Photo of the Week

I really want to get my camera out more, and Sunday was just SCREAMING for a photo:

That's P's new easter dress from a dear friend from my shower LAST YEAR.  I'm so glad she bought it, I still adore it today.  But, that's not really what this blog is about (mulling over a fashion blog for baby girls, as if I don't already have ENOUGH blogs!).  The lesson to be learned here:

Get them out, take their picture, be done.

Kids don't want a 2 hour photo shoot.  They don't care if you get the shot, they just want to be done.  This is one of the very first shots we took and it's the best.  I worried that P clapping might ruin it, but it makes it all the better.  It shows everyone, how goofy and sweet they all are.  This entire shoot took about 5 minutes.  I did a couple with P alone (really, how could I not?), I did Drew and the kids, I did the kids alone, and then Drew did one of me and the kids.  I'm just going to add those here just to prove I try and get a picture with my kids at least once a year:

A couple of tips for quick spontaneous shoots at your house:  Find a spot in the shad without a lot in the backround (you'll notice the nice gas meter on the back right in Drew's shot, I should have cropped it out, but I am apparently very lazy and blind today.

AND DO IT FAST. :)

oh, and have a baby girl, because she will totally up the "cute" factor of anything you're doing. :)

Hospitals, Picture the Pain

Let's face it, hospitals are pretty boring places.  I find, after my first baby I'm pretty well bored out of my mind, and trying to savor it before I go home to complete chaos.  It's a great time to take pictures of those little babes.  Their faces all scrunchy, head all coned, face read and spotted.  Let's face it -- they're not getting any smaller. :)

Some of my favorite shots are done in the warmer.  It gives a really "medical" feel to it all:

This photo was taken by Drew, as I was having a little mending done on myself at the time.  My main thing for my husband was to not use the flash, if at all possible.  Keep checking the LCD to see if they're coming up blurry.  I have some other similar shots (taken by moi) here.

Take a picture with the people who helped you:

This is my nurse Kelly.  Sometimes when I look at this photo I realize people do nice things for other people.  Of course, for me it's more of a "pay it forward" kind of a feeling.  I don't mind taking pictures with my patients, and I wish I'd had pictures of our nurses on the other two (although I look at them a little less favorably, Kelly did a great job).

Grab a picture of your surroundings. 

I like how this one captures my surroundings for those 2 days.  Plus, the tags on her legs, her cord clamp, the funny hospital T-shirt.  It totally captures her little hospital life. 

The hospital, oddly enough, has dramatic portrait lighting. 

Most hospital rooms have a window in them.  For these shots I just did them on the bed, and made sure she was looking at the light (sometimes you have to turn them around, since they sometimes get their heads in a certain position and really like it that way).  I like how she's in the nasty hospital bunny blanket and how tiny and amazing she looks.  I sure love my little subject.  I'm glad I got some good shots in the hospital. 

How'd You Do That?

While I am NOT ready to get back into the business end of photography, I am ready to get back into taking pictures and posting... even pictures of things that aren't P.  Although, she is awfully cute, and I'm sure she'll make an appearance or two, or three... :)

I'd like to take some of the pictures I particularly like and put them on the blog saying why I like them and what I did to set-up the shot.  Surprisngly, this is the picture I picked for today.

I'll tell you why I love it:

1.  Spencer is getting into that "ugly photo" stage.  They are self conscious about how they smile, they have lose, or lost teeth, they're just funny about having their photo.  Luckily, Spencer's not fully entrenched into that phase yet so I still have a few more months before I cringe with EVERY shot of him (I did that with Conner for about 1st and 2nd grades, really).  The main trick is to distract them with something else.  I think we were talking about some of the suess books he'd read at school.

2.  The background.  Yes, that is our water storage barrel and a tiny tree that we transplanted last year and we are just hoping it stays alive.  Now, I also did this shot (to the right).  The background isn't obvious and the focus is mostly on his face.  But, there's something happy and great that shows the "background" to your life.  I often take pictures of the kids int he front yard and we've seen our tiny orange tree (obviously, the Ericksons REALLY want to grow oranges, and aren't having much luck yet) grow up in those photos.  Have I ever realy done a shoot of our orange tree, no -- but it often gets mentioned as we watch our family movies.  And yes, the water barel is also a part of our life.  Just not one that is very fun to empty.