Photography Observations - January

One of my goals this year is to improve my photography skills. The way I made that quantifiable was to post monthly about what I'm learning and capturing.

While I do intend to branch out, naturally I expect to post a lot of photos featuring my children. They are my favorite subjects, after all!

Let us begin with some photos I have featured before:

There are many similarities between these two photos, which were taken within moments of each other. The big, open-mouthed smile is my favorite feature in both, and in fact I like Xander's smile more in the top one. However, in the first photo, Xander is centered, directly facing the camera, while the second better obeys the rule of thirds. The angle of his body is also a bit more aesthetically pleasing. (But I still like both!)

Next: Attention to detail.

I was capturing images of tummy time with Xander. I love his expression in the top photo, which was the first I took. But then I realized that you couldn't read his bib! And it's so cute! So I smoothed it out for the next few photos. I was so proud of myself for noticing this detail. Then after Xander told me--very loudly--that he was done with tummy time, I looked back through the photos, and realized that the backdrop is a cluttered mess: baby gate, playmat, burp cloth, carseat. Next time, I will declutter first!

Exposure and lighting are a constant experiment for me. Firstly, most of the photos I take are indoors right now, because it's been cold. Secondly, most of the photos I take are of my children, and in Joel's case, he never stays still for long!

These two photos were taken within moments of each other, in my bedroom. In the first, Joel is facing the window, and I had a higher shutter speed (I often do when trying to capture the wiggly monster). In the second, he is to the side of the window (getting some of the room light as well as the window light) with a lower shutter speed. I keep practicing!

I've also been working on my editing skills. I don't edit most of my photos, and the edits that I do use are typically pretty minor. But it's a valuable skill, and so I've been practicing. The photo above I am particularly proud of. In the original (see below) the kicking targets were blurry. They were blurry in every kicking shot we did, so I decided to see what I could do about that.

Original

 What I did was take the targets from a still photo:

 Crop the targets:

And then blended them into the kicking shot. You can tell, if you're looking for it closely. But I felt pretty proud of how it turned out.


So, not anything super profound. Hopefully I'll be able to get some more focused practice in February. But for now--more cute pictures I took this month of my boys. Ciao!

Please don't hate me for posting this, when you're older. But goodness, that laugh!