MomShots

a fantastic workshop put on by a fantastic photographer on Saturday night.  Sara Boulter, is a really talented photographer who produces stunning images - and especially stunning images of children.  I love to look at her site and get inspiration.  She is based out of Salt Lake City and Saturday night (I’m writing this on Monday), I got to go up and participate in her Better Pictures Workshop.  The super cool thing about it was that it was completely geared toward moms taking better pictures of their kids.  Yay!  That’s exactly what Momshots is all about so I jumped on board with that the second I heard about it.

I won’t replay the workshop second by second for you, but I do want to share a few of the tips that I learned.  Sara had so many good ideas and suggestions.  Things that really hit home and I am excited to implement in my photography.

One of the first things I want to discuss is that we need to make sure we get in our own Momshots.  We need to remember that these photos we are taking are going to be the visual memories of our children in the future.  We need to give them opportunities to remember what we looked like and to see how we interacted.  I for one, need to work on this BIG TIME!  I have been in maybe three photos in the past year.  I ordered a remote control for my camera and have been reading up on how the self timer works.  I am going to make a concerted effort to put myself in more photos with my kids.   

If you check out Sara’s site, she has a wonderful photo in her portfolio section under the title of Family.  This is the one where the beautiful mom is kissing her son in front of a red brick wall.  This photo is actually Sara and her son.  She took it using her car as a platform/tripod for her camera.  She set the timer and ran to get in the shot.  I love this shot.  I think it is just beautiful and very ingenious once you know how she came about it.  She did a little bit of cropping and editing in Photoshop and the end result is a major keeper!

Another point she brought up was that you don’t always need to show your child smiling.  When you capture the “real” moments in your child’s life you are preserving the memories of real life.

Here’s one I took in the car of Mag just as he was starting to cry.  Obviously not a fantastic photograph, but it show the real moments in my life.  And for this reason I love it.

 The theme that we came back to over and over was that photographs evoke emotion.  They preserve our memories and help our children to know where they came from.  Photographs can be an extremely important tool in helping our children know their past.

Sara had a ton of other really fantastic points and ideas.  She spoke about lighting, when to use the flash, how to get certain shots and angles, among other things.  She discussed that we need to be aggressive in getting the shots.  We need to not be afraid to lay down on the ground, stand over the top of our kids while they lay on the bed or floor, climb up on things and generally anything it takes to get the shot.  

Another point she mentioned, and you’ll recognize this from my past posts, is to be familiar with your camera.  Know what kind of camera you have and how to use all the features.  Read the manual!!!!  <- Did you notice the four exclamation marks and bold face?  It is so important.   

Anyway, I had a great time.  I learned some really good tips and have some good things to focus on and try.  Personally, I have a little more motivation to print out more of my shots and put them up around my house.  I am also going to work on getting new and fresh angles into my shots as well.

So as I sat on the couch yesterday, playing with my camera and thinking about angles, I took this one of Uly.  He was leaning over the stair rail talking to me as I was sitting on the couch below.  This is how I saw him - he really did look upside down.

I was introduced to a new photographer today.  OK, not actually introduced.  She has no idea who I am, but I’m her new stalker.  Just kidding, of course!  She is a mom and a professional photographer, plus she has the good sense to also be named Jessica!  Again with the bad jokes…

Her name is Jessica Kettle and she is located in the Salt Lake City area.  She has one little boy name Max and has been working as a professional photographer for just over a year.  She has graciously answered a whole bunch of photography related questions on her blog that her readers have asked.  She has also recently been featured on a local news station where she spoke about the backgrounds she chooses to use when taking interesting portrait photographs.  Watch the video below and hear what she has to say about backgrounds.

 She talks about how we have to be on the lookout for cool back grounds as we go through our day.  When we start thinking about backgrounds, we might be surprised by the types of places we find.  She suggests to look for places that have color and textural elements that our eyes are drawn to.  She has some great examples in her interview.

I know that since I have started this love affair with photography, I have really noticed all kinds of strange places that would make for interesting backgrounds.  Every time we drive around, I notice places that would make a great background.  I need to start writing them down so I don’t forget! 

There is a warehouse on my way to Kristina’s house that has old, rusty teal painted exterior walls.  Many local photographers, including Kristina, who took the adorable photo below at this location, have used that site for some amazing photos.  I have only driven by it, but each time I do, I can’t help but imagine a little photo shoot.  I have also noticed people’s stairs, old brick walls, antique trucks, empty fields, big solid trees; the list goes on and on.  I find that locations kind of pop out at me now.  I think it is part of this obsession!

I have posted this photo before, but I will again since it fits so nicely with this post.  This is a photo I took of Uly in front of a covered baseball bleachers wall.  I love the rich red color and the vertical slats that add texture.  I also love that Uly’s shirt has some of that same shades of red in the horizontal stripes.

That is what we are looking for here, texture and color.  You can find that in so many ways.  It doesn’t have to be a wall.  It doesn’t have to be brightly colored or highly textured - just enough that it adds visual interest.  You don’t want to over power your subject.  You want to use the background as a compositional element that adds interest and complements your subject.  

I would love to see some photos that you have taken with surprising backgrounds.  Do you have any favorite spots to shoot?  Any good places in your neighborhood?  Any good suggestions or ideas?

Hopefully.

I have had a couple of crazy weeks.  A few days after we got home from Moab, my parents came to visit.  We had a great time and got all domestic.  We canned a box of peaches and made soup base from about a million tomatoes.  We tried a new BBQ restaurant in my neighborhood (It was super yummy so if you are ever in the Springville, UT area and are hankerin’ for some meat, try Charlie Boy’s.  Pretty good Carolina BBQ)  and we spent a lot of time visiting.  

Part of the craziness I was feeling was because Ben, my husband, went to Santa Fe with my cousin’s husband, Ben McPherson.  Ben M. is an awesome painter and had a gallery exhibition at The Blue Rain Gallery.  My Ben went with him to help transport his paintings, offer moral support and (here I think is the real reason) so they could hang out.  You put those two in a room together and they don’t ever stop talking.  They are always working on some kind of project and are currently working on a really cool screenplay.  

The show was a success and they made it home safe and sound.  It’s nice to have my hubby home.  He’s my rock.  

We went for a Sunday drive yesterday afternoon.  We saw beautiful foliage putting on their Autumn colors.  We saw turbulent clouds, vivid blue skies and smiling faces.  We found a really cool little park in a planned community that seems have felt the recession and doesn’t look like the houses are being currently built.  There are some really good sledding hills in that area so we will be back when sledding season is on.  We call it the Secret Park.  My little guys loved it.

So I have been thinking about some Momshot stuff lately.  I haven’t really been posting much lately.  A lot has been going on in my life but I still need to take a minute and share my new photographic discoveries with you.  I have some ideas for posts and I suppose instead of just thinking about them I should just type them up!  I will make you a promise.  I will do better.

Oh, before I go, I wanted to mention something about the photos in this post.  The one in the top left is my favorite.  The reason is because Uly was trying out his new “Sponge” smile.  He said, “Mom, do you want to see my Sponge smile?”  Of course I said yes!.  He then proceeded to show me that cute smile and various renditions of it.  If you look closely and use copious amounts of imagination, you can see a resemblance between Uly and Spongebob Squarepants.  I love that he is experimenting with that kind of thing.  I think it is adorable and very fun!

I am getting really excited and running around like crazy trying to do all the last minute packing and getting things ready.  This afternoon, we are going to Moab, Utah for a few days.  We will be camping and exploring the Southern Utah desert scenery.  I am really excited to take photos out at Arches National Park.  My whole family is going to be there for a Walker family reunion.  So hopefully we can get a nice family photo.  

I am going to take a ton of photos.  I’m excited!!!  Any recommendations?  Our campsite supposedly has Wi-Fi (we’re not roughing it that much) so hopefully I’ll find time to upload some photos for you.

Thanks for all the feedback on the Kids in a Box post.  It is so exciting to me when I read your comments.  Thanks for taking the time to post them.  It really means a lot!

So the obligatory photo of the day is one I found of my baby, Magnus.  This was taken before he could crawl.  I think it may have even been before he could roll over.  It is a close up of his cute little mug and he’s chomping on his fingers.  I converted it to black and white and I like it a lot better now.  Baby pictures work so well in black and white.  It smoothes out their skin tones and helps you focus on their beautiful big eyes.

So if you don’t hear from me for a few days, I’m soaking up the warmth and enjoying the majestic red rocks of Southern Utah.  I’ll be back for sure on Monday with your new Tip of the Week.  Tye’s cooking up a good one.  You won’t be disappointed!  

See you soon, my friends.

If your kids are anything like mine, they are always going full speed.  There is no chance that I can gather them together, pose them in a sweet angelic way and then be able to snap some beautiful photos that show how cute and adorable they are.  Not gonna happen until they are maybe 20…

Does that sound familiar?  Well if it does, you may think this Momshots Tip is pure genius.  I do!  

Contain them.  Put them in a box.  Put them in a basket.  Put them in something that makes it difficult for them to run away.  They enjoy the novelty of being inside a container and you get to snap some shots while they are immobilized.

I took a series of photos with my three boys in this wooden planter bucket.  We use it as a laundry basket and so the boys thought it was really fun to climb in and play around it.  

Try this tip yourself and let me know what you think.  I would love to see some of your results.

******

The next item of business is the new Tip of the Week.  We are focusing on the letter B this week.  For B we are discussing Backgrounds.  Check it out and the next time you start snapping your Momshots, think about what is behind your subject.  Are your darling kids going to end up with a tree or telephone pole growing out of their head?  In some situations that would be really funny.  However if that is not your intended purpose you might be disappointed.

I love your feedback.  Don’t forget to leave a comment.  Do you have any funny shots where shovels are growing out of your kids’ ears?  Do you have any great ideas of containers you can stick your kids in to get some good shots?  Let me know.  I love to hear it.

Have you seen Martha Stewart’s blog?  I have been a fan of Martha for years.  She is a force for creative good in this world.  She often has great ideas and projects that I want to attempt.  Her recipes are fantastic!  

In her usual Martha-ness and love of sharing information she is promoting and helping people blog.  She has a great article about how to get started.  It’s pretty informative and interesting.  Here’s the link for that article.

In other Momshot related news, I have a fun idea for some photos.  I am going to attempt to take some shots today and share them with you in the very near future.  Check back tomorrow, my friends!

Do you know what DPI stands for?

In the photographic and printing world it stands for Dots Per Inch.  

You may have heard that term before - especially when you tried to print out an image using any online printing company like Snapfish, Costco, Shutterfly, Walmart, etc.

When you are working with photos and other types of images, you are dealing with dots per inch.  This is a way to measure how many little bits of color can be squeezed into one inch.  This is not to be confused with pixels per inch because each pixel holds three dots of color - red, blue and green.  There are actually three times more dots per inch than pixels per inch according to this Wikipedia article.  

When you are printing a photo you usually want it to have a high DPI of around 300.  That’s kind of the standard.  This will make your photo look better.  It will have more depth, richer colors and usually have smoother skin tones.  You can have a higher DPI than that but it usually isn’t necessary and it also depends on what kind of printer will be used.  Different printers have different DPI capabilities.  

When you are posting photos online, it doesn’t need to be very high.  A DPI of 72 works just fine.  The reason for this is that the standard for monitors is 72 DPI.  Basically, most monitors won’t show you any detail higher than 72 DPI.

So for you bloggers out there,  uploading your photos at 72 DPI is a really good idea.  This will make it possible for you to upload more photos and take up more space with all the good stuff you want to share because you aren’t filling up all your space with giant photos.

This is actually something that I was not doing before.  I just realized that I wasn’t paying any attention to that kind of thing and so I have been wasting my hosting space because of that.  Now I am going to upload every photo at 72 DPI and save myself some room.  Yay me!  :)  

Can you see a difference in these photos and any photos in previous posts?  I venture to say that you can’t.  In fact, check out the two versions of the Chicken photo below.  One is 72 DPI and the other is 300 DPI.  The only difference is that the 72 DPI version is only 228 kb and the 300 DPI is 1.2 mb.  That’s a big size difference.  I could put nearly 5 times the photos in the same space as the 1.2 mb photo.  

 Gar & the Rooster at 72dpiGar & the Rooster at 300dpi  

So the Momshot Tip for today is to lower your resolution to 72 DPI before uploading your photos online.  This will save you space and not compromise the integrity of your photos to those viewing them on a computer monitor.                               

The current weekly assignment at Digital Photography School is called Contre-Jour.  That is a term I had not previously heard.  Wikipedia says it is French for “Against the light”.  I take this to mean that the subject in a photo is backlit.  This means that the subject is lit from behind or the light source is in the background, not the foreground.  This offers a contrast between the subject and the light.  It can be a dramatic contrast or a more subtle contrast.

I am not sure how well the above photo of Gar’s curly head fits that description.  I think it does to an extent, but maybe if there was a greater contrast between Gar and the background it would be better.  Anyway, I decided to step out of my comfort zone and enter this into the weekly assignment.

I think these two above fit the description of Contre-Jour as well.  The fish tank one is open to interpretation as there is obvious light in the foreground, lighting Gar’s shirt, but I think the main light is coming from the fish tank and you can really see the contrast between the light (fish tank) and the subject (Gar).

The other one, the sunset on the road is definitely Contre-Jour but it’s not as fun as a photo that has a kid in it.  I just wanted to show another example and this is the next best one I had.

Have you stepped out of your photographic comfort zone lately?  

I challenge you to experiment with taking a Contre-Jour shot.  You might have a lot of fun playing with the light and the foreground.  Let me know what you find.

Oh man!  That’s a bad title isn’t it?  hehehe…   Someone help me, please?  :)

Title aside, my bright, hot sunny sky has taken a small reprieve and given us rain and grey clouds the last few days.  I love days like that, not only because I grew up in Washington State and so overcast skies pull at my heart strings, but because the lighting is much, much softer.  I can take my kids outside and get some Momshots without those pesky harsh shadows that the afternoon sun brings.

Trying to find good lighting is a challenge every photographer (I’m including every person who picks up a camera in this category so don’t feel intimidated) faces.  But as a mother, my photographing schedule is often dictated by nap times and the moods of my three boys.  I often find myself trying to capture Momshots in harsh sunny light.  Overcast days offer many more natural light situations.

My big plan for the day was to take my kids up to a nearby waterfall and take some photos, utilizing the overcast light.  That plan was scrubbed because of the whole nap time thing.  I guess my guys didn’t sleep last night because my two older boys are grumpier than a jack rabbit with a burr in its fur.  My youngest is still sleeping off his nap.  It looks like we’re not going to the waterfall.  Well, at least the intent was there.  I get a couple points for that, right?

Maybe I can get a few photos from the back yard…  I’m kind of sick of photos from the back yard.  I need to try harder, I guess.

The photo here is of my youngest son.  He is sitting in the stroller (Phil & Ted’s - the best stroller in the world, in my opinion) with a blanket pulled up around him.  This was taken over our 4th of July vacation up to my parent’s house in beautiful Bellingham, Washington.  We had many an overcast day.  I kind of went nuts taking photos.  I surprised myself by how many I took.  That reminds me… I still need to burn copies of all the photos for my siblings.