I Heart Faces Photo Challenge - Slice of Life
Monday, March 28, 2011
Click on the graphic below to see more "Slice of Life" entries!
Has your brain turned to mush yet? :) If so, don't worry. ISO is easy probably the easiest of the three to understand.
First of all, I always wondered how to pronounce ISO. Do you say the individual letters like I-S-O? Or do you say Eye-Soh? (I don't really know, but according to some smart photographer people on You Tube, it's I-S-O.)
ISO refers to how sensitive your camera's sensor is to the amount of light present. It's measured in numbers like: 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, 6400, 12,800, 25,600. The higher you set your ISO number, the more sensitive your sensor will be to light and the brighter your picture will be. Raising your ISO is very helpful in low light situations or situations where you need a faster shutter speed but don't have enough light to do so. Bump up the number and increase the brightness of your picture. Easy!
However...
Raising your ISO adds grain or digital noise (ugly dots/speckles) to your pictures. You always want to use the lowest ISO that you need to prevent adding unwanted noise. If you're outside on a sunny day, keep it at 100. I only raise my ISO when I need to... on a very cloudy day, in the evening, or if I'm indoors.
It's important to note that some cameras handle noise at high ISOs better than others. My old Canon XSI handled it horribly! I couldn't go beyond ISO 400 without the picture coming out very grainy and unusable. My new Nikon D7000 handles high ISOs incredibly. I don't worry about using high ISOs anymore and my new camera has enabled me to capture moments in low light that I never could have captured before. Take a look at this shot in my Flickr stream that was taken at an ISO of 25,600!!
I often use a free program called Noiseware to take out the digital noise that I sometimes get when I have to raise my ISO. I have the standalone community edition and it's great!
Here are some example pictures where you can see what I mean about grain:
The photo below was taken with my 50mm at f/1.8, 1/100, ISO 100 (the lowest ISO setting).
It's difficult to see at this size, so let's zoom in to a 100% crop to see how clean the image looks.
The photo below was taken a second later at f/1.8, 1/800, ISO 3200 (a high ISO setting that added digital noise).
Again, it's difficult to see the grain until we zoom in. Can you see all of the spots and speckles now?
So to wrap things up, if you're in low light and you have to raise your ISO as a last resort, do it. It's better to expose your photo properly with a higher ISO than to underexpose your image. Increasing the brightness of an underexposed image in Photoshop will add noise anyway, so always go for the correct exposure in camera. However, if you can do other things to let in more light like widening up your aperture (lower number) or decreasing your shutter speed (without it getting too low to add motion blur), do that first.
My next post in the Learning Together series will be about putting it all together in the real world: aperture, shutter speed, and ISO.
Foodtography Tips with Becky Bakes!
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Hi Everyone,
I just have to tell you about one of the most delicious places on the web - Becky Bakes! All of her recipes are drool worthy and her food photography is outstanding. I gain a few pounds by simply looking at her creations. Becky is here with us today to give us some food photography tips. And be sure to visit her website today to get the recipe for the cookies above. Thanks Becky!
~-.-.-~
I’m so excited to be guest posting about food photography at Homeschooling Momtographer today! I started Becky Bakes over a year ago as a way to grow as a photographer (the baking part is fun too!). Even though I still have much to learn I am excited to share the little tips and tricks that I have acquired so far. It pretty much boils down to two main points: technique and finding your style.
Let’s start with technique. Because really, style is the most fun so we’ll save that for dessert!
First, and this may seem obvious, get to know your camera! No matter what kind of camera you use, you will get the best performance out of it if you know its capabilities well. How do you learn what your camera can do? The unpopular, and not so exciting answer is to read your owner’s manual! Yes, I know, not a stimulating read. It really is important though if you want the best possible performance from your camera.
Let’s start with technique. Because really, style is the most fun so we’ll save that for dessert!
First, and this may seem obvious, get to know your camera! No matter what kind of camera you use, you will get the best performance out of it if you know its capabilities well. How do you learn what your camera can do? The unpopular, and not so exciting answer is to read your owner’s manual! Yes, I know, not a stimulating read. It really is important though if you want the best possible performance from your camera.
My photography improved dramatically once I took the scary leap off of auto mode on my DSLR. If you want to take sharp, well-exposed photographs it will serve you well to learn about shutter speed, aperture, and ISO. There are many great resources out there…camera manuals aside. Try “Learning Together” right here on Homeschooling Momtographer!
Second, I shoot solely in natural light. There are lots of lighting tricks out there but shooting food can be a little finicky and I’ve found that natural light is ideal. It really presents food in its best...um, light. I shoot in front of a window and have found it helpful to use a white foam board, placed opposite the window, to reflect the light. You can get them for $1-2 at Target.
I’ve also found it helpful to use a tripod. I don’t always use one, particularly if I’m in a rush (or if someone is waking up from a nap!) but I will if I have time. Tripods help with “camera shake”, which will in turn produce a sharper image.
All right, still with me? Then you’re ready for the fun stuff! Styling the food, as well as deciding what props to use, will make a huge difference in your final photo. I actually don’t consider myself to be an extremely creative person but I have learned a few tricks that really make the food I am photographing “pop”.
Here are some things to consider. Dishes…I have found that simpler is better. White dishes work great. They make the food stand out which is exactly what you want! Suitable dishes can be found at various stores. I have shopped for them at T.J. Maxx, Target, and even antique stores.
Adding in some softness with fabric is a nice touch. You can choose whatever you think is most appropriate for the food that you are shooting. Placemats, dish towels, or scraps of colorful fabric can all work. Again, simpler is better. My priority is always to keep the focus on the food.
Get creative in the backgrounds that you use. I recently picked up a box of slate tiles for $5 at Home Depot. I love the way they look and you can’t beat that price.
Another point to consider is the angle from which you photograph your food. I try a variety of angles to see what works best with the particular delicacy I am shooting. Getting down on the same level as the food will usually provide the most pleasing shot. Photographing from directly above can also produce interesting results. Experiment with what you think looks best!
This brings us to the last part of our food photography journey…the editing. I use minimal editing when processing a food photograph. I find that if I attempt too much tinkering the food won’t look natural. If a photograph “needs” too much tinkering it generally means that I didn’t do a good enough job with the original shot;-) I edit in Lightroom. My process consists of cropping to achieve the most eye-pleasing image, a slight sharpen, and sometimes a bit of brightening. That’s it!
I’d like to leave you with a behind the scenes example of how I set up a shot. I hope you find it helpful to see what really happens behind the camera…and the final image it produces!
Thanks again Becky for
~Catherine :)
Little Keepers at Home
Thursday, March 17, 2011
{The girls learned how to set the table and practiced doing so by having a tea party for their favorite dolls.}
{Unfortunately, the cookies I served gave each family the stomach bug. Ugh! I didn't know I was sick until an hour after everyone left.}
They'll be learning about Godly Girlhood (Bible memory, manners, family, grandparents, etc.), Basic Skills (cardmaking, decoupage, mosaics, pressed flowers, etc.), Homemaking (baking, cleaning, cooking, table setting, etc.), and Nature (birds, butterflies, farm animals, gardening, etc.) Ok, and to be perfectly honest, I'll be learning some of these things right along with them. I hope I learn how to not kill every plant that enters my home!
Rachel is receiving her first pin!
Watching the other girls get their pins. So cute!
How to Make Your Pictures Look Better on the Web
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
For example, the only difference between the SOOC pictures below is that the first one is not sharpened and the second one is.
Not Sharpened:
Sharpened:
Not Sharpened:
Sharpened:
Can you see the difference? One of my commenters said that viewing a sharpened image is like putting your glasses on. I especially love how it brings out the sparkle in Abby's and Timmy's eyes.
Of course, sharpening is not going to save a photo that is terribly out of focus to begin with, but it can help a picture that has slightly soft focus or motion blur.
So how do you do it? I normally resize my photos to 500 pixels wide for my blog. Then, in PSE 8, I create a new layer and go to <Enhance> <Unsharp Mask>. I type in the values 500, .2, 0. Then I see how that looks and I fade it to taste by lowering the opacity of the layer until I like it.
Be careful not to sharpen it so much that it looks "crunchy". Sometimes I will also create a layer mask and erase the sharpening off of areas that look over sharpened like skin and sometimes hair.
That's it! Happy sharpening. :)
Does anyone have a different method of sharpening? What values do you plug in?
Fix It Friday!
Friday, March 11, 2011
It's Fix It Friday at I Heart Faces!
You can see more edits here at IHF's community site.
Here is the original image taken by Michelle Johnson from Love That Shot.
My color edit:
My B&W edit:
I Heart Faces Photo Challenge - Best Face in February
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
I was chatting with a 21 year old girl who was homeschooled most of her life (until 9th grade), and she mentioned how important it is to carve out a specific time for your homeschool and to work all the way through that time until the work is complete as opposed to doing a little bit, taking a break, doing a bit more, taking a break, etc. I completely agreed with her except... our homeschool looks like the latter.
While I know that every family is different and there are as many different ways to homeschool as there are homeschool families, I considered her words of wisdom. Working all the way through a specific, set aside period of time is, of course, our long term goal. I'm reminded of Colossians 3:23 and I want to teach my children to be responsible, disciplined workers and to focus on a task until it is complete. But I also have to consider the ages and abilities of my children and what they're actually capable of doing right now.
So after some consideration, I have peace about homeschooling with many breaks to accommodate short attention spans and a Mommy who is pulled in many directions at the same time. There are many things that happen here on a daily basis that cannot be scheduled or planned: poopy diaper blowouts that require immediate baby baths, nursing on demand, disciplining children, a baby who decides not to nap, a friend who calls for encouragement, a 2 year old who needs cuddle time with Mommy right now, a dog who runs inside from the yard leaving a trail of mud that needs to be mopped.
Yet somehow, although it may seem unstructured at times, our little homeschool is getting accomplished every day, bit by bit and line by line, and it's been a blessing. Rachel is doing well and learning about God and I have to measure success that way as opposed to what it looks like when it's getting done. :)
How do you structure your homeschool and why? I love hearing about what other families do!
Here's a little glimpse into some of the activities we've done recently from Heart of Dakota's Little Hearts for His Glory (love!).
While I know that every family is different and there are as many different ways to homeschool as there are homeschool families, I considered her words of wisdom. Working all the way through a specific, set aside period of time is, of course, our long term goal. I'm reminded of Colossians 3:23 and I want to teach my children to be responsible, disciplined workers and to focus on a task until it is complete. But I also have to consider the ages and abilities of my children and what they're actually capable of doing right now.
So after some consideration, I have peace about homeschooling with many breaks to accommodate short attention spans and a Mommy who is pulled in many directions at the same time. There are many things that happen here on a daily basis that cannot be scheduled or planned: poopy diaper blowouts that require immediate baby baths, nursing on demand, disciplining children, a baby who decides not to nap, a friend who calls for encouragement, a 2 year old who needs cuddle time with Mommy right now, a dog who runs inside from the yard leaving a trail of mud that needs to be mopped.
Yet somehow, although it may seem unstructured at times, our little homeschool is getting accomplished every day, bit by bit and line by line, and it's been a blessing. Rachel is doing well and learning about God and I have to measure success that way as opposed to what it looks like when it's getting done. :)
How do you structure your homeschool and why? I love hearing about what other families do!
Here's a little glimpse into some of the activities we've done recently from Heart of Dakota's Little Hearts for His Glory (love!).
We made flying paper quails (a favorite activity!) when we learned that God provided quail and manna from the sky for the Israelites.
Two year old Abby joins in on the fun whenever possible.
Fly Quaily, fly!
Do It Carefully workbook
We learned that the Isrealites made a golden calf to be a god. These are our marshmallow idols. (They were supposed to be made out of peanut butter and nonfat dry milk so they looked golden, but I goofed and forget to get the milk.)
Matt's idol-cow bending low to graze. (He was impressed with himself.)
The side view of Matt's impressive idol cow.
Moses melted the gold and made them drink it to teach them a lesson, so we ate our idols. Yum!
We made an edible model of soil layers when we learned that God gave the Israelites the land of Canaan with its very rich soil. The soil grew wonderful crops.
Yummy chocolate chips were the rocky bottom layer, crushed Oreo cookies were the rich topsoil, and Life cereal made up the thin humus layer.
Dirt is delicious!
That smile says it all. Isn't school fun!?
Fix It Friday!
Friday, March 4, 2011
It's Fix It Friday at I Heart Faces! I really enjoyed bringing the color out of the image and making it pop!
Here is the original, unedited image:
My Regular Edit:
B&W:
PW's 70's Action:
Click on the graphic below for more fun edits!
Mommy, you never play with me...
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Did you know that it is possible to be a stay at home Mommy, homeschool your children, spend 24/7 with them and still hear the words, "Mommy, you never play with me."?
Recently, I could tell that my 4 year old Rachel wasn't feeling loved in the way she wanted to be. She seemed withdrawn and not herself so one day I asked her how I could be a better Mommy to her and make her feel loved. She said, "Play with me. Like, you know, play games with me."
Ohh. My heart sank as I realized she was right. It had been a while since we simply played games together just for fun. Games where I was completely engaged rather than setting up an independent activity only to run off and do my chores. We play games daily as part of her curriculum (and we love her curriculum), but I suppose there's a different feeling attached to something we have to accomplish as opposed to something we get to do to enjoy one another's company.
We scrapped our plans for school the next day and declared it "Game Day". (I guess you can do that when you homeschool!) Here's what we did!
We played with one of her favorite things - Lincoln Logs
. They allow her to be so creative and she never gets bored with them. In fact, she asked for this Lincoln Log pony set
for her upcoming 5th birthday.
We played Elefun
... a really cute game where the butterflies shoot out of the elephant's trunk and you have to catch them with nets.
And of course, we played hide and seek for an hour! I always think hide and seek is unfair because the girls get our dog Charlie to find me. He sniffs me out every time!
We played other games as well, but I made sure to put my camera down to fully enjoy her, not document her. It's impossible to be fully present and engaged with a camera stuck to your face. :)
We also curled up on the couch and read stacks of books. It was really an enjoyable day and she was a different child at the end of it. It was a great reminder that God makes each of our children so different and we need to be intentional about loving them in a way that makes them feel loved. It's worth it to take the time out from our busy schedules and just slow down sometimes. Skip a day of homeschooling and do something fun, take one child out somewhere for Special Time, miss an extracurricular activity or co-op once in a while. Sometimes a little unpredictability can make all the difference and get everyone out of a routine induced rut.
~Catherine :)
Recently, I could tell that my 4 year old Rachel wasn't feeling loved in the way she wanted to be. She seemed withdrawn and not herself so one day I asked her how I could be a better Mommy to her and make her feel loved. She said, "Play with me. Like, you know, play games with me."
Ohh. My heart sank as I realized she was right. It had been a while since we simply played games together just for fun. Games where I was completely engaged rather than setting up an independent activity only to run off and do my chores. We play games daily as part of her curriculum (and we love her curriculum), but I suppose there's a different feeling attached to something we have to accomplish as opposed to something we get to do to enjoy one another's company.
We scrapped our plans for school the next day and declared it "Game Day". (I guess you can do that when you homeschool!) Here's what we did!
We played with one of her favorite things - Lincoln Logs
. They allow her to be so creative and she never gets bored with them. In fact, she asked for this Lincoln Log pony set for her upcoming 5th birthday.... a really cute game where the butterflies shoot out of the elephant's trunk and you have to catch them with nets.We also curled up on the couch and read stacks of books. It was really an enjoyable day and she was a different child at the end of it. It was a great reminder that God makes each of our children so different and we need to be intentional about loving them in a way that makes them feel loved. It's worth it to take the time out from our busy schedules and just slow down sometimes. Skip a day of homeschooling and do something fun, take one child out somewhere for Special Time, miss an extracurricular activity or co-op once in a while. Sometimes a little unpredictability can make all the difference and get everyone out of a routine induced rut.
Do you ever toss your plans out the window to do something unexpected and fun for your kids? What do you do to make them feel loved?
~Catherine :)
Something has to be dusty...
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
And the dust is either going to settle on my blog or in my house! I'm finding that I'm having a hard time maintaining both well. :)
I try to only be online for an hour during the day when the kids nap. I'm not perfect at this, and I do sneak on occasionally when I'm feeling overwhelmed. The computer can lure me in as an escape even though I know full well that it doesn't solve any problems and usually makes things worse!
The girls both nap at the same time and for the first few months of Timothy's life, I could blog whether or not he was asleep. He'd happily sit in the bouncy seat beside me while I typed. Now, Mr. Man is 6 months old! (Where did that time go?) He doesn't sleep nearly as much as he used to and when he's awake, he loves to have Mommy's attention and Mommy's arms. And I'm happy to oblige. :) I don't know what it is, but I just love spoiling this little guy! I never feel like I need a break from him and I just can't get enough of making him smile and coo. The longer I'm a Mommy, the softer I seem to be getting.
I have a million and one blog post ideas written on my cute blog calendar, but I'm way behind schedule. And for now, I'm ok with that. I've been thinking of ways to make blogging faster and easier though because I do enjoy it. Here are some of the changes I've been thinking about making:
~ Instead of reinventing the wheel and authoring my own "Learning Together" posts, I may just put together an index of photography topics and link to other sites that already have great explanations.
~ I may only post SOOC shots instead of edited ones. (Yikes!) That idea makes me cringe a little, but I guess it will push me to nail the technical side of photography better. I seriously love editing photos, but it is very time consuming. It inhibits me from posting my weekly homeschooling updates because there are so. many. photos. to edit! However, I just can't spend hours editing photos. Well, I can... but at the expense of my family and home, and I won't do that (anymore).
Well, I have to run! Little Man momentarily whined that he was tired of sitting in his Bumbo
, and I of course immediately scooped him up (can we say spoiled?) so I'm typing with one hand now. :) I'm off to cook something yummy... or actually to figure out what I'm making tonight. :)
~Catherine :)
P.S. Our dog Charlie is spoiled too. If you're grossed out by animals licking utensils and plates don't scroll down. I'm very sorry. :) You might not want to come over for dinner either as Charlie is considered our pre-wash cycle. I'm Italian. Food is love.
I try to only be online for an hour during the day when the kids nap. I'm not perfect at this, and I do sneak on occasionally when I'm feeling overwhelmed. The computer can lure me in as an escape even though I know full well that it doesn't solve any problems and usually makes things worse!
The girls both nap at the same time and for the first few months of Timothy's life, I could blog whether or not he was asleep. He'd happily sit in the bouncy seat beside me while I typed. Now, Mr. Man is 6 months old! (Where did that time go?) He doesn't sleep nearly as much as he used to and when he's awake, he loves to have Mommy's attention and Mommy's arms. And I'm happy to oblige. :) I don't know what it is, but I just love spoiling this little guy! I never feel like I need a break from him and I just can't get enough of making him smile and coo. The longer I'm a Mommy, the softer I seem to be getting.
I have a million and one blog post ideas written on my cute blog calendar, but I'm way behind schedule. And for now, I'm ok with that. I've been thinking of ways to make blogging faster and easier though because I do enjoy it. Here are some of the changes I've been thinking about making:
~ Instead of reinventing the wheel and authoring my own "Learning Together" posts, I may just put together an index of photography topics and link to other sites that already have great explanations.
~ I may only post SOOC shots instead of edited ones. (Yikes!) That idea makes me cringe a little, but I guess it will push me to nail the technical side of photography better. I seriously love editing photos, but it is very time consuming. It inhibits me from posting my weekly homeschooling updates because there are so. many. photos. to edit! However, I just can't spend hours editing photos. Well, I can... but at the expense of my family and home, and I won't do that (anymore).
Does anyone else have ideas on streamlining the blogging process? Or can anyone relate?
Well, I have to run! Little Man momentarily whined that he was tired of sitting in his Bumbo
, and I of course immediately scooped him up (can we say spoiled?) so I'm typing with one hand now. :) I'm off to cook something yummy... or actually to figure out what I'm making tonight. :)~Catherine :)
P.S. Our dog Charlie is spoiled too. If you're grossed out by animals licking utensils and plates don't scroll down. I'm very sorry. :) You might not want to come over for dinner either as Charlie is considered our pre-wash cycle. I'm Italian. Food is love.
1/200, f/2.8, ISO 500
1/200, f/2.8, ISO 500
1/200, f/2.8, ISO 500
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