Day 151: Discovery Science Center

I wish I could say I learned a lot about photography today by shooting in the worst conditions I’ve ever tried, but I can’t.  I barely got any photos worth saving.  We went to the Discovery Science Center today and here is what I learned:

• If you have two mobile kids, you need two able bodied adults.  I am glad I never tried this alone, and next time I’ll wait until I’m out of my air cast/walking boot.
• This center is geared for children older than 5.  That should be well advertised.
• Leave the camera at home.  It’s impossible to get good shots with running toddlers, little to no lighting, and colored walls.  I shot wide open at f/1.8, ISO 1600, and shutter speed 1/100, and I still was horribly underexposed.  (I guess I could have used my flash, but honestly I don’t even know how to turn the onboard flash on I hate it that much.)
• I now know the panic feeling of losing your child in a crowd, thanks to Cooper.  That kid disappears in an instant.  I finally see why people use those kid leashes (although I still refuse to use them).
• I also know the panic of hockey pucks flying at my 2 yr old who isn’t wearing any padding and how I think nothing of the danger to myself in order to prevent my son from getting hurt.  I think they should just have some helmets to try on for the younger kids…it would prevent this safety hazard.  (There was a ‘goalie exhibit’ where you got to put on pads and a helmet and ‘save’ pucks that fly out of the wall.  Cooper was obsessed with trying to get a helmet.)
• The gift store was the most exciting part about our visit, according to the kids.
• Lollipops in the car = one stressed out mama!

Charlotte looking up through this tunnel thing.  I love the expression on her face.  This photo was nearly unsalvageable.  You can see Ashley’s attempt at an edit here, which I like better than my own edit.

Cooper learning about what comes out of his ‘no’ (nose).

Throwing balls.  Charlotte gravitated to all the ball exhibits, while Cooper just ran all over and disappeared over and over.  

Wish I could sew!

Jen at 525,600 Minutes is doing a giveaway for felt food.  Check out her daughter Jaelyn playing with the sushi and chopsticks.  Jdensing is the Etsy seller and she has some super cute felt food.  It makes me wish I could sew!

Day 150: Sizing up the slides

I love when I’m able to get the kids in the same photo that really shows their height difference.  This is super bright with harsh shadows because of the sun, but I still like it.

Scavenger Hunt

Accessory:  My favorite earrings—pearls from my husband.  (Self portraits are hard!)

Stack of books:  A few of my favorites sitting on my bookshelf.  The butterfly in the background is an ad from a magazine, and I loved the way it looked so I cut it out and framed it. 

Water:  The fountain from trip with the kids.  I was happy to know that I understand shutter speed and capturing motion.

Street Sign:  Driving back home from the park.  It’s a beautiful day today with super clear skies and the ocean looks amazing!  I had to take this on auto while I was stopped at a red light.

There aren’t very many traditional mail boxes in our city.  Most mail boxes are just holes in the wall or door at someone’s house.  We live in the free standing townhome facing the street, but there are two more units behind us.  The mail box is attached to our house.  Did you know mail boxes have to be approved by the US Postal Service?  It says so right on the mailbox!

You can also check out Ramblings and Photos, the mind of mrs. magoo, and out to wonderland for their take on the assignment.

If you want to participate, here is the challenge for this coming week.  I’ll post my results on Sunday and try to link to others who are participating.

1. Morning Routine
2. Welcome
3. Sculpture
4. School Memorabilia
5. Blue

Day 149: Fun in the Fountain

Today we went to a nearby outdoor shopping center and bought some books, got milk and bananas from Starbucks (bawbuh as Charlotte says), and then I let them run all over near the fountain.  It was a warm afternoon and so they decided to dip their feet in to cool off.

Day 148: Caterpillar Crafts

We are working on fine motor skills and teaching them how to thread things.  We made caterpillars out of egg cartons and pipe cleaners.  They really loved this craft, and it was good because it didn’t make a mess.  They loved making holes in the carton as well.

And look at the different creative methods.  Cooper had to be very precise and line up all his colors (geen, poopoh, and boo).  Charlotte had to be wild and wanted a chaotic caterpillar.  So cute to see their personalities in their artwork.

 

Day 147: Simple

Nothing special today, just a photo of each of them.  I am so in love with this photo of Charlotte.  Her face melts my heart. 

Guess who didn’t nap?

Blog Award

Jen at 525,600 minutes and Ashley at Ramblings and Photos gave me the Trendy Blog Award.  I love reading Jen’s blog because she takes some beautiful photos of her daughter, Jae, and I love to see what Jae is doing every day.  Ashley has a unique talent for applying texture and creative editing to other people’s photos.  I love seeing her processing steps and before and afters.  (She did an edit for me on a photo I loved of Cooper.)

 

Here's how the award works:

• To receive this award, promise to share this with 10 other BLOGS that you think are Trendy too.
• Post about your award in your blog. List your Top 10 Trendy Blogs. Share with them.
• Leave a link to the Trendy Blog Button. Tell them they need to give this award out to 10 as well.

Here are the 10 blogs I think are trendy:

1. The Great Umbrella Heist (Whenever I feel like I have my hands full with my two, I read this blog and it puts things in perspective.  Besides how cute are her identical triplet girls??)
2. Pyjammy’s Blog (Same thing, this blog reminds me that having two is still easier than three.  And again, her identical triplet boys are super cute.)
3. Barbara’s 2010 Photography Blog (I am so inspired by her photos of landscapes, nature and inanimate objects.  Her blog has helped me take photos for the scavenger hunts.)
4. Michele’s Photography Blog (Her flower macros are simply breathtaking.  I feel so relaxed whenever I look at her blog.)
5. Domestic Photographic (I just feel a little connected to her and I can pinpoint why.  I see her on all the same mommy community boards I frequent, plus I think she lives relatively close to me, and she is also learning more about photography.  I just feel like I know her a little bit, an e-friend I guess you could say.)
6. My Take on Photography (She has an amazing eye for photography.  All of her photos of her children just make me respond in a very motherly, emotional way.  Plus I love the bunny shots.)
7. Peace, Love & Bunny Rabbit (Same blogger as #6, but this blog is about the adventures of Fred, the bunny.  I had no idea bunnies could be pets so similar to dogs or cats.  I love her header and footer.)
8. Sweet Birdie (She takes some beautiful photos, plus she is wildly talented at making children’s clothing.)
9. Modern Messy Mama (I can use all the help I can get when it comes to organization.)
10. Life Through My Camera Lens (A classmate from college…another engineer with a creative side!)

Day 146: Momma and Daddy

The kids really love looking at this particular wedding photo of our first dance that sits on our dresser.  They fight over it, carry it around, and give it hugs and kisses.  It melts my heart.

Day 145: Tarheel tot

My husband is a HUGE fan of UNC Tarheels.  The kids are HUGE fans of his hat collection.

   

I LOVE the last one of Cooper.  It reminds me of his 5 month photos (my edit, but taken by Che Day Photography):   

 

Day 144: Oh, mooommmmaaaa!!

Charlotte has recently fallen in love with Mickey Mouse Playhouse.  Her favorite part is ‘Oh, Toodles!!’ at which point she cups her hands around her mouth and yells ‘oh, tehdah’.  Now when she yells for Peppa (Cooper), Towt (Scout the dog), Dah-ee (daddy) or Momma she cups her hands around her mouth and yells.  This is a total mom photo, but I love it.  If she had been standing still instead of walking toward me I don’t think it would have been as blurry.  I also don’t love the black and white conversion…still something I am working on.

I take my walking boot off when I get home because I feel so claustrophobic after wearing it all day.  Cooper decided he had tendonitis in his leg?

Scavenger Hunt Assignment

1.  Stack of Books

2.  Street Sign

3.  Water

4.  An Accessory (purse, earrings, necklace, kids bow, pacifier, etc)

5.  Mailbox

Day 143: In my shadow

Because I can’t really crouch down, it has forced me to be a little more creative in taking photos.  This is my favorite photo from today.

I also loved how they played peek-a-boo around the multiplication table. 

Crazy cool clouds.  We rarely have puffy clouds like these since we are so close to the beach.

I still had my camera set from outside and my husband used it to snap a few while I was napping.  He was worried because they were so dark and Cooper wasn’t patient enough to wait for him to change any settings.  Luckily photoshop can do quite a bit.  Here are some before and afters.  My just did a white balance adjustment in levels, increased exposure in curves, and then reduced the noise with a noise filter.  Not perfect by any means, but salvageable.  (These are the decor items that came with Cooper’s bed.)  

Scavenger Hunt

I have to say that I LOVE doing these scavenger hunts.  They are teaching me quite a bit about my camera, as well as how to compose a shot.  Plus I get to be creative and not worry about capturing a moment, but rather creating a moment.  I still prefer photographing my children and other people, but these hunts get me out of my comfort zone and that’s where I’m learning a lot.

1.  Pair of Shoes:  My favorite pair in my closet.  There is something about the look, color (burgundy and very dark red) and material (patent leather and a strip of velvet) of these shoes that seem to go with so many things.  It helps that they are super comfortable and the only pair of heels that I can wear for several hours without having pain.  This was particularly challenging for me to photograph because I didn’t know how to position the shoes!

2.  Something Purple:  Two beautiful flowers (lilies of some kind).  I loved the bright yellow/green in the center, combined with the water stained petals.

3.  Construction:  Reflective traffic ‘Flex-poles’.  These were just sitting in someone’s driveway, so it made it easy to photograph.  I had the kids and the dog with me, so I was in kind of hurry and clipped the top of the pole.

4.  A Specific Texture:  Tree bark.  It never ceases to amaze me the beauty you can find in nature.   I loved how the split in the bark made a diamond.  I found that I decide if something has texture by whether or not I can convert it to an interesting black and white.  This one does okay, but there’s a lot of white and not enough black.

5:  A Toy (child/pet/adult):  E.T. Phone Home.  My husband loves this ugly E.T. figurine, so I thought I would be a little silly and set up a group shot with E.T. and all the stuffed animals/dolls.

Day 142: Toddler Beds

We made the switch to toddler beds.  Cooper mastered climbing out of his crib, so it became a safety issue.  We figured we might as well do both of them at the same time, especially since Charlotte seems mature enough to handle it (not sure I can say the same for Cooper).  My husband insisted we get fun beds for them, so we found some good deals on Craigslist.  I have to admit, I’m really glad we got them cute, fun beds.  When else will they have something like this?  The kids couldn’t get enough and loved playing on them before bedtime.

(I didn’t spend much time working on getting the best photos for these.  I spent a lot of my energy getting good photos for my scavenger hunt this week.)