Snapshots

Happy Friday, everyone! Got any exciting plans? We might visit the National Aquarium -- the awesome one in Baltimore! Usually we like to be close to home so our 21-mo (J) can get his usual nap, but lately, he's only been napping an hour on the weekends, no matter how tired we try to get him, so we don't mind traveling as much.

Portraits

I'm so glad that my parents took a lot of photographs when we were growing up (see some here). I love to recall all the fun memories! They may not be "professional" but they certainly capture priceless moments.

It's Friday Friday Friday

For a Friday afternoon, I leave you with photos of our 20-mo holding a dandelion for the 1st time. Oh, it was exciting! Have a good weekend!

Recent instagrams

Hope everyone is having a great weekend! We spent the weekend in Philly with our families, so it was non-stop action with 7 adults, 4 dogs, and a 19-mo old all together. So here's a light post before I hit the sack :).

New photos at capturng

Check out my first montage (or is it collage?) over at my photography blog, capturng.com!

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Recent instagrams

In case you don't have Instagram (lisacng), or don't follow me on Twitter, here are some recent snapshots of life taken with my iPhone. I'm also taking a photo a day on my iPhone for Fat Mum Slim's #MarchPhotoADay project. Click here for the daily prompts and to participate. I've posted my #MarchPhotoADay photos on capturng.com.

Random photos

Hope you're having a great weekend! Thanks for helping us reach 10,000 pageviews! As promised, a gift card giveaway will be announced very soon! Hope you were able to check out my favorite bloggie friends.

Today was a whirlwind of activities. Our 18-mo son (J) got a haircut, but it wasn't as nice as his first haircut. Granted, today's stylist didn't spend a lot of time on it, probably thinking we wanted J in and out ASAP. Guess we could have told her otherwise and she could have gave him some style, and not just cut his hair. We'd recommend asking for Faye Ji or Wei We Zhang at Beautiful Life Salon. Don't know what it's like at other places, but they were willing to scissor-cut J's hair because he was scared of the buzzer. Is that what it's called?

We then went to the library, had lunch, took a short nap, and I was claustrophobic and perplexed by the level of crazy-kidness in the play area at the mall. Seriously, who gave them all sugar packets before they entered? And why isn't anyone supervising? I body-blocked a kid or two before they landed on J's head. Errggghhh

Anyways, on to the random photos...

Recent instagrams

In case you don't have Instagram (lisacng), or don't follow me on Twitter, which is very likely that you don't, but you should, here are some recent snapshots of life taken with my iPhone 4S. Enjoy!

Happy 3rd birthday, Coco!

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Family photos by A. E. Landes Photography

Photo Card

View the entire collection of cards.

Right before my birthday dinner with my sister and brother-in-law (BIL), aka A. E. Landes Photography, he agreed to take some family photos for us before the sun set. We made it to the Gravelly Park near the Reagan National Airport. It's right by the Potomac River and where many people go to watch the planes take off. We made the card above using Shutterfly (shop through Ebates {referral link} and get 8% back). Unfortunately, we won't be able to get them out by Christmas so they'll be New Year's cards :).

J was in awe when the planes took off. The photo in the middle above is him watching the planes go by. The one below is 5 seconds later ;). Poor guy -- his knees knocked together out of fear!

Luckily, if Mommy or Daddy was near, J was ok.

Below are some other favorites from the shoot.

J enjoying sherbet at The Dairy Godmother

Thanks again to A. E. Landes Photography, D. C.-area photographer extraordinaire!
 He also edited out a scratch on J's nose, so thanks!!
P.S. My husband got the impossible shot of Coco & Jasper both sitting AND looking at the camera!

Fun outside

Not the best composed, but fun colors! J loves being outside. This was taken at the playground at daycare. The school had a mini-moonbounce (in background) for an open house event.

Bichons & Baby

Happy November! I received this photo as part of one of those email-forwards, and it reminded me of my family.

2 Bichons and a Baby [source unknown]

Remember, November is National Blog Posting Month. Add your blog to BlogHer.com's blogroll, blog every day in November, and be eligible to win prizes!

Class photo

The smile, the arm on the chair, the leg up....it's just too much cuteness!!!! The photographer the school hired did a great job!

For moms who love digital photography

Featured in this month's BabyTalk, momtog.com. I love her blog, tips, and images so much, I'm adding her to my favorite photographers list. If you love digital photography, join her community! I did. I'm mommyng.

Part of me has moved

Now that I'm taking a more serious interest in photography, I've copied related posts (there were only 3) to http://capturng.wordpress.com. Please follow me there!!!

Speaking of photography - aperture, shutter speed, ISO

Did you know that from one f-stop (or aperture) to the next either halves or doubles the size of the opening in the lens (and thus the amount of light getting through)? Did you know that from one shutter speed to the next also either halves or doubles the amount of light. So that if you increase one and decrease the other, you let in the same amount of light? I learned that here.

So, f/1.4 lets in more light than f/2.8. And a shutter speed of 1/30 lets in more light than 1/60.

Ever heard of "depth of field" (DOF). I had no idea what "shallow depth of field" meant until I read this. So the depth of field is the amount of your shot in focus. For shallow depth of field, only a small (or shallow) portion is in focus. Oh! I love images with shallow DOF!

What about ISO? I've never really played around with ISO. I know that indoors I used ISO400 a lot with my point-and-shoot so that I wouldn't get blurry images...but they sure were grainy. Now that I have a DSLR, do I do things differently? According to the article, increasing the ISO would allow me to increase my shutter speed and my aperture (i.e., let in less light through lens but still get good exposure - I think).

No photos to post lately. Been too tired after work, dinner, and cleaning-up to much else than veg on the couch...

Speaking of photography - composition

In response to my last post, I got a wonderful critique from an old pastor friend, who is also dabbling in photography. One thing that stood out was the rule of thirds.

5 steps to great indoor photos on VocalPoint also mentions the rule of thirds. I've heard it before, but never bothered to look it up until now.

 From Wikipedia

Basically, the most interesting/important parts of a photo should either fall on these lines or at their intersection. Let's see what I can do with the photo from my last post.

Well, now half of J's head is cropped out. Oh, well. Now I know why some cameras lay out a 3x3 grid for you on the LCD screen.

Related to composition, my husband is always talking about the lines in a photo. Below is one of his favorite photos - not only because it's a sweet moment from J's infancy but also because it contains all the lines he likes.

 

Using horizontal lines in photography on Digital Photography School.com says that horizontal lines convey stability and permanence. If you can't keep your horizontal lines horizontal, use software to fix it, like the author did here. See how the horizon in the left picture is tilted? It's fixed in the right photo.

 

From the same series, using vertical lines in photography says that vertical lines convey power and strength. For both horizontal and vertical lines, don't place them in the middle of the frame, which dissects your photo in half (rule of thirds, again).

Using diagonal lines in photography says that diagonal help to draw viewers through a photograph. They can also help to create depth and add a sense of action. 

So I'm guessing my husband is the vertical line (strength) in the photo above and J is the diagonal (action).

What do you think of the cropped photo of J? 
Other tips about composition? 

(Constructive) Criticism

I recently joined the photo club at work. I have an interest in learning more of the jargon/techniques in photography - like how to use back lighting. Anyways, the last Tuesdays of each month, club members (some semi-professional!) can submit photos anonymously. Then, we discuss them in a round-table setting. Thinking I'd get some helpful/constructive criticism, I submitted the photo on the below.

This was after I lightened and sharpened it, as suggested by a fellow club member.Personally, I would have liked to get more "separation" between J's hair and background (which I tried to do by lightening it - didn't work). I was more interested in his expression - reveling in the tickling sensation of the ribbons. I like the light hitting his face too.

I wasn't able to attend the meeting, but I was told what some said about my photo:

Start over.

What exactly does that mean? Start over with a new kid? Start over and use film instead? Start over and sketch instead? 

I don't like that I can't see the balloons.

Well at least you were keen enough to deduce that there were balloons. Do you think that, if I used a wider-angled lens, I could have captured the balloons and his facial expression? Would you have rather just seen the balloons?

I don't mind honest, blunt critique as long as it's constructive/helpful.

Anyone out there have helpful tips for this photo?

Early morning with J

{Click on photo to enlarge}

His hair is a little crazy (yet awesome) and he's still a bit drowsy. It's so nice to start the day with him.

Comparing baby photos

Was looking through some of my baby photos and I came across this one:

Me, 2 years old

And the photo reminded me so much of J's love of flipping through albums, books, and binders. He also has the same large forehead as me. My mom says that means he's smart, though she never said I was smart ;).

J, 11-1/2 months old

And then I remember we have this baby photo of A:

A, age unknown

J certainly has the same build and chubby cheeks!

J, 2 months old

Playing with color

If I start taking this photography hobby seriously, I may consider starting a new blogspot. But for now, I'll keep them here.

Below is an unedited photo of graffiti on a metal wall:

I enhanced the graffiti (or painting, if that's what it is) and made everything else black and white. I also added a shadow behind the graffiti to make it look like it projected from the wall, like a painting.

I do appreciate any suggestions from more experienced photographers - composition, photo editing techniques, etc. Leave them below, on twitter, or facebook.