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    • About Baby Rabies
    • Baby Registry Top Picks
    • Favorite Pregnancy Apps
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    • Birth Stories
    • Perinatal Mood Disorders
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    • Babies
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    • School Age Kids
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    • Photography

      6 Stunning Photos You Would Never Guess Were…

      February 11, 2019

      Photography

      Simple Tips For Editing Snow Photos On Your…

      December 13, 2018

      Photography

      I Wrote A Photography eBook And This Is…

      December 6, 2018

      Photography

      Creative Lighting Ideas To Help You Take Great…

      November 27, 2018

      Photography

      Learn How To Take And Edit Photos On…

      November 19, 2018

  • Reviews
    • Reviews

      The Answer To Last Minute Holiday Gifting For…

      December 19, 2018

      Reviews

      I Was Never A Barbie Girl Until Now

      October 1, 2018

      Reviews

      Finally! Jeans For My Jean-Averse Kids!

      August 22, 2018

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clickin moms

My 4 Year Photography Journey
Photography

My 4 Year Photography Journey

by Jill December 18, 2014
written by Jill

This is one of the last pictures I took with our old point and shoot camera, about 4 years ago, right before I received my first DSLR as an early Christmas gift.

My 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.com

I know it’s easy to look at this and think, “Goodness, why would you need an upgrade?” It’s truly spectacular in all it’s grainy, blurry, poorly exposed glory. But, well, I had a hunch I could do better.

Here are a few of my favorite most recent pics…

My 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.comMy 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.comMy 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.com

It’s been a long 4 years, and I still don’t consider myself an expert at any of this. I look at pictures I take now, and still see so much room for improvement. It’s why I hesitate to write too much about the technical side of photography over here. I just don’t view myself as someone who knows enough to tell others how to do this.

But, even I can see how far I’ve come, and at least I can share that with you all.

This is a popular time of year for leaps into the wonderful world of DSLRs. I know how exciting it is to get your hands on that big, heavy camera for the first time. There is so much joy that comes from seeing simply the pictures that come from it on auto, but then that tends to turn to angst as we try to figure out just a fraction of it’s vast capabilities.

I think so many get overwhelmed by where others are in their photography journey in comparison to themselves, forgetting that it takes a lot of work and time to get there. So here’s a not brief at all history of my photography journey.

This is one of the very first I took 4 years ago with my Canon Rebel T2i and 50 1.4 lens, right after I got my battery charged and knew NOTHING about how it worked.

DECEMBER 2010 – Canon Rebel T2i, 50 mm 1.4, iPhoto

My 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.com

This picture was PERFECTION to me then. And it still is. There was no way I could pull that off with any other camera I had at the time.

My 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.com

I was quite happy with these pics for a while, and was even happier when I figured out how to set my camera on AV (aperture priority) with my aperture set around 2.8.

My 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.comMy 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.com

Leyna was born just weeks after I got the camera, and I was thrilled with the pictures we got of her first few hours, and days…

My 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.com

And weeks.

My 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.com

In the beginning, I obviously didn’t have much time to learn about photography beyond keeping my fancy camera on AV. The newborn and toddler at home were keeping me quite busy.

As time passed, though, I found myself experimenting with light and composure a bit more.

My 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.comMy 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.comMy 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.com

I quickly learned that the pictures I took in natural light looked best. I struggled with low light and artificial light. White balance issues plagued me from the start.

My 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.com

Around March of 2011 I read the book Understanding Exposure, and forced myself to put the camera on manual and never let it go back to auto again. I was determined to wrap my head around the exposure triangle.

It was also around this time I began to immerse myself in the tutorials section over on Clickin Moms. To this day, I owe so much of what I know about photography to them.

It took a couple months of a lot of really awful pictures, and a few beautiful ones, for me to finally grasp the way shutter speed, aperture, and ISO work together to properly expose a picture.

MARCH 2011- Shooting on manual 100% of the time, Clickin Moms tutorials

My 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.com

I was still missing focus and ending up with soft pictures quite a bit (mostly because my shutter speed was often way too low since I was afraid of pumping my ISO up).

My 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.com

But I was finally starting to find the light, and learn how to position my subjects to take advantage of it.

My 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.comMy 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.comMy 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.com

That summer, I also took a Beyond Snapshots workshop with the amazing Rachel Devine, and practically memorized her book.

It would be a while before I found a consistent personal style, but you can see hints of it start to peek through my early pictures as I played around with back lighting, bright colors, and composition.

SUMMER 2011- Beyond Snapshots workshop and book

My 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.com

My 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.comMy 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.com

At the end of 2011, just about a year after I got my camera, I got Lightroom for Christmas, and my first set of presets (similar to actions for Photoshop). This opened a whole new world for me. Post-processing remains one of my favorite steps in the photography process.

I took these pictures for our Christmas cards that year. (You can learn more about how I did them here and here.)

DECEMBER 2011- Lightroom and Clickin Moms presets

My 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.comMy 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.comMy 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.com

So now we’re up to 2012. This year was when I really started experimenting, not just with techniques, but with my style. I also added a new lens- the Sigma 30 1.4.

FEBRUARY 2012- Sigma 30 1.4

My 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.com

I was intrigued by posed/propped photography, and even contemplated setting up a mini studio in our office, complete with lots of cute backdrops.

My 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.com

The lifestyle stuff continued to draw me in, though.

My 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.comBy this point, I had a pretty good grasp on how the exposure triangle worked, and many times I got great images after just a little thought (and a lot of chimping- looking at the back of my camera after taking a shot).

My 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.comMy 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.com

But I was often making mistakes like underexposing…

My 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.com

Or overexposing…

My 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.com

And trying to fix these things in post or cover them up with the use of presets and black and white conversions.

My 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.com

Mostly, though, 2012 was a year of pretty fantastic growth for me. So much magic happened once I was really comfortable with putting my camera in manual.

Plus, at this point, I had a pretty good grasp on how to edit pictures in Lightroom beyond just slapping a preset over them, focusing on keeping skin tones as natural as possible.
My 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.comMy 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.comMy 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.comMy 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.com

Though I did experiment quite a bit with some creative post-processing techniques. I spent a lot of hours learning the ins and outs of Lightroom that year. I also really loved me some vignetting. 😉

My 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.com

OCTOBER 2012- Upgrade to Canon 5D MK II and 50 1.4 lens

After nearly 2 years with my trusty Rebel, I was ready for a big upgrade- to a full-frame 5D MK II. This upgrade meant I had to get rid of my favorite lens- the Sigma 30 1.4– and was back to just my 50.  In the beginning, I was so excited about the possibilities, the clarity, the low-light capabilities.

My 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.com

 

My 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.com

While I still struggled with things like white balance, that were entirely my fault… (Hello, green daughter.)

My 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.com

I was also missing focus. A lot. To the point that there was no way that was 100% my fault.

My 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.com

I’m pretty confident I got a rotten refurb from a company I’ll never endorse again.

I struggled through the rest of 2012 and the beginning of 2013 with that camera body until I finally gave up and got a new Canon body I’d heard a lot of great things about- the 6D.

FEBRUARY 2013- Canon 6D and 50 1.4 lens

My 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.comMy 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.com
My 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.com

It was pretty immediate love between the 6D and I. I feel like I found my camera soulmate. It was so easy to get the technical stuff right with this camera, that I was finally able to focus on overcoming the more advanced hurdles I needed to work on.

Around the spring of 2013, I replaced my 50 1.4 with a DREAM lens- the Sigma 35 1.4. 

My 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.com

It was time to perfect my editing, and hone in on my personal style. I knew I had to start working on mastering white balance to get the colors I truly wanted.

But first, I had to have a baby.

My 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.com

Having an immobile, ADORABLE infant really helped me get my photography mojo back. I spent hours practicing with him, and learned how much I truly love a crisp white bed as backdrop.

My 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.comMy 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.com

And sun-drenched little toes and fingers.

My 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.comMy 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.com

But I continued to struggle with that pesky white balance on occaision , relying on auto WB way too much since it was simply impractical for me to haul out a gray card all the time, and Kelvin WB hadn’t quite clicked for me yet.

My 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.com

FALL 2013- Canon 6D, Sigma 35 1.4, added 40mm pancake lens

I finally felt like I had a good grasp on my personal style. The muted, vintage filters and presets no longer felt right on my work. I enjoy bright colors, some contrast, lots of light, with a focus on life’s littlest big moments.

My 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.comMy 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.comMy 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.com

In the fall of 2013, right after the government shutdown (putting my gov. employed husband on furlough for a month), I experimented with the business side of photography, taking on a few clients for holiday pictures.

My 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.com My 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.comMy 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.com

I quickly learned, though, that while I love taking pictures of other people, I don’t enjoy doing it as a business model. I just like to call my friends up when I get an idea, or when I want to practice, and offer them a free session in exchange for their willing participation.

My 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.comMy 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.com

2014- Mastered Kelvin White Balance, added 85 1.8 lens and 40 mm pancake lens, and 430EX II Speedlite

My 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.com

I’m happy to say 2014 is the year I’ve finally figured out my White Balance issues! And the answer is KELVIN!!

My 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.com

Of course, it had to be the one approach that took the most time to figure out and store in my brain, but it’s there permanently now. No having to rush around and look for a disc or a gray card every time the lighting changes.

You can read more about Kelvin White Balance here, to get a start.

I had all the numbers memorized for various lighting situations in our old house.

My 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.com

This is also the year I added the Canon 40 mm pancake lens, which is my go-to travel lens.

My 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.comMy 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.com

My 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.com

And the 85 1.8…

My 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.com

My 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.com

(not my kid, but a willing participant who couldn’t walk/run yet)

I dipped my toe in the flash waters with the 430EX II speedlite when I was hired to photograph an event for Flipside Experience with Grumpy Cat.

My 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.com

And that brings me to now. Now, I’m having to refigure everything in the new place, and having to re-find the light here, learning where it streams in at what time of day, and how it reflects off the top of my children’s heads and bounces off their eyes.

My 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.com

My 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.com

There is always something about photography that challenges me and keeps me on my toes. In 2015, I look forward to telling a more unique perspective through my images.

For those of you who’ve scrolled through all of this, I hope you enjoyed it. If you get your first DSLR this month, go easy on yourself.. but not too easy. I mean, try to start challenging yourself as soon as you can, but also let yourself make A LOT of mistakes, and trust that they are all a part of the process.

Don’t you let that fancy camera stay in auto too long!

 My 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.com

My 4 Year Photography Journey | BabyRabies.com

December 18, 2014 19 comments
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Photography

iPhone and Instagram Inspiration

by Jill October 18, 2012
written by Jill

I know a lot of you lament that you don’t have “fancy” cameras or that you don’t have time to learn how to use yours, and thus you feel you will never get “beautiful” pictures.

I don’t believe that’s how it has to be, though! The key to getting beautiful pictures isn’t the camera that you use, it’s you knowing enough to make whatever you have work for you.

I’ve been inspired by Emma Wood since I discovered her on the Clickin Moms forums last year. She does phenomenal things with her Nikon D700. But you know what? Even she admits that sometimes an iPhone is just a better tool, and the images she captures with hers are stunning. 

I asked Emma to write a guest post for me on this subject and I’m super excited to share it with you all today. I hope it inspires you to get creative with whatever camera is easiest for you to document everyday life with. It’s certainly made me look at Instagram as an entirely new canvas. (Do you follow me over there yet? @Babyrabies)

After a day out with my family last week, as I was looking through my pictures, I realised that I had many more images on my iPhone then I did my Nikon and something struck me that I think is probably true for many people.   As fantastic as my camera is, and as in love as I am with it, it’s just not always possible or convenient to capture every moment with it.

Picture this.  There I was walking over potholes in the mud, a human packhorse – holding all the kids coats, that they’d decided they didn’t need to wear, under one arm,  while holding onto my 3yr olds hand with the other, trying to distract her from her worries about stepping in sheep poop.  At the same time keeping a watchful eye on two of my other smaller children who were getting a bit too close to the edge of a hill for my comfort, and trying to have a conversation with my Hubby about what groceries we needed to get on the way home.

Sound familiar?   As we rounded the corner to a spectacular view with the prettiest light i’ve seen in a long time, did I think about getting out my D700?  Absolutely!   But my beloved camera was in my camera bag slung across my body underneath a handful of coats and it would have meant letting go of too many of the balls I was trying to juggle.   So instead, for the majority of the day, I found myself reaching into my coat pocket for my iPhone 4s.

I knew that there were moments that I needed to capture, that couldn’t be missed on one of the very few and precious days that I had with my family, and my iPhone camera was easy, accessible and I think pretty darn effective.  Don’t get me wrong, my D700 is still the love of my life and there isn’t a day that goes by when I don’t pick it up, but having the convenience of my iPhone camera absolutely rocks my world these days.

Here are some images I did manage to get with my D700

And a couple more iPhone pics…

In some ways, I actually think I captured the real feel of the day with the iPhone camera, probably because with it, I managed to snap those fleeting moments faster than I would using my DSLR.  They might not be perfect, they might not be as aesthetically pleasing, but they are real, raw and honest – I like that!

And just a few of my very favourite iPhone images.  I usually edit them using the VSCO CAM app because I love the filmy feel to it,  and then take them straight into Instagram.

So no excuses, if you don’t have a DSLR, or even if you do and it’s all too difficult, grab that iPhone or whatever else you DO have and see what you get. You never know, you might be surprised.

Emma Wood is a mother of 7, wife of a pilot and natural light, film inspired lover.  She spends her days documenting the lives of her children and family, which is what inspired her to learn as much as she could about photography and to join Clickin Moms 2 years ago.  After spending a great deal of her life traveling and living abroad, she now lives in the UK. You can follow her on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. She blogs here.

October 18, 2012 7 comments
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PhotographyThe Story

Photographic Evidence That I’m Here Too

by Jill October 15, 2012
written by Jill

Over the weekend, the photography community lost a beautiful soul to ovarian cancer – Jen Burgess Thompson, mother to 2 young boys. I wish I could say I knew of this because I followed her journey, but I only learned of her after seeing many of my photographer friends sad Facebook updates and clicking through to read her blog.

Today, Clickin Moms is paying tribute to her on the CM Pro Daily Project blog by having CM Pros post pictures of themselves with their kids… something so few of us moms and mom-photographers have many of.

The importance of having pictures for our kids to look back on that include mom was addressed in a recent Huffington Post piece by Allison Tate: “The Mom Stays In The Picture”  Our kids deserve to have photographic evidence that we were in their lives, no matter if we have a double chin,or frizzy hair, or any other number of excuses we use to stay behind the lens.

I’m everywhere in their young lives, and yet I have very few pictures of me with them. Someday I won’t be here — and I don’t know if that someday is tomorrow or thirty or forty or fifty years from now — but I want them to have pictures of me. – Allison Tate

As soon as I saw the pictures from the  CM Pro Daily Project blog scrolling through my Facebook feed, I made a promise to myself to get a picture with the kids before the day was through. And I wouldn’t let myself turn it into a big fuss. I didn’t change out of my “lazy” clothes. I didn’t put the kids in matching outfits. I found a spot where I could rest my camera on the counter and use my wireless remote to snap away.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to keep Kendall still long enough, but I wound up with this one of Leyna and me, snuggling on the couch late this afternoon.

This is what we do every day. Ever since she gave up her 2nd nap months ago, she insists on just being still around 4 p.m. and cuddling with me on the couch.

This is real life. With me. Because I’m here too.

And I couldn’t be more grateful for that.

 

October 15, 2012 29 comments
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Photography

Finding Peace Through My Lens

by Jill August 29, 2012
written by Jill

My soul needed the trip I took last weekend. It was a “work” trip (and I’ll blog more about the work side of things next month), but it was at an AMAZING place – Bacara Resort & Spa in Santa Barbara – with wonderful people, like Jenny and Heather.  

And it was peaceful. So peaceful.

I found myself grateful I’d brought my camera from the minute I stepped off the plane. I love photographing my kiddos, this house and all our everyday chaos, but something about this place really sparked my creative spirit.

 

Getting to know my surroundings through the lens of my camera gave me a whole new perspective. You have to breathe, you know? You have to be still. You have to think. You can’t tweet or Instagram or text someone while you’re trying to compose a picture. It was good for me.

I took a little break form my photography journey this summer, simply because I didn’t have time to dedicate to immersing myself in it while the kids were home. I’m ready to jump back in, though. I have big plans for a camera upgrade soon (eek!), and Clickin’ Moms just invited me to take part in this CM Team All Access Pass Breakout Session. It includes 5 mini sessions on:

Developing Pricing (which, as someone who doesn’t plan to go pro with photography, I may not take much, but I’m interested in learning how these approaches can be applied to how I price my consulting and social media services)
iPhoneography
Elements of Design
Against the Grain (how to shoot well in low-light)
Editing: Methods for Enhancing Mood and Tone

 With your registration fee of $50 you will receive access to 5 separate mini sessions, all at the same time. A total of over 150 pages of PDF information, along with several videos and the opportunity to ask questions of each presenter in a private dropbox are available to registrants.

If you’ve been wanting to dedicate a little time to improving your photography this fall, this is a wonderful value and great opportunity! Even if you’re NOT a Clickin Moms member, you can still register for it for only $50. (But really, why aren’t you? Use code BABYRABIES for a FREE 7 day trial.)

I’m looking forward to finding more beauty through my camera lens this fall. Of course, another trip to Bacara wouldn’t hurt, but I’m still trying to convince Scott we need to sell a kid…ney to afford an escape there.

August 29, 2012 6 comments
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Blogher12 Photo Vomit
BloggingPhotography

Blogher12 Photo Vomit

by Jill August 7, 2012
written by Jill

I was going to write a post full of words and thoughts, pictures were to be careful interspersed. It was hard to put together, but I got 90% done.

AND THEN I ACCIDENTALLY DELETED IT.

So, I’m taking that as the universe’s way of saying SHUT UP, JILL. YOU CAN NOT COMMUNICATE INTELLIGENTLY TODAY.

Because really, I can’t. I’m tired, run-down, a little sad, a lot overwhelmed, and I think I’m coming down with the Blogher Flu.

So? Pictures. Lots of pictures. Pretty fitting, I think, considering Clickin Moms was my super generous, awesome sponsor for all this.

 It was work, it was play. It was hard, it was fun. Blographer was amazing and enriching. Our Blogher panel (link to our live blog) went wonderfully. I won a “Blogs That Make Us Smile Award” from the Social Luxe Lounge.

I had hangovers and panic attacks. I laughed until I nearly peed myself. I made new friends and I hugged the old ones until we nearly fell to the floor.

Basically, any and all of my feelings can be summed up by my friend Mae. Seriously, THIS is how I feel, every word. I’m so glad she wrote it so I could just vomit some pictures on here and be done with it.

I hope to be back tomorrow with something more… intelligent?? Or maybe just funny. Maybe I’ll strive for funny.

Missed this place. I really did. I’m ready to make it even better.

August 7, 2012 32 comments
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Thinking Out and Improving Your Photos, Plus a $450 Clickin Moms Giveaway!
BloggingPhotography

Thinking Out and Improving Your Photos, Plus a $450 Clickin Moms Giveaway!

by Jill July 25, 2012
written by Jill

I get questions every now and then about what settings I use to take my pictures and how I make them look a certain way (bright, colorful, etc.).

The truth is, I very rarely get exactly what I want straight out of camera the first click. I’m just not quite there yet, though that’s my ultimate photography goal. The good news is, in this age of digital cameras, an extra click (or 10) is not going to cost you anything in terms of film, so you can switch up your settings and keep tweaking until you get what you like.

Now, these aren’t the best pictures I’ve ever taken, just some snaps at the kitchen table, but I thought they’d make great examples to show you my thought process before I deleted them from my card.

The first 4 pics I’m going to show you, my settings were 1/160 SS, F 2.5, ISO 800. These images are all SOOC (straight out of camera).

This was the first pic I got of the series. The composition sucked, Kendall’s smack in the middle of the frame, and the box, a big part of the story I’m wanting to tell, is cut off. There’s way too much visual clutter in the background (i.e. my messy house).  Also, that large window above his head is really distracting. I knew I needed a different angle.

I got lower, focused on the box, which made Kendall blurry since my F stop was pretty wide open. I liked the effect, but there was still a lot of distracting stuff behind him.

So I stood on a chair to get a different perspective that would decrease the clutter in the background. I also felt like I could get more elements of the story in the shot with this angle. I was not happy with my exposure at this point, though. I’d finally tweaked what angle I wanted to shoot at, and had to rethink my settings. Again, I was shooting at 1/160 shutter speed, and f stop of 2.5, and an 800 ISO.

I could do 3 things to brighten up my picture (increase my exposure). I could decrease the shutter speed, open up the aperture/f stop (by making the number smaller- so confusing, I know), or increase my ISO.

I didn’t want to decrease my SS much because Kendall was in a state of motion painting, and I didn’t want his hands to appear blurry. I didn’t want to open up much wider because I was shooting very close to my subject, and the wider I opened my aperture, the more of the picture would be blurry.

So I had to increase my ISO to 1600.

Ahhh… that was better. Not so dark-cave-like. You’ll notice Kendall’s face is a little soft and his hands on the box are in focus since I was shooting at 2.5 and I focused on his hands.

Then I took it too Lightroom and did some basic edits, starting with cropping closer.

I also did a quick white balance tweak, decreased some of the noise or grain (caused by shooting with a high ISO), and ran the Clickin Moms Paparazzi Daily Edition preset on it. I love that preset for pictures that I want vibrant colors in.

Like I said, not an example of award-winning photography, just some every day snaps.  I could have used a variety of settings to achieve a similar exposure, but the results would have all been different. I was happy with this final product.

A year ago, I had no thought process when it came to taking pictures. It was all spray and pray. Every now and then, I wound up with something great, but I missed out on a lot of good shots because I just had no idea how to improve upon what I was taking.

Clickin Moms, my official Blogher 2012 Sponsor (yay!!!) made this amazing image for me, and I’m so excited to share it with you all. I never realized how far I’ve come in a year until I saw all this, side by side.

When people ask me if Clickin Moms is really worth it, I have to tell them it totally is. Yes I know, I have a business relationship with them. But, that relationship didn’t even come about until I completely fell in love with their forums, saw my photography starting to transform, and then professed my love to them. I WANT to be a part of that awesome, and I am HONORED to be working with them. It’s really a dream collaboration.

To celebrate our partnership and them sending me to Blogher this year, I am STOKED to be hosting this HUGE $450 giveaway, including:

One full participation seat in Clickin Moms’ Shooting 101: The Best Darn Beginner Course Ever, taught by the fabulously talented Lyne Rigby (Course starts Sept. 10, 2012, $300 value)
One year membership to Clickin Moms ($50 value)
$100 Gift Credit to the Clickin Moms Store

Anyone can enter to win, even if you’re not going to Blogher this year! CLICK HERE TO ENTER

I’ll be giving away some small prizes during Blogher, so keep an eye on my Twitter and Facebook pages for more details on how to win those August 1st through the 5th.

July 25, 2012 19 comments
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PhotographyThe Story

The Way I View: Fatherhood

by Jill July 3, 2012
written by Jill

I’m lucky, so so lucky to have Scott as my parenting partner. He is truly my equal when it comes to this gig, always picking up his fair share (and many times, I’d say more than that).

Is there anything sweeter and sexier than a man who says, “Babe, relax. Take a break. I’ll take the kids grocery shopping. What do you need me to get?” If you’re young, hip, single with no kids, don’t answer that, m’kay?

He says that to me about twice a week. I know. LUCKY! Try not to hate me.

And they’re always gone long enough for me to collect myself, get a little work done, pick up a little, and pour a glass of wine.

Well, except for tonight when I was obviously that weird mom following them around the store with my camera.

I’m so fortunate that this is the way I view fatherhood.

This was June’s assignment for the Clickin Moms The Way I View monthly photo project. 

July 3, 2012 23 comments
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PhotographyThe Story

The Way I View: Motherhood

by Jill June 4, 2012
written by Jill

That was the prompt for the month of May’s Clickin Moms photo challenge.

I interpreted this one literally. This is my view, as a mother, most mornings.

Spilled milk, coffee, happy faces, dirty dishes. Life.

Love.

Head over to Tracy’s blog to see how she views motherhood.

June 4, 2012 9 comments
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The Way I View: Friendship

by Jill May 2, 2012
written by Jill

I know they have a long road of sibling rivalry and arguments ahead of them, but they’ll wind up good friends eventually, right? I mean, my sister and I used to throw knives at each other, and now we’re as close as two sisters can get. So, I’m hopeful they’ll have many memorable meals together as friends throughout their lives.

This was my April assignment for my Clickin Moms photo challenge. 

May 2, 2012 15 comments
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Photography

Your “I Don’t Have A Nice Camera” Excuse Is Invalid

by Jill April 4, 2012
written by Jill

I bought my Canon t2i in December, 2010 because I was frustrated and annoyed with the perceived limitations of my old Sony point & shoot. I was convinced all the bad pictures I was producing were because I had a “crappy camera,” and that I needed a “nice” camera to take better ones.

Granted, my DSLR certainly took better pictures out of the box, but it was only with knowledge of how to actually work a camera that I was able to start producing great pictures. A “nice” camera, does not a photographer make.

After a year of studying and actually learning how photography really works, I pulled my old p&s out of the junk drawer and thought I’d play around with it one day. For the first time in the 6 years I’ve owned it, I realized that I could actually make changes to the settings… and I UNDERSTOOD what those settings would do.

And, whaddaya know? I was actually able to produce some pretty great pictures with it.

I share this, not because I’m going to abandon my DSLR now, but because I know so many of you only have a p&s, or even an iPhone, as your primary camera, and I need to show you that your excuse that you can’t take “great” pictures because you can’t afford a DSLR is INVALID.

I took this picture with my Canon t2i and a 50 1.4 lens. The camera was on auto, and the flash popped on.

Let’s pretend that green monkey is a really cooperative child and that chair isn’t covered in dog hair and Cheezit crumbs, okay?

That picture? Is crap, yet it was taken with a “nice” camera.

Then I busted this old boy out:

And proceeded to take this:

That picture is already a million times better than the one from the “nice” camera, right? Here’s why:

I moved my subject into natural light and turned the flash off. AVOID FLASH LIKE AN STD, FOLKS, at least until you have a really good grasp on how to use it properly (which I’ll admit, I don’t).

The composition and perspective are more interesting. I got down on my subjects level, and I tried to make the background more interesting with less clutter.

I used the Macro feature, found on most p&s cameras (that little tulip symbol) to help blur out that filthy chair in the background a little. (I got that tip from Me Ra Koh at Blissdom this year.)

Already, if you just do those 3 things, you’re well on your way to taking better pics with your p&s.

But  then, for a little extra oomph, I took it into Lightroom 3. I made some small adjustments to the white balance, exposure, contrast and moved the noise reduction slider over a little to get rid of some of the graininess. I also cropped it just a bit to get rid of some of the clutter in the frame.

And then, for a little more artistic fun, I ran a couple presets on it. Both are Clickin Moms presets, and both happen to come in a free download for signing up to be on their email list.

The first is processed with Clickin Moms Paparazzi in Daily Edition.

And this one is from the Clickin Moms Film Art presets- Pewter.

And all that was done with a 6 year old Sony Cybershot, a photo organizing and editing program you can buy for $115 (or you can spend $150 on Lightroom 4), and a couple presets you can get for free.

So, before you think you have to trash your p&s and invest in a “nice” camera, ask yourself if you’re really going to take the time to learn how that nice camera, and photography in general works. And if you don’t have the money to upgrade and feel frustrated, take a little time to learn how to get great pictures regardless of your equipment! I plan for this to be the first post in a series of many where I’ll help you do just that as I learn along the way.

April 4, 2012 27 comments
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