MomShots

Before I announce the winner, I just want to say that I wish I had copies of the book for everyone.  As I was listing everyone’s name and finding a random number generator (I’m a geek.  I like tools!) to help me choose the number, I was agonizing over this.  I didn’t realize how it would make me feel.  I want everyone to have a copy.  I wish I had more copies to give away!!!   

The random number generator chose number 5.  The name on my spreadsheet that corresponded with that number is Shelle of BlokThoughts.  Shelle, Scott Kelby’s The Digital Photography Book 1 is on its way. Congratulations!

Everyone else, thanks for entering.  It was really exciting for me to see all of your comments.  What can I say?  I’m a simple girl.  Comments make me happy.  :)

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Another thing I wanted to tell you about was a cool website I found last week.  It is called Photodoto.  This is the site where I saw the idea to put kids in a container.  When I wrote the post, I couldn’t remember where I had seen that idea.  This is the place.  My toddler addled brain… I tell ‘ya!  Anyway, it’s a great site.  Lots of good information and fun articles.  Check it out.  I’m sure you’ll love it too!

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So…  I had such a fun weekend.  I want to tell you all about it.  That might take a L.O.N.G. time so I’ll just share some of the highlights.  

We had a family reunion on Saturday in Moab, Utah.  The highlight for me was that my Uncle Eric was there.  He is an awesome photographer.  You may remember me mentioning that or remember some of his comments.  He’s great.  He let me play with some of his lenses.  Can you imagine how much fun I was having?  A lot!

To give a little back story, I should explain and say that I have only ever used my 60mm lens.  In fact, I didn’t even know how to take my lens off!!!  How silly is that?!?  So when Eric put a 70-210mm zoom lens on my camera I was like a kid in a candy camera store.  I was running all over the place snapping photos of people right and left.  I think I was kind of annoying my grandma.  She’s so beautiful and I wanted to get a good photo of her.  I kept coming back and snapping more.  It was so much fun.  

After the reunion, we went to the cemetery to see my granddad’s grave and to see the graves of other ancestors.  This is kind of a tradition in my family.

We went to Arches National Park on Thursday and saw some incredible scenery.  Mind blowingly (I know, it’s not a word…) beautiful.  We walked around until the kids were exhausted and then we drove around for a while.  Awesome.  If you are ever in the area, I whole heartedly recommend a visit to the Arches National Park.

On Friday we went to a rock shop and got slightly mislead but that is always an adventure in itself.  We were trying to find some dinosaur bones and petrified wood but ended up taking a wrong turn and then ran out of time so we didn’t get to retrace our steps and try again.  Next time we’re in Moab, I’m going to try this outing again.  It was still very beautiful and fun.

We spent a lot of time playing in our campground’s over chlorinated swimming pool and soaking up the sun.  My boys had a blast practising their swimming moves, playing with their cousins and charming all the other travelers.  It was a blast!

Now we are back home.  I am almost unpacked and we are starting to think more seriously about Halloween costumes and decorations.  Those will be some fun Momshots!  What kind of Halloween or Autumn plans do you have?  Any good photo-ops coming up?

Tomorrow I will put up the new Tip of the Week.  Tye wrote us up a great one.  I’m excited for you to read it!

I am really excited to announce that our new Tip of the Week section is up and our first great tip is there for your viewing and post-processing pleasure!  This week Tye tells us how to convert a color photograph into a black and white using both Photoshop Elements (Version 4.0 and higher) and Photoshop CS3.   

The example photo is of my 3 year old son Garland cheesing it up in a great big wink.

Or at least blackmail worthy photos of your children when they are young.  

Think to yourself, “Self, is this a photo my son/daughter/niece/nephew would like me to show to a future girlfriend/boyfriend?”  If your answer is a resounding “NO”, than you really should take the photo.  You should take the photo and save it.  One day you will be sitting on a couch going through an old family photo album showing the new young couple photos from your child’s youth.  You will find the picture of them in an awkward position and they will get embarassed.  It will all be worth it!  Or if you’re horrible like me, your kids will find photos of themselves peeing in the backyard on their mom’s website…

Even if embarrassment is not an issue, it sure is fun to have photos that remind you of the innocence and wonder from childhood.  These kinds of momshots will surely remind you of that precious time.

Officially it’s Summer! June 21st brought warm weather in my neighborhood. My oldest son walks outside and proclaims, “It’s just a beautiful day, Mom!” With that proclamation I am reminded of all the possibilities that Summer brings and those possibilities mean many opportunities for great Momshots.

Summer has barely begun and we have already been to two parades and two carnivals. Daily we have been playing in the sprinkler and little wading pool, we have been to the park numerous times and spent much time riding bikes and practicing riding the scooter. We have had a few picnics, campfires, s’mores and even an attempted camping trip. I feel like this Summer is a good one and it has just barely started! Bring on more fun!

These adventures have brought on many Momshot opportunities. They have given me many chances to think about composition, lighting, focal points, capturing action and trying to photograph these fun moments in a way that I find visually interesting.

My Momshot Tip is to take these fun Summer adventures and try to visualize photographs that capture the atmosphere and emotions of the subjects.  Try to think about the whole picture and not just your kids’ cute smiling faces.  Most importantly, take your camera with you everywhere.  Then be sure to take it out of the camera bag and use it.

My philosophy is that if I take enough shots, I’m bound to have one or two good ones!