Week 16 - Words in Photoshop

I figured this out a couple of weeks ago in photoshop with Lillian and made this square with Adam's name. I actually thought I posted it several weeks ago for one of my weeks, but as I was looking back through I realized I did not. So here it is. This is one of the few techniques I have found that I really need photoshop for. I just haven't found a way to do this in any other program. I hope to come up with a lot more uses. A tutorial for how to do this can be found here. http://www.clippingimages.com/blog/place-an-image-in-text-using-photoshop/

Week 15 - Soccer -- aka Action shots

Harder than it looks -- not so much the photography part but waiting patiently long enough to get your child doing something photographically amazing -- especially when using a telephoto lens while the action seems to always be on the opposite side of the field (as in this shot)



But then things change so fast and before I can even move the zoom she is running at me and I miss not only the top of her head, but also the ball -- because that would have made for a great photo.

Week 14 -- A baby. . . a 9 day old baby

Babies. . . well they are a lot harder than I think they ought to be. For a little creature that cannot crawl away, cannot roll over, and is supposed to sleep 18 hours a day, they sure can wiggle, and squirm, and stay awake. . . seemingly forever!!!! But I think I got 3 good ones. What do you think????

Week 13 -- The Boat

I love photos of boats.  So when I saw this one while we were driving (Trent was driving, I was in the passenger seat), I rolled down the window and snapped a few and crossed my fingers that I would like them.



Here it is with a little editing -- boosting the color of the sky. But I liked how the picture to me seems timeless -- so I put it in sepia just to see. . .



but that didn't look old enough so I put it in b&w, increased the sharpness and added film grain noise to the photo



Now I just need to burn the edges and tear a few rips in it and frame it . . . then I can say it is an heirloom from the 1800's! ha ha!

Week 12 - Day 2 of the Portrait Party

This was so much fun to do. Lillian and I are thinking of doing these every few months or so. We had such a good time getting ready, honing our skills, and learning how to entertain children! We discovered we are not as funny as we think we are. We used pennies (for the kids to stand on), candy as a reward (nerds and M&M's (minis), we had billy bob teeth, bubbles, stuffed animals, puppets, and more. What really worked???? Talking about poop. Poopy diapers, smelly poop -- that is what made the kids laugh. You really feel like a 12 year old boy asking the kids if they have a stinky diaper, but they would smile like nothing else. So if immaturity is what it takes to get a smile -- so be it. Enjoy these . . .

Week 11 -- My First "Professional" Experience!

Today, I got the chance to photograph 4 cute kids. Here are some of my favorites!

Week 10 - Trying out my new background

I have had so much fun this week. First Lillian told me about her backgrounds and showed me hers and links to others. I fell in love with this blue one when I saw these photos. The background is just a large roll of paper which I purchased for $24.95 at www.adorama.com . I ordered it yesterday at 3:00 p.m., paid for standard shipping and it was delivered at noon today. They ship lightning fast and are located in the NYC area so deliveries to close places are pretty quick!

Then last night, Lillian and I made a stand for our paper rolls out of PVC pipe by following these directions on another blog (danicanelsonphotography.blogspot.com).

And then today, we tried it out. Lillian brought her cream and gray rolls and I had my blue and we hoped and prayed that our children would cooperate.

The kids tired out long before we did. But I got a lot of great ones. I was hopeful that the big girls would accomodate our need for models, and they each obligingly sat for a few -- but they would not change outfits or fix their hair, so what you see is exactly how they looked SOTB (straight off the bus).

Also the blue background seems to change color a little but I think it is because the pictures of Adam were taken at 2:30 in the afternoon while it was very bright and the girls were taken at 4:30 where the sun has started setting and the colors have definately cooled -- someday I will learn custom white balance and exposure and that won't matter -- but it wasn't today.

Enjoy!



Also here is one of Adam on Lillian's white background.