks more natural and innocent. I found four that I really liked and am planning on putting them together in a collage. Something like below.

These are pretty much straight out of the camera. I only adjusted the white balance a tiny bit. I would like to try some other editing but for now that’s all I have the energy to do.

So what did I learn?

Posting may be sporadic for the next few weeks. I hope you can forgive me. Hopefully I’ll be able to come up with some helpful tips for newborn photography. You can bet I’ll be taking a whole lot of pictures!

It’s the anniversary of this marvelous blog today, and Jess is sadly without internet to post about it, so let’s surprise her when she gets back!

MomShots has changed how I look at taking pictures of my daughters, by not only encouraging me to simply get the camera out and shoot, but giving me bite sized pieces of information, new techniques and ideas to improve my pictures. It has de-mystified photography, showing me that while it is a skill to be developed, it’s not an impossible, elite activity. Perhaps more than anything, it has inspired me to read my camera manual, which has opened my eyes to so many new possibilities for my camera. My hard drive is filling up with beautiful pictures, and it’s largely due to MomShots.

So thank you, Jess, for sharing your love and passion, and inspiring us to capture our own.

If you’ve learned something new, been inspired, or just entertained by MomShots, please leave a comment and say so.

Happy MomShots Day! Here’s to many, many more.

My very talented friend, Luann Hawker of Whole Grain Photography did a maternity shoot of me last week. It was really fun and kind of super strange to be on the opposite side of the camera.

I am really glad that I took the chance to do it. Since this is supposed to be my last pregnancy, I now have some great documentation of the experience. Plus, I got to ask any strobist questions that I could think of and see how Luann set up her off camera flashes - something I have zero experience in. It was a really fun day and I now have some great shots to remember this time in my life by.

Thanks so much, Lu!!! I love them!

Here are a few of my favorites:

I think the moral of the story is that if you are pregnant, it is very nice to document this seemingly endless, yet in reality, very short period of your life. It goes fast. Plus, it is so important to have photos of yourself included in your family collection. My family photograph collection is severely lacking in photos of our “momtographer”. Here’s a little effort to remedy that.

During the creation of her U.S. 89 book, I recall Ann Torrance telling a group of us at a PhotoWalking Utah mini-clinic that we should dedicate ourselves to a project. She explained that as photographers we should assign ourselves a project to work on. Submerge and devote yourself to a single project? What could I possibly photograph that would be considered a project? Somehow I knew that taking on a project would help me be a better photographer, but the creativity and ideas were absent. I struggled with ideas for a self-assigned project for more than 8 months.

My photography has never been centered on a specific subject or style. I like photographing landscapes, wildlife, and well, everything! At PhotoCamp Utah 2010, a local photographer named A.J. Rich presented some of his photos and that’s when the inspiring light bulb clicked on over my head. A.J. Rich has a series of photographs titled Imagination. Each of the children in his photos reminds me of my youngest son, Connor.

Our world is full of video games and cartoons that occupy the attention of our kids. The imagination of children isn’t what it was like when I grew up. Connor is different than most kids his age. He loves to dress up and pretend. On the playground at school, all the first graders seek out Connor at recess. He assigns each classmate as a Star Wars character and gives a brief description of their daily adventure. At home, he dresses as Indiana Jones, Iron Man, Spider-Man, and Batman. His imagination and energy are endless!

This is where my photography project begins. My self-assigned project is to capture Connor as he plays, pretends and creates stories dressed as his favorite characters. My goal is to capture unique, fun and memorable images of him. The resulting images will tell a story about Connor. These photos will be a reminder of the simple joy of imagination, pretending, and escaping to act in our own adventure.

The first image is titled “Sometimes You Wear Stretchy Pants in Your Room. It’s for Fun.” Nacho Libre is one of Connor’s favorite characters. When he told my wife, “Mom, I need new blue Nacho tights,” we laughed. How many 6-year old boys do you know who make blue tights a serious request?

"Sometimes You Wear Stretchy Pants in Your Room. It's for Fun."

If you have a photo project you’re working on, make sure to leave a comment on MomShots.com. I’d like to see what everyone else is doing. And if you would like to follow the progress of my project this year, check out the Connor’s Adventures gallery at ShaunNelsonPhotography.com.

Do you get the Photojojo email newsletter? I’ve talked about it in the past. Some days I skim over it and delete, other days my imagination is captured. Today was one of those imagination capturing days. Not in an “I’ve got to make that” kind of way like it usually is, but in an “I like looking at pictures of people” kind of way.

The photographer Simon Høgsberg was featured in today’s newsletter. He made a GIANT photo using pictures he took over a period of 20 days. You can see it here. I think it is pretty fun and interesting.

Now I want to grab my camera and take random pictures of strangers.

Or create a project I can be obsessed with and excited about for more than a few days.

Does that sound creepy?