Winner of the Clickin Mom's Giveaway!

Wow - I'm so glad so many of you signed up for this giveaway! I REALLY wanted to make sure I was completely fair in drawing a winner because I really wanted all of you to win this, so I used Random.org and showed the results straight from their site so you can know that I was not partial or biased in choosing a winner. With that said, the winner is...

Comment #3 - Mary Beth!!! Congratulations! Clickin Moms will be in touch with you about your lifetime membership!!

HUGE Giveaway!

I am kind of in shock about this.

Today I get to give away a free lifetime membership to Clickin' Moms ($195 value)!

About a year ago, while trying to learn as much as I could about photography, I came across Clickin' Moms. Clickin' Moms is a forum based website with over 8,000 members who are all passionate about photography (and despite the name you don't need to be a mom or female to join!) According to their website, 65% of members are professional photographers, and 35% are hobbyists - I am clearly in the latter group and knew next to nothing when I joined. They have amazing tutorials and workshops...I just finished a 4 week workshop on Lightroom and I just started a new workshop this week on natural light. I really can't say enough good things about Clickin' Moms - I have learned SO much on their website!

I started out just buying a one-week membership to see what it was all about. A year later, after still loving it, I decided to buy a lifetime membership. As a lifetime member you can sign up for workshops first, which sell out FAST! As a promotion they are doing with their lifetime members who have blogs, they have allowed me to give away a free lifetime membership ($195 value) to one of my readers!!

To enter, just leave me a comment on why you'd like to win (and please leave your email in case you win!!) I will use Random Number Generator to pick a winner on June 30. GOOD LUCK!

Note** If you join during the month of June and then win the giveaway, you will be refunded:)

A lesson on aperture

I am taking a photography class on Saturdays from a lady in our church and this past Saturday I was asked to talk a little about portraits and share some of my pictures! It was a lot of fun for me to prepare for this, and I thought I'd share a little bit of it here.

One of the things that I wanted to show is the affect of different apertures when shooting portraits. Specifically, how aperture effects depth of field - how much of your picture is in focus. When shooting portraits you generally want to get the face in focus, and everything else blurry.

Aperture is measured by f-stops, and the lower the f-stop number, the higher or wider the aperture, and the blurrier your background is going to be.

An easy way to think about it is:

the lower the number (high or wide aperture) = the blurrier the background (good for portraits)
or
the higher the number (low or narrow aperture) = the more in focus the background will be (good for landscapes)

I'm way over-simplifying this, but if you've never taken your camera off "auto", this is a good place to start. Put your camera on aperture priority mode (A or AV mode depending on your camera) and play around with the aperture. Your camera will automatically adjust the shutter speed and ISO so that your picture will be correctly exposed, and you can see the affect that aperture has on your photos.

Look at the examples below. I wrote on the picture which f-stop number I used.

They are all straight out of camera (SOOC) with no editing and shot in the middle of the day with the sun directly overhead so they aren't the most flattering, but I think you get the point:)

Make sense?

Pretty cool photographers

I came across two youtube videos this week that I thought were worth sharing. The first one is a story that I found fascinating - and she just happened to be from my neck of the woods - the north shore of Chicago.



And the second one I thought was SO creative…wow!



I also came across this photographer a few months ago and forgot to share it - although VERY odd, I dare you to find more creative kids photography!

Photography Q&A

I've gotten lots of questions over the last few weeks about photography equipment, so I thought I'd answer some of those questions here, for anyone else that wondered! I think I may do a follow-up post soon on some general photography tips. Keep in mind that I am by no means a professional!

• What camera do you have/recommend?

I have the Nikon D90 and love it. The D3000 or D5000 are cheaper options, but just be aware that they will not autofocus with all lenses, and the lenses that will autofocus on these cameras are usually more expensive (email me if you have specific questions about this). Canon also makes great digital SLR's, but I don't really know anything about Canon!

• What do you mean by "digital SLR's"?

To put it VERY simply, with an SLR (Single Lens Reflex), you look directly through the lens instead of looking at a LCD preview screen like you would with a point-and-shoot. With an SLR, you can change the lens (although you can do this more and more with a point-and-shoot). And most importantly, with an SLR the picture takes immediately when you press the shutter button, and will take many pictures in succession (very important when taking pictures of fast-moving kids!) instead of there being a delay when you press the shutter on a point-and-shoot.

• How did you decide between Nikon and Canon?

Professionals are split down the middle with these 2 brands - they are the best and you can't go wrong with either one. My first SLR film camera was a Nikon, so I've just stuck with it! 

• What lens do you have/recommend?

I have the 50mm 1.8, which I highly recommend. It is the only lens I've used over the last year (it will NOT, however, autofocus on the Nikon D3000 or D5000). It is a high quality, all-purpose lens at a low price. I also recently got the 35mm 1.8, which I also love (it is twice as expensive as the 50mm, but will autofocus on all Nikons). I also have quite a wishlist, which includes the 50mm 1.4, the 85mm 1.8, and the Tamron 28-75 2.8.
**I do not recommend buying the "kit" lens that comes with the camera - buy the camera body only and get one of the lenses mentioned above. The lenses that they sell with cameras are not good quality or worth their "up-charge."

• What do those numbers on the lenses mean?

The first number (ex. 50mm) refers to the lens' focal length (how close the picture will look when looking through the view-finder). 35mm will look further away than 50mm, and so on. The lenses that I use are referred to as "primes" or "fixed lens", meaning that they do not zoom - you have to physically move forward or backward to get the shot you want.


The second number (ex. 1.8 or 2.8) refers to the maximum aperture that the lens has (maximum is the lowest number, so 1.8 is better than 2.8, and so on). Aperture directly affects 2 huge parts of photography - how "blurry" your background will be, and whether or not you can get a picture in low light. The lower the number, the better your picture will be (I don't recommend any lens higher than 2.8).

• Why would you want a lens that doesn't zoom?

For several reason, I prefer primes. Most importantly, zooms don't have a high maximum aperture (virtually all "kit" zoom lens have a maximum aperture of 3.5-5), so you will not be able to take a picture in low light (inside or at night) without a flash, and you will not be able to get a blurry background. Also, primes are sharper. And lighter weight for carrying around.

• Where do you buy photography equipment from?

B&H Photo or Amazon

• What would be the best way to learn how to use my camera?

kenrockwell.com has tons of information on the ins and outs of your camera

Summer school

So we haven't been completely useless this summer - Matt has been taking art classes. Painting, specifically, and he has really enjoyed it! He has always loved art, and earlier this year he read this essay by Winston Churchill that inspired him. With his job being so analytical, he likes to have a creative outlet (this is also the reason he loves cooking)!

He was painting the picture I took at Kohler a few months ago

And I have been taking photography classes! And I LOVE it! Sorry for the onslaught of pictures of Will - I pretty much grab him every free second I get so that I can practice, and I can't narrow down what to post on here! I'm lucky to have such a cute subject!

I was specifically trying to achieve "bokeh" - a term for the blurry circular lights behind him:

Coco will pose for me too!

Tonight we walked to the marsh so I could practice backlighting

Photography and dad's birthday

Today is a big day - my dad is turning 60!! My mom surprised him with a trip to the Ritz on Lake Oconee with some of their friends. It sounds like they had a lot of fun. Happy birthday dad!
Last week I pulled my old Nikon SLR out of the closet and dusted it off and attempted to try and take a few pictures of Will. This is the old-fashioned kind - remember when you had to go out and buy film and you never knew if any of your pictures actually turned out until you picked them up at the drugstore? This is that kind. I got into photography in college and enjoyed using this camera, but I haven't used it since digital cameras came on the market. I have forgotten EVERYTHING about photography now that I just use a digital point-and-shoot.
We took Will to the park to try out the camera. There was still film in the camera from 2001, so I used that. Not a good idea. It was black and white film and apparently your pictures will come out sepia and blurry if you use film that old. Regardless, the pictures turned out surprisingly good - much better than my point-and-shoot. So, I have decided to give photography another try. I've been scouring the internet to learn as much as I can. I am going to practice with my old Nikon and hopefully if I still enjoy it after a few months, I may look into getting a digital SLR. I would love to be able to get good shots of Will any time I want, and I've been reading a few blogs that have inspired me.
Here are a few of the shots from last week, along with a random shot of Coco. I framed the first one for my dad for his birthday, and we gave some of these to Matt's mom as well. I realize I have a LONG way to go, but I am excited!