Time to Teach

I saw a post; a mother searching for an Intro to How to Photograph Babies and Kids with a DSLR class. Oh, I can do that, I thought, and without thinking, posted back: If there's enough interest, I can put one together. Next thing I know, 10 moms are interested and here I am lesson planning. The first thing that comes to mind is that I've never taken any photography classes, and everything I know about taking pictures is self taught. I need to distill, select and organize what is most useful and easy for a hobby photographer to put into practice to improve his/her photos. Much of what I will say I probably have blabbed on about in my blog.

I'll start with the obvious basics, which are: What do all the little buttons and knobs on the camera do, and what do all the little numbers on the body and lens mean? The technical aspect.

Next, a discussion on light - as this is all natural light photography, I'll share how I find the best light in a given environment. Composition and creativity might be the hardest to teach, if one doesn't already have a critical eye. Presumably, people who have purchased a DSLR have done so because they see the qualitative difference between a point and shoot pic and a DSLR pic, and thus must be conscious of what makes one picture better than another. Then, somehow pull all info together to apply specifically to portraits of newborns, babies and little kids. Now... going through my archives for photos to illustrate points - such as what makes a good B&W photo?

Quilt Making is to Beer Brewing

Another baby quilt; same pattern as the previous but with minor aesthetic tweaks. And this one has batting - that is, the stuff sandwiched between the front and back of the quilt for additional insulation. The previous quilt had a Minky Dimple back, which I though provided enough weight. This one; cotton front and flannel back, needed an extra something to increase the cozy-factor.

When I inquire about my husband's creative endeavors, he like to compare them to my own, in simile. "Music Equipment is like Camera Equipment" for example. More recently, "Beer Brewing," he declared, "Is like Quilt Making." Oh really.
Choosing brew flavors and researching ingredients = Designing overall quilt and selecting fabrics that will go together
Calculating ingredient volumes, temperatures = Making a pattern
Actual brewing process = Sewing the thing together

So, I commented, after his fermenting 5 gallon glass jug erupted a ceiling smacking, geyser of beer guts all over the pantry, What is the Quilt Making Equivalent Here?
There was no satisfactory answer to that.

I documented some of the damage, exactly like in those investigators on CSI TV shows. Unfortunately, while I did witness the geyser - Dionysus's lesser known cousin, the Beer God of Fury, Reincarnate - it did not last long enough for me to grab a camera.

Huge Bath Tub

Coming across another San Francisco scenic spot is always a delight - just when I thought I knew all the photogenic viewpoints in the city. Not so! I have much exploring to do, apparently. At the NW corner of the city is Sutro Baths, now a part of Golden Gate Rec Area. Way back in the late 1800s, a rich SF guy named Adolph Sutro made a huge public bath/pool, that was conveniently rinsed out by high tide. You had seven pools to choose from, dressing rooms, and the baths were even covered by a glass structure. It was apparently quite glamorous in the day, complete with movie theater and an ice skating rink at some point, and its own rail way stop. The structure was destroyed by fire in 1966, and all that is left is the concrete/ rock base that the modern visitor can clamber over at their own risk of falling in. It is quite popular with ducks and photographers.

Sewing Machine Love

I'd been waiting to post this, as I want the recipient to see the baby quilt for reals, and not spot it first on my blog. According to USPS tracking, it is "Out for Delivery", which seems close enough.

It was time to graduate from squares to other shapes, so I went with arcs - but kept things simple. Pre-shank the fabrics. I cut a pattern out of a large rectangular sheet of foam wrap that in a previous life padded Ikea chipboard items, kept track of the pieces by labeling 1 through 15 and assigned fabrics. Tried to balance colors. Traced pattern pieces onto the backsides of fabric, added 1/2 inch boarders. Measured out the white fuzzy fabric (also known as Minky Dimple) to cover the back of the quilt plus wrap around to the front edges. Used my Sparkly New Brother CS 6000i to sew the parts together.

I must stop to gush: it is an absolute JOY to sew with a great sewing machine. My old machine, which I am embarrassed to own, was purchased on a quick trip to Target during my art school days, without prior research. Much like my intro DSLR, I did get a lot of mileage out of it - but recently I started longing for a machine that didn't regurgitate the bobbin every other use, shake my entire work station, erupt in sudden caffeinated bursts of uncontrollably fast stitches, or make such a machine gun din that my dog retreated to the furthest corner of the apt.  

CS 6000i is a COMPUTERIZED sewing machine, as opposed to purely mechanical. It means more precision. Pleasant, agreeable, perhaps even Eager to Please temperament, such smooth, even stitches, quiet purr, a bobbin that sits contentedly in its bobbin nest - Plus all these specialty feet (a walking quilting foot!) and programmed stitches... I could sew for days on end.

This is baby quilt #3. The corners don't quite meet; where the arcs cross one another, but whatever. I'm pleased with the result. Next time I will keep an eye on the fabric pattern direction though. The abstract birds and the swirly swirl fabric doesn't matter so much, but I am a bit bothered by the deep pink, which runs in different directions.

Bindi Baby

Under 4 months, it's generally rare to receive a baby smile. But in the fleeting moments that you do - what a gem! (Even if it is an accidental smile)

A Brief Foray into Home Decor

Not my succulent, but one of many organically sculptural/architectural elements of my clients' new home. I was there to photograph the family of course, but I couldn't help but capture some of these interior design details. Below, an eclectic selection of vintage-y frames, unified by being painted painted an east-coast-beach-house-shutter-matte-white. Makes me want to dig around garage sales for frames and paint them all the same color.

Another wall piece; a large surface, say the size of 3 doors, pinned with cutouts of chrysanthemum prints. I'd seem something in the same vein at an Anthropologie store - an entire wall covered with pinned on paper cutouts of flying bird silhouettes. Aim some studio lights at this wall and get some amazing shadows. I think felt cutouts would work great, as well as (cardboard/paper-backed) print or textured fabric, pinned onto a painted cork board. I might not be able to resist giving this a try...

Exact Change Only!

You may note the hint of rainbow decor in the backgrounds of the above photos. We are of course, in the heart of the Castro. Pretty much anything goes here. And so it was probably not a surprise for the tram operators (the grown up ones, that is) to receive a request to permit a pair of transportation-enthused tots the free exploration of the resting tram's interiors.

Yea for Chubby Cheeks!

Six months old is very photogenic baby age. Filled out with baby chub, smiley and giggly, does not yet have the hints of toddlerhood, such as longer limbs, as babes head towards one-ish. And here is his big brother.

About Eyes.

If you live in San Francisco, you will recognize the familiar diagonally striped glass that comprises a MUNI bus/tram shelter. As it turns out, they create great diffuse light for photos. Isn't that sweater and bear head gear texture just the best? And if the little boy looks familiar, it's because his baby pic was featured on my blog a bit over a year ago, and gosh he must've been one of The Most Amazingly Cute Babies I'd ever photographed.

A quick note on close up photos of little ones. Or anyone, really. If you scroll through my baby/tot close ups posts, they all have one thing in common - Catch Lights in the Eyes. So important to bring life to the picture. Even in shade, there will be some light reflection  in the iris at some angle. A small thing that makes a huge difference, especially in dark colored eyes - without it, eyes lose depth, and the picture doesn't have the same magnetism. Having said that, please make sure the eyes are in clear focus, unless there's some intentional focusing-on-something-else going on. None of this focusing-in-the-general-direction-of-the-face. Clear eyes will make close up portraits that much awesomer.

This might mean turning off the auto-face-finder-focus function on your camera (you know, when the little rectangles appear over faces as viewed through the lens finder). Instead, tell the camera (usually a few button presses) to use the one center-most focus rectangle only; aim that rectangle over your subject's eyeball(s) and press shutter to Autofocus.

Chances Are

Sometimes dogs are easier to photograph than kids and babies. Some dogs, I swear, are posing.

I have some stats for you, having recently compiled my 2010 business info. I could create a series of pie charts... but just telling you will be faster (I know I will spend too much time pondering pie wedge colors).

Category: Subject Matter
60% Babies
(not able to run)
29% Toddlers
(learning to run)
15% Kids
(easily run away from me)
And all this adds up to more than 100% because a shoot may consist of more than one subject, and it's just too complicated to sort it out.

Category: Gender
44% of babies are Girls
56% of babies are Boys
No big diff between numbers of Girls vs Boys Tots and Kids

Category: Location
65% San Francisco
35% Everywhere else (from Santa Cruz to Tahoe)

Chances are, I'm photographing a Baby Boy in San Francisco.

Twins to Welcome You to 2011

Hello Twins! A mere 16 days old, these two help demonstrate the difference between a white reflective and black absorptive surface. In general, I prefer to photograph babies (especially ones that have floppy necks and need to remain lying down) against light surfaces. When lying on a flat surface, it is hard to get light all around the head. It's an aesthetic preference, but I like minimizing shadows on baby faces, to enhance the freshness element of the picture. A white blanket helps a lot, as it subtley reflects light onto the sides/ back of babies heads. Some shadow remains to give form.

Black backgrounds absorb light, so while the foreground of the baby pops in contrast to the black, the edges of the baby's shape are not as defined as against a white background. More artificial light is needed to prevent babies against black from being overwhelmed by their background. The two pics definitely feel different; natural vs studio-esque.

If you thought photographing one newborn was a challenge, try photographing two at once! In newbie sessions, there are a lot of feeding and crying breaks. With two newbies, we have to hope that the moments of contentment and sleep overlap at some point.

Stylin' Hair

 And this is what happens when someone sticks a leaf in your lens.

Crafty Kids

The bulk of shoots may be over, but the momentum continues as I shall be editing intensive for the next few weeks. Perhaps I can get through some audio books at the same time. Anyways, here we are, a one month flash back to the Randall Museum Holiday Craft Day, a day of non-denominational crafts such as candy/graham cracker house design, wax candle rolling, candle holder making, soap making and Monarch Butterfly ceramics painting. I noticed a lot of Dads with their children, sans Mom. I suspect many of the crafts made were holiday gifts for Mom. Maybe not the candy houses; many of the decorating elements sooner made it into happy mouths than out the museum door.

Snuggly

Holiday Time

We are careening towards Christmas. I thought I should post some holiday themed photos. Xmas trees make for great backgrounds, with a 50mm f/1.8 lens; the little lights blur out into sparkly circles and the otherwise distracting pine needles and ornaments pleasantly mush together.

This cutie is laughing delightedly at a giant Elmo exchanging kisses with a elephant finger puppet. All this drama is taking place on the stage that is my head.

Fondness for Chunky Knits

I like to contrast the smooth softness of baby skin with textured fabrics, especially chunky knits. When ever a mom takes out chunky knit items as options for shoot accessories/outfits, I immediately gravitate towards these blankies, sweaters and hats. You'll note that there are 3 different chunky knits in this set of photos.

Limited distractions. Indoor shoots does not mean studio-style photos; as long as there isn't a lot of (especially dark colored) clutter in the background, the natural home environment is a fine place for photos. Light color furniture and walls works better than dark, so that light reflects off the surfaces and reduces the need for additional artificial lights. It would be a whole different story if we were working on a dark brown velveteen couch with dark walls and curtains, for example.

Breathing Room

I am somewhat caught up with my editing now, and without a deluge of weekend shoots (thank you rain!) I can lend some time to thinking about holidays. With only a handful of photo shoots scattered over the next 2 weeks, it is nice to have some breathing room! What will I do... bake? read? It would have been nice to get some holiday crafting done for gifts, but it seems too late for that already. I marvel at how anyone gets stuff done in time for Xmas, and understand why moms whose families I photograph are so pleased to get their personalized photo holiday cards done before December!

Fig 1. Bar Chart of Voltage Remaining in Batteries After Being Rejected as Useless for External Camera Flash Use (n=168)

Graph labeling is deeply ingrained, a habit formed in high school days where points were docked for lack of X and Y axis label with units, and a graph title. When I see graphs in popular magazines lacking these 5 elements, I become irate - what kind of useless graph is this! and ignore any conclusions drawn from the graph. I should point out my sample size is about 168, and so I think that should I apply stats, we could get some significant results from the data here.

I go through a LOT of batteries with my camera flash (Canon 430 EX). All is fine when the batteries are spanking new. With tot and baby pics, it's all about timing and being opportunistic, so if the flash doesn't go off exactly when I need it (which maybe once a second) - I change out the batteries. Sure the flash also needs to time to cycle up for the next pop of light, but pooped out batteries are slower at providing energy needed. Rechargeable batteries unfortunately are too slow/ un-powerful my flash purposes; won't go into boring theories of Why.

I do know that the batteries have juice left, so for the last over 2 years I've been accumulating post-flash batteries in the Batteries For Wii Remote drawer. My husband, on a sudden inspiration of geekiness, decided to use his voltage meter to see what voltage remained on all of the batteries. A full battery is 1.6 volts; a useless battery (the Wii remote complains at) 0.8 to 1.0 volts. He asked me to hypothesize the median voltage (that's the highest bar chart bar, for you non stat peeps) and I guessed a Normal Distribution (ie bell curve), making 1.3 the median, and Voila, the distribution is a slightly skewed Normal curve. (Please note; the batteries are double stacked; two layers).

From this I can see that batteries are pretty useless for Flash under 1.4 volts, and that I can probably squeeze some more flash pops out of the 1.5 to 1.6 batches. 1.3 to 1.4 batteries can be used to keep Wii remotes happy; 1.1 to 1.2 might be good for clocks, and 1.0 and under can be (properly) disposed.

Thus my conclusion and scientific recommendation is that We Need to Play More Wii.

Hope you have accomplished more holiday shopping than I have

Lapsing in blog posts! It's been a most arduous season, and quite frankly, many non-work things take priority over blog posting, such as dog belly rubs and rounding up knick knacks for tree decorating.

It's been a very satisfying season despite the lack of breathing space; I think I've taken many photos that families will cherish for decades - how many jobs out there can personally impact people like that? And a good number of those photos are great portfolio enhancing candidates. I won't let myself survey my 2010 work yet though; besides waxing philosophical, I have fun plans to do fun comparisons of: number of boy babies vs girl babies photographed, most popular baby names of the last year, and such, after this season is done.

Beautiful Baby Boy