Love + Rule of Thirds

Posted on | February 16, 2010 | 12 Comments

I know it’s past Valentine’s day but love’s everyday, right? Yesterday I did something dumb. I emailed Emma’s teacher and told her that M would be out that day due to strep. Monday afternoon M asked what lunch would be Tuesday (I told her she’s going back to school that day) and I saw the “NO SCHOOL” right under Monday. Wow, I wonder what her teacher thought of that email he he… What kind of stupid things have you done?

So yesterday while Jovie was napping I got this page put together. I finally opened the Crate Paper paper kit that I got at the Creative Keepsake Expo in October. Another simple page. I didn’t cut anything on this page. Everything was cut and paste. Other things I used were Prima dried flower (or whatevere that thing is), K&Co rub-ons, Crate Paper chipboard (different than the paper kit), buttons, twine, and rhinestones.

Photo tip: When I was in college I took photography and graphic design classes. I was a mass communications major and those classes were required. What I learned there was the Rule of Thirds. I’ve used this rule of thirds quite a bit in my photos, esp. the ones I want to scrapbook, because I like to embellish on the blank area, just like what I did below, to the right of M. To me this rule of thirds work two ways. It makes my photos more appealing AND it gives me plenty of room to cake on some embellishment if I want to. Now, are all my photos taken using the rule of thirds? Close but not always. I always post-process my photos in Photoshop/Lightroom, before I print a photo to scrapbook I always imagine in my head what the layout will look like (based on what embellishments I want to use) and crop accordingly. For the below, since the girls are leaning to the left it seemed more natural to have more white space to the right of Emma.

Here’s a close-up of the butterfly and a peak from the side.

And last just another picture of the girls – yeah I know, my strep throat daughter holding her baby sister. This was Monday though, very close to the 48-hr quarantine period. This is my first experience with strep. I thought it’s highly contagious but we’ve been all over each since M got sick Thursday (at least when the Motrin was kicking in – when the Motrin wore off M was sickly looking and feeling). We didn’t know it was strep until Saturday. I did ask for her to not kiss us or share anything that’s been in her mouth (and to watch where Jovie’s hands land on M). So far Jovie and I have been fine. Is it just mild strep?

I hope you all have a great one!!! Take care!

My Softbox

Posted on | February 1, 2010 | 4 Comments

I really didn’t want to make a card last night but I wanted to try out the softbox (photography lighting gadget) that I got for Christmas on a card.

The kit is nice. But putting the softbox together was total pain in my {flabby} ass. On the four sides of the softbox are these rods. They’re straight as can be but if you try hard enough they will bend so that they can fit into the sides of this thing called a speed ring. Well, after much work I got all of the rods into the holes of the ring. Putting the first rod in was easy. The second got a bit tough but manageable. The third made me sweat a bit and the fourth… I had to go for an ice cream break. I almost used the box without the 4th rod in. I didn’t care. I was determined to try it but I finally got it in. How? I broke the manual’s rules. Even though it said to put it together before you hook it up to the light I put the box on the light stand anyways with the last rod loose. Then with all my might I bent the rod and stuck it in the hole. The good news, everything is now put together. The bad news, my softbox is tilted to the right by 45 degrees. Oh well, I ain’t taking that thing apart (takes MORE hand muscles) and put it back together again. How ’bout asking the hub? Well he was out when I did it and despite the crookedness it does work.

So far I love the softbox. I need to set it up now… got to read and experiment. That’ll be fun. I placed the softbox on the left, you can probably tell from the shadow on the right. I like. I can now leave my ISO (film) speed to 200. Why? The higher the ISO the more grain/noise your photo will have. It’s fine if your pics are just small for the web for example but if you want to blow it up, it’s not that pretty unless you want to use the noise for visual effects — which some do and does well. So now I have a little studio kit. I do need a few more things tho, like solid background (white and black for now), flash, and a brolly/umbrella.

Card created using stamps by Stampin’ Up!

Photography Tip: The Eyes

Posted on | January 6, 2010 | 5 Comments

I think being in education makes me want to share whatever I find useful and this is one of them: When you do portrait types of photography focus on the eyes.

This way you can capture crazy crossed-eyes pictures of your kid really really well. HA!

I wasn’t a fabulous photography student last semester but there’s one thing that my instructor said I was already good at: Aiming at the eyes when doing portrait type of photography. The eyes are the windows to the soul so in portrait photography it’s really important that the eyes are crispy clear — unless there’s something else that’s more interesting to focus on and there’s a different story you want to tell.

How do I take this types of pics? I give most of the credit to my camera, the Nikon D300/Canon XTi. They both have a very nice Auto-focus function. If you don’t have a dSLR, point your point-and-shoot to the face, push the shutter down half way to focus, hold your camera steady and click.

If you’re not sure how to set up your AF settings on your Nikon camera, check out Ken Rockwell’s tuts. He’s got a few in there! If you have another brand, open up your manual and should be able to figure it out based on the info on Ken’s site.

When I take pictures of M this is what I do: If the above is what I see inside my Canon/Nikon, I would aim the center of the circle right on her eye. My AF is always set to Tit (read Ken’s tut if you don’t know what Tit is) and I use the center AF sensor. Once the eye (usually the one closest to me) is in the middle of that circle I push my shutter button (that’s the one you push to take pictures) half-way down. I can then shoot the photo or I can continue to hold the shutter button half-way down (to keep the AF settings the way it is) and recompose/reposition the camera. By recomposing the eye is not in the center anymore but since I kept my shutter button pushed half-way down the eye will still be sharp when I get to taking the photo. One thing to keep in mind when you do this is to not back/forward with the camera. You can recompose side-to-side but not closer/further from the subject. Moving in/out will require you to focus on the object again (pushing the shutter button half way down). Once I am happy with my composition I can then push the shutter button all the way down and click! The result:

There is one more tip when you do child photography (personal experience). Do learn to stop when the child has had it with you. Don’t end up with somebody like this:

Nothing was in focus.

Merry Christmas!!

Posted on | December 25, 2009 | 2 Comments

I hope it was a great one for you! It was for us, from the time we got up until now… full tummy stuffed with yummy ham and other goodies. Since we had M we always made it a habit to be home for Christmas. This way M, and now Jovie, can always experience Christmas mornings at home. It’s so nice to just play and hang out in our PJs… even during Christmas dinner {::SMILES}.

I’ll make it short for today! Have a great one!!!

PS: The other day I posted a photography tip on capturing the details instead of the whole. Another good way to make your photo stand out (I learned this in my photography class) is to crop tight(er). You can see M’s original photo in this post (the last of her set) and by cropping (and making it b/w) the photo looks a tad bit more polished.

Photography Tip: The Details

Posted on | December 23, 2009 | 10 Comments

I’m not a pro at photography but I love to learn anything in this area in order to improve my own skills. A few weeks ago I read Scott Kelby’s The Digital Photography Book, and learned lots (I love that my work’s library has access to full blown e-books now… new release books too… I’ve been reading a bunch!!). One thing that caught my attention was this: Instead of trying to capture the whole thing take photos of the details. Even though Kelby’s suggestion was for travel photography the concept can be used for anything. Here’s an excerpt:

“I’ve heard a lot of photographers complain about the results of their urban shooting, and much of the time it’s because they try to capture too much. What I mean by that is that they try to capture the entirety of a majestic building or the grandeur of a magnifcent cathedral, but even with an ultra-wide-angle lens this is very, very hard to pull of . That’s why the pros shoot details instead. For example, instead of shooting to capture the entire cathedral at Notre Dame in Paris, instead capture details that suggest the whole—shoot the doors, a window, a spire, a gargoyle, the pigeons gathered on the steps, or an interesting architectural element of the church, rather than trying to capture the entire structure at once. Let your photo suggest the height, or suggest the craftsmanship, and the mind’s eye will f ll in the blanks. By shooting just the details, you can engage in some very compelling storytelling, where a piece is often stronger than the whole. After all, if you want a photo of the entire cathedral, you can just buy one from the dozen or so gift shops just steps away. Instead, show your impression, your view, and your take on Notre Dame.” (pg. 166)

So the other day I went and put his words into practice when I took these ornament photos. Instead of taking a picture of the whole tree I took photos of my favorite parts of the tree.

In a way this is how I like to scrapbook too — the details or have a focus on one thing. There are different styles of scrapbooking and the one that fits me best is where my page shows one or a few similar/related photos that tells one story. This way I am also forced to choose the best photo(s) — digital photography has made it so easy to take 100 photos of the same event and you don’t need them all to scrapbook or even put into an album.

For the page I used some Nov & Dec’08 Scarlet Lime goodies and new My Mind’s Eyes pattern paper (the base) and Christmas die-cuts + American Craft alpha.

Have a great one and I hope you get a chance this holiday season to grab some awesome photos of the event.