Picture Pretty

Skin Deep

April 16, 2013

Somewhere deep down I know that after the sleepless nights and toddler tantrums and skinned knees that part of parenting my daughter will be to teach her how to love herself.

Not to tear up a photograph or beg someone to remove a snapshot off of Facebook. To smile for the camera without sucking in or tilting her chin or worrying if she was being captured at a bad angle. To know that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and that you should never judge a book- or a person- by their cover.

But it is easier said than done because we all at some point fall into the trap of picture deleting, frown inducing, fitting room tears self-loathing.

Sometimes we just need a reminder that even if we are own worst enemy, we have to try and see ourselves the way the world does.

Softer. Gentler. Friendlier. Prettier. Thinner. Stronger. Happier.

One of my very favorite photos of myself. It reflects a person who isn’t perfect but who has found a perfect moment.

And that is what I have to teach Gracie. Reflect the moment and you’ll love what you see.

G-L-A-M-O-R-O-U-S

July 27, 2012

By Daisy

Somewhere right around ~~1999~~ 1997 I got my braces off after 6 years of being a metal mouth. To celebrate this occasion I chopped my long hair into a bob (horrible move) and generally speaking thought I was pretty much hot stuff. Obviously on our next trip back to the States (we lived in Germany at the time) it was time to commemorate this wonderful period of adolescence with Glamour Shots.

Worth noting:

- My “sexy” feather boa, appropriate at age 14!

- My faux pearl earring they couldn’t be bothered to clip over my real silver earring

- My eyebrows. Oy vey.

- Shortly after this time period I discovered mascara and you will never, ever, see a photo of me without it again

- I’m glad I grew into my nose. Enough said.

Photo Worthy

April 24, 2012

By Daisy

When I first got my fancy new camera I was all about practicing with it and taking 5823 photos of my dog. Over time I’ve gotten a little bit better with the actual photos but a little worse about remembering to toss the camera into my bag when I’m heading someplace photo worthy. Case in point, I’ve been telling myself for three weeks to take my camera with me to work to capture some gorgeous flowering trees around my office. I have yet to get myself, my briefcase and my camera in the car with me.

While I’m definitely still a total amateur I’m having fun and I think that slowly my photos are getting better. Right now my biggest problem is focus- I have way too many photos coming up out of focus and it is definitely user error not the camera. Ah well, we all have things we need to practice. In the meantime, here are some of my (better) recent shots:

: Diners, Drive Ins & Dives!

: Red velvet! Perhaps under exposed?

: Rhett Butler

: Colin!

: Newborn feet!

: Already a baseball fan.

: Colin, 10 days old.

: Miss A, 4.5 weeks old.

: Miss A is thinking

: All done for the day.

: Tulips!

: With her parent’s wedding rings.

We have Guy Fieri, a Magnolia Bakery cupcake, my dog (SORRY I’M NOT SORRY), my friend Elizabeth’s sweet son Colin who I am madly in love with, my cousin’s sweet daughter Miss A who I am madly in love with, and a fun shot of flowers taken with my Mom’s new lens that I’m coveting. All in all some decent shots but of course, I could use lots (and lots) of practice.

So in summary: photos are getting better, subjects are becoming more varied and I need to work on focusing better. Pointers, tips, and suggestions welcome.

The Obvious Answer

December 9, 2011

By Daisy

Ever since I got my new camera I have made a serious effort to use it, learn about it and take nice(r) photos. This means that sometimes I come home and find a gem or two on my memory card, but it also means I delete a lot of photos. With Christmas decor & lights everywhere I’ve been attempting to teach myself to take good holiday shots, but a photo of our entire Christmas tree was eluding me. Try as I might, as much as I fiddled, it was wrong. Over exposed, blurry, only part of the tree, too zoomed in, bad lighting, under exposed. The list goes on and on and there are only so many sins you can conceal with photo editing. Nothing can really salvage a mediocre shot.

Enter my new favorite hobby, Pinterest. Sometimes Pinterest provides me with eye candy but this time it provided me with the obvious photo tutorial on how to take photos of the Christmas tree. The directions were painfully obvious: use a tripod you idiot. Slow your shutter speed down. DUH.

Source: photobyemilieimprove.blogspot.com via Daisy on Pinterest

The “how to” on photographing your Christmas tree was laughably simple, but I’d gotten so caught up in other numbers (aperture, white balance, ISO, oh my!) I’d forgotten to go back to the basics. Hold the camera really still and let the shutter move slowly to really capture the light. So I set up my trusty old tripod and started. I had a few definite bombs….

…like when I bumped my tripod…

….or set the shutter a little too slow….

(Radioactive tree, ahoy!)

But then, after trial and error, I finally captured our 2011 tree for posterity:

Both shots taken with a 50mm lens and tripod. ISO 100, Aperture f2.2, Shutter 1/2, Exposure Compensation 0.

Yes, I can crop it and adjust it, and it would be better if I completely moved our couches out of the way, but I finally snapped a shot where the lights glowed the right way and the ornaments twinkled. If I was really being honest I would redecorate the tree and fix the dark spots where there are obviously not enough twinkle lights….and this weekend I might try to move some furniture and get a artsy shot but as far as remembering the 2011 family tree- I finally got it. Because lets face it, this was not going to be awesome:

I mean, I think you could get a sunburn from that.