Studio{us} Mommy

What spurred my desire to even begin photography? To be honest it was scrapbooking in the late 90’s after my first son was born. The photographs they used in the layouts were so amazing. I never had a nice camera. I didn’t even own a 35 mm film camera until closer to 2002. I always longed to have a nice camera!

Hubby’s sister happened to be a part time photographer out of her house. I still wasn’t all that interested in her camera as it seemed so complicated. Years went by and she eventually got her own studio. She is in Rockford, MI and her studio is Wise Photography. I learned a lot of things from her. It wasn’t until I borrowed a real nice digital camera that I found out I had an eye for photography. To date this photo is my favorite from that camera, A Sony Cybershot. May it rest in peace.

When the question came to get my own dSLR I never ever had the thought of mind to be a professional photographer with a business. I have firsthand knowlegde of the stress that comes with it and I am not built to take that on AND be a mom. I just can’t do it. I simply wanted to take amazing photos. And that remains my goal.

Upgrading to the d90 came for a few reasons. One was my other blog, I really needed more megapixels (the Nikon d50 has 6 mp, the d90 has 12) because I sometimes work with printing companies and they do large poster prints. Another was that I had to have more speed because my youngest became a toddler and with him walking, wait no..make that running, I needed that speed. I needed a faster processor. I needed more.

But what could justify the cost considering its not for a business? We are talking slapping down $1k+ for the Nikon d90 with lens, and for sure an extended warranty etc. If I were paying that much I definitely wanted to protect. Is it too much camera for someone who is not a pro? Yes and No. This camera came with an auto mode so a beginner can use it but also all the custom settings. But because I made a leap into finally getting a really good dSLR, it was time to learn how to use it. Because honestly I don’t trust a machine to pick the right settings and thats what auto does on cameras. I wanted manual control. I have it now!

What is in my future? I could go into paid gigs because my camera could definitely handle it. I think my future is going to hold stock photography. Hopefully in the food area. I love cooking and I love taking photos of food. I still have the passion for photography that I had when I was 10 years younger, but now its a hobby. Life and college take up so much time and blogging as well. But I strive to learn more and more about photography. That is my goal. To learn. And share with my readers!

I really don’t understand what happened. I was extremely confident coming out of the exam, though maybe I missed a couple things but I did horrible. Like under 70% horrible. I looked up my grade online tonight but I don’t have class until tomorrow. He will then hand back the tests and then I guess I will know what I did wrong. And I am extremely curious what I got wrong. I guess I am hoping he made a mistake in the grades he put online because it doesn’t make sense. The exam wasn’t that hard. And knowing me and my performance anxiety, I probably missed a bunch of multiple choice questions.

At any rate I am fairly certain I will have to take math in summer school. I am not doing well in biology and hoped to pull a 4.0 in photography. There is still plenty of time to bring my grade up but for today I am upset about it!

Well, today was the midterm. We started class normally. I totally screwed up on my assignment of equivalent exposures. More on that another time! But we also did a shallow depth of field assignment and I did well on it. Shallow depth of field is where the subject is sharp and the background is blurry I think I did ok on the exam. The grades aren’t up just yet. I do ok on the fundamentals its the math part that trips me up (no surprise there, if you read my other blog you know I don’t do well with math!). But overall I think its okay. I have a couple things I need to redo because I am capable of doing better. I would love a 4.0 in this class!

My daughter is turning 7 on Saturday so I will be busy but I will leave you with a couple photos!

SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine,—Sellers Publishing is excited to announce the exclusive worldwide publishing agreement with internationally acclaimed photographers Tracy Raver and Kelley Ryden. Tracy and Kelley, who are also sisters, are quickly becoming leaders in the fastest growing new genre of studio photography: newborn baby portraiture. The public can now see for themselves with SLEEPING BEAUTIES: NEWBORNS IN DREAMLAND (Sellers Publishing; April 2010; Hardcover; $29.95)

“What makes Tracy and Kelley’s photography unique is that most of their subjects are only a few days old. In the past, studio portraits of babies usually weren’t taken until the babies were old enough to sit up by themselves. Now, more and more parents are opting to have professional portraits taken almost immediately after their children are born.

Another distinctive characteristic of their work is that most of the newborns they photograph are sleeping when their portraits are taken, and they use a minimum of props. This creates portraits that are as natural looking as they are profound, and this organic approach is one that is very much in sync with today’s trends.

Tracy and Kelley say the key to their technique is capturing the infants in the first month of their lives because after that they become more alert and outgoing. “Newborns are naturally very sleepy, and we ask the moms to get their bellies nice and full before arriving at the studio. We try to work towards natural, curly positions, like they are in the womb, and after the first hour or so when they get used to us positioning them, they are pretty easy to work with.” Their results are winning over the hearts of people everywhere.

My Review: This book is FANTASTIC. Its got so MANY delicious pictures of newborns sleeping. It is SO precious. And for almost every photo there is a saying or quote on the opposite page that goes along with babies and newborns. Its a perfect coffee table book and will get many awwwww’s from people looking at it. I can’t leave the book out because Aiden flocks right to it and he is a toddler tornado and will get excited when he sees the faces and may tear the pages. But he sure loves looking at the babies! Its a good sized book too, not small at all. My favorite parts? TWINS. This is absolute master of photographic perfection in the poses for these babies!

I am honored that I was able to view this wonderful book preview. Thanks so much Sellers Publishing for sending me this book. HUGE thumbs up!! Thank You Tracey and Kelley for taking such beautiful photographs!

Buy It: You can get more information on this book and order the calendar and accessories HERE

Get the book at Amazon!

Its finally here! My review of the Casio Exilim EX-Z33 Point and Shoot Camera! I will get to the exact technical specs a little later but first I want to touch on its features. Its a 10.1 mp camera with a 3X Zoom and a 2.5 inch LCD screen (nearly as big as my Nikon!). Its got not only a video mode but also a setting in camera to optimize it for YouTube and also comes with software to upload it directly to YouTube when you put the card into your computer! I tend to edit my videos so I upload mine directly from my Adobe Premier software but still its a neat feature. The best part of the video option? There is ONE BUTTON to press on the back to get it started!!Also the amazing thing that I think I love the most is the MANY options of scene modes to choose from, they call it Best Shot:

It really takes the guesswork on what settings to use so you can shoot faster and get that shot you want! I am dying to use the fireworks mode this summer!

Ok here are the specs of the camera that Casio sent me:

The EXILIM EX-Z33, a 10.1 megapixel digital camera with a 3X optical zoom lens. The EX-Z33 features a dedicated movie button that allows users to record widescreen movies with a 16:9 aspect ratio. Additionally, the EX-Z33 is compatible with commercially available SD memory cards.   This camera combines a stylish, slim body with high-powered features that allow families or anyone on-the-go with the ability to capture a memorable moment where ever they are.

• Easy Mode – Helps new comers become an expert with common settings – Using easy Mode, photo settings are restricted to just image size, flash on/off and self timer, and these are displayed on a simplified menu screen.
• Convenient Face Detection Function – The camera automatically detects people’s faces, allowing users to take well focused and beautifully exposed pictures of the faces of their intended subjects.
• Widescreen Movies – Simply by pressing the dedicated Movie button, users can record widescreen movies with a 16:9 aspect ratio.
• YouTube™ Capture Mode – Movies can be recorded and saved using the ideal size and quality settings for the world’s most popular video sharing site, YouTube™. Recorded movies can be uploaded to YouTube™ using the included compu ter software.

Advanced Technical Specs can be found HERE.

My Thoughts on the camera:

Firstly I needed something I could throw in my purse or diaper bag for quick photos. I find my kids seem super adorable when we go shopping and wish I had a camera for that. I am so glad I do because I got this one of Aiden a few days ago!

And this is one I took of my hubby and Aiden later that night-

And a couple of videos- First A video clip I took with the Casio-

Then a short video I took with my Nikon showing a couple features of the camera:

Its a pain to drag around the heavy camera bag and the dSLR so its nice to just whip out a camera really fast. It starts up very fast. There are just a few buttons on the back.

One for video (red dot), one for playback and taking pictures, then the wheel that helps you scroll through menus, then the menu and Best Shot button. The zoom is right at the shutter button. I love the simplicity of it. It takes SD cards and I use those already in my slr cameras so that was a huge bonus. Another bonus is never having to worry about the lens cap because the lens retracts into the camera.

For around $99, this camera is great for what it does. I would definitely recommend it to my friends and my father-in-law is already planning on buying one.

The Pros: Affordable, lightweight, very user friendly ( I didn’t even read the book!) and very handy. Hands down a HUGE plus is that it comes with a rechargeable battery and charger! No more buying AA batts!

The cons: Shutter Speed. I am so used to fast shutter speeds and sharp, crisp images. Point and Shoots at this price range simply cannot keep up with dSLR for speed. I find the lag to be long and sometimes I miss a shot or it blurs. I think this camera performs really well outdoors but has a little more trouble in low light. It powers up super fast though and it would probably run even faster with the screen turned off in the back. Again I don’t like to use flash but had to in low light and it took longer than I liked but nothing horrible.

Bottom Line – I don’t have other cameras to compare it to so for now its taking the cake. I think its a great camera with great features for someone like me who needed something like this for the purse to catch moments on the go.

Thank You Casio for providing us with a camera for review purposes!

I apologize for lack of content! College was a bit crazy the last couple weeks and I just made myself busy I got a little sick. I have Spring Break this week and will be catching up on a lot of blogging both on here and on my other blog. This week I am putting up a review of the Casio Exilim point and shoot camera. I am also going to talk about some assignments I have coming that are interesting and some past photos that are good examples. I have to shoot all new stuff for class of course but I do love showing my old favorites.

I think what I would like is to hear from you, the readers, about what you would like to know more about. I am not a professional but I am a mom, or the hybrid, momtographer. I don’t have a studio. I still take decent photos. I can share with you any pointers as well as answer questions you may have about cameras. I know this blog is just starting out but I do think its got potential to be one of the hot spots for non professionals, and moms like me, to come for information that is easy to understand, so that we all can get amazing photographs