Photography

Penn's 5th Montly Photo For March 2013

06|11|13

Submitted by RyTurner / The Design Confidential

March was a really hard month for me. I lost my grandma that month and on top of having a baby, a 5 year old who is a borderline Tasmanian Devil, moving to a new house, work, and the SNAP conference to prep for, things didn't go as planned and I never got around to taking the Bird's monthly photo. So of course I never got around to sharing them. Needless to say I'm still playing catchup for the last several months on things that have fallen by the wayside, but this is a priority and I shall be attempting to get the next several months edited and shared sometime this year (sarcastic, but not really, he might be 5 by the time I finish).

To see the other photos in his series, click here

I love seeing his photos side by side. It's such an amazing gift (to myself) to see this photo collage as a non traditional growth chart of sorts...

Excuses aside, I think this baby bird gets cuter by the day and even though I'm not entirely in love with the set up for this photo shoot, I adore his cute little bashful smile and the look on his face after he pulled down a ribbon and decided to give it a taste. Cutest bird in the West. Adore this baby boy, he is growing too fast.

Comments

Penn's 3rd Monthly Photo for January 2013

01|28|13

Submitted by RyTurner / The Design Confidential

It's finally here... the bird's 3 month photos! It's becoming such an exciting thing for me to see the changes and improve my photography skills or cement my lack thereof. Last time, I thought I had really learned a thing or two about how to wrangle that kiddo into an easy posing position, only to find that I really hadn't and that 1 month of growth has made wrangling him that much harder. Boo...

Psst...To take a look back at the first 2 months, click here for the Monthly Photos category page, here for Month 1 in November, and here for Month 2 in December.

And now for the break dance breakdown, since that was what this shoot was like. eek.

The first picture is once again the most typical sort for this type of photo. Cute, soft, facing the camera (kind of) and a good representation of him. I only wish his outfit were showing a bit better because you guys... he's wearing a baby tuxedo! Could you just die? or eat him up? or die from eating him up?

This second photo isn't bad, but I much prefer 'him' in the first photo. I just adore that you can see that cutie bowtie in this one! D.I.E.

This 3rd shot is my fave because it shows what was actually happening for 99.9% of this shoot. He could not stop looking at the 2013 garland. I can hardly blame the little dude, the thing is mega sparkly.

Below is the full collage of my 'fave' photos and a collection with a closer look at him!

Oh baby bird is getting big so fast. Why can't it just slow down for the first 5 years....

Comments

Penn's 2nd Monthly Photo for December 2012

01|14|13

Submitted by RyTurner / The Design Confidentialht

I shared Penn's 1 month photos with you here, and now we are back with his 2 month old photos for the month of December! Yay, this baby isn't as far behind as the last one! Perhaps I'm stepping up my game a bit? Probably not.. I chose this first picture as the all around 'winner' of the bunch once again because like in his first photo shoot it has all of the typical components you might look for in a newborn shoot: he's facing the camera, no blurry body parts and his props are perfectly poised (translation = his hat isn't weird or wonky). Again I am no photographer so these shots could all be 100 times better, but I do think my skills at getting him to cooperate improved a tad over his first month... or he was simply a tad older and wiser in his second month... who knows?

I love his body position in this photo with his little wise seeming chin to hand thing, it's quite Rodin... And those little crossed legs = to die for! But his hat wasn't following directions and looks just plain ridiculous so boo...

This one, once again the least perfect in composition because the poor creature looks a tad like he's on a runaway sleigh ride down a hill, is my absolutely fave! His little face and body are the absolutely mostest... adore!

The 'best' of his monthly photos, side by side, so I can see how much older he looks for the second month... I hope he stays little forever, but since he won't at least I will have these lovely keepsakes to mark his growth!

Of course I couldn't end this post without the montage of my favorites, side by side as well. My little angel baby...

Comments

Penn's 1st Monthly Photo for November 2012

01|11|13

Submitted by RyTurner / The Design Confidential

Well it's the middle of January and I'm just now sharing these with you... surprise, surprise, eh? Just like the good little blogger that I am (ya, right), I am planning on documenting Baby Bird Penn's monthly progress for the first 2 years of his life, in a cute little photo series. Now I am no professional photographer so of course these images could be a LOT better, but I'm learning and experimenting so perhaps this will also be a photography skills montage... who knows?

I decided to torture the poor creature by dressing him and his surroundings in a theme that relates to the month's particular holiday or season, so for November it's all about Fall! Yes apparently I love to make things complicated... I couldn't just choose a chair or a fabric and call it a day. Nooooo... I had to settle on an entire scene complete with banner, decor, and matching attire.

And then I couldn't decide which picture I liked best, so I narrowed it down to my 3 faves! The first image is most likely the best all around candidate, since he is both facing the camera and isn't a blurry streak. With all the movement going on during the shoot, it's a wonder I got any decent images at all. He must take after me with all the crazy kicking and dancing around. I should show you the 'outtakes' cuz they were pretty darn funny! The image above shows his appearance best. Even though he isn't facing the camera, this one most closely resembles what he looks like in person. And of course the little tongue peeking out is also pretty typical since he eats like a starving child all day and all night.

But this last image is one of my absolute favorites because although it's not ideal for a 'cutesy newborn' picture, it's his personality all wrapped up in a one arm salute to baby-ness. When he isn't swaddled, he is in a 'one arm up' position most of the time. Even when he is swaddled, he manages to Harry Houdini one of his arms out of that straight jacket on a regular basis. Perhaps he has a future in baby arm modeling, cuz I'm sure there is a need for that.

I will be back later with his December, month 2 photos... pretty darn cute, if I do say so myself!

Comments

Learn to Shoot Like a Pro: Get to Know Your Camera with A Roundup of Fabulous Photography Tutorials for the Absolute Beginner

08|21|12

Submitted by RyTurner / The Design Confidential

As bloggers, parents, or just average air breathing humans, most of us want to know how to take amazing pictures and record our lives in a beautiful way. Many of us even have nice DSLR cameras and decent equiptment that should help us do this... but do we actually know what to do with this expensive stuff once we have it? The short answer is no. The long answer is also no...just in case you were wondering. But where do we begin? There are hundreds of books on the market, and dozens of costly classes we can sign up for, and if one were so inclined there are quite literally hours upon hours we could dedicate to 'figuring' out how to apply those lessons 'in real life'. Who actually has the time for this? Not I said the baby bump rockin mama, who is already mentally planning out the most glorious newborn photos to be found. Definitely not I said the mama to a preschooler who won't sit still for half a second to even let me consider fabulous holiday photographs to send to family and friends (for those of you still waiting for my first baby's birth announcements to arrive, you can pretty much assume it's not happening...lack of free time and proper restraints for my child and all that).

So, I thought I might help us all out by rounding up some of the fab freebies available on the interwebs that teach us the basics in a simple and easy to understand manner.

Once we tackle some of these begginer tutorials, I will round up some more advanced (but still beginner) projects for us to try! Can I get a yahoo? yahoo...

First things first, we need to get a good handle on all of the pretty buttons our cameras have and what they do. The tutorial below is a great place to begin and will give you the lowdown on the most important features you need to pay attention to.

A Quick Guide To Understanding Your DSLR Camera

Once you have read through the article above, I recommend a quick read through the article below for some basic reminders and things to consider before you begin and while you are shooting. Some of these won't make a lick of sense to you yet (not to worry, we will get there) and others are so basic they bring about that sense of 'inner duh' that you might have overlooked otherwise (like the camera level for example).

44 Essential Digital Camera Tips and Tricks

The article below is a fabulous list of things to keep in mind while getting to know your camera and learning to shoot. The perfect list of tips to help you cut through the crap and find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow!

20 Things I Wish I knew About Photographing in Manual Mode

Once we have covered those few important key ingredients above we can dive into several of the topics with a bit more depth. Below I have outlined a number tutorials by subject matter. I hate to break it to you, but for this roundup most of the info is technical in nature. That's just the way it is while we are attempting to figure out how to use those fancy buttons. The next roundup will be a bit more fun, promise... But first let's get to know our cameras a bit more, shall we?

Handling and Caring for a DSLR Camera

The Basics of Exposure

Learning to Use Digital Camera Settings and Features

Tips, Tricks and Techniques

Comments

A Very Big Announcement and Fabulous Photography Round Up

03|13|12

Submitted by RyTurner / The Design Confidential

Big News Friends... We are expecting Baby #2 here at the House of TDC! We couldn't be more excited.... and sick (literally). So while I wish I was presenting this news with my own fabulous photo montage or clever visual announcement, I fear you will have to make due with some amazing ideas from around the web from other folks! But seriously these are some amazing ideas and I hope to feel well enough soon to attempt a couple of them before it's too late! If you have been wondering why I have been posting intermittently or issuing a bit of radio silence, well the cat is out of the bag! Yahoo...