Day 49: Silly stuff

We went to dinner tonight and when we got home the kids wouldn’t sit still for anything so that I could get some in focus pictures.  Not to mention I completely forgot to check all my settings because I was in a hurry and I had my shutter speed at 1/60, which means on top of out of focus, I also go motion blur.

Cooper found the new shampoo and wouldn’t stop putting it in his mouth.  He puts everything in his mouth.

I hadn’t meant to focus on his feet, but I ended up liking the way this photo turned out.

I had wanted to get a photo of Charlotte showing me her vibrating Pat (from Handy Manny), but she kept walking toward me and I was already against a wall.  This isn’t too bad, but I wish I saw more of her face.

Too cute with vacuuming the floor.  Why don’t they make those toy vacuums actually do the real thing?  Seems like they would enjoy it and I would actually get something out of it.  (This looks like I used direct flash instead of my speedlight.  I should have tilted my speedlight to bounce more off the ceiling since I was sitting right against a white wall and had it pointed about 30° behind me.)

This one I loved her expression and I think it’s funny that I got Cooper in the photo pretending to be a dog or a lion (I don’t remember if he was barking at the dog or roaring at Charlotte).  However I had the vanity lights on and it put a strange glow on the photo that I couldn’t get rid of in Photoshop.  Instead I tried a few different editing actions from Pioneer Woman.

My edit

Colorize.  I like the vintage look, with some texture.  The only thing I don’t like is how strange and pastey her skin looks.  I think it might cool off the photo a little too much for my tastes.

Heartland.  I like how this action gives a sense of movement when there is streaming light in the photo.  This is becoming one of my favorite actions.

Day 48: Siblings

I love being to get both of them in photos together because it really shows their personalities together.  They sometimes have a love-hate relationship…which I guess is true for all siblings.

Jumping on the bed together.  Charlotte is still unsteady while jumping so she likes to hold onto the headboard.

Riding the alphabet train together.  This was right before Cooper threw her off and tackled her.

 

This was the best shot I got of them wrestling.  There isn’t enough room in Charlotte’s bedroom for me to move back and get everything in frame when using my 50mm (makes we wish I also owned the 35mm lens).  Every time I would get down at their level, they would attack me instead.

(I’m noticing that I really need to work on my white balance.  So many things to focus on, I’m trying to only worry about a couple things and once I get those down I move on to other things to work on.)

Day 47: Through the net

I happened to be standing over the basketball net and they were underneath being silly.  I think I framed Cooper’s perfectly, but I wish I would have gotten Charlotte’s other eye in ‘the clearing’.  She wasn’t about to let me try again.

  

Day 46: Zooming out

My progress with taking photos outside is going slower than I thought it would.  I’ve spent so much time learning to shoot in manual that I don’t really know how to use the auto or semi-auto settings on my camera.  I’m learning how to shoot in aperture priority because I find myself struggling to adjust my settings quickly enough outside and then missing out on cute photo opportunities.  I feel like I’m starting at the beginning learning to meter and photographing a constantly moving target.  (They sit relatively still when they are inside since they don’t have as much running room.)  It doesn’t help that the times they are awake are the worst times of the day to take photos outside with the sunlight being so harsh. 

Another new park today…this one is my favorite so far.  I can see both of the kids from everywhere I stand and the dog has plenty of space to explore and I can keep her secured without causing other people problems.  The kids really loved it too…tons of fun little ‘stations’ for them to explore and lots of equipment to play on.  The park was pretty busy, but you could barely tell because there was enough room to run and play for everyone.

I’ve noticed that my style is more ‘fill the frame’ and close-ups of my children.  I love to have their faces fill up the entire photo and everything else disappear.  Part of learning more about photography, however, is pushing myself to do things I don’t ordinarily do.  I’m working on wide angle, or at least getting more in the photo than just my children.  I feel like it gives a different perspective to the photo.  I realized this when I took the picture of Cooper standing near the tree and he looked so tiny.

My normal style – fill the frame.  She looks fantastic, but you can’t tell what she’s sitting in.

My first attempt at zooming out.  I realized that I was still zoomed too close, plus I didn’t like how I framed the photo. 

Not quite perfect framing, but I love that you can tell what they are standing in.  I wish they had both been looking at me, but I love how it seems like Cooper is driving, while Charlotte is getting off the fire truck.  Metering this type of photo is very challenging.

I wasn’t able to zoom in any closer because I was on the ground and they were at the top of the playground structure.  I like the feeling and color of this photo with the tunnel.