Camera Coats

I was surfing around for a camera bag and a friend suggested a Camera Coat! It was new to me and I decided to look them up!  So cute!! I love the idea that I can put my camera in its own bag, and not have a big bulky bag over my back. If I just want to walk to the park with my daughter and not lug that around, I can! I know its something small to get excited about, but I love it! The come in all different colors and designs. Waterproof! And different sizes for different cameras. They are padded and adorable!
I hope you go check them out! The link will be below. You will not regret it!

(Please Comment and rate below also!)

http://cameracoats.com/

5 Reasons to shoot in Manual Mode

1. No Harsh flash.

When you shoot in “auto” your camera chooses all your settings for you. If there is low
lighting the camera decides to pop up the flash and add more lighting. Unfortunately, this lighting is often extremely unflattering to your subjects and leaves you with a picture of washed out skin, closed eyes, or red eyes.

 2. You choose your focal point.

 One of my favorite pictures was a baby playing with a toy but the focus was on the toy not the baby. I loved it! Now, I realize that all you have to do is choose your focal point and have a low aperture and I, too, could achieve those photos!

3. Get wonderful bokeh and blurry backgrounds

 Bokeh? What’s that? A quick explanation would be the little circles of light in the blurry
background of pictures. Photographers LOVE bokeh (pronounced bo-kuh – like mocha…at least that is how I say it :O) Besides bokeh, you can also get those professional looking blurry backgrounds. The amount of blurry background you get depends on your aperture. I love a photo that captures the child and everything in the background is blurred out, all your focus is on that adorable face!

 4. Control over the amount of light in your picture

 This is such a fun thing about manual. I just finished a workshop that taught me all about silhouettes and back-lighting. Both of these seemed like the biggest challenges until I learned it was just a matter of getting your settings right and controlling the amount of light in your photo. If you want a photo with pretty back-lighting you let in a lot more light. However, if you want dark silhouettes that pop against your backgrounds you are going to change your settings for your subjects to be underexposed.

 5. Play with your creativity.

The possibilities are ENDLESS! There is so much you can do with your camera when shooting in manual mode.
 (I got this from the best- Click it up a notch! She is amazing! I will post the link to the entire article below! Thanks again for stopping by!)

http://clickitupanotch.com/2010/09/5-reasons-to-shoot-in-manual-mode/

Montage?

I was playing around with some software and found this awesome montage photo booth! It was really cool! I put in a picture of my daughter back in December and it turned out really good looking! It was a bundle of Bing thumbnails all combined to make her picture. This one, you couldn't really tell it was her, but then i did an island picture of mine and it was amazing! I'll show you the before and after. I am very sorry to tell you that I am not sure where my husband got the software (I think it was Best buy) and the only name I have is, Photo Explosion, MontagePlus 1.0! Hope that helps! And here they are...
(Don't forget to comment and rate at the bottom!)

Thank you for visiting!

Dye your own Backdrop

How to make your own backdrop in 7 easy steps. I do this a lot, but it's always up to you how to do it and there are tons of other ways out there! Here's mine:

•  6 foot x 6 foot white canvas sheet
• 20 heavy-duty rubber bands
• 40-gallon plastic storage bin
• 5 cups salt
• 1 cup vinegar
• 4 packages fabric dye (RIT dye?!)
• Wooden spoon 

  Instructions:
1.  Roll the canvas sheet tightly and twist it from one end to the other.
2.  Fasten the rubber bands around the twisted sheet in several places, following no particular pattern.
3.  Fill the 40-gallon plastic bin with steaming hot water.
4.  Combine the salt, fabric dye and vinegar in the bin of hot water.
5.  Stir the solution with a wooden spoon until the dye powder is evenly dispersed through the liquid.
6.  Drop the twisted and banded canvas sheet into the tub of hot, colored water. Let it sit for about an hour.
7.  Rinse the fabric thoroughly with cold water until the water runs clear.

 Experiment with different colors for your own designs and solids.
 Fabric dye will dye anything it touches!!

You can also go to the link at the bottom. It's something I have come across and is similar but more. I really hope you guys enjoy!

 http://www.ehow.com/how_10063548_dye-photography-backdrop.html

Lighting techniques

This set up requires two flash units: One on camera, and one off camera. You will also need an assistant and a reflector.

1. Set your flashes to ETTL (Canon). ETTL will have the camera measure the available light in your scene and set the flashes accordingly.
2. Place your camera on Shutter Priority at 1/200s. This way your shutter speed will never exceed your flashes maximum speed.
3. Have your assistant take the secondary flash and hold it 8 feet from you, and 8 feet from your subjects. The angle of the flash will not be firing directly at your subjects. Rather, you will have your assistant fire the flash into the reflector. This will cause the light to spread and wrap around both your subjects.
4. Take the shot! As you can see from both examples below, the sidelight makes an incredible difference!
I love this site and it does help to further your info and skill!

http://digital-photography-school.com/a-simple-lighting-technique-for-couples-portraits

(Includes before and after photo's!)

Cont. (From below)

This is her playing the piano!

(Please comment and rate. Thank you!)

Having a fun day

My daughter just turned one this month and she has always been very active and social. So, we spend a lot of time at our friends house with her two year old son. They are best friends! This picture (below) was taken while they wer e playing the piano. I will post another one of her shortly after this one.
The picture was taken on my phone with a green accent effect.
Hope you enjoy!

My Babygirl!

Unedited photo of my Daughter for Christmas this last year. She just turned one this month!
I love taking photo's of her. I have so many and she just lights up my life and the pictures! I really hope you all enjoy.
Thank you!

(Please comment below and rate at the bottom of the blog)

Read below...

This may be a better link... (Sorry!)

Click it up a notch

Starting off my blog today (for the umpteenth time), I am going to show you a great site I like to visit! I just recently found it, and am very happy with her. It's called 'click it up a notch'! I will post a link, not to worry! I really hope you like her site as much as I do, and like my blog! I will be posting pictures from my phone (Samsung Galaxy S3) and my camera's (I will specify each camera being used with the picture!). I am not new to photography but I also am not a complete professional (yet). I wish to broaden my horizon and my skill set, because I enjoy it! Art is a wonderful thing and it's everywhere in this world! Beauty is everywhere, and hopefully i will capture some of it through my lens'! Thanks for reading!

http://clickitupanotch.com