Growing Up in Mommy's Viewfinder

I am happy to have captured this photo of my youngest daughter, Logan. It was the very first time she successfully blew bubbles. It saddens me though, that I only saw it through my camera's viewfinder. 

With our kids growing up so fast, is better to capture the moment or live in the moment? I would like to find a good balance of both.

Logan's First Bubbles

These were taken during the final week of the Photo A Day class. We took a trip out of town and visited with good friends. I broke the big camera out far fewer times, but was able to get these shots of the kids blowing bubbles. I love the trees in the reflections. Bubbles are so magical!

POP!

Some other moments captured on the playground at the girls' school:

A portrait of Ms. Avis; a beautiful and kind teacher with endless patience.

Two beautiful and sweet sisters.

Ring around the rosie 'til we all fall down.

King Street & Dance - I love this town!

King Street Photos

For class this week, we went for a true photojournalistic trip down the main shopping drag in Charleston, King Street. We were told to include detail shots and find interesting reflections, as well as wider shots that give you a more complete picture.

I went a little crazy on the reflections & architecture but my people photos didn't turn out so well. Everyone looked uncomfortable in front of my camera.

Like this dude. 

Note to self: Work on stealth ninja techniques. 

This one of my classmate, Bonnie turned out pretty well, but it was posed... so I broke the rules.

Random fact: in the US, you have the right to photograph anyone in public for artist purposes.

Dance

I had a unique opportunity to photograph a jazz class during an open house event at DANCEFX alongside the staff photographer, Ryan Woolsey. His work with dancers is really cool. Check out his website and the DANCEFX website at the bottom of this post. 

Working with my Canon Rebel XTi which has major limitations with it's ability to work in low light. 

The maximum ISO setting I can use is 1600, and at that setting, I get major "noise" or speckles in the darkest areas). Nonetheless, it was fun to capture some movement using a slightly slower shutter speed (most stop action shots should be around 1/250th of a second or faster, due to the low light and aforementioned limitations with my ISO settings, I had to use settings around 1/30-1/80th of a second which, fortunately allowed a little artistic blur to communicate the movement. The one below was taken with a 70-200mm ("zoom") lens  1/80th of a second exposure  at ISO 1600 (maxing out my camera's sensitivity in low light) and an aperture of f/5.6 This one caught the action I wanted, but unfortunately my focus point fell to the wall behind her. Dough!

Here are a few other shots from this class. Both were taken with the following settings: 

f/2.8, ISO 1600, 1/100 sec

These shots were all taken during the annual Spoleto Festival, so I snapped a shot of this huge banner along upper King Street.

Well put, banner maker, well put.

Thanks to these cool peeps for letting me crash their dance class and take some photos!

Ryan Woolsey Dance Photography

DANCEFX of Charleston

And the winner is.. the iPhone camera

Week 4 of the Photo A Day photojournalism class at the Charleston Center for Photography, taught by Alice Keeney. 

Check out Alice's website 

It has been said that the best camera is the one that is with you. I put that to the test this week by using my iPhone. I deleted most of what was captured, but I was able to get these two pictures (edited only with the "Camera +" app). It so happened that the iPhone camera images had stronger compositions than ones I took with my Canon SLR this week! This one was taken while I was waiting for the bus one morning. I thought the reflection was cool and the texture of the gravel would make a nice contrast in sepia.

  The next one was taken also while waiting for the bus. I was first only going to take a shot of the bus shelter because I liked the repetition in the windows. Then the three women momentarily separated into individual "frames" or compartments and I hit the shutter. Capturing groups of three similar subjects is supposed to be more pleasing to the eye.

Another way to find repetition and pull a composition together is to find things with similar colors and shapes.

Photo A Day - Week 2

This was my favorite photo for the week.  The spot-lit ballerina is my oldest daughter, Avery, who is very proud of how long she can stand on one leg. I was pleased that she was positioned under the light. The exposure was lightened to appear that she was under a spotlight. I also used a "leading line" and repetition of the dancers' feet and legs to (hopefully) bring the viewer's eye to the subject.



Per the advice of my instructor, I tried to keep the subjects simple. So, what simpler subject than my daughter's curls? I wish I could have gotten more of her face in this one.

The one below is from the end of class when the girls await their hand stamps. They can only get their hands stamped if they are seated with their hands on their heads. This was the only time they were actually sitting still! I call this one "Bras de Quatre" (Arms of Four, a play on Pas de Quatre from the ballet, Swan Lake):

I'm not sure why I like this one so much. I can identify with the girl with her head up. It's a trust thing...

Okay, so here is my first attempt at "2nd curtain" (a setting on my camera that tells the flash to wait until the shutter closes. When used with a long exposure, you get a ghosting effect behind the person (if they are moving forward).   Notice the blur behind my daughter, Logan (far left) and above the two girls in front (who are moving down during the exposure). I think it's hilarious that Avery (back row) did not move at all during this shot. Not my favorite image, but different.

This one gives me hope that cool shots are actually possible with a long exposure:

I love this one. She is mugging in the mirror. I entitled this one "Feeling Beautiful."

Here are a few shots I took of my kids on Mother's Day. (My camera does take color photographs!) Avery is perplexed as to why Logan won't hug her. Logan is mad that she stole her mermaid crown and equally perplexed as to why a hug would be appropriate.

Photo A Day: Week 1

As an early Mother’s Day gift this year, I gave myself a photojournalism class (Photo A Day) at the Charleston Center for Photography. My sweet husband and two daughters gave me something equally wonderful and thoughtful, but they don’t realize that the best gift is themselves.  In a way, this class (and my obsession with photography) will help me achieve the level of proficiency that is worthy of documenting my family’s journey. 

 

In this Photo A Day class, we were assigned the task of creating a blog to record our journey in the 6-week long class and beyond. My instructor, Alice Keeney (who is fabulous), has given us great feedback on our work.  We are learning a lot about classic photojournalists, composition and light.  Here is an example of a shot of my youngest daughter during her dance class last week:

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Alice made the following suggestions:

1. Convert to B&W to remove the distracting colors and greenish color cast  (I’ll get you my pretties, and your little dog too!)

2. Focus the attention on her face using a vignette and dodging (lightening) the exposure on her face. Tip: History brush in Photoshop is a wonderful thing!

3. Increase the contrast by adjusting the image levels and correcting in curves.

This is the result:

 Still a work in progress. She also suggested capturing motion by slowing down the shutter speed and trying a "2nd curtain" a.k.a. "rear curtain" setting on my Speedlight. I'll post more on that for Week 2.

Here are some other photos from dance class last week:

Other highlights of the week: Cinco de Mayo

And, I saved the best for last. I had a wonderful opportunity to photograph a friend's newborn baby. She is precious!

My Other Hats: Science Geek & Ballet Teacher

I have worked in the cancer research field for over a decade. My data recording methods have always involved some form of photography; from microscopy of fluorescing cells to 3D MRI image stacks to pancreatic tumors that glow like fireflies. My job has always involved generating the best captivating image of my observations. In many ways, scientific technique is an art form (ask any scientist who has developed autoradiography film in a dark room and they will concur).

Besides photography, my major artistic outlet has been ballet. I started out as a dance and biology double-major in college. By the time I finished my degree, and reality set in, I was a biology major with a dance hobby.  I still dance, but just once a week as an instructor for an introductory ballet class for adults. Since this is the only ballet class at this particular facility, we have students from all experience levels.  Some have danced since they were itty bitty, and some have never taken a single dance class in their lives.  These brand new students often share their self-doubt and foolish feelings from trying ballet as an adult. "How can I stand here next to these ballerinas and look half as graceful?" they would tell me. My response would be, "Watch. Learn. Then, be patient with yourself."  These things take time and commitment.

Learning a new art is so much like learning how to walk for the first time. It takes time to build your strength, lots of perseverance and, unfortunately, a lot of falling flat on your butt.

I can empathize with these students when I compare myself to other photographers. Indeed, how can I stand here next to these amazing artists and perform half as gracefully?

Then I can take my own advice... which is sometimes the hardest pill to swallow:

Watch, learn and be patient with myself.

Photomama

Almost five years ago, my first daughter was born.  The first week of her life was exhausting, exhilarating and everything I had ever (and never) imagined it would be. One sleep-deprived night - after she fed for what seemed like the twentieth time that day - I looked down at my little girl, ran my hand over her soft newborn hair and wished, with every ounce of my being, that I could keep her that small and sweet forever. The next morning, we had her first of many photo shoots. Bright morning light poured in the window. Baby laying on daddy’s hands over a soft white blanket. I still get choked up looking at this picture and seeing her eyes looking back at me - that old soul saying, "see Mom, you can have me this small and sweet forever".

I took my first online photography class during my maternity leave. I craved a better understanding of "painting with light" and immersed myself in the subject. Once my daughter started moving, my patience with my point & shoot camera was wearing thin. The shutter speed was never fast enough. I had no control over the image other than where I was standing and when I pushed the button. I yearned to achieve those amazingly sharp images that are only consistently possible in manual mode. For my 31^st birthday, my husband purchased my first digital SLR camera and I never looked back.