Baby Reese

One of my best friends had her second baby girl a week ago (see pics here and here that I took of big sister Ryan).  I was lucky enough to take photos of my first newborn (and make some cute headbands and hats for her!).  It was fun and she was super cooperative, but it was slightly stressful and very tiring.  Studio set-ups are outside of my comfort zone and I struggle to find the right pose and connect with my subject.  It might be something I should work on!

The color is not quite consistent, otherwise I really love how they turned out.

(I am behind on blogging, but I have been taking photos.  I’ve just been doing other things with time like working out, spending time with my family, and enjoying other crafts.)

And the only one I really like with big sister, Ryan…two year olds aren’t exactly as cooperative as sleeping newborns.

Another bed built!

My husband is a rock star.  Remember this bed that he built using Ana White’s plans (formerly Knock Off Wood):

He just finished building Cooper’s bed (with some help from his dad), also using Ana White’s plans modified with a fish design we found here.  I LOVE how it turned out and I am so proud of my husband.

Pretending it’s summer

Jan 2-8:  Week 1

I try to take the kids to the park any time the temperature is above 45.  I feel better after getting some sunshine and they need some time in the fresh air.  This was in the middle of the day, so the worst lighting, but I LOVE my 85mm outdoors!  This summer is going to be so fun.

Being naughty throwing the gravel.

Taking a photo of the airplane with my 85mm, just to see what I would get.

I don’t typically take GIGANTIC sized photos, so you can see the loss of detail by cropping in so close, but I really wanted to see what the airplane would look like a little closer.

Sick Family

Jan 2-8:  Week 1

We all got croup and the kids were so cuddly with daddy.  I love this one of Charlotte and my husband.  So adorable.

I took these without my flash because I’ve found that with using my speedlight I’m not metering, which makes me feel like I’ve forgotten how to pay attention to my meter and adjust my settings accordingly.  This was taken at 1/100, f/2.2, and ISO 2000 using my 85mm when it was dark outside and I did not fire my flash.  I knew I would have an underexposed photo, but I wanted to capture the cozy feeling of cuddling with each other.

I’m showing the SOOC (straight off the camera), my color edit, and my B&W edit.  For the color edit, I increased exposure and added some contrast using curves (pull up in the middle and down slightly on the left).  I then used the red curve to add some red, and the blue curve to add some yellow.  I created a new layer with screen and set at 60% opacity.  I used MCP Touch of Light Touch of Dark to darken the kitchen in the background and lighten my daughter and husband just a tad (large soft brush set at 25% opacity). 

After I was done editing the color version, I wanted to see if the photo would look good in B&W, so used Nelly Nero Classic BW and adjusted the layers to my liking. I can’t decide if I like the grain or not since I generally like cleaner looking photos (high ISO + underexposure + editing to fix exposure = LOTS of grain).

SOOC vs Color Edit

Color Edit vs BW

BW Bigger

Monster and the Dragon

Jan 2-8:  Week 1

Dress up is fun for 2/3 year olds.  I find it super adorable.  I don’t usually do overly bright photos, but there is something about these that I really love.  These were taken by my husband using my settings from the night before.  Shot fairly wide open with a high ISO, so I don’t love the extra grain

Spa Treatment–Toddler Style

Jan 2-8:  Week 1

Look at the trouble I found them in.  I love how Charlotte is full on enjoying the sunscreen lotion, like she’s getting some sort of spa treatment.

Forks are amazing healing devices

Jan 2-8:  Week 1

Cooper had a little scratch on his hand and was eating cucumbers with Italian dressing (and not using his fork).  He started crying saying it hurt, so I gave him a fork to help his hand feel better (that’s what I told him).  I suppose I should have clarified that the fork was to eat the cucumbers so that the Italian dressing didn’t get on his sore, rather than the fork actually being a healing device.

New Year, New Challenge

For the most part I really enjoyed the 365 challenge.  I learned a TON about photography and I definitely see improvement in my photos.  I also ended up with so many awesome photos of my children and I love looking back and seeing how they’ve grown over the year.

For 2011, I don’t have the time to commit to taking photos, editing and blogging every day.  I want to do other things, like get my body back to pre-pregnancy shape now that I’m done breastfeeding.  I also want to learn how to knit, and volunteer more (I already tutor for math once a week).

This year I’m only committing to a 52 week challenge.  I have to take at least one photo a week and blog about it.  I’d say there is a good chance I will take more than one photo a week, but I feel like this is a more doable challenge.  I will probably also post more before and after shots so that I can improve both my editing and my straight off the camera shots (I find that I learn more when I have to ‘fix’ the photos).

(At some point I may do a look back on 2010…maybe.  I took well over 1000 photos every month, so that’s a big undertaking!)

Dec 31: New Lens!

Thank goodness for a new lens or I’m not sure I would have bothered with a photo, even on the last day of the challenge.  I think I should have stopped around the time that we moved, so that I wasn’t so burnt out.  These are all straight off the camera, except for the watermark.  They are also shot wide open, just because I wanted to see the pretty creamy bokeh.  So pretty!  I bought this lens on usedcameras.com (just like I did with my mid-range fast zoom lens) and I couldn’t be happier with them!  I highly recommend purchasing used equipment through them.

And then to compare my 3 prime lenses.  The biggest difference you’ll notice is the compression.  And for those who aren’t used to looking at photos in detail, take a look at the blur of the cabinets/countertop and the vase.  There isn’t as big of a difference between the 35mm and 50mm, but the 85mm is noticeably different.

85mm

50mm

35mm

Dec 29-30: Freezing in Breckinridge

We left the kids with friends and took a short trip to Breckinridge.  I did bring my camera, but I ended up not doing many vacation things.  It was really cold and then was snowing, so I just didn’t want to deal with my camera.  So no photos.  One more day of this challenge!

Dec 28: Halloween in December

Gosh he is a cutie pie all dressed up as a dragon.

Dec 26-27: No pictures

I’m over this challenge.

Dec 25: Merry Christmas!

Finally I’m getting around to Christmas!!  This year Santa brought bikes for the big present.  Cooper was AMAZED there was a bike for him, but he was adamant about putting on his helmet before he got on the bike. 

He then proceeded to carry on with presents with his helmet on.  Charlotte really didn’t want to open any presents.

Then they decided they had to get dressed to go outside and ride their bikes.

Dec 24: Christmas with family

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve dinner with family and friends.  This is one of my favorite things about living back in CO. 

I have a lot to learn about photographing food!  Everyone was trying to make their plates and I was trying to get a few photos in.