I got a new camera for the unique purpose of taking cute photos of my kids (and because Best Buy had no-interest financing and Mr. Bennet still felt bad about the belated Valentine’s Day camera I returned last February.) In August Tara and I road-tripped to San Francisco by way of Vegas (not a very direct route, if you’re wondering), where I took a crash course in real photography from Nicole Hill. And what I learned there is that I really don’t want to take photos like Nicole, I want to be Nicole.
But I needed something a little more long-term to cement the aperture and ISO thing, so I started a community ed photo class last night, where I was shocked to see the room full of other thirty-something women with brand-new DSLR cameras who want to take cute photos of their kids.
For some reason my love of technology is not really translating to a desire to memorize the f-stop thirds and shutter-speed intervals, so I worry that our “investment” will pay off sometime in 2028, when Sally makes do with a fuzzy image for her wedding announcement.
But I can’t complain about the quality of the models I have to work with here. Looking at them through a nice lens is about as forgiving of their naturally irritating tics as watching them in sleep.
(Let’s also call these our back-to-school shots, since that actual morning I put the camera on automatic by pointing the arrow at the big A which turns out to be “aperture-priority” or some such nonsense and those didn’t turn out so well. I know Nicole told us to never set our cameras to automatic again, but it turns out I have a latent talent for disregarding instruction.It hardly needs saying that these have not been retouched, as the only thing I hate more than WordPress (which I love! keep working for me, baby!) is Photoshop.)
Mr. Bennet and I can both roll our tongues, so Sally’s genetic virtuosity has not caused any problems.
Susan got her eyes from my mother, who has one brown eye and one green eye (both with gold-ish undertones).
Spot tells me I can only eat her up “a little bit.”
I took out Sally’s stitches right after this picture. They’d scabbed over a bit, so a couple of them I had to finish pulling out while she slept that night, after coating the area in triple antibiotic ointment and promising Heavenly Father I’d never sin again as long as I didn’t have to admit to the InstaCare that I’d tried a bit of homedoctoring.
When we were shopping for backpacks last month, Susan pleaded for a pony play kit similar to one her cousin has. I conceded that her cousins do have lots of pretty shiny toys, then finally in a fit of frustration I said that their daddy doesn’t live with them so sometimes he gets them expensive presents to play with, and wouldn’t she rather have her daddy around all the time, even if it means not having all the latest toys? And Susan said, no, she’d rather her daddy stayed away because she would really like to have that pony stable set.
Spot still has Duane Syndrome.
When we drop Susan off for preschool two days a week, Spot is disconsolate. Once she’s home, the Jane Austen/Louisa May Alcott/Rainbow Valley rejoicing in sisterly affection lasts until Spot bites or Susan hits. Reminds me of the good old days when I used to kick Marcy under the covers at night. Now I kick Mr. Bennet every so often, but it’s not quite the same.
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Firstly, very nice photos. Adorable children. I love the one where Sally is showing her stitches.
Secondly, never use auto? NONSENSE. I have seriously talented professional photographer friends– some with art degrees, even– who use auto regularly.
The following photos were taken with a crappy Olympus, using Auto, using iPhoto for any digital manipulation. But I could have accomplished the same basic thing with Picasa. I’m not saying they are the world’s best photos. Just trying to point out that Auto is most certainly good enough. I have a lot of good photos from an Auto setting and few truly bad ones. You just have to know your lighting.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/becomingsomething/3672704970/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/becomingsomething/3928478179/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/becomingsomething/3929263630/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/becomingsomething/3549405807/
So lucky you decided to take pictures on the day your kids all wore the same color. ;-P. You can tell me to shuttup for my dumb joke. My face is when all 3 girls are laying down in the grass. They are just so cute. And it reaffirms my need for a DSLR. My birthday is Monday.
Stunning photos and extremely cute kids.
those are beautiful pictures! I would LOVE to learn more about photography! I love how you captured the light in their eyes – it makes the colors so brilliant.
Seriously popping blue eyes!
What beautiful girls. Wow!
Those pictures turned out amazing! And of course you had great material to work with! And let me guess….you took these Wednesday? Those shirts are adorable(and the girls wearing them even more so)!
PS Hope I didn’t sound retarded on my comment on your last post. I totally get what you’re saying. I guess I’m just not ready to give in and admit I’m a bad Mom yet. Even though by most people’s standards I probably am.
Breathtaking. Your girls are gorgeous.
Awesome pics. Do you have any tips for how you stop your girls doing silly smiles? Or are they all in the other 700 photos you took?
Jane Reply:
September 20th, 2009 at 10:11 pm
Actually, a couple things I’ve tried are to ask them questions so they move their mouths, and sometimes I tell them to look at something and then look back at me, so it seems a bit more spontaneous. (And yes, I have a bunch of unusable photos, too).
It’s amazing the difference a camera makes! (I’m hoping one day for a camera – nicer than the shoot and click kind) What beautiful children too! Looks like the skills are there. I’ve been learning PhotoShop as well – and like you, get very intimidated by it (as well as WordPress!) I’m sure it will soon come! Looks good so far!!
my girlfriend have green eyes and that is the thing that i always love about her facial features`.-
Aww, I’m so happy I’m not the only person out there that has Duane Syndrome. Your daughter is so beautiful
I’ve been so self conscious about my right eye. It’s nice to know I’m not the only person out there.
Shannon Reply:
January 26th, 2011 at 9:12 am
Thanks. I guess Duane Syndrome is more common than I thought. Do you remember when you first knew you had it? My daughter is four now, and I think she is still completely unaware. I’d like to keep it that way as long as possible, but I’m sure kids will remark on it when she goes to preschool next year.