DIY Baby Photo Shoot Tips

Although, I'm not a professional photographer I certainly do have fun pretending I am! The end result is always rewarding to see how your work has turned out :)

Most of the photos taken on this website (like my banner and most of all my blog post photos of my family) have been taken by my Canon Rebel T3.  I just use simple photo editing tools - mainly iPhoto on my iMac is my best friend and Picasa works great too.  Both the camera and tools are pretty simple to use and here are some of my DIY tips on how to take some creative photos of your own!

1) I hardly ever use the Flash. Although you have to be more still when taking the photo the colors are less harsh because the flash can be quite abrasive at times so I choose to not use the flash at all and opt for more natural light.  You can always adjust the lightness later when editing.

2) Most professional photographers recommend overcast weather when taking photos outdoor or using natural light indoors at around sunset.  The shots I've taken below were taken in my bedroom at around 6 pm on my bed that is adjacent to a pretty large window that lets a lot of light in.  I do have sheer white curtains hanging, which I love because it keeps the room bright without compromising privacy, plus I love how the light shined through in these shots.

 3) I like to zoom in quite close to get more of a creative angle.  This particular photo above of Ryker looks a bit angelic because the light is shining on him plus I exaggerated it a bit more by increasing the exposure and lightening up the overall photo to get this effect. I then softened the edges.

4)  In this photo above, I had the camera focus on Ryker's hands and it auto blurred the background (again with no flash). I edited the photo on iPhoto and played with the saturation and color balance to get an in between sepia and black & white color effect.

5) With this closeup shot of his feet above, I played with the Sepia color effect and adjusted the color balance to where I wanted it.  I also increased the exposure and lightened it up more to intensify the areas where the sunlight hit.

6) Now this one photo above is my favorite shot because my 3 year old daughter took this herself from her angle as you can tell from where her feet are.  I helped her with the zooming in but she snapped a number of shots and I chose this one to edit.  Once again I increased the exposure and brightness to where I wanted it and I just love this end result!

* Sometimes the best photos come from your little ones point of view!  Just make sure you strap your camera on them well in case they drop it and the rest you can do with a bit of editing on your computer.  You'll be surprised with how "creative" of a photographer your little one can be!

Enjoy!

Welcome Ryker Keane!

So, I finally went into active labor at 2:30 am on Saturday, July 7th.  I delivered little Ryker at 6:24 am as we got to see the sunrise from our room - it was an amazingly beautiful experience, it almost felt surreal!  Ryker weighed 7 lbs 8 oz and was just about 21 inches long.  He's been such a joy & seeing Keira and him together is just priceless!

Ryker's first photo with Mommy & Daddy

Welcome Little Ryker!

My babies! 

Father & Son

The first car ride home.  I have to get used to seeing 2 car seats in the back of the car!

Keira's being a great big sister!

Pregnancy Update - Time to come out!

I've been trying almost everything to try to get this little guy out, but Ryker just seems to like it in there!  The last ultrasound put me up to the due date of June 25th - which is now 8 days ago!  So my doc says that if he doesn't come out by July 9th they can induce me (which I really hope they don't have to do).  I sure hope he comes out soon we can't wait to meet him, and this load is getting a bit too heavy for me to carry around nowadays.  

Look how much bigger he's gotten!

Plus, I'm running out of clothes that even fit around my belly!  Luckily, this dress still fit me though...it gave me something to wear for my good friend Caroline's surprise 30th birthday party!

I've been getting frequent contractions at night time (as I'm typing right now actually), so I'll keep you posted in case he wants to really be a 4th of July Baby!

Have a wonderful Holiday tomorrow everyone!

Weekly Obsession: Italian Cream Soda

They opened up an Old Spaghetti Factory Restaurant around our area and because I'm still pregnant, my normal glass of Cabernet with my pasta dinner has been replaced with Raspberry Cream Italian Soda, but I'm not complaining it's Deeeee....licious!

I found a wonderful recipe from a super cute blog called Sugar & Charm.  You must try it, chances are you'll LOVE it!

* I didn't have time to make my own fruit syrup to use, so in place of that I used Torani Raspberry Syrup.  Erik's favorite flavor is Orange Torani Syrup mixed with Vanilla Torani Syrup - it tastes just like an orange creamsicle drink!

Both Photo Credits: Sugar & Charm

Happy Monday!