Fabulous Friday: A super birthday party.

I seriously can not believe that my Jack is turning two tomorrow, and that my twin's baby turns one!  I have been scouring the internet for party ideas, and one of my favorite tools to use is Pinterest.  It's a great tool for keeping all of my favorite ideas in one place.  Through Pinterest, I found some great ideas for scooter parties, dinosaur parties, and cowboy parties.  And the party I definitely want to try (next year?) is the Superhero party!  Hey, it gives me an excuse to dress like Wonder Woman. 

I think this whole party is amazing. You have to go see the whole thing on her blog! 

Have a fabulous weekend.

xo

Kristen

Minty-Fresh Monday: Happy Fourth of July!

Mint (adj.) meaning new, fresh, sweet, brilliant, awesome.

Happy Birthday, America!  I hope you have a fantastic day!  My family and I are lucky enough to be having a block party today, so I get to make chili and cookies and watch fireworks without leaving my own yard.  Nothing better than that!

And speaking of birthdays, I have a little man who turns two this month.  So I thought I'd start our tip series with something that is unusual for me: posing your child.  You see, I'm big on capturing moments and it is honestly very rare for me to pose my children.  Even when I do a family session, it's more about chasing kids around than posing them.  However, there are times when you actually do want to get someone to stay still and smile.  

I got a burst of inspiration this week when Jack grabbed one of his daddy's shirts and tried to put it on.  I saw Jack in that man-sized shirt and inspiration struck.  I brought him downstairs to our "library" and propped him in a chair so he looked like a businessman at work.  

Now here's a quick word about light.  We'll talk more in depth about it in future posts but here's a tip: if you are indoors, open blinds and curtains and place your subject near a window.  These photos are all un-edited, straight out of the camera, just to show kind of light you can get without a flash. Click on individual photos to get a closer look:

So what's the trick to getting young kids to stay (relatively) still?  Give them something novel to hold and play with.  Don't want a giant Buzz Lightyear toy in your photos? Try a sticker (easy to hide with the right angle) or bubbles (photogenic).  For older kids, tell corny jokes, stories or ask them questions about themselves (girls always love to tell you what their favorite colors are).  Sometimes kids will even sit still if you promise to let them see their picture.  Snap a shot, flip your camera around and show your subject how great they look.  And never forget the power of a good bribe!  A promised cookie goes a long way to getting the photo you want!!!  I should also add that I made sure to get my settings right before I even put Jack in the chair.  That and lots of practice shooting on the fly helped me get these shots before he scrambled onto his next adventure. 

Try these tips today, and please share!  I'd love to see your photos.  Make sure you get each lesson,by become a fan of my Facebook page or subscribe to the blog by clicking on the right.  See you next Monday for more Minty-Fresh Tips!

xo,
Kristen 

Minty Fresh Monday: Mom Tips- Top 5!!!

Welcome to Minty Fresh Monday! Mint (adj.) meaning new, fresh, sweet, brilliant, awesome.

Hello, brilliant moms and dads!  I'd like to share a post that I did for the very first Mom Tip Monday on Babysteals.com. 

I'm so excited that Angie asked me to share my top 5 tips on photographing your family.  I know that as parents, you 

want to have gorgeous photos of your children that will become gorgeous heirlooms in the future. As a mommy and a

photographer, I know how hard that can be.  So, I'm here to help.  I give you my top 5 tips on getting great photos that

you will cherish for a long time. 

#1. Capture details. 

Get closer to your child. I once had a mom tell me before our session that she just loved her boys' eyelashes and feet. 

Guess what I tried to focus on? Yup. Adorable feet and long eyelashes. One of my favorite things about my son is his 

little Buddah belly. Think about it. If you know what your favorite features are, use that to your advantage! Focus

on those things and try to highlight them in your photographs. 
 
#2. Lighting is everything. 

If you are fortunate enough to have a DSLR camera, the best thing you can do for yourself is learn how to use it. Turn

it to the manual setting and don't look back. I found a wonderful resource for learning how to shoot manually at digital

photography school.  Trust me, it will make all the difference in your photos. If you don't have a DSLR, or

you're just too afraid to learn how to use it, at least try one thing: take your subject outside. Get some extra gorgeous 

light during the "magic hours" of sunset and sunrise. Turn off that flash, please.  
 
#3. Get a different angle. 

Walk all around your child while allowing them to play. Get high. Get low. Experiment. Snap a shot, and then try

another shot from a different perspective. 
 
#4. Keep learning. 

Keep practicing. Have a camera with you as much as you can.  Even if it is just thecamera that comes with your

phone, you will still begin to learn how to best captureyour child.  Practice framing and looking for light. 

Practice looking for moments and it will translate to your "real" camera, too. As a full time teacher, I assign 

homework all the time. Do you know what homework really is? It's extra practice. And guess what? The kids 

who practice more are the kids who make the most gains. You will get better if you keep practicing. For both of

my son and my daughter, I took a photo of them every day. Now, that's quite a commitment that I can't expect

everyone to make. But I think it would be a fantastic goal to try to take one photo each week. That's do-able 

right? If you'd like to join me, I'll make a weekly challenge on my blog where I'll share tips, and you can share 

your questions and photos with me. 

#5. (I like to save my favorite for last.) Capture real moments, not "dress-up-and-say-cheese."

If your family is anything at all like mine, they don't dress up and say cheese very often.  If your

family makes messes, runs around nekkid, jumps in puddles, or creates works of art, then capture THOSE 

things. Let them play, and just keep snapping.  Chase them around! It's fantastic exercise! (Do your children 

really stay still and "cheese" all the time? Mine don't.)  You'll get something you love.  Chances are, the photos 

of your child making a mad face or wrestling with their brother will resonate with you more in 10 years than a 

photo of them standing stiffly in their itchy Christmas sweater will. 

I hope these tips have been helpful, and I hope you've been inspired to get out

and shoot!  Come join the weekly adventure on my blog!

Xo, 
Kristen

**Featured on**

Through The Viewfinder.

A few years ago, I stumbled across a type of photography that was really intriguing to me. I kept seeing these square images with ghostly, haunting qualities to them- it reminded me of film photographs, and of the slides I used to look at when I was a kid.  Check out this group on Flickr to see what I'm talking about.  I found out that this photography was called Through The Viewfinder, or TTV.  The photographer took their camera and aimed it at the viewfinder of an old film camera, like a Kodak Duaflex.  So, it's essentially a picture of whatever the Duaflex (or other camera) is aimed at.  I fell in love with the idea and had to try it out for myself.  I purchased a Duaflex on Ebay, which set me back a whopping $20 or so, and started to construct something that would block the light.  I found this amazing tutorial from Russ Morris and I have to tell you, it was so much fun!!! 
Here are some of my resulting photos:

As always, I love sharing.  If you've tried TTV, please show me what you've done!  If you haven't tried, go ahead to the Flickr pool, and tell me some of your favorites.  Have a fabulous week.
xo,
Kristen