I've been teaching a little photography class to some of my neighborhood friends. I love spending an evening with them here and there and their questions never fail to make me think about how I shoot photos and how best to explain photography to them in a practical and usable way.

Part of my challenge is that I love the tech side of photography. Oh those the gadgets! I can't get enough of them. Strobes, wireless triggers, remotes, shake reduction, lenses, filters, megapixels...gimme, gimme, gimme! On top of that, I love studying the science of light. I can spend hours reading about the inverse square law, balancing light sources, guide numbers, the way light bounces around a room, the color quality of different light sources, the way the lens bends the light to create different effects. I could go on, but I'm already rambling and I think you get the idea. I am not saying I actually understand all of that, just that I like to study it. I fear in my enthusiasm for details, some of my presentations are bit too high on the geek scale and leave them scratching their heads as to how to actually apply what we discussed in their everyday photos.

It's not that these friends of mine are slow on the uptake. In fact, quite the contrary. They are without question some of the sharpest people I know. I attribute any head scratching on their part to a lack of teaching skill on my part. So today I am calling in some reinforcements.

I ran across a wonderful blog site that I'm passing along. It is called dPS, or "digital Photography School". It is stuffed full of step by step tutorials explaining it's way around all the camera settings one blog entry at a time. The explainations are non-denominational, so it doesn't matter what brand of camera you shoot, there will be something there for you.

Learn what you can do by playing with the three most important settings on your camera, shutter speed, aperture, and ISO. Or read another blog entry that discusses one of my favorite auto settings, the exposure priority mode. You don't even need a digital SLR to get a lot from this blog. There are a lot of entries that discuss rules of composition, such as the rule of thirds. There is even one entry that is specifically written for owners of entry level point and shoot cameras.

In addition to the tutorials about specific camera settings, there are a lot of entries with tips for different types of photography. Today's entry is all about getting photos of star trails. There is another entry on landscape photography, and another on composing portraits. Oh, Oh! And don't miss the entry about teaching photography to your kids! The list of cool info goes on and on.

There are hundreds of entries, and they've got a handy little search function at the top of the page, so have fun browsing the site and learning some new pointers about photography.

(I sincerely hope this doesn't put me out of a teaching job!)

Okay, so my blog entries are getting a little predictable. Everything seems to be about my kids. Lately, it's all accomplishments and milestones. I never like to fall in a rut, but the problem is that my kids keep hitting these cool moments in their lives and I just can't stop myself from blogging them. So here's another one.

Yesterday my sixth grade son got word that one of his photos had won an award. ( Click here to see the photo he entered.) He entered it in Reflections, a PTA run art competition. Reflections has a huge list of art categories that kids can enter, everything from dance to film making to painting to music composition. One of the categories is photography. My son's work went up against all the other photos from sixth, seventh and eighth graders in our hometown and was chosen to move on and compete at the regional level. He looked so proud when he got the news.

In an attempt to pull myself at least halfway out of this recent "brag about my kids" blogging trend, I thought I'd toss in a little Adobe Photoshop tutorial type stuff. Hey, why don't we talk about faking the Polaroid look...like I did in that collage you just saw! My building blocks were these four images:





I thought it was hilarious how his baby sister was mimicking every expression he made for the camera, and I wanted to convey the fun they were having. I also wanted to showcase his award, so a collage seemed to be what I needed to tell the story. Now, there were a lot of different techniques I used to accomplish my finished product, but to keep this to a chewable bite, lets just talk about getting the Polaroid photo look. I see Polaroid collages pop up every now and then, and I think it's kind of a fun look, so I thought I'd give it a try. As with anything in Photoshop, there are probably a hundred different ways to do it. Here's what I did.

Making Fake Polaroids -- The trademark of a Polaroid is it's white border. Transforming your photo to mimic this look is a snap.

First, open the photo you want to use in Photoshop. (See, I told you it is easy.)

Next, crop it square-ish. You want to bring attention to your favorite part of the photo, so try and crop out as much unnecessary background as you can. Fill the frame with the interesting parts.

Third, create a new layer. To do this, look in the layers panel. There is a tiny icon near the bottom that looks like a sheet of paper with the bottom left corner folded up. (It's probably next to the trash can icon.) If you hover your mouse over it, it will say "Create a new layer". I'm sure I don't need to tell you this, but click it to create a new layer. The new layer will be blank, but just grab the paint bucket and fill it in with white, or off-white. Don't panic when your photo goes all white. Your photo is still there in the background layer.

Fourth, copy the background layer by selecting the background layer then pressing Ctrl(or Command)+ j. Drag the new layer (Background Copy) to the top of the layers list. You should now be able to see your photo again. Still with me? You are almost done.

Last, with the top (background copy) layer selected, press Ctrl(Command)+t. (T is for "transform".) A black outline with 8 squares will appear around your layer. While holding down the shift button (so your photo maintains its proportions), use your mouse to grab one of the corner squares. While holding down the mouse button (and yes, still the shift key) drag a corner inward. This will shrink your photo within the frame and reveal the white layer underneath. Once you get it shrunk down small enough, just move that top layer until it is centered left to right, and a little high of center vertically. (Hint: If you want a grid to help you center the photo on the white field, press Ctrl(Command)+' and the grid will pop up. Press it again to hide the grid.) Then I like to do one last crop to give my Polaroid equal borders on the sides and top, but a little heavier white border on the bottom.

If you think you might want to make any changes to the layers sometime in the future, save it as a .psd file. If you hit "save" while you still have mulitple layers, it will save as .psd by default. If you are sure you are done with your new Polaroid and want a smaller image file, flatten the image (Layer->Flatten Image), and save it as a .jpg. Done.

I hope that makes sense. It really is a simple procedure. Well, it should be if I explained it properly. If you get stumped, drop me a comment or an email and I'll try to answer your questions.

For a pretty good tutorial on how to take your new Polaroid-looking image files and drop them into a collage, check this out.

Yesterday, my youngest had her first day of ballet lessons. She is only a few months younger than her older sister was when she started dancing, but my baby seems so much younger somehow. I guess that's because I'm just not ready for her to grow up yet. This time last year her pediatrician was so concerned by her delayed motor skills that we were in the process of having her evaluated by an early intervention program. She's caught up now. : )

The whole concept of dance class was anything but new to her. She's been sitting with me and watching her sister dance for as long as she can remember. Last week she kept saying, "Help me ballet, Mom?" I figured if she is old enough to ask for it, she is old enough to try it. You can see by the look on her face in this photo that she loved every minute. She was so proud of herself. I could swear she grew 2 inches taller when I put that leotard on her.

I'm proud of her, too. But I can't help but feel another one of those mom-heart palpitations. She is my last and I've just watched one more "first" come and go. It is all so bittersweet. But mostly sweet.

To see a slide show her and her sister dancing in this year's pre-ballet class, Click Here.

I'm 36 years old. I am 5 ft 9 1/2 inches tall and as of 8:30 am today I weigh 225.6 lbs. My Body Mass Index is about 33%. Anything over 30% is considered obese, so I am obese. I am terrified of attempting anything beyond moderate levels of activity for fear that I will be humiliated when I can't keep up with other people. I come up with excuses why today isn't a good day to participate in any outing that might require physical exertion. Today I am declaring to the universe that this is unacceptable. This is going to change!



It terrifies me to reveal these embarrassing facts about myself, but I've decided that denial isn't doing me any favors. I am cutting myself off from all excuses and I say once again that there are going to be some changes.

This is my plan of attack. I have set the goal to exercise at least 20 minutes at a time, twice a day, six days a week for 30 days. (I'm taking Sundays off.) I started last Thursday, so I'm already 4 1/2 days into my 30 day commitment. I will continue this routine until December 6th. After that, I will reevaluate and set the next goal. My short term discipline goals will be in 30 day chunks. I've learned that any longer than that tends to make me discouraged and my resolve weakens. I have set four long term goals in the categories of endurance, strength, weight and cardiovascular fitness. Here they are:

1) Participate in a sprint triathlon. This is a 750 meter (0.47 mile) swim, 20 km (12.4 mi) bike ride, 5 km (3.1 mi) run. I honestly don't care if I am the last person across the finish line, I just want to be able to finish on my feet.

2) Do an unassisted chin up. Just one would make me so happy. I've never been able to do this, and it just seems like a milestone that would be telling of a good level of physical fitness.

3) Reach a healthy weight. According to a weight calculator I found online, I should weigh 127-172 lbs. To put myself right in the middle of that range (150 lbs), I need to loose 75 lbs. This is one third of my body weight.

4) Lower my resting heart rate. I read today that this should be measured first thing in the morning before getting out of bed. I haven't done that, but just sitting here, my resting heart rate is about 85 beats per minute. It should be a bit lower in the morning. My goal is to get it down below 70.

I'm not ready to give myself a deadline for reaching these goals because I don't yet know how long it will realistically take. I've spent the last 15 years becoming more and more out of shape, so I can't expect to reverse all of that overnight. I will take it 30 days at a time.

In our family we have a tradition that every 4th birthday year our kids get to have a big "friend party". Since my son turned twelve in September, he was entitled to a shindig of his choosing. However, August and September unexpectedly and quickly filled up when Grandpa disappeared, and although we returned home from our trip to Grandpa's funeral right before my son's birthday, I didn't get his party planned. He is a sweet kid and rather than throw a fit, or even give me a sad look when I told him that pulling a party together on his birthday just wasn't going to be possible, he put his arms around me, kissed my cheek and said, "It's okay, Mom. I understand." This made me feel both better and worse.

I have been determined to make it up to him, but every weekend has been busy. Really busy. So his party kept getting pushed back. Still he remained completely patient and understanding. Finally, this weekend I got my act together. We gathered up his best friends and all spent the afternoon at the Clark Planetarium in Salt Lake City.



We saw a 3D IMAX show about what my four year old called "Moon Flies". Then shared a ginormous bucket of popcorn and browsed the cool science exibits.



My sincerest apologies go to the planetarium staff for the ridiculously large mess we left on the exhibit room carpet. Sorry about that. Really.

One of my favorite exhibits showed how different shaped lenses and mirrors bend light.



As I watched the kids play with the exhibit and quickly change the five ordered beams of light into a tangled web, I couldn't help but smile. My husband and I have often joked that kids are a constant example of entropy in action. In other words, they take an ordered environment and quickly turn it into disordered one. You only need to see my house to see irrefutable evidence of this. Logically, you would think that it takes the same amount of physical energy to move an object out of its proper place as it does to move it in to its proper place. But my kids will show you otherwise. For example, they can quickly and easily heft every pillow and blanket we own into the living room to build a tent city, but when it comes time to put all that stuff back they find themselves acutely listless and lacking the strength to move or even stand, let alone carry a whole blanket all the way into the other room. According to them, the only way they can be expected to complete such a demanding task is if they are given frequent and lengthy rest periods, preferably in front of the Wii.

The thing is, I kind of like the chaos. I think those tangled rays of light at the planetarium are much more interesting and beautiful than they were before the kids got to them. I think the tent city is a wonderfully display of my children's creativity, and I don't usually mind if they leave it up for a while. I suppose maybe my affinity for a little chaos is part of why my house is always a bit cluttered. It sits at a delicate equilibrium of order and disorder.

It looks like my twelve year old tends to be accepting of a little chaos as well. After all, he patiently waited until the chaos of my life abated enough for me to be able to turn my attention back to him. For that, and many other reasons, I couldn't love him more. Happy Birthday, Kiddo!

At the risk of waxing overly sentimental, the holidays tend to make me reflect on years past. I just can't seem to help myself. My mind goes to what we were all doing this time last year, and the year before that, and so on. Maybe it's a Mom thing. Maybe it's a thirty-something thing. Maybe it's a human thing. I don't really know why, but I'm at it again.

We have a favorite local pumpkin patch where every October we like to take the kids to pick their own pumpkins. It has become a tradition that we intend to keep up as long as our little pumpkin patch, which is quickly being surrounded by housing developments, survives the urban sprawl that is threatening it. This is our third fall with all four of our kids present and accounted for, as in born. But since our youngest was a late walker, this is our first fall with all four of our kids exploiting the advantages of bi-pedal locomotion. Last year when we went to the pumpkin patch, the baby (then 17 months old) was content to sit and eat dirt while she watched us scour the field and gather the world's most perfectly formed pumpkins. (This is a shot of her from last year.)



This year, such a passive approach was no longer acceptable to her. Not only has she almost completely given up dirt in her diet, she ran her legs off climbing up and down each mounded pumpkin row. She wasn't really following us around, and she wasn't really all that interested in the pumpkins, she was just gleefully running because she could. Her joy in the moment was simple and pure. It was one of those sights that makes my mom-heart flutter, in a good way.



I saw changes in my two oldest kids, too. Last year they didn't mind staying close to me. They couldn't wait to show me all the fascinating squash and gourd treasures they had found, and they repeatedly asked my opinion on which pumpkin would make the best jack-o-lantern. It was different this year. They both buried themselves under headphones so when I would call out "Hey, there's a really good one over here!" my voice didn't stand a chance of penetrating through all the auditory clutter.



They both picked their pumpkins and loaded them in the back of the car without asking what I thought. Now I know that I am well within my parental rights to confiscate all the electronic distractions that pull them away from me. Sometimes I do. But I also know that sometimes I need to let them enjoy their introspection and independence, even if it leaves me feeling a little lonely. All of this is another thing that makes my mom-heart flutter, but in a brisk dose of water in the face kind of way, telling me that the teen years are right around the corner and without vigilance, I could loose my vital connection with them all too soon. So I guess this flutter is also good, but it hurts a little.

I think my third child changed the least since last year.



She approached Halloween and pumpkins, and pumpkin patches with the same humor, imagination and keen observation I've seen in her before. This was a bit of a comfort to me. While I know change is good, and I am proud of the growth I see in my kids, sometimes this palpitating mom-heart of mine needs just a moment here and there to catch up and calm down before facing all the stuff that will happen before our next trip to the pumpkin patch. I know it's coming, so I better get ready.

A banana walked into a dance studio...



She did a few arabesques and a graceful plie here and there. Everyone watching found it very apeeling.





Then after a while, she split.



Get it? Banana peel... split! Bwaaaahahaha!

Okay, cut me a little slack. It's not everyday I get to photograph a dancing banana.

Hey, check this out! After a package arrived this week from my Aunt Rose in Washington, I'm seriously considering working exclusively as a free lance photographer. It turns out that the Southwest Washington Fair doesn't just give out ribbons to its winners, it also gives out CASH! With the encouragement of my aunt to pursue my fortune and glory, I entered this winning photo (click here), and look what it paid out!



Included in the package was a note from my finance savvy aunt telling me, "Don't spend it all in one place."

Fortunately my husband is the primary breadwinner in our family. Any money I earn from photography goes into a separate savings account (currently empty) or goes to upgrade my photo equipment. Which reminds me, with a little luck my awesome new camera strap will arrive in the mail today.

Factoring in all of the above mentioned info, I figure with money like this prize check rolling in, I could probably retire to a life of luxury by the time I'm 237. Florida, here I come!

We finally managed a portrait session. It's been two years since the last one, and our youngest was only a few months old then, so we were due for an updated photo to hang on the wall over our piano. It's not often that you will see me post photos that show me in front of the lens instead of behind it. Mostly that's because it just doesn't happen that often. To pull this one off, I reserved my true blue friend Kazzy the Magnificent to be our shooter. She's not a pro shooter, but her qualifications are impressive. She's got a great eye for design. She loves electronic gadgets as much as I do, so I knew she would be able to figure out my camera on the fly. Plus, she knows us so well that I had complete confidence that she would be able to capture our personality. She did a top notch job, came up with some really fun shot ideas, and I can not thank her enough!

She shot the photos with my camera and I did all the processing.







To see a slide show of more pics from our little session, click here.

Last Saturday we went to Cornbelly's, part of Thanksgiving Point in Lehi, Utah. It was a birthday get-together for my niece, turning 6. We made and afternoon of it and had a great time romping through the corn maze and other little activities.



To view a slide show of some of the fun shots of the day, click here.

For some reason, getting that perfect shot of all four of my kids at the same time has thus far proven elusive.

Last Monday I had boatloads of fun photographing this energetic troop of cousins. They were all so happy and playful that the whole evening felt more like romp in the park than a portrait session. I loved how all their moms had them color coordinated in these fun Halloween tees. Bring on the holiday, because this pack is totally ready!

Okay, I have to say that those argyle tights totally rock!


Here they are, all lined up little to big.


With fall moving right along, this grass isn't going to be this green for much longer. We had to make the most of it!


I love her sparkly little witch costume. Where's the candy?


I don't know if her mom is into this kind of photoshop look, but I had to do a selective color of her gorgeous blue eyes.


Smiles just don't get any bigger than the one on this little guy.


With those purple glasses and hazel eyes, this is a girl after my heart. And those dimples are to die for!


This little girl is so cute, and so bouncy, that I only got this one shot at a close up of her. Her brother was a little easier to capture, as long as his mom wasn't too far away. His clear dark eyes melt me every time I look at them.

Somehow, with all of that photo catch-up I did yesterday, I managed to miss posting the first day of school. I can't believe we are already 7 weeks into the school year. Another thing I can't believe...that my babies are in fifth and sixth grade. To quote Sarah Palin in last week's Vice-Presidential debate, "Oh, say it isn't so, Joe!"



There is something special about the first day of school. It has such a fun sense of possibilities and clean slates. I remember hoping to carry over all the best stuff from the previous year, but I also remembering feeling excited about the idea that this year I could be a do a little better than I had in the past. When I was 10 and 11, my resolutions were things like not procrastinating my homework, getting good grades, standing up to the bullies on the playground, never being tardy, and to have my shoe laces completely obscured by friendship pins. New Year's resolutions are fine, but I always preferred the beginning of the school year to set my goals. Being a grade older, dressed in my favorite new clothes, wearing a fresh haircut, and carrying a bag with sharp pencils and blank notebook paper always made me feel ready to tackle new challenges and achieve great things.



Fifth and sixth grade were a long time ago for me, but my goals haven't really changed all that much. I still resolve to not put things off and do a little better at a task each time I try it. I still strive to stand up for myself, and for the people and things I love. I haven't mastered punctuality, but I'm better than I was and I keep working on it. I've retired the bead covered pins on my shoes, but it feels pretty good to have a blog post or flickr photo adorned with comments. Does having the same goals since I was 10 mean I'm stuck in a rut? I don't think so. It just means that I have made progress, but I haven't quite gotten there yet.

Instead of worrying too much about my half-baked aspirations, I intend to follow the advice that President Thomas S. Monson gave us a few days ago during the Sunday morning session of General Conference. He counseled us to "find joy in the journey." While I'm traveling down that road I'll also keep the oven warm and work on baking until golden.

Bring on the new year!

Time has been zooming by lately and I've started slipping behind with processing and posting my personal photos. Adding to that, the holidays are looming ever closer, which means more photos and maybe even some more calls for photo shoots. So today I decided to play catch up and go through all those cool photos that have been just sitting there waiting for some love and attention. Here is a potpourri of some of my favorites for the past few months. Settle in, this is kind of a long ride.

Early this summer we decided to get a point-and-shoot. I wanted it to do something my DSLR won't, so we picked put a Pentax Optio W30 for it's waterproof feature. We had a little fun with at the water park.


In early August we went to Lagoon, the local amusement park. It was all the better with some friends and family along for the trip. The last time we went, our two youngest were too little to enjoy very many rides. This time was different. Andrea wasn't too sure about the dragon roller coaster, but everyone loved the helicopters. : )





The next day we took a little sight seeing trip to Kennecott Copper Mine west of Salt Lake City. The pit is HUGE. From a distance, the haul trucks may look like toys in a sandbox, but when you see how big the tires on those things are, like the one we are standing in front of, it gives you a different perspective.

I love this little shot I got of Scott while we were up there.


A few days later we got a break from the August heat with a nice downpour. The Superfriends here had a blast playing in it. There was a pretty spectacular rainbow that evening, but I missed getting a photo of it.


This stained glass window was in the First Baptist Church in Winfield Kansas. My mom grew up attending church in this building. She tells me that this window was brought to Kansas on covered wagons.


My Mom and Dad rarely stand still long enough to have a photo taken together. They were long overdue for a portrait, so while we were in Kansas I snagged one.


As we stopped for gas on our way out of Winfield, we found this too cool to pass up mural painted on the side of a building. My ten year old daughter had fun pretending she was part of the painting. My three year old wasn't so into it.



On our way home, we stayed the night in a Marriott. With the gigantic hot tub, indoor/outdoor swimming pool, super soft beds and the particularly yummy breakfast muffins, the kids were sure they had died and gone to some kind of memory foam heaven.


This is what it looks like pretty much every time I try to lay down and get a little rest.


Getting back into the swing of things after our trip meant catching up on homework, dance classes, soccer games and music lessons. Last year my three year old had kind of rough time in her ballet classes. She was a fearless firecracker on stage, but for some reason she would be shy and scared during class. Her first day back she told me she wasn't going to be scared anymore. She had a great time in class that day and she's been fine ever since.


The sixth grade field trip to the mountains fell on Alex's twelfth birthday. He also got a new bike. It was a good day. : )


The next morning, we picked up his good friend, packed the grandparents, the kids and a picnic and headed into the wild west for an adventure. We followed the old Pony Express route for a while and eventually found our way to the Dugway Geode Beds. We came home with buckets full of geodes, clothes full of dirt and car loads full of tired kids. It as another very good day.


The big events just kept coming and up next was the school carnival. The schoolyard was stuffed full of bounce houses, a rock wall, games, funky colored hair, and families having fun. Kong made an appearance, but if he really wanted to look intimidating I think he should have left the name tag at home. The guy working the Spiderman ride was a little less than enthusiastic, but the kids didn't mind because he didn't bother to take their tickets. Who doesn't love a free ride? My hat goes off to the PTA that planned this because it ROCKED! (This means you, President Jane.)



We are almost there. Please keep your hands and feet inside the ride until it comes to a complete stop...
Bringing us up to date is Alex's last soccer game. With so much going on, the season went far too fast. Do I really have to wait another 10 months for it to start again? Alex ended the season with a great game and my three year old brought along her binoculars so she could get a good view of him in action on the field.