12 Weeks to Better Photos: Week Three, The Color of Light

Welcome to Week 3 and the Color of Light.  We have been learning about the importance of having enough light in our pictures during the Week 1 and Week 2 lessons.  Now we will be focusing on using the type of light that is available to us.  Check out the pdf of this week’s lesson here.

What is the Color of Light?

All light emits a certain color.  ”Natural” sunlight will be different depending on the time of day or cloud coverage.  The light found inside will vary drastically depending on your light bulbs or even the color painted on your walls.  Your camera will pick up and enhance colors that your eye might not catch causing your pictures to have a much different look than what you had expected.  That is why we have white balance.

What is white balance?

White balance is setting the color temperature of your image.  When you set your white balance, you are showing your camera what is really white. There are two ways to set your white balance.  You are automatically defaulted to Auto (AWB), but your cameras should have other settings built in such as Tungsten, Daylight, and Cloudy.  Your second (and better) option is to manually set your white balance.  Each camera is different, but if you type into the YouTube search box your camera model with “manual white balance” you will find tutorials.  (Canon T3i users, check out this video tutorial.)  ***You will need a piece of white paper or cardstock to manually set your white balance.***

The Assignment: 

Photograph the same subject using various white balance settings (including a custom white balance) to see how your camera adjusts for different types of light.

I have to say that I love my Manual white balance.  It’s a little bit warmer than I thought it should be, but you can see every detail in the picture and it’s not blown out like in Auto.

All in all, this is a pretty easy feature to set up and I’m looking forward to playing around with it some more (especially indoors on my favorite subject… Dax!).

See you all next week for Lesson 4, Flash!

~Christen

12 Weeks to Better Photos: Week Two, ISO & Shutter Speed

Welcome to Week 2 of the 12 Weeks to Better Photos.  Week 1 was all about aperture and this week we will cover the other two parts of the exposure triangle: ISO and Shutter Speed.  You can find the pdf here.

What is ISO?

ISO is the film speed and the setting that determines how quickly your camera will capture an image.  The lower the ISO, the longer it takes for the image to be captured and the more light you will need. When the ISO is higher, you need less light to capture an image quickly. The drawback to a high ISO is noise. When your ISO is higher, you get a grainier photo.

What is Shutter Speed?

Your shutter speed is how quickly the shutter, or the little door that opens in front of your  film or image sensor, operates. It can range from several seconds to 1/1600 of a second or faster. It might help to visualize your shutter literally as a door, with your shutter speed controlling how fast or how slow the door opens and closes.  A faster shutter speed lets in less light and “freezes” action. A slower shutter speed lets in more light and shows motion (or blur). Subjects that move quickly (like kids and pets) will need a faster shutter speed if you want to avoid blur.

The Assignment:

This week’s assignment is to put the camera in Shutter Priority mode (S or Tv) and take pictures of running water in your sink at various shutter speeds.

Okay.  I have HORRIBLE light in my kitchen so I just bumped the ISO right on up to 6400 on my camera.  There’s definitely lots of grain in these pictures, but that’s alright.  You can still see at what point my camera started to “freeze” the water.

Here’s my first picture with the slowest shutter speed:

{1/60 sec, 6400 ISO}

{1/1000 sec, 6400 ISO}

{1/2000 sec, 6400 ISO}

How cool is that third picture?  Not only can you actually see the drops of water splashing off the bowl, but the water coming out of the faucet looks amazeballs!

What I’ve Learned:

1. You can’t do this assignment with your flash.  It took me a minute to figure out that if I wanted super fast shutter speeds I had to ditch the flash.

2. The faster the shutter speed the darker the picture… and hot damn that blows in a condo with crappy lighting.  I have a few more pictures I want to try to take now that I’m learning how to really utilize my shutter speed, but I’m going to have to wait for a super sunny day.

3. Once you’re done this assignment, check out Lesson 2 Part 2 and prepare to have your mind BLOWN!  I love to shoot in Manual, but I always panic when I get outside.  Well HOLY DSLR CAMERA, it all finally CLICKED!  Between my better understanding of the exposure triangle and the nifty little trick with the exposure meter, I can suddenly shoot in Manual outside!  Check me out…

This was what *used* to happen when I took my pictures in Manual outside:

{I kid you not.  Every.Single.Time}

And look at me now…

I’m not over exposed!  OMG!!!  I have a lot more to learn and lots of practicing in my future, but I am so unbelievably happy right now and can’t wait til it gets a little warmer so I can take the Lil Dude out for a fauxtoshoot.

Good luck with Week 2 everyone.  I can’t wait to see your results!  Next week: The Color of Light.

Cheers…

~Christen

Faux Wipes

I have a child who is OBSESSED with the wipes container.  It has gotten to the point where we have to hide our wipes because Dax will get into them if he sees the container.  After watching him attack the container (again!) this past Sunday I had a total ah ha! moment.

I took out my fabric stash, cut up rectangle swatches, and then stuffed everything into an empty wipes container.

Voila!  Bring on the independent play!  I seriously watched my son attack this wipe container for 20 minutes while I sat back and enjoyed my cup of coffee.  Glorious!

{Dax must have ALL THE FABRIC! }

I hope all of your kiddos enjoy this as much as the little dude does!

Cheers!

~Christen

12 Weeks to Better Photos Course: Week One, Aperture

Yay!  It’s a new year and time to better learn my new Canon T3i DSLR camera.  I (and my super awesome March Moms Board) will be taking part in the 12 Weeks to Better Photos course and today officially begins Week One… Aperture.  Check out the full pdf lesson here.

What is aperture you ask?

Aperture is the size of the hole in the camera lens that determines how much light is let in. When the aperture is bigger (or “wider”), more light is let through. The “size of aperture” is your f/stop – it’s how you measure how big the hole is. F/stops can be confusing, because the higher the f/stop number is, the less light is let in.

Along with determining how much light is let in, aperture also controls how much of your image is in focus. A lower f/stop means less of your image will be in focus; a higher f/stop means more of your image will be focus.

Week One Assignment:

This week’s assignment is to take pictures of a fixed subject using various f/stops to show how the change in f/stop alters a picture.

I helped myself to one of my son’s Dax’s teddy bears for this assignment.

{f/1.8, 1/80 sec, ISO 400}

{f/4, 1/80 sec, ISO 400}

{f/10, 1/60 sec, ISO 3200}

Okay.  So there were some big differences here.  The most obvious difference is the level of blur in the background.  I also noticed the differences in light.  You will notice by the third picture I had to do some serious ISO bumping to get a better lit photo.  Also, picture one is a lot warmer due to the higher aperture.

Because I’m anal, I decided to do some tweaking to picture 2:

This was by far my favorite of the three.  I liked the way the bear was focused with just enough background blur.  Because I like warmer pictures, I ran the Pioneer Woman’s “Warmer” action over the picture.  Then I used Totally Rad’s Boutwell Magic Glasses action to give an extra little pop of black.  Love!

Week One Challenge:

Finally, this week’s challenge photo.  All of the March Moms have to take what they learned and apply it to a real subject.  I used my most favorite subject, my son Dax!

{f/4, 1/80, ISO 400}

Nice sharp focus on my subject.  Beautiful blurry background.  BOOM!

I hope everyone has enjoyed Week One, Aperture.  Next week: ISO and Shutterspeed!

Cheers!

~Christen

Operation MILF

I like to joke that 2008 was my year. I was 26, mostly single, and in the best shape of my life. After leaving a bad relationship in September 2007, I went from weighing 200 pounds to 160 pounds in 13 months. I was taking pole dance lessons two times a week and walk/running every other day. I never looked (or felt) so great.

I knew having a baby would be hard, but I never imagined the toll it would have on my body. I didn’t exercise as much. I was more sedentary all day and night. I ate! I never stressed though. I figured how hard could it possibly be to lose the baby weight? Well, 80 pounds gained later, here I am.

{Here I am with Dave at my shower. There were a lot more flattering pictures taken, but I think this really shows me at my heaviest. Eeks!}

I had Dax via c section on March 8th, 2012. I would say the first week I had to have lost close to 30 pounds. It was awesome and I wasn’t even doing anything hard. I was just trying to survive with a newborn. But then my weight stalled. I tried not to stress it out because 30 pounds lost is a SUPER BIG DEAL!!! Over the next few months I started to find my rhythm as a mom. I even lost 5 more pounds. Then I saw this picture of me on Facebook from my Uncle’s birthday party in July.

Holy $&#@!!! That’s me!!! How is that me?!?!? I lost 35 pounds!!!!!!  How am I still HUGE?!?!

Well, 35 pounds is all great and good, but I was 253 pounds right before I had Dax. I was 174 when I got pregnant. That’s a 44 pound difference. In my head, I knew I still looked different, but it didn’t really hit home until I saw this picture. I was still eating like crap and I was no longer exercising. What did I think would happen?

It was after this that I decided to start Operation MILF. I knew I had a long journey ahead of me and if I didn’t do it with a sense of humor, I would break down and cry. I started (trying) to wear a little bit of makeup every day. I bought new and flattering clothes even though they were two sizes bigger than prepregnancy. I now drink more water. I also started journaling my food intake.

I love my son, but I lost a big part of my identity when I had him. I knew it was time to reclaim myself. Yes, I’m no longer the same woman I was last year, but that doesn’t mean I can no longer be happy with myself as a woman, not just as a mom.  I spend a lot of time on Pinterest looking at healthy transformation pictures and now I want to make 2013 the year that I can show my transformation pictures.

In December I decided it was time to take my healthy routine to a whole new level.  I’m tracking my calories through LoseIt and started using a Fitbit Zip to help keep me more active during the day.  I am in love with Back on Pointe and her amazeballs workouts!  This lady seriously keeps me motivated to exercise!  And speaking of motivation, I joined DietBet.com to keep me on track with my weight loss during these cold winter months.  It’s a whole lot easier to step away from the cake when you know you have money on the line!

I’ve lost 8 pounds since December and am really feeling great!  I’m motivated and positive and excited to keep on making steps towards all my goals.  I still have a lot of work ahead of me, but in the meantime, here’s a little attention whore post to show off my progress…

Stats:

Height: 5’10
Weight: 199
Weight loss to date: 54 pounds

~Christen

No Sew Fabric and Duct Tape Purse

I love fabric and I love duct tape.  I especially love super easy, cost effective, crazily creative crafts for teen girls.  The No Sew Duct Tape and Fabric Purse was another of my recent library program successes.  I found my pinspiration here and cannot say better things about the directions found on Gem Fatale’s Style Blog.  My library tweens and teens loved this program and we plan to make more purses in the near future.  My only suggestion: when doing this project with a group of tween and teen girls have LOTS AND LOTS of duct tape on hand.  Oh. Em. Gee.  Six girls used up five rolls of duct tape!!!

{I love my key fabric!!!}

I hope you all enjoy this truly fantabulous no sew craft!

Happy pinning…

~Christen

No Sew Flower Headband

I think the thing I love most about Pinterest is that it’s brought my teen programs up to a whole new level.  I’ve been a Young Adult (or teen) librarian for four years now and as my kids have grown up and gone away to college, I’ve noticed my program attendance was starting to slip.  When the same old stuff wasn’t working, I knew it was time to try something new.  Obviously, I love crafting.  My last group of teens did not.  Wellllll… it turns out I suddenly have a group of tweens who LOVE to craft, just like me!  WOOT!  So now I scour Pinterest looking for the perfect teen crafts. 

This past summer we made No Sew Flower Headbands as inspired by this Pin.  It was a great success and I thought quite easy to make.  The only tricky thing was the hot glue gun for 12 year old hands.  We had LOTS of burns.    Whoops.  But if you’re good with a hot glue gun, you should have no issues at all.  Check out Little Miss Momma’s blog for her very easy to follow tutorial.  This project is sure to please girls of all ages.

And an Instagram picture of moi rocking my new flower headband:

Love. Love. Love. <3

Happy pinning…

~Christen