Your Life As Art Photography by Pam
Artist & Intuitive | Pamela Zmija
This morning we woke up to a lot of wind and snow. At times we couldn’t even see the road and our house isn’t that far from the road. Thankfully the kids and I didnt have anywhere to go today, hubby did, he’s on call this weekend so he has had a very full day!
Check out the pics below – I have more, my site just isn’t cooperating entirely for me to share 😉 Having fun catching up on sharing photos !
This is what we woke up to this morning! Now mid-afternoon its not blowing and snowing as bad, but it certainly is nasty out!Unfortunately hubby is on call today and has had a full day thus far, looking forward to when he can come home to us and chillax! The kids and I have been enjoying our snow-pajama day 🙂
This photo I took on a gorgeous sunny winter day. The warmth of the sunshine on the snow, fields and trees. Then… what we woke up to this morning (will post next ).
One more reason I am loving where we moved to (last summer) is seeing the mennonites go by our house. Friends of ours were up a couple weekends ago and while our husbands had the kids outside we sat and enjoyed talking with a drink and watching the world literally go by. I was outside with the pup the other day at lunch and just as I was about to turn to go in our front door, I looked up and saw this horse and carriage coming down the road. Everyday I, we, are loving our new home more and more. This photo is one of the many reasons we love it.
I am no genius and certainly not famous when it comes to photography, however I have had the pleasure of being asked by many family, friends and aquantainces for my opinion, questions, tips etc, all of which are merely based on my experience and growth since I became a “mom with a camera”.
So you have a DSLR Camera, you do not want to become a professional but want to take nice pictures. It is amazing the amount of people who pick up a DSLR and suddenly with the first shot become “pro”. I actually had a friend of mine who admitted she loves her DSLR Canon Rebel, but has no interest in learning the custom advanced features on it – but shes happy she has it to take “good” pictures of her family everyday. This is what these tips are for.
1. Be Natural. If you want to be able to capture things your kids do daily, do not make a fuss when you get the camera out, just get it out and take photos in the moment. Do not ask the kids to look at you, capture what they are DOING.
2. Make your next purchase be a zoom lens. Especially for outside, then you can literally sit on the side lines while watching your kids and they can truly do what they are doing and you will really feel the emotion.
3. Light is so very important. If you are in a low light situation ensure the light source is facing your subjects, so example using natural light if your kids are in a room with a large window or a door to the outside, you will atain the best expsure if you can get them looking towards the light source.
4. Use subtle direction, meaning make it fun and sound like the kids idea, so for example if you want them to move to a better lit area make it sound like it would be SO much more fun if you took your toys over there or wow I bet Barbie would love to look outside!
5. If you are in the mood to take some shots and have something in mind, its so very frustrating when the kids just will not cooperate. I am not against bribery 😉 Hey its a win win for everyone and will ease your frustration of non-cooperative kids !
6. Every moment is a memory, regardless of whether you have your “good” camera, dont be afraid to use your cell phone and capture the memory!
7. If you have purchased a DSLR experiment with its amazing capabilities. Yes even if you just use Auto you will get much better quality photos than your point and shoot. Yes the DSLR’s are getting better at detecting light in a scene etc – however experiment with P and your aperture and shutter speed settings on the camera. I do only shoot on M (this is in reference to the dial on the top of your camera), it was a very large learning curve, but I cannot now shoot any other way, I control everything the camera does and set it to how I want it to take the photo.
8. The on-camera flash is very harsh. Even when you use your camera outside, the camera may still fire the flash – even when it is not needed. Outside is a great time to give P a shot, this is a program mode but the flash will not fire.
9. Read your manual. Yes I put this as 9, and although these tips are not in any certain order, this is something I personally wouldn’t recommend you do as soon as you open the box. You need to be somewhat comfortable with how to turn your camera on before reading the advanced or even modes which includes anything off Auto.
10. If you are too close to your subject and use a flash you will get blown spots – this means the photo will actually not have any colour at all in the “blown” area of the image. This can also happen when you are outside shooting in snow. Hints, dont use your flash outside in the snow, this is a good opportunity to try the P mode. If you have to use your flash, ie inside, have distance between you and your subject – good to use your zoom lens even if its a small one.
11. HAVE FUN !
12. Back up your photos!!! This is a major fear of mine – I have a few ways of backing things up, external drive and to my flickr site – I pay the $25 a year to upload an unlimited amount of photos and categorize them by the month.
13. Take your camera with you – I remember when I first got my DSLR and I was so afraid to take it out, well its an investment, but it was bought to be used. So use it. Don’t care what others may say about “lugging” a big camera around or looking for light, blah blah blah. These are YOUR memories!
14. When using your camera outside give it time to reclimiatize once you come inside. This is for both winter and summer, in the winter when you come in where its warm its going to fog up, if you are shooting in the summer and take your camera from the cool inside of a building (a/c) and outside where it is hot or humid, you will fog up and your photos will not turn out, so give it time.
15. You can get stylish camera bags and straps! The bags look just like a purse 🙂
16. If you are looking into purchasing a DSLR or upgrading or adding to your lens collection – research AND go into stores to handle them. I spent many years upgrading from my “kit” lenses to the Canon L lens. If you do not plan on getting into photography as “deep” as me lol you still want a good lens. What is good is that a lot of the “kit” lenses are being becoming more better quality lens.
17. Get down on your kids level – yes this means laying on the floor, grass, sand etc – the different perspective you get by doing this is what truly puts the feeling into the photograph.
18. Capture all emotions. Yes we do not need to have millions of photos of our kids having the melt downs that all kids do – however lets be realistic, its REAL LIFE! I have photos of my kids having a “moment” lol the kids get a kick out of seeing it later … see how you looked, that was silly ;P
19. You dont have to be a “pro” just because you have a DSLR. Buy one and enjoy capturing memories for YOU and Your family!
20. You can never stop learning with photography! A great resource is www.dpreview.com .
A wee glimpse into what our mornings are like for us on weekends – they rock all of us cuddled into our bed (thank goodness we bought a king size!) and lots of relaxing! This morning was no different, as usual kids get up watch some cartoons then come in to see us. I had to capture it. Our precious family time together. Yes they are playing playhousedisney.ca on my playbook lol and hubby is enjoying his fishing show 🙂 
We have watched this sweet pup grow up and learn so much his favorite game is fetch! He has learned so much!
Has anyone ever said anything to you and you seriously stop and think – do you realize what you just said. Then you think longer and realize yes they knew exactly what they just said, they actually believe it!
More times than not have I had the absolute pleasure of thinking this, why, because common sense is NOT common at all! Seriously… may sound crazy but its sad the amount of people who do not stop and think before they actually speak.
Ironically this goes quite well with the with.in word for the week “Knowledge”. The difference being common sense is your own personal judgement of what is right and wrong that doesn’t come from training or education – you “should” be born with this” Key word being should…
It seems to be that as adults who raise kids, we teach our kids to act a certain way but feel the parent is the exception of the rule. If you dont have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. If you have a problem with someone use your words and do not fight. You cannot get anywhere without hard work. School is very important for you to learn. You must try at least everything on your plate. No snacks before bedtime.
Seriously the list could go on and on, as parents we can almost be hipocrits when dealing with each other. Kids are SO much smarter than we give them credit for. No I am not perfect, I would never claim to be. However since having kids I have gotten better at thinking before I speak. Having gone through infertility and dealing with SO many people who, if they were in my shoes and heard what they just said to me, well they would be impressed that they weren’t on the floor. Perhaps it helps when in life you do go through the very trying moments where you begin to appreciate and truly empathize with what others could be going through. You have more respect and gratitute for life, people and things.
Having been through hard times, you cannot see it when you are there, but you come out stronger, when you have the pleasure of being around someone lacking common sense as annoying as it is you have the ability to smile and walk away. We teach our kids to use common sense but yet how can we expect them to follow our direction when they would rather follow our lead.
Kids are amazing and since becoming a mother the patience and unconditional love I have been blessed with is a gift. Since becoming a mother I know I have become a bettrr person and it is all because of them. I want them to be proud of every part of me, I want them to see their mother for who she is as an individual, successful full time working mother and very dedicated wife.
As children we are taught to be polite, respect others, work hard and plan for the future. where along the path of growing up do adults begin to lose these teachings. Where working hard has little meaning, honestly is the story of the day and planning for the future is spending without a care.
I read a quote today that is so very fitting…
“Sometimes its better to be kind than to be right. We do not need an intelligent mind that speaks, but a patient heart that listens.”
hahaha no not really but I bet it got your attention didn’t it… 😉
Being a mom and photographer, when my passion was growing I was a very eagerto learn mom with a camera… with the availability and excellent prices of dslr camera’s it is now at a point where all cameras are much more closer in price – and that’s dslr’s and point and shoots in comparison! You can buy a used dslr with warranty for not much more than a point and shoot.
Obvioulsy not everyone who buys a dslr wants to be a photographer and go into business, mind you lots do lol, however for those mwac – moms with a camera… what questions or what would you like to learn to help you take better pictures of your kids?
I am thinking this would be a fun blog post… if anyone has any questions or would like to ask anything click on the bubble at the top of the post to leave a comment or follow my blog for updates 🙂 sorry I canr ship wine but we could “share” a glass while reading lol.
Having two kids so very close in age can one minute be so much fun and the next a headache, but all in all they are such a blessing. I did however find myself saying this morning, yes one day I’m going to miss this. LOL although this morning it was said with a very sarcastic voice. Then we get in the van to head off to daycare and school, they immediately ask me to turn up the music and start singing. Yes they’re not perfect, heck I’m not perfect either but damn do these kids love tunes and bustin a move!
I have no shame in admitting that being a parent is so tough some days, especially with health issues, doesn’t help me or them or hubs. But even though this is the hardest job ever, it truly is the most rewarding. With them being so close in age they can go from best friends to enemies in minutes and quickly back, heck that’s with any siblings though. They warm my heart looking out for each other and helping. Tonight while Jaz and I were folding laundry Carson purposely finished his bath first so he could help us and more importantly help put his sisters clothes away.
In a perfect world we would have issue free mornings and bedtimes,and most days are, however its when they are “in” their moment that as a parent I can be very hard on myself, and then I see another child our kids age, doing the same thing and it makes me smile, it makes me smile because I’m not alone, yes as a parent it is a hard and rewarding job, and without a question I would not trade a minute of this for anything. Being parents can certainly bring out the best, and perhaps even at times the worst in us.
I am very proud of them, yes some days are a crazy challenge, I am thankful that is not everyday, its knowing they truly do look up to us. They really show interest in what mommy and daddy actually do for a living, they know that mommy and daddy work to pay for things and so we can do fun things together. It warms my heart hearing Cars talking about working like daddy and granpa and even Mady told me she wants to be a ‘worker girl’ but in the office like mommy. As a parent I am so proud at each of them as a their own little person, its amazing to see and hear their little personalities. Even Carson knows talents his mommy doesn’t have can be saved by grama, with her sewing 😉
No everyday isn’t easy, and there isn’t anything wrong with admitting that. It doesn’t make me any less of a mom or wife, in fact it makes me a better wife and mom when I have no shame in admitting defeat and tag teaming the littles off with hubby or even scheduling out of the house date nights or weekend away.
As a parent I already do miss lots of things, like when they were babies and just slept and ate or had nap times hahaha no seriously though (I know I’m not the only one to think that 😉 ) I love looking back at our photos and see how much they’ve changed, I even pulled out some clothes from when they were both babies to show them just how tiny they were. Thank god it was only Carson who asked how he got out of my tummy, and by how, he meant HOW! LOL . I’m not THAT ready to see them grow up, kids in general are learning a loooot more than I did at their age, all the more reason for us to have a very close relationship with them and do as much talking that we do.
As frustrating as these two little people can make us feel, hearing them talk about “our family”, their little kisses, singing songs in the van while we are all laughing, making jokes, snugglin in our bed all together (thank god we havena king) I would do all of these frustrating moments again to have these amazing ones that we treasure oh so much! I could sit and look at photos over the years for hours.
Yes one day I am gonna miss this… but really in all honesty I love each and every new stage they hit, another benefit having oir kids so close in age we are able to do more new things with them each year that they can all enjoy! As we are all eagerly await… boating season lol to get our new boat out!!!
… hmmmm on the flip side, one day they will grow up, move out and then it will be mommy + daddy’s turn to have time dedicated to ourselves 😉 hahaha who am I kidding we see mom + dad all the time, I would most certainly want the same for our kids!
I do have photos to share but will have to download from the camera. They also fit in with the with.in word this week – Knowledge! Now I just need to find a few more for “Time”!
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