Just Because

Sewing- Getting Ready for Kids Clothes Week

One of the things I zone out to is sewing. I really like to sew quite a bit, and there's been quite a few adorable things I've sewn up for my kids.

And so I decided to join up with the Kid's Clothes Week challenge for this spring. It starts this Monday. I need to sew up some shorts and spring/ summer clothes for Darling Daughter one. She has lots of fall/ winter stuff but not really very much spring/ summer stuff. Not a single pair of shorts, and only a few t-shirts. So obviously those are on the list. Here's some of the stuff I've sewed up for the girls...

And would you have it, that's the only pic I've taken of one of my children running around in something I made them on the dSLR... Well, that's gotta change, cuz I've made them plenty of cute stuff...

Join me with Kids Clothes Week, please? There's nothing like some nice big sewing challenges to motivate oneself to clean out the closet :)

Easter Pics Part Two

OK, so the top photo on here I've already put up on this blog, in the post about darling daughter's crazy hair. But these are actually closer to Easter Pics than what I had posted before. These are from a couple days after Easter, when darling daughter number one's rash had pretty much just disappeared. I got them dressed up cute and headed over to my mom's (she has way more widnows than I do) and started snapping away.

Easter Pics Part One

I have a confession to make. I didn't take any pictures of the girls on Easter. Darling daughter number one had a cold sore from earlier in the week. And it turns out cold sores do weird things to little kids. Like make them break out in a huge rash all over their little bodies.

So I went to church with darling daughter number two by myself, and taught our Sunday School class (dear hubby and I teach the 16 year olds) with the baby in this gorgeous ring sling I made for her. 

These pictures were just before her birthday when she turned two. The days aren't very long in February, unfortunately, so the light was a little bit challenging but we made it work. Tomorrow I'll post the baby's photos.

Setting up quick and easy baby photos

There's a pin floating around on pinterest I saw for taking baby photos using window light, but I really haven't felt like it's safe to do on your own, since it uses a bed, and unless your baby is too little to roll over, we all know beds + little babies/ crawling babies don't mix. I saw another pin on how to get a nice bokeh with the backdrop. So I've combined both pins into one that's safe to do in all circumstances- even on your own. Worst thing that could happen with this setup is that your baby will roll off your blankie.

Of course, you will need a big window- or just LOTS of windows. A sliding door is even better since the set up is on the floor. If you're using windows the blanket needs to be further away from the wall, since there will be a little bit of a shadow, but it will still work just fine on the floor (my mom has the perfect room for this with a big wall full of windows). Then I drape a big blanket over the coffee table since darling daughter isn't too big yet, flatten it all out, and then pull the blanket out so that it comes down and forward in a nice curve. Voila! (I also put the bumbo and a light foam chair on top of the coffee table so the blanket doesn't slip)

However, make sure you get the wrinkles out that aren't supposed to be there if you can, because they can be super distracting with this setup. Trust me, I know.

Then I use a 50mm/ 1.8f, plop DD down and snap away. Well, I used to snap away, now I take more time to sort of look and plan things out instead of spray and pray. The reason I use a 50mm prime is because it has a great aperture, and there isn't any lens distortion. Even if I had an 80mm (which is supposed to be the best for portraits) my room isn't big enough to get portraits with that much zoom, plus I need more money before that can happen. I know a lot of people will use a 35mm for baby pics, but it will cause some distortions.

I got this super precious one of her, but it isn't perfect. She's starting to get too big to use the coffee table for the backdrop, and I didn't line this one up quite right, so you can see the foam chair up behind her. B&wing the pic hides it for the main part, as well as the really wide aperture, but I wish I'd planned the pic out better. I still love it though! She is so sweet.

I use this same setup with my toddler too, but I use the kitchen chairs flipped around backwards instead :)

Trampoline Fun

Yesterday I posted a photo for a challenge that I took of darling daughter #1 a few weeks ago.

We had so much fun that day! And she figured out how to jump on the trampoline with both feet that day too.

I heart faces photo challenge- Wind

OK, OK, I know it isn't really wind in the traditional sense. But darling daughter #1 just does such an awesome job in creating her own wind when she's jumping around all over the place. We had so much fun outside that day. 

You can find other fun entries at iheartfaces.com

Where am I going?

I'm sure all of us at some point have done some sort of hobby where you have that potential question nagging at you: "where exactly am I going with this?" I've had two hobbies just right off the top of my head that will eventually necessitate that question. The first one was horseback riding. That was easy, of course I wanted to go pro. There really isn't anything like doing what you love doing all the time. I never really took photos until I had my own kids, and I started taking photos of my first daughter when she was itty bitty because we didn't really have very much money at all. Then I started taking more and more pictures, and slowly getting better and better.

I first picked up a dSLR and started taking pics with it on AUTO a little over 2 years ago. My pictures are SO much different now. I've since learned about shutter speeds, apertures, ISO, white balance, you name it. Sometimes I look back at those pictures and really can't believe how good I used to think they were- they would look completely different if I were to take them now. But I did the best I could with what I knew when I took them. And I just keep taking more and more so I can learn and practice more. It's amazing how much I've learned in such a short time.

I've had a lot of people ask me why I'm not running around and doing this as a pro. Honestly, I don't feel like I'm quite ready yet, but I'm getting there. I want to get to the point where I can, as an amateur, feel comfortable taking photos of other people first. Yes, I do understand that amateur = for free. But I'm OK with that, because I'm still learning so much. I do see myself going semi-pro, but it isn't going to be tomorrow. Besides, I do sort of need more than just my children and my sister's family in my portfolio anyways.

In the mean time, I'm just going to keep practicing :) I will be taking pics of some of my friends and their families soon though, and some family members that haven't had portraits done in a very long time. I'm so excited but nervous at the same time. 

Oh, and here's a super cute picture I took the other day of my kids and their cousin. Aren't they just SO sweet?

The Impossible Sibling Portrait

I have tons and tons of pictures of my two darling daughters. I'm getting amazing photos of them all the time (I even have two larger than life photos of each one of them hanging on the wall). But there really aren't that many photos of them both together.

Why? Because it's next to impossible to get a nice one of both girls together.

Either the youngest puts her head down and sucks on her thumb, or the oldest does all sorts of things.

Like pick her nose...

Roll up in my backdrop...

Grab her feet and move all around...

You get the picture.

But every now and then I get a gem, like this one right after the pic with darling daughter one digging for gold:

My Daughters's Hair

I absolutely love the hair my daughters have been blessed with.
 
My oldest has all these crazy curls. When she gets up from naps, goodness it is SO intense. I have no clue how she got them, but she has a lot of them, and they are beautiful.
 
 My youngest daughter doesn't really have a lot of hair. Yet. But it is very thick and dark and beautiful. It's too early to tell if it will be crazy and curly, but I certainly hope it is. I'm also pleased to say it is much more hair than her sister had at this age.

A new purpose for this blog

I created this blog to enter in photo contests. But that really doesn't leave me very active on it. I also was thinking that it would be a great way to sort of photojournal things, and maybe even track an improvement in my photography skills. I love taking pictures. I take an insane amount almost every single day. Why not post one every single day on here?!? It could be my legacy. Not only that but I'm starting to think more and more about going semi-pro, and that of course means that I would want some sort of way to show off my skills. Why not do it with a photo blog? So here's to WAY more pictures to come. Have a good day :)