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Slice Of Perfect In Our Messy Reality- A Photography Challenge
BabiesPhotographyThe StoryToddlers

Slice Of Perfect In Our Messy Reality- A Photography Challenge

by Jill
written by Jill

“How do you keep your house so clean?”

I get this a lot, which is highly laughable. While I would say we have managed to keep ourselves from reaching hoarder status (except for the months directly following having a baby), we certainly don’t live in a pristine house, or a house as clean as many of my pictures would lead you to believe.

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It’s not that I’m trying to deceive you. I’ll be the first to admit to anyone who remarks how clean my house looks that either a. the housekeeper was just here or b. there’s a pile of laundry to my left, and a sink full of dishes to my right. I just happened to crop them out of the picture.

But I get that part of this blogging, sharing, social media life thing can lead to feelings of inadequacy when comparing ourselves to others. I certainly find myself looking at beautifully decorated homes with perfectly organized spaces with pangs of jealousy.

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I like to think, though, that they also are just showing a little slice of perfect amongst their messy reality. I’d put money on the fact that this is what nearly everyone does. And there’s nothing wrong with that! As much as I try to document real life whenever possible, I also want some pictures that make me forget what it’s like to live amongst chaos… and fruit snack wrappers.

So for every picture as sweet and clean as this…

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There’s usually a bigger picture like this…

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If you haven’t quite mastered how to take little slice of perfect pics amongst your messy reality, here are a few tips for you:

TipsForTakingPicsInMessyReality

Let’s start with our cluttered playroom. It’s not a HUGE mess, but it’s not very pretty from this angle, either.

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The very first thing you need to do is get as much (preferably natural) light in there. Open up all the curtains. Heck, even open up an exterior door if you can.

Also, if you’re shooting with a DSLR and are comfortable with manual mode, up your ISO and open up your aperture until you get good exposure. The following pics were taken with 3200-6400 ISO and a 2.5 aperture. (I used the noise reduction slider in Lightroom to eliminate some of the grain caused by the high ISO.)

This will 1. help you get more light into your picture and 2. help blur out the background, making the surrounding mess less noticeable.

IMG_1518Of course, there is also a lot to be said for the strategic crop.

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And change up your perspective. If all your mess is on the floor, shoot up and away from it.

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If your subject is in front of cluttered bookshelves, shoot over the top of him.

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Isolate small pieces of the visual story.

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A good black & white conversion can always help unify a picture with a lot going on in it.

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All of these tips can be applied to mobile photo editing, as well. Use apps like Snapseed to increase the brightness and convert pictures to black & white. (I’ll do a Snapseed editing tutorial if y’all would like.)

SliceOfPerfectMessyReality

Now, I want you to join in on this fun. I want to see BOTH your little #SliceOfPerfect AND your #MessyReality. There are a few ways to join in. If you have a blog and want to blog about this, you can link up below. If you’re on Facebook, you can post your pictures to my page (be sure to tag them #SliceOfPerfect or #MessyReality). If you’re on Instagram, share them with the hashtags #SliceOfPerfect and #MessyReality. You can either make a collage of both, or share them separately.

I’m @BabyRabies on Instagram.
My Facebook page is Facebook.com/BabyRabiesBlog.

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BabiesPhotographySchool Age DaysThe StoryToddlers

Pictures Of Our Week

by Jill
written by Jill

Another week has passed, and a million things I’ve wanted to tell you all about (okay, at least 27 on my to-write list) sit in my head, unblogged.  But what I’m lacking in words these days, I’m making up for in pictures. I’m pretty prolific on Instagram lately. I blame easy access to an iPhone while snuggling, rocking, feeding a baby. And boredom. I mean, there is only so much I can stare lovingly at my kid’s head. Even HE is starting to get creeped out by it.

So I take pictures of his head sometimes. And then play around with them in Snapseed.

a953b1ee0d2a11e3bf5922000a1f8cdc_7And then use apps like Snoopify and Cat Effects for more entertainment. Because I have a problem.

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One for the baby books!

Good thing I don’t make baby books.

I’ve also tried to make an effort to get more pictures with my “fancy” Canon 6D. I remember I tried to do a Photo 365 blog after Leyna was born. That was destined to be a failure, and proved to be so. This time, no pressure. No daily, weekly or monthly quotas. Just pictures when I can manage it.

I do well with no pressure.

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First, let’s just get this out of the way- THAT. SMIRK.

We are so fortunate that Scott can work from home often. Mainly, he’s able to help out more because he doesn’t have to commute to work. So he can do things like pack lunches before his work day starts, and take the kids to the park as soon as his day is over.

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But every now and then, I’m able to hand Lowell to him for a few minutes while I get dressed or make us both lunch. These were moments caught at the end of a workday this week.

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How lucky our kids are to grow up with a father who is so very present in their lives.

Sometimes, though, we are not very present. On purpose. Sometimes we are having grown up conversation about pressing matters like new kitchen counters and just what the hell the neighbor is doing in his garage all day with his shirt off.

Sometimes we ignore our children. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT.

It forces them to, like, entertain themselves. Trust, they will ask us if they can use one of the 50 pieces of technology in this house to entertain them over and over and over again. We just keep ignoring them.

And then this happens.

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Kendall finds 2 blankets and some clothes pins. He pins one on the back of Leyna and ties another around him. They are suddenly super heroes.

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Super heroes that work double duty as dry mops. We’ve just unlocked level 151 of Parenthood with this achievement, I’m sure.

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Sometimes the price you pay for ignoring your kids and getting them to leave you alone is a toddler covered in markers and stickers.

And a super hero cape. It’s worth it.

To finish off the week, I spent  no less than 30 minutes taking pictures of my 5.5 week old’s belly button today.

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Because IT’S A SWIRL. Like a little cinnamon roll in the middle of his belly. A perfect spiral.

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I’m obsessed with the whole package, but had to stop everything I was doing today (which was nothing) to document and preserve that sweet little detail.

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And while I was at it, I photographed every other detail, too.

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So that’s some of the pictures of our week.

Maybe I’ll do this again next week. Maybe I won’t. No pressure.

 

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PhotographyPregnancyToddlers

Blinkbuggy- A Digital Documentarian’s Hub

by Jill
written by Jill

This pregnancy, my 3rd and final, has likely been the most documented pregnancy when it comes to pictures. I may not have blogged much about it this time around, but I Instagramed the heck out of all the small and big moments, with plenty of bump selfies thrown in because why not?

I don’t have many bump pictures of my pregnancy with Kendall, and even fewer of my pregnancy with Leyna. This time, though, I took the time to take a few of myself with my fancy camera, and many, many more with my phone.

Some of those pictures live on my personal Facebook account. Some live on my computer. Most live on Instagram. But this week, I brought them all together in a Blinkbuggy collection, and it’s so cool to flip through and see the progression of this pregnancy. I’m super excited about this sponsored post because this is a platform I know a lot of you will love.

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PhotographyThe Story

Sunlit Clovers and Dumb Luck

by Jill
written by Jill

She zig zagged through the strip of dead grass alongside our house as the sun was setting behind her, looking for dandelions. I was squinting, trying to keep her in my sight and make sure she didn’t run into the neighbor’s yard and mess with some tools they had stacked against their house.

Ugh. The sun was SO blinding.

And it was then that my photographer brain turned on. I grabbed the only camera I had with me- my iPhone, squatted low, and took a picture of her hovering over a single patch of green… some perfectly sunlit clovers.

It was dumb luck. I had no idea if I even captured anything because the sun made it hard to see my screen.

Next time you’re out playing with your kids and you have to squint because the sun is right behind them, get low, snap a pic, test your luck.

I edited this in Snapseed to up the contrast and saturation, warm the white balance, and then I applied the Low-Fi filter in Instagram. If you want to follow me over there, I’m @BabyRabies.

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Get Instagram Pics Off Your Phone And Into Your Home
PhotographyReviews

Get Instagram Pics Off Your Phone And Into Your Home

by Jill
written by Jill

I’ve fallen in love with Instagram over the last year and a half as a quick place to share random moments. They’re often the “small” moments. The ones I don’t have time to grab my DSLR for. And many times, they’re the moments that mean the most to me… the ones that capture “real life” the best.

But, what can you do with a bunch of square, low resolution (in comparison to my DSLR pics) pictures? Turns out, lots. In fact, I think it’s safe to say I have more Instagram pictures printed than I do DSLR pictures at this moment.

Here are some of my favorite ways to get Instagram pictures off your phone and into your home:

1. Printstagram – I landed here simply looking for a way to print off my pictures into old-fashioned, hold them in your hand, prints. And while their prints ARE lovely and a great price, I fell in love with all the other little things they offer, too. Like Mini-Books and stickers!

2. Blurb for Instagram- I was able to print off a Blurb book last year full of Instagram photos of the spring and summer of 2011. It was such a simple process and the book turned out beautiful.

3. Rag & Bone Bindery Instabooks– So what do you do with those 4×4 paper prints you order from Prinstagram? You pop them in one of these gorgeous, handcrafted Instabooks. It’s super easy, but the end result is so sophisticated and… real, you know? Like, an actual stack of paper pictures, carefully adhered (with included sticky corners) inside a quality, archival, accordion style book. This is the stuff you hand down to your kids.

4. Stickygram- Turn your Instagram pics into magnets! Our magnets are pretty lame-o. The assortment ranges from the pizza-delivery number to the Cowboys football schedule. But these? Little squares of happy memories. Forget using the plumber’s magnet to hold up your favorite family photo. Just make the picture the magnet!

5. CanvasPop– Sometimes a picture deserves to be the center of attention. Sometimes it begs to be printed on a gallery-wrapped canvas. I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of this 12″x12″ canvas of one of my favorite Instagram pics of all time.

6. Coastergrams by Fleur de Stone on Etsy- I did a quick search on Etsy last month to see if anyone sold Instagram-specific items, and I was thrilled to turn up this shop, located in Austin, TX. I immediately sent him 4 Instagram pics I took at my mom’s beautiful country home. I could not be more happy with the quality! These are Christmas gift worthy, and I’m wrapping them up for my mom tomorrow. Well… I’ll probably not bother with wrapping since my mom reads this blog religiously and will already know. So happy early Christmas, Mom!

There are many more options out there for printing your Instagram pics. These are just a handful I’ve had the chance to try out and really love. Whether you print them for photo albums, or you turn them into wall art, make sure you get some of your favorite Instagram pics off your phone and into your home soon. They are even more beautiful without a screen between you and them.

While we’re on the subject of Instagram, you can follow me @BabyRabies. And here are a few of my favorite apps for Instagram pics for the iPhone:

  •  Snapseed– Love using this app for when I need to get detailed with adjusting the white balance and brightness of photos.
  • Camera Plus– This is my go-to app for iPhoneography. I take pics in this first, then adjust the settings (usually adjusting my exposure by choosing the “Backlit” setting), then send it over to Instagram.
  •  VSCO Cam– This is my favorite app for black & white pictures. I love that it replicates a filmy look, and I learned of it from one of my biggest photography idols- Emma Wood- when she guest posted here. 
  •  InstapicFrames– Sometimes you need a few pics to tell a story. Rather than clogging your followers’ feed, try piecing the pictures together in one collage, like what I did with the Printstagram pics above. This is a super easy app to use for that.
  •  Phonto– Easy and customizable way to add text to your photos. Whether you want to caption it, or use it to convey a message, sometimes it’s helpful to have a way to put words on your photos
Did I miss any products or apps that you love? Please share!

*Disclosure- Some of these items I purchased myself, and some were sent to me to review or to demo on Texas Living (I’ll be on Monday, November 19th showing them off!). I wasn’t paid to write about them, and didn’t include a few that I couldn’t personally recommend. Everything I listed above is good stuff, and all the pictures are my own.

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Photography

iPhone and Instagram Inspiration

by Jill
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.

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PhotographyReviews

When 2 Awesome Things Really Love Each Other… (A Blurb/Instagram Giveaway)

by Jill
written by Jill

They make more awesome things.

Like this.

That little nugget of niftiness is a Blurb photo book, made entirely from my Spring/Summer 2011 Instagram pictures, taken on my iPhone.

Do you Instagram? If you have an iPhone, you should. It’s so easy to take fun shots of your day with your phone and edit them with really cool filters. Plus, it’s FREE! (I think it’s only an iPhone thing, though. Corrected! It’s an iPhone AND iPod Touch thing.)

Blurb has partnered with Instagram to make it *super* simple to link up to your Instagram account and create a book that will take all your Instagram pictures off your phone and put them on paper. It seriously took me about 40 minutes to put the whole thing together. Momma likes!

Books are printed in 7×7 format, and prices for a soft-cover, 20 page book start at just $10.95! (Though mine, shown here, was valued closer to $40 since it’s hard-cover and more pages.)

I loved putting the pictures I took throughout spring and summer in it, but you know what I was thinking would be even cooler? Remember our Ordinary Day In The Life Photo Challenge? How great would it be to take Instagrams throughout your ordinary day, and then print them in a Blurb book?! I think I’m going to have to do that sometime.

Now for the fun! Of course, I’m giving one away to one of you (hard-cover, up to 60 pages). There are NO location restrictions on this one! And all you have to do to enter is:

1. Leave a comment telling me you want this! (Remember, you’ll need to have an iPhone or iPod Touch with the Instagram app in order to make one of these books.)

If you want a few other entries to increase your chances you can:

2. Follow me on Twitter
3. Like me on Facebook
4. Sign up for my newsletter

If you have multiple entries, please leave a separate comment for each one and allow time for moderation. I’ll choose a winner with Random.org Friday, September 30th.

**Disclosure- Blurb provided the book for me and for the giveaway at no charge. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated in any other way for this post. 

Entries are closed. Congrats to Erin, commenter #148, as chosen by Random.org.

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