MomShots

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?

I have been playing with the soft light that filters in through my bedroom window. It is a southern exposure and has been really wonderful for photos. There are times of the day where the sun shines directly in, but that is only for a short period of time. We moved our bed under the window and I have taken nearly a million photos on that spot. Well, not a million literally. How about a couple hundred? That’s more accurate.

I have also been playing with my photos in Photoshop. I am kind of on a pink kick lately. Can you tell?

Utilizing depth of field is a great way to highlight certain features of the baby in a creative and inviting manner. To get this kind of look you have to use a large aperture. This will make the item you have bracketed in your viewfinder crisp while everything else will be fuzzy.

Those are my three “C’s” for today. I think they speak for themselves. I am always saying that we need to get closer. Closer and then even more close to our subject. We want to fill the entire picture with our subject. We want to see those shining sparkling eyes, rosy cheeks and pouty lips.

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!

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…