Monday, July 11, 2011

Minty Fresh Monday: Rain, rain, go away!

Mint (adj.) meaning new, fresh, sweet, brilliant, awesome.
 
I actually LOVE rainy days.  Every photographer is overjoyed when the weather turns cloudy. Believe it or not, these are the perfect lighting conditions.  An overcast day = pure joy.  Unfortunately, I live in sunny southern California, where rain is fairly scarce.  But, I got a few great rainy day photos this year because we had more rain than usual.  Looking through these photos gave me an idea...



This week, your tip is also a challenge.  Use rain to your advantage.  Go out and play in it! Let your kids get muddy! (Hey, there's always a nice, warm bath afterword.)  You can look for reflections and really play those up in your photos.  A really great umbrella can add serious fabulousness to a photo as well.  If you live in a place like I do, then make your own rain!  
Whatever you do, have fun.  Let your kids have fun, and capture it.  Please share any photos with me, either here or on the fanpage.  I would love to see!
Have a brilliant week!
xo,
Kristen
ps- if there is anything in particular you'd like more help with, just leave a comment below! :)

Friday, July 08, 2011

Fabulous Friday: A super birthday party.

I seriously can not believe that my Jack is turning two tomorrow, and that my twin's baby turns one!  I have been scouring the internet for party ideas, and one of my favorite tools to use is Pinterest.  It's a great tool for keeping all of my favorite ideas in one place.  Through Pinterest, I found some great ideas for scooter parties, dinosaur parties, and cowboy parties.  And the party I definitely want to try (next year?) is the Superhero party!  Hey, it gives me an excuse to dress like Wonder Woman. 
I think this whole party is amazing. You have to go see the whole thing on her blog
Crossing The Bugger-Dixon Line
Have a fabulous weekend.
xo
Kristen

Wednesday, July 06, 2011

Feeling Cheeky

Happy Wednesday!  
I'm on summer vacation, which means I have more time to blog, but it also means that some days my brain is working better than other days.  This shot is an outtake from my trip to New York City.  I think this horse had a message that he was hoping to convey.  Could he be a little tired of the purple feather?
Anyway, have a fantastic Wednesday.
xo,
Kristen

Monday, July 04, 2011

Minty-Fresh Monday: Happy Fourth of July!

Mint (adj.) meaning new, fresh, sweet, brilliant, awesome.

Happy Birthday, America!  I hope you have a fantastic day!  My family and I are lucky enough to be having a block party today, so I get to make chili and cookies and watch fireworks without leaving my own yard.  Nothing better than that!

And speaking of birthdays, I have a little man who turns two this month.  So I thought I'd start our tip series with something that is unusual for me: posing your child.  You see, I'm big on capturing moments and it is honestly very rare for me to pose my children.  Even when I do a family session, it's more about chasing kids around than posing them.  However, there are times when you actually do want to get someone to stay still and smile.  

I got a burst of inspiration this week when Jack grabbed one of his daddy's shirts and tried to put it on.  I saw Jack in that man-sized shirt and inspiration struck.  I brought him downstairs to our "library" and propped him in a chair so he looked like a businessman at work.  

Now here's a quick word about light.  We'll talk more in depth about it in future posts but here's a tip: if you are indoors, open blinds and curtains and place your subject near a window.  These photos are all un-edited, straight out of the camera, just to show kind of light you can get without a flash. Click on individual photos to get a closer look:



So what's the trick to getting young kids to stay (relatively) still?  Give them something novel to hold and play with.  Don't want a giant Buzz Lightyear toy in your photos? Try a sticker (easy to hide with the right angle) or bubbles (photogenic).  For older kids, tell corny jokes, stories or ask them questions about themselves (girls always love to tell you what their favorite colors are).  Sometimes kids will even sit still if you promise to let them see their picture.  Snap a shot, flip your camera around and show your subject how great they look.  And never forget the power of a good bribe!  A promised cookie goes a long way to getting the photo you want!!!  I should also add that I made sure to get my settings right before I even put Jack in the chair.  That and lots of practice shooting on the fly helped me get these shots before he scrambled onto his next adventure. 

Try these tips today, and please share!  I'd love to see your photos.  Make sure you get each lesson,by become a fan of my Facebook page or subscribe to the blog by clicking on the right.  See you next Monday for more Minty-Fresh Tips!

xo,
Kristen 

Friday, July 01, 2011

Fabulous Friday: Chalk and Inspiration


My daughter will be starting Kindergarten in August of 2012, and being a Kindergarten teacher, I'd love for her to have some phonics skills down before she begins.  We have this chalkboard in her room (I love IKEA) and I've decided to write her simple messages and have her sound them out during the week.  She decided that there needed to be more hearts and people on the message.  I love it.  

I found a fantastic tutorial on how to make your own sidewalk chalk by Stacy on Kid Stuff World.  It's so simple! You can find her awesome tutorial right here.  

As a photographer and a Coldplay fan, I have one more thing to share with you regarding sidewalk chalk. Their newest video is really inspiring- I would love to have a photo shoot with chalk!  Anyone up for it? 



Have a fantastic weekend.  See you Monday with some tips!!!  
xo,
Kristen