TIP OF THE WEEK - Kids, Bribes and Winnie the Poop

I said I could get her to look at the camera. I never said she'd be happy about it.

Bella has come to expect chocolate every time I take her picture, otherwise she ignores me and my dear camera, which makes me even more annoying (oh, how I wish there was a good translation for the word "pesada" in English, because this is the perfect word to describe what I'm like with my camera - somewhere between "heavy" and "annoying") If only she'd just learn to put up with me for a few minutes so she could then get on with her preferred activities.

Singing

Having a conversation with me probably about King Kong and his friend,the giraffe, who often come and visit us at dinner time because they are cold and hungry and want to eat french fries.

That's where my little friend bribery comes in. Yes, I'll admit it. Bribery and I are chummy. I use things like chocolate and tv to encourage Bella to be my photography model (BAD MOMMY!) But they work... sometimes... for a limited time. Even with the bribes, I still can't get her to actually look at the camera.

So, today's Tip of the Week is Getting Them to (at least) Look in Your General Direction.

My newest tricks are either singing with Bella (she loves Five Little Pupkins and The Wheels on the Bus at the moment) or I say something that I want her to repeat and then make up a funny ending that she's not expecting. To get these shots, it went something like this -

Me: Say "I love mommy"

Bella: I wub mommy!

Me: Say " I love Papá!

Bella: I wub Papá!

Me: Say, "I love Winnie the Poop"

Bella: "ah ha ha ha! I wub Winnie the POOP!"

She was so done by this point. This is the closest I came to having her interact with the camera.

I hope this helps someone! Have a fabulous weekend!

And this little munchkin is a challenge as well! If all else fails, have someone stand behind you and make silly faces and noises. Works like a charm.

Hotties Part Dos

I didn't really have to tell them to do much posing. Although, I think I told Luis that he was "The Man" in this one.

These two are so ridiculously good-looking, it kills me. They are my friends who... well, it's a bit more complicated than the second half of a short sentence. 

 Here goes...

Nora - ON FIRE!

Nora is from the UK. We met here in Valencia while doing the Cambridge Celta course to become English teachers. She lived here for about two years (is that right, Nora?) and then took off in search of new adventures in Costa Rica...and adventure she found! ; ) 

Enter Luis. 

I swear, model material! Look at that smile!

Luis was a student in one of her classes who showed her the real Costa Rican way of life.

Somehow she convinced him to leave sunny, tropical Costa Rica to move back to England with her (I bet all she had to do was wink at him. Have you seen her?!!) where they both found real, proper, responsible jobs.

I can't stand how cute Luis is in the background of this one! I smile every time I see it.

Doesn't this make me look like such a detail-aware photographer, with that little old couple, barely in the frame. How cute are they? That was a total accident. Sssshhh! Don't tell anyone. ; )

 They are now a "cheesy" married couple living in Cambridge, and being real proper, responsible adults who are planning their celebration wedding for 2011. On the side, Nora is the famous "Nora the Kitchen Splorer" who always taunts me with her yummy recipes that I know I'll never have the patience, nor the ability, to make. And Luis is Mr. Splorer. He gets to eat all her yummy food and laugh with her. I bet he takes care of most of the technology in their house too, as he's a computer genius.

I love these two. They are so easy-going and fun to be around, and it's so obvious how much they love each other. They make romance look easy, and they made photographing it a snap. Just looking at each other or laughing together made for these incredibly romantic images. ( Hey, thanks for making me look so good, guys!)

Last year these two came to visit while I was pregnant and cranky and chasing around a toddler. We live in a residential area outside of the city with not much to do around here. They had no problems whatsoever hanging out and going with the flow. No stresses. No complaints. They are just pleasant people who I love being around. I wish they could come and visit me once a month. Everyone needs a little Nora and Luis in their life.

Nora and Luis - The Ridiculously Good-Looking Couple

Nora and Luis are here visiting!!! We went out and did a quick photo-shoot Saturday evening. We are going to take a few more shots tomorrow as the sun hid behind the buildings an hour earlier than I had anticipated. DOH!

Here's a little peak at how ridiculously good-looking they are, though. I don't think you have to be much of a photographer if your subjects are this attractive.

Look for more photos of these hotties on Wednesday!!

Why, God? WHY??!!!

I just spent 45 minutes taking gorgeous pictures of my dear Juji. I made up the bed, put the antique bedspread on that Paquita's mother made, and then I pulled down our pretty white mosquito net, and began shooting away - snap after snap of cuteness overload. Julietta was hamming it up for the camera, being adorable times three, the room was lit up from the afternoon sun. I was loving it and I thought everything was coming out beautifully.  It looked that way in the LCD screen (though I never zoomed in to be sure).

When I uploaded it up to Lightroom - all the droolified, squeezable, cuteness was marred by the BLUR. Snap after snap of BLURRY OVERLOAD. GASP! squeak. cry. wine. .moan. pssssssssst DEFLATE.

You may not see the blurry blur. It may not be too clear. But the focus should fall on Juji's eyes, instead of on her ears. (you may also not know that when the moon and stars align properly in the second week of October, I bust out in rhyme without warning,  for no apparent reason).

Here you go, I zoomed in really close so you can see what I mean.

If Bella could see this, I bet I know what she'd say. She's say, "No gusta."

WHY OH WHY OH WHY??! They are such sweet shots too. You know what? I'm blaming it on the camera. It has absolutely nothing to do with me being a novice. ; ) Nikon D80, you have foiled me again!

That's my story, and I'm sticking to it!!

And just to show that we do get along when the conditions are right, here are a few LESS blurry images. They still aren't tack sharp, but I'm in no position to start beef with my camera. One can dream on puffy white clouds about the Nikon D700, right? One can dream.

This is how I like to see eyes in every. single. picture.

TIP OF THE WEEK - Shooting in Direct Sun

Yikes!  I nearly forgot about my promise yesterday to post the TIP OF THE WEEK today. It's nearly midnight here, and now I'd better get my bum in gear!! Now, that's dedication for you.

Ok, so the tip for this week...
I've been avoiding shooting in mid day sun like the plague until I learned a very important tip - 
(Drum roll please.... )

If you're shooting in  bright mid day, direct sunlight, turn your subject so she's standing IN FRONT of the sun.

In other words, the sun should be BEHIND your subject. I always thought that you, as the photographer, wanted to the sun behind you. Turns out, that's not true. If you have soft, even light, like at sunset, then yes, that light will rock your world. During the day, though, you want to rotate your subject, otherwise you're bound do get squinty eyes and shadows that are very unflattering.

This was actually taken pretty late in the afternoon, but check out the shadows under her eyes. It makes her eyes seem hallowed.

SO, turn your subject away from the sun, and spot meter of her face. This will dazzle you. I swear.

See how much better her face looks? There was a bit of light bouncing back up off the table which evened it out nicely.

Ok, how cute is she?! And look! No dark shadows.

And these are later in the day, but I just love back light, so I'm posting a few that I thought were super cute.

Bella's fashion sense. I love it!

 There you go, my friends. I hope this is useful to some of you. Have a wonderful weekend! Take it easy and keep on clickin' on! ; )

Improv in Photography

This week our assignment in my photography class is to continue taking pictures in the mid day sun, using the sun as back light, but now we're to use a reflector. Unfortunately, I don't have a reflector, so instead I found a white table cloth to do the trick. Improvisation can work wonders!

I don't think I've ever loved any piece of clothing as much as I love Bella's rainbow leggings.

Yesterday around 11:30 am, I went out on a walk with Alex and the girls in tow. The sun was shinning, the kids were in good spirits and Alex was game to help me by holding the table cloth. While  I messed around, trying to get the perfect shot, moving up and down and then waiting for that ONE moment, Alex began to get antsy. He stayed for about five shots and then decided to go on a run. There I was with the two girls, a table cloth and the mid day sun. No problem! I found a spot right in front of some hedges in some nice, lush, hyper-color green grass. Julietta is pretty eager to get out of the stroller just to explore, touch the grass and pick up the leaves and twigs...etc, so I put her down and tadaaa! Instant baby model. Her innate curiosity makes me nervous, of course, so in addition to all the stuff I have to think about while shooting, I have to make sure my kid doesn't choke on anything.

She's showing off her little blades of grass that she happened to find.

Setting up the "reflector" must have been a sight to see. I tried to throw it over my shoulder, like a toga, then I laid it over by body and stretched it all the way down to my foot. Since I was shooting my kids, I had to get down at their level, so I got down toward the ground with it laying over my leg and I put that leg forward while I squatted on the other (are you getting a mental picture?). Not the most comfortable position, but I did what I had to do!

This one doesn't REALLY fulfill the assignment, but I did use a my table cloth (see the reflection in her eyes?)

Bella was unusually helpful with the shoot and actually sat still for a few minutes. That was when I got my favorite shots. It's amazing the shots you can get when your subject will just sit still!!

Tomorrow I will post the TIP OF THE WEEK: Shooting in the Direct Sun. Until then, keep on clickin'!

Third Anniversary

Alex and I celebrated our third anniversary yesterday.  Our real anniversary, September 29th, fell on a Wednesday, so we waited to celebrate it on Alex's day off. Actually, our REAL anniversary was last Monday, the 27th. We had to get married in the civil courtroom two days before our wedding, but we don't acknowledge that day as our real wedding day. I couldn't understand anything that the judge said, anyway. It felt like we were at a Spanish auction. I just waited until he stopped and stared at me before saying, "Sí, quiero".

Anyway, yesterday we sent the kiddos to the Yayos' house for the day and we went for lunch at La Forqueta in Rocafort (mmmmm!!!). We had planned on going to a movie afterward. Instead, we drank too much wine, wandered around Rocafort taking pictures of each other, and ended up going home and watching Dexter. It was perfect. It was us - three years later, worn out and tired after too much work and two energetic, crazy kids, just wanting to take it easy on a true day off.

I woke up wishing we could go on another date today.  No such luck. ; )