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.

Photo Tut: The Manual

Posted on | November 20, 2009 | No Comments

Hey folks, it’s me again and this time I’m going to be writing about… photography! As you know I’m no pro but I LOVE LOVE LOVE to take pictures and read + learn whatever I can to make my photos better. I’m going to start sharing my knowledge in hopes that it’ll help you too. I’ve gotten some emails on this topic… how-to do something with the camera/software or which camera to buy and stuff. Then lately I’ve been seeing blog posts asking how to take better pictures for their cards and families.

There’s probably already something out there but hey, why not, right? Knowledge I think should be shared and the more places you can get them the better. Some posts I might just do a summary and links to more details info — there are tons out there from professionals and my Google Reader is full of information on photography. For my photo posts, I’m going to go from a blogger and scrapbooker point of few. My main interest and passion is portraits and family events/moments… as you can tell from my family photos… but later after we move I might go into landscape and travel photography too. We’ll see… Just keep in mind that I’m not a pro. I’m just sharing the info I’ve received this semester from my class, other sites and forum, and my few years of using an SLR camera. Maybe by doing this I’ll be motivated to keep learning too or get a tip or two from you who are more experienced than I am in this field! Just look at my photo posts to be a place to get info, whether it’s from me or from other sites that I’ll share with you in that topic. Here I go…

Step one. If you have a camera go dig out your manual and learn about your camera. This whole semester of taking photography class this is the one thing that my instructor kept harping us about: READ YOUR MANUAL! By reading the manual you’ll be able to be a better photographer. How can you follow a tutorial if you don’t know where on your camera the button is? Every camera is different and that’s why it’s important to know yours via reading the manual.

K, so that was lame, huh? But seriously, go find your manual and read about it and next time I’ll share more (maybe more exciting) photography info.