How to Take Your Photo's to the "Next Level"

I love photography.  The world looks different through a view finder.  If you are really "in tune" with your inner-photographer, you will notice things that normal people walk right by....how the sunlight streams through trees, the reflection in a puddle on the sidewalk, the texture of the grass.  I constantly walk around finding beautiful "photos" in my world...even if I don't have the camera with me.  They say that 'pictures are worth a thousand words' and it is because there is no way to describe the joy on a child's face or the tear's of happiness in a brand new mother's eyes the way that a photo can.

My photo obsessiveness was taken to an all time high when I was introduced to scrapbooking.  The new motto became "Pictures are worth a thousand words, but Scrapbooks are worth a MILLION."  I could now take my beautiful photos, make them MORE beautiful with ribbons and backgrounds, add my personal thoughts or a  touching quote, and then I would have a true work of art.

I began to think of my scrapbook as the story of my life.  I often refer to a scrapbook as a 'pictorial journal.'  I could someday give my son and daughter just a photo album of the pictures of them as babies.  But I would rather hand them a scrapbook filled with photos, momentos, and my emotions and thoughts as their mother.  Can you imagine if such a gift was handed down to YOU by your mother?  It truly would be priceless.

This page was created for my daughter's album.  I love the pictures of my two children (even without turning it into a scrapbook page).  But with the addition of my thoughts on their sibling relationship, it takes the photo to a new level.

Journaling:  "He is your protector and your biggest fan.  He will push you harder than anyone else because he loves you and believes in you.  He is your best friend. He is your big brother."







Another example of taking a good photo and making it into a scrapbook is on vacation or trips.  It's hard to remember all the moments of a trip just looking at a photo, but a scrapbook page will help you remember all the details:

Journaling:  "This is Grove Park Inn where we got to stay in Asheville. It is almost 100 years old. Ten U.S. Presidents have stayed here in addition to F. Scott Fitzgerald, Harry Houdini, Will Rogers, George Gershwin, Thomas Edison, Eleanor Roosevelt, Henry Ford, and lots of other celebrities. This photo of the hotel is the view from our room looking up to the main hotel area.  The two smaller photos are of the spa (on the hotel property) that I got to spend the entire day in for my birthday. It is ranked the 13th best spa in the U.S. It has 43,000 sq ft of amazing-ness. It has heated mineral pools with underwater music. They also have "therapeutic" waterfalls that you can stand under and it will massage your muscles.  My favorite was the outdoor hot tub. It was wonderful to sit in hot tub and breathe the cold mountain air. I also got an 80 minute facial was the most amazing 80 minutes of my life!"


If you invest the money in nice cameras, photographers, and photo prints to capture a moment in time, then why not take it to the next level and have a scrapbook to preserve your memories?

Please remember to leave me some comments!  I love to hear from you.  Have any of you ever received a scrapbook passed down from a family member?  What are your thoughts about taking photos to the "next level" in a scrapbook?  Remember to tweet/fb this if you enjoyed it.  I appreciate it so much!

The Art of Capturing Objects

A few of you have mentioned that for the photo challenge you would like to take pictures of OBJECTS but are not sure where to begin on the best way to do that.  I have recently been introduced to Christa Toulson of Adore Photography.  She is a journalistic professional photographer who has graciously agreed to write an article for all of you giving tips and tricks on getting awesome photos!  You can find the article at:

http://www.adorephotogtheblog.com/2011/03/how-to-take-better-pictures-of-objects.html

PLEASE make sure to leave some comments/feedback and thank her for being so kind to help us all out!

Thank you, Christa!!!!

(you can also visit Adore Photography on Facebook, Website, or on Twitter)

Advice from a Dog - Stealing Life from Death

I have determined that the most beautiful element in the art of scrapbooking, is that the scrapbooks are the stories of our lives.  They are about the beauty, fear, happiness, anger, joy, sadness, and love that we have experienced.  They are an artistic representation of our journey.  They are a pictorial journal.  They are our legacy.  


This morning, my Grandmother is on my heart and my mind.  While I woke up to an absolutely GORGEOUS spring day, she was headed in for surgery while battling pneumonia.  While I was breathing in the fresh air on my walk, she was breathing in an oxygen mask.  While I was listening to the birds chirp, she was listening to the beeping of the heart monitor.  Oh the things in life we take for granted.


I have recently finished a book titled "The Art of Racing in the Rain" by Garth Stein.  This book is narrated by a dog.....a most profoundly deep and insightful dog.  As I read through it I found one enlightening quote after another.  This morning, as I thought of my Grandmother and the moments we take for granted, I was reminded of one of the greatest quotes from the book.

 "To live every day as if it had been stolen from death, that is how I would like to live. To feel the joy of life. To separate oneself from the burden, the angst, the anguish that we all encounter every day. To say I am alive, I am wonderful, I am. I am. That is something to aspire to."

Tears of  gratitude filled my eyes as I allowed the words to absorb into my heart.  For this scrapbook page I choose to not include a photo.  I wanted the observer to not be distracted with a photo, but instead be struck by the beauty of the words and what those words mean to them.  I want to live by those words.  I want them to be the story of my life.  I want people to look through my scrapbook, my journey, my pictorial journal, and see that I lived each day as if it had been "stolen from death."  What will your scrapbook have in it?

(As always, please comment or share this on fb/twitter.  I would love to have your feedback!)

FREE Photo Editing Software - How to make your photographs look like the professionals

Probably FIFTY times a month (that may be a slight exaggeration) I get asked by Mommies, "What software do you use for your photo editing and scrapbooks?" Deep down I slightly wince every time I am asked.  It isn't that I am opposed to sharing this information.  It is that I use a  program called Adobe Photoshop.  For those of you who use (or have attempted to use) Photoshop, you understand my hesitation in suggesting this software to the work 40-hours-a-week-with-3-kids-soccer-Mom with her point and shoot camera.  For those of you who have never heard of or used Photoshop, let me get you up-to-date....It's "da BOMB."  It is the ultimate super star in photo and graphic arts software.  It will do EVERYTHING except your laundry (it may even do that and I just haven't found a tutorial on it yet).  The downside to it?  It is highly complex.  It will be your best friend and your worst enemy.  There are students who have gone four years of college using Photoshop to get a graphic arts degree and STILL do not know how to use it to 100% of it's capabilities.  Not only that, Adobe is proud of it's products (and should be) so you will pay a pretty penny for it.  All that being said, if you are willing to invest the time and money Photoshop is the ultimate software.

However, for those people who ACTUALLY have lives and do not want to commit 3 hours every evening "playing" with photos in Photoshop (I know I am a geek), I have the solution for you....Picnik.

The first thing I like about Picnik is that does a great job of encouraging the user to "play."  For instance, I can go from making my photo black and white to a sepia tone with the click of a button.  While many online photo editors give you those options, Picnik gives you THIRTY-SEVEN of them....and that's just for filters.  There are hundreds of other options for effects.

Picnik also does a great job of balancing the "professional" side with the "fun" side.  Many professional photographers use Picnik because it is so simple to use.  I can remove red-eye and add a soft filter on my photograph in Picnik much more quickly than I can in Photoshop.  However, the software is still something that is fun and easy for kids to use because there are digital stickers, text, and fun frames that can be added to the photos.

For those of you who use social media (and who doesn't?) Picnik can import photos from your social media site and export them directly to your site.  Which means I can sit down at ANY computer, load one of my Facebook photos directly into Picnik, edit it, and export it back to Facebook, MySpace, Flickr, Photobucket, Webs, Picasa Web Albums, etc. so they can be seen instantaneously.

Picnik provides online forums for users to find out more "how to" information or discuss creative ideas with other Picnik users.  It has a very in-depth FAQ section to help you with any questions you may have.  However, Picnik is so user-friendly most people I know have never even needed it.

The best part about Picnik?...it is free.  You do not even need to register to use most of their features.  There is a premium package that can be purchased at $4.95 for 1 month, $19.95 for 6 months, and $24.95 for 1 year.  This package will allow you to use more of Picnik's advanced features such as airbrushing and manually adjusting the levels of a photo.  For me, the $24.95 for a year is worth it.  But again, I am a photo geek who will spend hours playing with photos.

I have used this for about 4 years now and have not been able to find any other software that is more user-friendly and versatile than Picnik.  It is the perfect software from the amateur who just wants to remove red-eye, to the professional who needs to remove elements with the clone tool.  Come over to the "dark side" with the rest of us photo geeks and upload and play with a photo.  You can find Picnik at www.picnik.com

I would love to know if any of you have used Picnik and what your thoughts are on it.  Or if you have never tried Picnik before and played with it after reading this amazingly inspirational blog, come back and let me know about your experience.  Has anyone ever run into any challenges using Picnik?  What is your favorite feature on Picnik?  Please share!  As always, please remember to tweet/fb this post if you like it.  Thank you so much!

NEW PHOTO CHALLENGE!!!!

Sometimes we tend to get into a routine with our picture taking.  We have the same photos of the kids playing at the park, opening birthday gifts, standing by the Christmas tree, etc.  Our photos begin to look the same year after year.  Really good scrapbook pages start will really great photographs!!!  This photo challenge is meant to spark your creativity and inspire you to think outside the box.

THE BEST PART???.....you have the opportunity win a FREE scrapbook page layout!!!

Twice a month you will receive an email with the new challenge "idea".  The challenge will usually come in the form of a word (such as "Spring") or a phrase (such as "Once upon a time").  It is up to YOU to interpret the word or phrase however you wish.

Each challenge will last for a two week period.   You may only submit ONE photo for each challenge and must be the sole author and owner of the copyright.   Each photo will need to be emailed to me by midnight of the closing date at order@lovingreflectionsscrapbooks.com so they can be uploaded to Loving Reflections facebook page.

The winners of each challenge are chosen by the photo that has the greatest number of "likes" from the viewers.  Then on a monthly basis, the two winners from the two challenges that month will go head-to-head for a FREE SCRAPBOOK PAGE.  Judging for the monthly winner will be held in the same way that the bi-monthly winners were chosen.

You have nothing to loose!  Stretch your imagination. Challenge yourself.  Unleash your creativity.  I cannot WAIT to see what you can do!!

***MAKE SURE TO ENTER YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS IN THE BOX ON THE RIGHT TO RECEIVE THE NEW CHALLENGE UPDATES!!!***

I'd love to get your feedback!  What do you think?  Are you excited about a challenge or does the thought of it scare you? Please share!!!  And also, please tweet/fb this post if you like it!!  I always appreciate the social love!  Thank you so much!

With love,

Katie

Taste The Rainbow - The Culinary Experiment

Spring Break - Day 2


Today the kids and I had a culinary experiment....to make brightly colored food for Day 2 of Spring Break and pretend there isn't still snow on the ground.  We added food coloring to our pancakes. We made Rainbow Rice Krispy Treats.  And we made a yummy dessert of 6 different flavors of Jello.  Afterwards we invited all the neighbor kids over to to gobble them up!  Happy kids = Successful Day 2.

Thank you to the following websites and Mommy bloggers for their inspiration:
Rainbow Jello Desserts - Taste of Home
Rainbow Pancakes - i am mommy
Rainbow Rice Krispy Treats - babble

(*Update* another great "rainbow" recipe I found that we did not get to try were this awesome St. Patrick's day cupcakes - Daily Organized Chaos)

Guess How Much I Love You?

Spring Break - Day 1

So it's Day #1 of Spring Break for my kids.  When planning and thinking about the upcoming time with the kids, I had visions of picnics, walks through the nature center, bike rides, and bar-b-ques.  Because of my  work-a-holic status for the last week or so (see previous post), I felt that THIS week was going to be my mommy redemption time....the time when I would no longer be shunned by the flawless mothers who have their children at the park 3 times a week before taking them home to feed them chicken and broccoli while mine are hurriedly shoving the last Girl Scout Thin Mint in their mouth in preparation for their next battle on Halo 3.  Last weekend I had my mental 'pre-game pep rally' where I convinced myself that 168 hours straight with my kiddos is going to be AWESOME!  Plenty of quality time with my kids, laugher, eating our healthy fruits and vegetables, butterflies and rainbows, and possibly even a unicorn or two.

It was a pipe dream. I woke up this morning with 4 text alerts on my phone that we were under a "Winter Weather Advisory" the high for the day is suppose to be 34 degrees....snow tonight.  Put away the apples, time to pull the Thin Mints back out.

I decided to have a Monday Morning Meeting with the kids since my game plan was now null and void.  After 5 minutes of trying to gather them up, the meeting went something like this:

Me:  Letting out a deep sigh of disappointment, "So guys, it's really cold outside what do you want to do today?"
(long pause of silence)
Kid #1: "NERF GUNS!!!!!!!"  he screamed as he got up and ran out of the room waiving his hands in the air.
I watched him leave with no energy to do anything about it.
(Another long pause)
I took a drink of my tea and looked down at my daughter who was blankly staring at me.
Me:  "Sweetie, what would you like to do today."
Kid #2:  "NOT nerf guns, he always shoots me in the face and it HURTS.  I'm worried that he might get me blinded and then I can't dance ever, EVER AGAIN" she said as she flings her hands down on the grounds and forces tears to fill her eyes (so my daughter MAY have a flare for the dramatic...I refrain from correcting her grammatical errors.)
Kid #1 screams from across the house:  "I do not SHOOT YOU IN THE EYES!"
Kid #2 screams back:  "Uh HUH!!!  Remember, you shot me in the FACE last week when I was on the stairs???"
Kid #1:  "Well....yeah.  I shot you in the face....but you said EYES.  I didn't shoot you in the EYES!!!"

It was at this point I had already made my way to the kitchen and shoved a second Thin Mint in my mouth.  So much for Monday Morning Meeting.

I sat down at the computer to go through my email and noticed our library books were overdue.  The LIBRARY!!  Thankfully my kids LOVE the library.  We began to go through our shelves and shelves of books to try and find the overdue ones to take back when we came across their favorite..."Guess How Much I Love You".  It had been a long time since we had read through that book.  My first grader opened it up and began reading in her slow, monotone first grade reading voice "I....love.....you....as.....ha...ha....hard?"

"High" I replied.

"high....as...I...can.....hop!" she said proudly.  She read the whole book.

I fought back the tears.  I had read that book to my kids when they were just months old and now they could read it on their own.  As always, when I have a "Mommy Moment" like that, I have to scrapbook it. (Yes, I just used "scrapbook" as a verb).  Besides.....reading "Guess How Much I Love You" to my children and scrapbooking it MIGHT get me back into the good graces of the flawless playground mommies.....(might).

Don't forget that YOU are part of the story in your kids lives.  Lots of parents have tons of photos of their kids in their scrapbook, but not many photos of them WITH their kids.  Even the cheap cameras have timers that you can set and then run into the photograph.  Tripods are inexpensive but you can also use anything that is stable and the right height (for this photo the camera was sitting on a dresser with a bunch of overdue library books stacked underneath).

For a photograph challenge, try to think of an activity that you can do with you kids and utilize you camera timer to get in the photograph with them!!

Abby Dance

Click here to view this photo book larger

This is a dance album that I am working on for my daughter.  It is a work in progress

The Importance of the Mundane

Hi, my name is Katie and I am, a work-a-holic.  The side effects of this epidemic are astronomical.  They are even worse when your business is in your home.  I sit down at my desk at 8:00am and the next thing I know it's 7:30pm, my dog is on the verge of getting a urinary tract infection if I don't get her outside STAT, my kids have eaten an entire bag of Cheez-its for "dinner" and they have trouble blinking from watching their 7th episode of Spongebob since getting home from school (wait, what time do they get home from school??).  To add insult to injury, I am slightly dizzy and nauseous from my strict diet of Earl Grey Tea and granola bars which has made my blood sugar rise and plummet all day.

If this wasn't bad enough, I then put my over-carbed, over-stimulated children to bed, let the dog out, upgrade from the Early Grey to a semi-sweet Red, and then sit myself right back down at the computer. By 11:00pm, I have sat at the desk for approximately 13 hours and still have a stack of papers I want to read, websites I want to research, and projects I still haven't even started.

I can see the confused looks on your faces thinking, "WHAT does this have to do with scrapbooking?"  Well....nothing, and everything.  Countless times I have told people that scrapbooks are as unique as each individual.  They are the stories of our lives.  People have preconceived notions that scrapbooks are all about new babies, graduations, and vacations.  While those are important, it is equally important to capture the day-to-day moments.  Even the things that we consider 'mundane' have value in our lives.  Today I wanted to scrapbook an aspect of me, that my kids will probably not remember when they are my age.

So the next time you think that it was "just another day," think again.  There may be an awesome scrapbook page waiting to happen.

Scrapbooking - The Gift of a Legacy

Many people begin scrapbooking or hiring a professional scrapbook artist when they realized that all of their grandparents, parents, and even THEIR childhood photos were shoved in a shoe box in the back of a closet.  The photos had no date, no labels, and worst of all no organization.  How many of us have stood around with our siblings or our parents squinting at a photo trying to figure out if that is your Grandma or her second cousin, Betty standing in front of a lake that may or may not be in Colorado in a summer between the years of 1935-1942?  Can you imagine what it would feel like to have a completed, organized, labeled scrapbook of your grandparents or parents childhood years handed over to you, rather that a messy shoe box?

Aside from organizing the photos another great way to preserve your family history is to conduct an interview with the older generations of your family.  Some great questions to find out are:

1. What is your full name? Why did your parents select this name for you? Did you have a nickname?
2. When and where were you born?
3. How did your family come to live there?
4. Were there other family members in the area? Who?
5. What was the house (apartment, farm, etc.) like? How many rooms? Bathrooms? Did it have electricity? Indoor plumbing? Telephones?
6. What is your earliest childhood memory?
7. What kind of games did you play growing up?
8. What was your favorite thing to do for fun (movies, beach, etc.)?
9. Did you have family chores? What were they? Which was your least favorite?
10. What was school like for you as a child? What were your best and worst subjects? Where did you attend grade school? High school? College?
11. Do you remember any fads from your youth? Popular hairstyles? Clothes?
12. What were your favorite songs and music?
13. Did you have any pets? If so, what kind and what were their names?
14. What world events had the most impact on you while you were growing up? Did any of them personally affect your family?
15. Describe a typical family dinner. Did you all eat together as a family? Who did the cooking? What were your favorite foods?
16. How were holidays (birthdays, Christmas, etc.) celebrated in your family? Did your family have special traditions?
17. How is the world today different from what it was like when you were a child?
18. Who was the oldest relative you remember as a child? What do you remember about them?
19. What stories have come down to you about your parents? Grandparents? More distant ancestors?
20. Are there any stories about famous or infamous relatives in your family?
21. Have any recipes been passed down to you from family members?
22. Are there any special heirlooms, photos, bibles or other memorabilia that have been passed down in your family?
23. When and how did you meet your spouse? What did you do on dates?
24. What was it like when you proposed (or were proposed to)? Where and when did it happen? How did you feel?
25. What memory stands out the most from your wedding day?
26. What do you believe is the key to a successful marriage?
27. How did you find out your were going to be a parent for the first time?
28. What was your proudest moment as a parent?
29. What accomplishments were you the most proud of?
30. What is the one thing you most want people to remember about you?

This information, along with a semi-organized stack of photos is a great beginning to a heritage scrapbook.  

Photo Tips for Toddler Photographs

A GREAT scrapbook page always starts with an AMAZING photo.  But sometimes when you are chasing around a two-year old with a pudding pop melting down his arms, the last thing on your mind is lighting and framing.  All parents know that a photo session with a toddler, whether candid or not, has an EXTREMELY small window of opportunity.  You are only seconds away from a tantrum, a knee scrape, complete boredom, a distraction, or that bully 3 year old on the playground that acts like the lava-hot slide is HER turf.  In other words, you need to move FAST!

GET DOWN

The world looks different from your toddler’s angle and so does your toddler.    Get down on their level to capture those big eyes and adorable faces.  Sometimes this means grass stains on your new “Lucky” jeans, but if you haven’t already learned, being a parent is about sacrifice.

GET CLOSE

I know, I know.  First I ask you to get on the ground and then I ask you to get close?  Chasing a toddler while running on your feet is one thing.  Chasing them around on your knees could be an Olympic event.  But don’t forget you have a handy dandy zoom button.  It is a parent’s salvation for getting awesome close up shots.  All too often I see parents doing the “photo dance” (completely different from the “pee pee dance” but looks similar) trying to get the perfect distance between them and their child.  Unless the background has some sort of significance, fill the photo with your child.

GET OUTSIDE

The best flash in the world cannot compare to indirect lighting from the great outdoors.  I know of some great photographers who shutter (get it) at the idea of using a flash and will ONLY use natural lighting.  Partly cloudy or overcast days are the best (which is good news for the citizens of Seattle) because you avoid the harsh shadows and color washes from the sun.

GET CREATIVE

Kid photos are the most fun when kids get to do what they do best……..be kids.  They do not have to sit pretty, smile, and look at the camera for every single shot.  Let them play, explore, and have fun.  Their emotions will shine through into the photograph.