30 Day Photography Challenge: Day 26 | Close-Up

Today was the first day of the Early Childhood Development Music class I am taking my youngest to.  He loves music.  And I am loving this chance to spend one on one time with just him.  I honestly can't say how often that has happened, and this chance to just focus on him is amazing.  Not to mention I love to see him boogie.

For today's challenge, I could have gone all macro.  What is more close up than an awesome macro shot?

Then I went to class, saw how this little kid of mine reacted to the music around him, and knew I had to take some photos.  As I was going through them once we got home, I decided I wanted to use one of the shots from class as my close-up shot.

It isn't macro.  It is just his little hands, dirty finger nails and all, exploring a new instrument.
Honestly, that is close-up to me.  It is a moment.  A memory.  A snapshot of a first.

I love music.  I grew up being a part of choirs.  Training in musical theatre.  Taking private voice and piano lessons.  My Dad and I have fun making up random songs together with no purpose, singing the words as they come to mind.  I always have a song in my head.  Always.

Seeing how much my son is already embracing music... It means so much to me.
Seeing him boogie... makes my day.

30 Day Challenge: Day 24 | Animal

For today I wanted to photograph a real, live animal.  Sadly, I couldn't get my clicky fingers on any.  I was bumming at first, until I went to play with my son.  I mentioned in a previous post about my son's love obsession with Meow.  This stuffed toy cat is real to him.  Sometimes more real than an actual cat.  After thinking about it, I realized:  How could I say no to photographing Meow?

We got Meow for my son just after he his the big one year mark.  It has now become a family tradition to take our kids to Build-A-Bear when they turn one, and my son was the one to set it.  We thought we would get him something cute.  Another toy for the stack.  Little did we know that the fluffy, sparkly snow leopard he chose, stuffed, and fluffed would become a permanent part of our family.

Now tatty, tattered, and loved beyond understanding...

Three years later, and Meow Merritt is the cat we never had.

Meow's voice box recently died.  Too much meowing for this kitty.  Luckily, my good friend Tiffany knows how to sew (Okay, I am artsy.  But sewing was the art form that never, ever stuck.)  She came over today to perform a voice box transplant on Meow.  

My son hovered over her the entire time.  Holding Meow's hand.  Talking to Meow.  Kissing the heart and putting it back in.  By the time the surgery was over, he was beaming as he held his Meow and heard her actually say 'meow' for the first time in too long.

What a moment to capture.

We forget that reality is all objective to children.  A cat doesn't have to be living, breathing, and shedding to be one of the most important pets (and friends) in the world.  How fun and touching it is to take a moment and capture this world in a photograph.  To remind them years down the road that the ratty cat toy sitting dusty on their shelf used to be their best friend in the entire world.

I wonder if my imaginary friends miss me.

Goodness, I love this little boy.  I love his imagination.  His excitement for life.  His adventure and spirit.
And yes, I love Meow.

30 Day Photography Challenge: Day 20 | Bokeh

Bokeh.  Bokeh bokeh bokeh.

I most likely sound like I have lost it, huh?

According to Wikipedia, bokeh is "the blur or the aesthetic quality of the blur,in out-of-focus areas of an image."

According to all you normal folk... Bokeh is that cool polka dot affect.

In all actuality, bokeh isn't only those awesome out of focus polka dots that look like a party.  It is anything set out of focus by your camera.  Mainly, your aperture.  The more open the aperture, the better chance to get awesome bokeh.

Set up some Christmas lights or the such in the distance, and the bokeh becomes polka dots.

Voila.

I decided to peruse around the internet and read/listen to various tutorials on bokeh.  (Look at that, Jenni is learning.)  After gathering notes and ideas, I set up my hallway to become a bokeh studio.  Let me tell you, it was quite fun.  Christmas lights, a stool, a jar, a black blanket, and my handy tripod.  I was in bokeh heaven.

I love the magical, fire fly like aspect I managed to catch.  

All thanks to my 50mm, f1.8 lens.  I love you lens. *moment*

Now I am on a bokeh high and wanting to find more chances to explore this awesome photography trick.

And no, don't ask me how to pronounce it.  No one quite knows how. 

BOKEH.

After I had exhausted my hallway, I set up another bokeh studio in my bathroom.  The candle I photographed means alot to me.  I made it on the Pioneer Trek I attended when I was fourteen.  That trek made a huge, important impact in my life.  This candle I keep in a sconce above my bed.  And photographing it in all the bokeh heaven... I had a moment.  I will admit it.


I love this shot (though it didn't quite win for my photo of the day) and even had some fun adding words to it for a little sentimental affect.  Seriously thinking of printing it now, hanging it, remembering it.  Here I go, having a moment again...

30 Day Photography Challenge: Day 18 | Your Shoes

Unlike the stereotypical girl who has a closet filled to the brim with every shoe imaginable, I have never been the biggest shoe nut.  Don't get me wrong.  I love shoes.  And I do have a good selection of pretty foot coverings at my disposal.  But when it all comes down to it, I tend to op for the comfy running shoe or simple flip flop over anything else.

My friend Heidi has decided to stop at nothing else to ban my flip flops.  It's true:  They aren't the cutest shoe.  Unless you are on the beach, they tend to be far from photogenic.  So, with help from her insisting, I have actually been working on upgrading my shoe collection.

I could see this turning into a very bad habit.

For today's challenge, I decided to photograph my current flats collection.  I love flats.  Simple and comfy like flip flops, with actuall feminine flair.  (Though after doing this challenge I have realized I need more colors than just blue and black, and one floral.  Hmm...)

It was fun running up and down the stairs, positioning my shoes, snapping the shots.  I think my neighbors are starting to get used to this crazy woman who stands outside to photograph the sky directly overhead, tramples through the bushes, poses on the lawn in front of their living room windows... and now photographs shoes on the staircase.  Shame is something photographers are just not allowed.


Oh, and while on the topic of shoes, here's a tip for photographers:

• Invest in a good pair of shoot worthy shoes.  I mean sturdy, good traction, comfy and flexible.  Running shoes tend to do best.  I have a pair of black ones that currently get slapped on my feet for every shoot.  Trust me, you need it.  I did a shoot once in flip flops, and it ended badly.  Very, very badly.  (That deserves a post of its own... ouch.)

Thank you Heidi for giving me a new addiction.  Time for a shoe run?  I think so!

30 Day Photography Challenge: Day 17 | Technology

I had great plans for today's challenge.  Great, awesome plans.  But, true to how technology is, my plans hit a blue screen of "creative death" and just didn't work.  So I had to hit restart and try something else.

My hubby is a total computer nut.  He builds his own tower.  Drools over metal and plastic parts that mean nothing to me.  Spends most of his free time with his true love (aka the computer) and I honestly do not think he could live without.

Don't get me wrong.  I love technology.  Obviously.
But I cannot compete with him.

I originally aimed for some macro shots of a spare motherboard we happen to have lying around.  (Yes, we have spares like that everywhere.) While the shots were interesting, they turned out to be far from what I had envisioned.  So I scraped the idea.  Sat back... thought... had a hard drive mental failure... hit my head a few times... Then finally the photo came to me.

Out came my typewriter.  And a mouse.  And voila, there she was!  This was inspired by a photo I have hanging over my desk that I bought online.  While I love it, I always think that I could easily get a similar shot myself.  If not to show off, just for fun.  So today became the day.

And of course it called for a vintage edit.  It is a typewriter.  Duh.

After I got the shot, I decided to play around with a stack of towers we have sitting in the living room.  See?  Computer nut.  That's my husband.  Who else would have towers laying around?  He is working on digging into them and building a working computer for a friend.  When I saw them I knew I needed a shot.

Technology has come such a long way.  So long, that now we cannot live without it.  Remember when computers were solely word processors?  With floppy disks that actually flopped?  Or (okay, past my time here) when the computer was something called... a typewriter?  Remember writing with a pen?

Where will technology take us next?
I bet I could ask my hubby and he would give a good prediction...

 And, for fun... The line up of some technology evolution:

30 Day Photography Challenge: Day 11 | Something Blue

Something blue.

I sat back and looked around my apartment.  Sure, I have a ton of blue items.  Blue is one of my favorite colors, and it is everywhere.  But I didn't want to snap a photo of a cup or shirt and call it good.  As I have said time and again, I want the photo to mean something.

Then I spotted my son playing.  For his birthday, we gave him a bunch of small Mario figurines.  He loves them.  He carries them everywhere with him, plays with them, talks to them.  (Score with the awesome parent points for picking a gift he adores!)  After watching him for a moment, I decided to take some photos.

Mario has blue pants.
I kept the focus on that... then snapped away.

The final product I ended up with made me pretty happy.  These are little candid shots of my four year old doing what he loves: Imagining.  If only you could have heard the running commentary as he played with these toys.  These are some of the moments I will miss the most.

And must have the photos of, to help me remember.

I ended up shooting a little bit with a few different lenses.  I used my 50mm for a bit.  Then switched over to my 18-55mm kit lens.  Sure, it is a kit lens.  But I still love the shots I get with it.  And finally I slapped on my macro adapter for the lens and got up nice and close.

Upon seeing my photos, my son happily clapped his hands and exclaimed: "Oh Mom, I love it!  It's my Mario!  Mama mia!"

30 Day Photography Challenge: Day 10 | Childhood Memory

I was always a very social, very active child.  I believed everyone was my friend, and never seemed to run out of personality.  My parents told me that even when I was a baby, I would smile at a total stranger until I got their attention.  Then I would move onto the next audience member, making sure everyone was keeping their attention on me.

I loved attention.  If you can't tell.

So when I was eight, my parents decided to have me audition for a Missoula Children's Theatre production.  This is a company that travels around the country in little red trucks, auditioning kids and performing a play with them in only one week.  My parents thought it would be a good outlet for me.  Little did they know that they had just introduced me to one of my life long obsessions.

Theatre.

From that point on, I auditioned for every MCT play that came to town.  I lived for those weeks each summer that I got to perform on stage.  As soon as I hit middle school, I swamped myself in the drama program.  I loved the stage.  The costumes.  The pretending.  And yes, the attention.

Once I got into high school, I was given the chance to audition for the MCT Performing Arts Camp.  And I got in.  This camp accepts a few hundred kids from the US, Canada, and Japan.  Then for two weeks we live, eat, and breathe theatre along the shores of Flathead Lake, Montana before performing our production on the University of Montana stage.

I loved it.

I was only able to afford going twice, but this made a huge change in my life.
Theatre made a change in my life.  It taught me confidence.  Bravery.  Conviction.  How to be a team player... and how to steal a crowd.  I know a large part of who I am boils down to theatre.  And I miss the stage every day.

MCT will always be a part of my life.  I cannot wait for the day that my children are old enough to audition for the one week play.  I cannot wait for them to learn what I learned, for me to see them shining on the stage, to know that once again MCT has been given a chance to make a difference in a child's life.

This teddy bear is the one I bought my last year of MCT PAC.  It reminds me of so many amazing childhood memories.  Amazing people, amazing lessons... amazing curtain calls.  I love this little teddy bear.

And to add more to today's challenge, I tried a vintage edit.  Vintage is something I rarely ever do, but it felt right for a memory photo.  Memories...

If you haven't heard of MCT and would like to learn more about this amazing company, click here.

30 Day Photography Challenge: Day 7 | Fruit

Today's challenge was simple: Fruit.  

While I could have just grabbed the lemon and orange we have here at home and snapped an easy photo, I decided to do something a bit different.  So while the kiddos were having snack with Daddy, I hopped over to the nearby grocery store.  Camera in hand.

This was quite an experience.  Not so much the fact that I was photographing fruit.  Honestly, there really isn't anything exciting about that.  But plopping myself right in the middle of strangers while still focusing on my job at hand... That was the challenge.

Not to mention the store was doing their crazy Easter egg parking lot hunt, so the place was swarming.

At first I tried to be inconspicuous.  Hiding my camera between shots.  Pretending to sift through the fruit yet never bagging anything to buy.  Avoiding eye contact.  Avoiding lots of eye contact. 

Come on, I was that strange woman with a camera taking photos... of fruit.

Then I realized: This is my passion, and I am darn proud of it.  Why am I hiding between the stacks of bananas and pineapples acting like my gorgeous camera doesn't exist?

Sure, I got some weird looks.  Some interesting comments...  

"Look... a photographer!" and "Are you a photographer?" (As I am crouching in front of a pineapple with my face pressed into my camera...no, no I am not...)

But I realized that I really don't care.  I was there for a reason.  A reason I love.  And that is nothing to ever be embarrassed about, or hidden.  So I snapped away, proud of my orange and apple shots.

Of course, the photo I chose isn't of actual fruit.  I had to choose it though.  That right there is my humor for you... and hey, it's fruit!  The label says so. *wink*

Here are some more photos... of actual fruit:

30 Day Photography Challenge: Day 2 | What I Wore Today

Honesty time:  I spend most days in pajama pants, baggy t-shirts, and messy hair.  I am a stay at home mom.  And that is the standard uniform.

Lucky for me, I knew some people would be stopping by today.  So I actually had something a little nicer to photograph for my 30 Day Photography Challenge Day 2.  Thank goodness.

Here was my predicament for today:
I never photograph just clothing.

I know I need more practice, being as I have some gorgeous weddings coming up this summer.  So this was a great challenge for me.  I would have loved to hang my clothes off a tree branch or pinned to a drying line.  How awesome would that have looked?

I live in an apartment though.  Which lacks in even having a playground.  I tried shots of hanging the clothing from my back porch, but the lighting there is just "meh" and wasn't working for me.  Not to mention I wanted to use my 50mm again, but on the porch I was way too close to my subject.  So, the clothes ended up being sprawled on the ground.  Which worked.

The morning light was coming in the window and gave me a nice warmth to the photo.  While it wasn't the shot I had imagined for this day, I am still happy with the final product.

Clothing info:

• Just simple jeans.
• My favorite belt that I wear with most every pair of jeans I own.  Can you tell why I love it?
• My Sevenly shirt.  I love this shirt.  Its so comfy.  And the fact that I know a portion of what I paid for it went to something great makes it even better.  If you haven't heard of Sevenly, check it out.

Here is one more shot, just so you can see more of the shirt.  This was from when I was taking it outside.  It is a much softer look, which I do like.  I just wish I had had more space so I could have used my 50mm lens instead of my 18-55mm.  (Oh man, I cannot wait to get my 24-70mm!)