MomShots

Note from Jessica: Today I am very excited to announce that our guest DadShots post is by Brett Birdsong, of Birdsong Photography. Brett is an extremely talented photographer from Pensacola, Florida but travels all over the US shooting amazing photos. If you want some inspiration, spend a few minutes looking through Brett’s galleries on his site!
I hope you enjoy this post as much as I did!

I have two little monkeys.

Jacob, who is 5, and Kylie, who is 4.

They are bundles of personality, independence, and insanity. Basically, small versions of me. This round of photos came about during a summer’s day about a year or so ago, in an honest attempt to get some “normal” portraits of the kids. I fall into that odd category of taking thousands of photos during a weekend in wedding season, but have virtually jack squat when it comes to photos of my own kids. I’m horrible I know, but I’m working on it.

So the scene before me was a big, fenced backyard, two freshly bathed kids under the age of 5 in clean clothes. Daddy, the professional photographer, with his fancy cameras and lenses, and the two perfect children to photograph. I could handle this right? I’ve dealt with crying mothers-of-the-bride, intoxicated wedding guests, and fainting officiants…I think I can handle normal photos of my own kids. Right?

In the time it took me to look down, adjust my camera settings, and fire off a few test shots of Jake, Kylie had found dirt, which had made it’s way on to her shirt and face. Jake found this worthy of a belly laugh, which encouraged Kylie, and within 5 minutes of walking outside with calm, clean kids, I had Goofballs 1 and 2 belly laughing at each other while I sat there watching, capturing the scene unfolding before me.

Lesson #1 learned - When I photograph kids, I now have no preconceived notions or ideas of what I’m walking away from that particular session with. There are no backdrops, no lights, no ” sit here and let’s give Sears some competition” photo sessions at all. To me, photographing kids, especially my own, is completely about working with the moment. Sit back, relax, let them be kids. You’ll end up with some really fun shots.

During the the course of the next 15 minutes or so, betwixt belly laughs and smudging dirt on each other, I had each of the kids stand in front of me and make a silly face. Anything silly, I said. I’d make a face at them, they’d make a face back. And out of the silly faces that were made, this collage of photos was born. Now granted, I didn’t get exactly what I had intended to that day. But what I did get was a few photographs of a brief moment in time where my two kids and I sat in the sunshine on a warm summer’s day and made silly faces at each other, and laughed together.

It simply brings back a really great memory of spending time with my kids. And I honestly couldn’t ask more than that from a photograph.

I have been kind of distracted lately.  I will probably continue to be so for another week or so.  We are in the process of packing up our house to move.  I’m not exactly sure when we are moving; it might be this week, it might be in two weeks.  Kind of strange, don’t you think?  That’s how we roll though.  Spontaneous to the last breath.

We are only moving about 12 miles north of here but it is a move non the less.  Full blown, packing and cleaning and all the hoopla that goes into that.  

I’m really excited to move.  I’m really excited to not share a wall.  I’m really excited to have big windows that let in a lot of natural light.  I’m really excited to live in an octagonal shaped house with an incredible view of Utah Valley.  I’m excited to decorate our new house for Christmas.  I’m pretty much just excited in general.

Excited and distracted.  I keep saying I’ll do things and then don’t follow through.  I was planning on putting together a post about ISO, putting up a podcast of an interview I did earlier this year and putting up a post comparing point and shoot cameras on the market.  I have all these ideas and much, much more swimming around in various states of undress on my computer and in my head.  But I’m distracted…

So I guess this is some type of an apology to you.  I would love to have fresh content and fresh tips for your holiday photos.  I’ve got some thoughts about that but haven’t had a two brain cells to rub together to write up a new post. 

Anyone want to be a guest writer and share your tips for holiday photos?  Or your thoughts on anything photography related?  This is a serious request…

But this is not a serious photo.  I am sharing it with you because I think it is the funniest face I have seen in forever.  Every single time I look at it, I just start laughing out loud.

The story behind it is that I ran to the store and left my cell phone at home.  My husband found it and started taking pictures of Ulysses.  He took pictures of him jumping, smiling really, really big and this one; a picture of Uly trying to open his eyes really wide and smile.  Just thinking about it is making me chuckle…

Here’s the big smile:

Are you ready? The funny one is next…

I’m still laughing…

Oh, by the way… thanks for your suggestions of sites to look at for inspiration and your ideas of maternity poses.  That was good stuff!  I’m excited to try some of them.

Until I can get my brain to put two consecutive thoughts together in a row…  Keep shooting!

Hmmm….  I need a Momshots tagline.  Any suggestions?

Oh, seriously, anyone want to be a guest poster?  I know so many of you have a ton of knowledge that could benefit us all.  Beuhler?  Beuhler?

I woke up Saturday morning and decided I couldn’t live another day with out the Nikon 50mm f/1.8 lens.  It just would not be possible.  My very existence depended on it.  I had to have it right now. 

Me, dramatic?  Never.

So I (of course cleared it with my husband first) jumped in the car and headed out to the local camera shop.  I will spare you the all the details but I happily walked out with that shiny new lens.  I even got to drool over play with a Nikon D90 for a few minutes.  

It was a really fun morning!  

So I L-O-V-E this lens.  Seriously.  I am having so much fun with it.  

The kit lens that came with my camera is an 18-55 mm f/3.5.  So I already had the 50mm range available to me.  The reason I wanted this lens is because the aperture is so much larger than f/3.5.  Plus, for reasons I don’t fully understand yet (but will in the future!), I could rarely get it to actually go that large.  It was usually around f/4 or f/5.  

This caused some emotional discomfort for me.  I was getting frustrated with how dark my photos were.  I couldn’t get enough light into the camera.  It was driving me nuts.

Also, with the higher aperture, now I can have a narrower Depth of Field.

Have we talked about Depth of Field?  I don’t think we have.  You know when a photo has something in the foreground that is blurred, the subject is in focus and then the background is blurred?  Here’s an example:

Ok, I know it isn’t the best example.  It’s the only one I could find in my recent photos.  Plus, it was taken with my new lens (so that makes it extra cool).  You can kind of tell that the car in the foreground is blurry, Gar is in focus and the background is blurry.  

Here is another example of a photo with great depth of field or DOF as it is referred to in the biz…  I did not take this photo.  I’m not that awesome.  Yet…

So there are a few different ways to get that shallow DOF, one of them is to use a lens that has a large aperture (remember the smaller the number means the larger the aperture or lens opening).  The smaller the aperture number, the shallower the DOF.  

If you are taking a picture of a group of people - like a family portrait, you will notice that everyone is standing in different planes and so you will want to remember to widen your DOF so that you can get everyone in focus.  So that mean raise the aperture number to a 7 or 8 and see if they are all clear.  You might need to go higher than that in some situations.

I know this doesn’t mean anything to point and shoot users.  It’s really a SLR feature.  I don’t know of any point and shoots that offer that kind of aperture control.  If you know of one, please let me know.  I’d love to learn more.

**Edit - Thanks Luann for reminding me that there are higher end point and shoots that have manual modes in which you can control the aperture and shutter speed.  I know that both Canon and Nikon make some really good ones.  This was totally a slip of my brain as I spent about 5 minutes talking to the guy at the camera shop about the new Nikon ones.  Ding-Dong!!  Now back to your regularly scheduled program...***

So anyway…  I feel like I’m kind of rambling here.  The point of what I want to say is that I am having a blast with this new lens.  It is so much fun to be able to shoot in lower light than I could before (without having to raise my ISO or use my flash as often).  It is so much fun to experiment with a great DOF.  It is also fun to use a lens in manual focus.

What?  Did you just read that correctly?  Yes.  Manual Focus.  I have to focus old school style because my D40x only supports auto focus on lenses that have an internal motor.  One of my least favorite things about this fun little camera, but ya’ deal.  It’s no biggie.  I have heard that this feature is the reason that the D40-D60’s are so small; they don’t have to have that autofocus motor inside.

I read online that an autofocus lens with an internal motor will be coming out in December.  However it is rumored to cost about $430.  This lens that I bought was nowhere near that price.  It works on autofocus on our D100 and when I can one day upgrade to my D90 it will work with that too.

So here’s to new lenses!  It is also really fun to have more options.  When I need a zoom feature, I can use my old lens and when I want that shallow DOF, I can use my new lens.  Honestly, I will probably keep this lens on my camera for a long time.  It’s my new favorite possession.

Here are a few shots of Uly that I took at the park last night.  I shot them all with the 50mm at f1.8 with the ISO at 400.

So in light of the new Tip of the Week which covers converting color photos into cool black and white images, I have decided that I am going to issue myself a personal photo challenge for the day.  I am going to have my camera slung around my neck all day and shoot a bunch of photos, all with the intent of capturing a few that will look great converted to B&W.  

Anyone want to take the personal challenge with me?  I bet you’ll find some great momshots today!

I’ll let you know how it goes.  :)

For some reason, in my photographic history, I have avoided shooting close ups.   I mean extreme close ups.  The kind where you see the pox mark or the freckles that you’re not exactly proud of.  Those kind of thing that people at a normal arms length don’t really see.  The kind of thing that you’re glad they don’t really see.

Lately I have crossed an imaginary line of intimacy.  I have discovered the beauty of the extreme close up.  I have discovered that I really like the privacy that the extreme close up brings.  I love that the viewer is forcibly drawn into the world of the subject in the photograph.  You can’t sit idly by and be a passive viewer.  You are  thrown into the emotion of the subject.  

This Momshot above is of my son, Ulysses, laughing.  Now to me, I see this and feel a laugh start to well up inside of me.  I feel the emotion of this photo so much.  I believe part of that is because of how close we are.  We have passed through the imaginary bubble of “The Comfort Zone” and now we can actually see the feelings that the subject feels.  

This Momshot is of my son, Magnus.  I love the sparkle in his eyes and see his inquisitiveness.  OK, maybe that visible sparkle is actually the flash reflecting in his eyes but the inquisitiveness is real!  He is 10 months old and he is so curious about everything.

So my Momshot tip of the day is to shoot the extreme close up.  Experiment with different elements of the face being in the frame and see how much emotion you can capture.  You don’t have to worry about cutting of the top of the head, the chin, even the mouth.  Try it out and see how much fun you can have with it.  I love it!

I checked out a book from the library called The Tao of Photography: Seeing Beyond Seeing by Philippe L. Gross.  It is filled with a lot of beautiful black and white images and I look forward to reading deeper into the book and being inspired by his photos.  I keep trying to read the book but haven’t made much progress.  Being a mom is like that, right?  

I did read most of the introduction and he tells a story that has had me thinking all day.  I’ve been turning it over and over in my mind and really relating it to me and my skills.

The story is basically that one of his first cameras was a Hasselblad.  Now if you’re new to photography, like me, you may not know that astronauts such as Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin of the famous Apollo 11-17 Moon Landings used Hasselblad cameras to take these incredible photos of the moon.  They are really high end cameras and are capable of some amazing things.  

Anyway, the camera that Gross had was one that you had to hold at your stomach level and look down to see the image you were going to take, not up at your eye like we normally think of cameras.  He could see the image but it was reversed and hard to see because it was so far from his eye.  

At first he was pretty frustrated with the results he was producing.  He felt that since he had this spectacular camera he should be able to make spectacular photos right away.  He soon came to terms with the fact that he had to learn the tools necessary to make a great photograph; composition, light, etc.  Just because he had the camera didn’t mean that he automatically knew these things.

So I have been thinking about this and can totally relate.  I know I have a pretty good camera.  It’s not a Hasselblad by any means and it’s a few years old but it has the ability to produce really nice images.  I just need to learn the tools necessary.  As I learn those tools I will be able to take great Momshots and other photographs.  

I am really excited about this.  It’s kind of funny how excited about this I am.  I seriously think about it night and day.  In fact I had a dream about getting a new lens last night.  It is totally permeating my subconscious!

I am going to go sit and read more of this book right now.  I may have a pile of laundry that needs folding but I am going to just ignore it and spend my time doing something much more fun!

 

This Momshots tip is for those point and shoot cameras that have different preset modes you can shoot in.  You know, landscape, portrait, party, fireworks, whale watching mode - well not really but whatever, there are a ton of preset settings…  I found that when I would try to take some Momshots with my camera in the regular camera mode (My Nikon Coolpix 5600 literally has a picture of a camera on the dial) I was getting frustrated because I wasn’t able to capture the action fast enough.  I would hit the button and like 10 minutes later the shutter would open and close.  OK, maybe not actually 10 minutes, but when you’ve missed the action, 1/2 a second or 10 minutes might as well be the same thing!

I discovered the sports mode one day by accident.  I was thinking about my camera and the different presettings.  I may have even been reading my manual!  I started thinking that the purpose of the sports mode was to capture the action while the action is happening.  Isn’t that what taking pictures of my kids are all about?  Yep!  So I realized that if I put the dial on sports mode I might actually be able to get a halfway good picture - or at least not miss the action.  

It was the best thing since sliced bread!  I suddenly was able to take pictures of my kids and what they were doing when they were doing it.  This was a major breakthrough.

Now my sister, Olea, just bought a really cool Sony Cybershot.  I’m really impressed by what a great little point and shoot it is.  I guess I’ve kind of been out of the loop since my Coolpix has been working pretty well for the past 3 years; I haven’t upgraded.  Anyway, her camera doesn’t have a sports mode.  I was kind of surprised by that, but then on the other hand, the whole action of taking a photo seemed much faster than what I was used to.  It definitely could have something to do with new technology, but we’ll talk more about that later.  She is going to give me a little review of her camera, in the future.  So stay tuned…

So I have been thinking about something.  I was thinking about how photography relates to playing the violin, or any instrument for that matter.  When I was a kid, I learned to play the violin.  I took private lessons and I played with school and city orchestras.  I loved it.  It was something that I really enjoyed and something that I began to get pretty good at.  It was a really enjoyable creative outlet.  I could really see how my playing and skills would get better when I would practice daily.

Since life has gone on, I don’t pull out my violin and play as often as I should.  I really enjoy playing but for some reason I always have an excuse not to pull it out.  When I do, I know that my playing is not as good as it used to be - because I don’t practice.

So I’m relating this to my photography skills now.  I want to get better.  If I want to improve than I need to practice, practice, practice - just like any art form.

I am issuing myself a challenge to pull out the camera and practice every single day.  I am going to start small with a 7 Day Challenge.  I am going to take at least one picture every day for 7 days.  I’ll let you know how this goes.

So I’m pretty excited! I just got back from a class that was offered by my local camera store. It was called SLR Essentials and turned out to be pretty cool. I wasn’t the most clueless person in the place and I learned some things that I didn’t know. I am still trying to grasp some of the concepts and make sure I understand them.

Some things I learned:
SLR = Single Lens Reflex. Basically, because of mirrors, you are seeing through your view finder, exactly what the lens is seeing. On your old school point and shoots your view finder is above your lens and so what you see is not exactly what the lens sees. Now a days with these new-fangled digital point and shoot cameras that really isn’t an issue because you can use your LCD screen to see what the lens sees and rarely use the view finder. Hmmm…. I didn’t know that!

Aperture (also called F/Stops) is the size of the hole in your lens that you or your camera can choose. The larger the number, the smaller the hole. Small f/stop number needs a fast shutter speed. So in other words, if the number is small then the hole is large. You would want your shutter to move quickly so that your photo doesn’t get totally saturated with light and ends up blown out or over exposed.

Shutter Speed are fractions of a second that the aperture is left open. So if you are trying to capture an action shot of say… your daughter chasing after the greased pig at the local 4th of July celebration (seriously I saw this event last year at my aunt’s town Independence Day celebration!!! I thought it was some old tyme story and no one really did that anymore. They do. It was awesome!). You are going to want to use a wide opening in your lens, a.k.a a small f/stop number and a fast shutter speed. This will capture your sweet girly in all her greasy glory with out any blurry movement images.

Yay!!! I get it!!! Now to translate that to my camera… That is going to take some practice.

I also learned something else. I haven’t told you about my cameras yet. I have two; a Nikon Coolpix 3500 and also a Nikon D100. One is a point and shoot (this one is pretty hammered. It’s been dropped a lot and my 4 year old takes pictures with it all the time), and the other is a digital SLR. Apparently we’re a Nikon family. I don’t know why. However, I will still love you if you are a Sony, Olympus, Canon, Fujitsu or any-other-camera-brand-I-can’t-think-of family. It’s just the way we roll over here at our abode.

Here’s the thing… the D100 is about 5 years old. It’s big. It’s actually my husband’s. He bought it for work a million years ago and when that job ended he got to keep the camera. I have always called it Ben’s (that’s my hubby’s name) Camera. It was his. Until now. I’ve stolen it from him. I am claiming it and have begun to learn how to use it. I was a little afraid that it was too old and that technology was so much more advanced that the camera would be obsolete. Tonight I learned that it is not. It still rocks. It is still an awesome camera and I am super stoked to learn how to use it.

I may have had the oldest camera in the class but it is still an awesome camera. It may not be able to shoot 12 megapixels but 6 megapixels is still capturing some pretty incredible images and clarity. It can do SO MANY THINGS!!! I am so excited to learn that camera inside and out.

I made a goal tonight on my way home from this class: I will learn the Nikon D100 inside and out. I will learn how to use all the features on it and I will become a good photographer!

So really, I guess that is two goals. But they are good goals. I will stop coveting the D40X and be very happy with my D100. By time I have mastered this camera, I will perhaps have enough pennies saved up to buy the newest hotness on the market. And then my pennies won’t be spent in vain. I won’t be one of those women in my class who had the coolest newest camera on the market and didn’t now anything about it. Anything!!! I will earn that camera.

So what’s the moral of my story today? I guess the moral is: Take a class at your local camera store. You might be surprised by what you learn. My class was only $20 and I feel that I got a really good value. I feel like I know my camera a little better and am excited to take a bunch of shots tomorrow at the zoo.

Hello and Welcome to Momshots.com!

I’m super excited that you are here. This is a site dedicated to the photographing of our wonderful children. Here we will explore ways to take better pictures of the most precious things we have – our kids.

My kids move so quickly and won’t sit still that after an afternoon of taking pictures of them, there are no photos in focus. Not to mention that they get dirty in an instant! They walk out of the house in clean clothes and combed hair; I blink and suddenly they are covered head to toe in mud and somehow got some sticky substance smeared across their cheeks. I’m sure these problems are not isolated to my little corner of the world.

Do you have the same problems?

Let’s learn how to solve these problems!

Let’s learn how to take better pictures. Let’s explore ways to take great photographs of our children!

Together, let’s learn some techniques to better capture the magic of childhood and be able to show our children what a wonderful and beautiful time of life they are experiencing. Let’s discuss ways to save some of those not perfect, but not so bad shots. Let’s learn some new ways of looking at our subjects and let’s share some of our favorite pictures and discuss why they are our favorites.

I welcome your comments. I welcome your knowledge and your questions. I am excited to take this journey and learn ways to enhance my Momshots. I hope you join me on this adventure!

Let’s get started!