Inspiration
I got an email from Evelyn and I really liked her question:
I am just smitten over how amazing your pictures are. You are so creative and I love how you give your pictures character!! Where do you get your ideas from? I am shooting a little boy for his spring pictures and would like to get some ideas so that his pictures are not boring.
I get my inspiration from lots of places, but the place where I get the most inspiration is from my clients themselves. I take the time to get to know my clients and find out what inspires them. What they love. If you make it personal for your clients the pictures are going to be that much better because it will be their personality that is reflected.
I also get inspiration from print work (magazines and catalogs) as well as from other photographers. While I get inspiration from other photographers I never copy another photographers idea. No matter how good it is. If I didn’t think of it first then it’s not mine to take. It’s totally fine to get inspired by another photographer, but make it your own!
Last year a lot of photographers were doing engagement shoots with one big balloon. I loved the idea, but I didn’t want to do the same thing. So, I had the idea to use those same big balloons, but use several of them to announce the sex of my friend’s baby.
Lo and behold a bunch of people started doing the same thing to announce the sex of their baby’s or their clients baby’s. I’m totally flattered that people liked the idea so much, but do I get annoyed? I’m not going to lie. A little. I don’t lose sleep over it. But, it is what it is and you put yourself out there that’s what is going to happen.
I have an “Inspiration Book” that I can put all of my ideas into. Whether it’s pages that I ripped out from a magazine, pictures that I print out from online, or an idea that I want to jot down it all goes in that book. That way I can take it to a shoot with me and look at it in my car before I’m ready to start. It helps me focus and make a plan of what I want to accomplish on that particular shoot.
Try it! Start your own!
Little Rewards
I’ve been giving Brayden little rewards after my runs like a trip to the park or a special snack. He has been so good in the stroller and I really appreciate him being so patient and letting me have a little Mommy time. Today he wanted ice cream and it was such a nice day out we ate it out in the backyard. I may or may not have had two bites (Hey! I just burned over 300 calories on my run!). When I asked him for a bite he started doing airplane with me. Where does this kid learn these things from?
F 2.0, 1/2000, ISO 125 (for both pics)
My very own BOB stroller is coming today! So excited! Happy, happy Friday!
If You’re Not Old Enough For Green Beer…
Eat green cupcakes!
Yesterday Brayden and I made St. Patrick’s Day cupcakes together. It was the first time he has helped me bake. He had fun. Especially when he helped me crack the eggs!
We tried adding in green food coloring to the batter. Either I didn’t add enough food coloring or it just didn’t work.
I think he liked eating them more though!
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Question From a Mom*tog – Lenses
Hello! I love the blog! I’m new to the camera world and I was wondering if I have a Canon XSi is the only lenses I can buy Canon? I want another one than the one it came with. More zoom. I mainly photograph my 10 month old. Any ideas?
Hello! Just because you have a Canon or Nikon camera that does not mean you have to buy that manufacturers lenses. There are third party lenses that you can buy. Sigma, Tamron, and Tokina are the three major third party lens manufacturers. While first party lenses are not interchangeable between different manufacturers (Canon lenses must be used with Canon camera bodies), third party lenses can be used with different manufacturers (as long as the lens mount is the same).
If you are a professional photographer I would not suggest buying a third party lens. You get what you pay for and I guarantee overtime you will be disappointed in the performance of a third party lens. Guarantee it. I use to second shoot for a photographer who only used third party lenses and even with my Canon 30D my images were better with my Canon L Series lenses.
For the average Mom*tog a third party lens may not be a bad idea. They will be cheaper and the quality of some third party lenses has improved. If you’ve never shot with a pro lens you will probably not even know the difference and most likely the lens will be better than the stock lens your camera came with. The good thing about buying a third party lens for a Mom*tog is that if something happens to it (juice gets spilled on it, baby decides to use it as a toy, etc.) it will be a lot cheaper to replace. Moms put a lot of wear and tear on their equipment.
One lens that I recommend for Moms is the Canon 24 – 70 2.8. That lens runs $1249. While the Sigma version runs $569. That’s a huge savings!
If you’ve read Mom*tog enough you know what I’m going to say, right? Try renting the lens and see which one shoots your shooting style best. Borrow Lenses has all three third party lenses that I mentioned for rent. Rent one for a week and see if you like it before you invest!
Happy 25th Month Birthday, Brayden!
Dear Brayden,
This month we went on a BIG adventure! All the way to Florida. Where Mickey vacations when not in California. You were so excited to go on a big airplane. So excited, in fact, that you threw up everywhere when we pulled into the parking garage at the airport. The most throw up I have every seen in my whole life. I got you all changed, but didn’t realize I had throw up all over me as well before we checked our bags. I got to fly in smelly clothes all day. That was fun! Luckily you weren’t sick. Just nerves. So, you got to enjoy your flight and did SO well! You loved the turbulence on the plane (Mommy didn’t) and napped at the perfect time. The trip was so much fun. I doubt you will remember it, but I always will!
You are getting funnier and funnier by the day. This month I asked you what my name was and you said, “Drew!”. What? We hadn’t even been working on that! You are so observant! I asked you what Daddy’s name was and you said, “Tuck!”. We laughed so hard at you when you said that! You are talking so much! In fact, you don’t shut up most of the time! It’s like your mind is working overtime and you don’t know how to turn it off. You know all the Disney characters by name now. You are also calling animals by their names rather than by the sounds they make. You started calling Hauggy, “Haug” instead of “Woof Woof”. You learned how to say elephant, giraffe, and rhino at Animal Kingdom. You are speaking in three, four, and even five word sentences. You can count to five (sometimes), but know your numbers up to 16. You also started calling your Grandpa, “Papa G”, which I know makes him very happy!
You are finally eating! You will tell us what you want and will usually eat most of it. This is such a relief as you’ve been a really bad eater up until lately!
The terrible two’s have most definitely begun. There’s a lot of, “No, no, NO!”‘s at our house. And, subsequently, a lot of time outs. And the whining! Oh holy whining! I can handle a lot of things, but the whining drives me insane! Once I can get you to use your words and communicate with me what you want we’re good. But, sometimes that takes a while. For the most part you are a very good boy. You are very caring towards your friends and are very non confrontational with them. It seems like you get that from your Daddy!
Daddy and I had so much fun with you on our big adventure this month! It makes us very excited for Maui in July! I know you will enjoy it so much more than last year and we get to go on another fun plane ride!
I love you always and forever my B,
Mama
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