3 tips to improve your phone photography.

A few tips to improve your phone photography.

First, when you open up your camera to take a picture, a little box lights up.  That's where the camera chooses to focus AND how it sets your exposure.

If you touch somewhere on the screen, that box moves and that is where the camera focus's and sets its exposure.

Examples.

In the picture below, I touched the screen on the phone where my daughter was standing.  In the middle of her body.  So the camera exposed for HER.

In the picture below, I touched the screen on the phone where the window is.  Up on the waves of the ocean. So the camera exposed for the WAVES outside in the bright sun (and underexposed everything inside)

Here I touched the screen on the phone where the sun was.  So it exposed for the bright sun and left my kids dark.

And here I touched the screen on my phone where my kids were standing.  So it exposed for the kids and over-exposed the setting sun (which is why it's so bright and you can't even see the sun setting).  But you can see the surfers which were so fun to watch.

Another tip.  The camera on the back of your phone (the one intended for taking photos) has MORE megapixels than the forward facing camera on your phone (the one intended for facetime).  So when you take "selfies" or pictures with your kids where the phone is facing you, they will be lower quality (so you can't print them as big) than they would be if you took them with the camera on the back of the phone.  So whenever possible, use the camera on the back of the phone.


And the last tip.  You can use the volume control on headphones to act as a remote for your camera.  Plug the headphones in and press the + or - button on the headphones and it will take a picture.  No more gumby arms.

And.  A bonus tip.  If you get the Camera + app, it has a timer option so the mom can stay in the picture!

For some tips on improving your photography in general, check out this post.

"Where Children Sleep." Photos of children and their bedrooms from around the world.

This photography project by James Mollison is absolutely fascinating!

Where Children Sleep

"Where Children Sleep--stories of diverse children around the world, told through portraits and pictures of their bedrooms....I found myself thinking about my bedroom:  how significant it was during my childhood, and how it reflected what I had and who I was."

Two pictures.  One of the child.  One of their bedroom.  The two together tell an incredible story.

Roathy, 8, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

 Kaya, 4, Tokyo, Japan

Lamine, 12, Bounkiling Village, Senegal 

Delanie, 9, New Jersey, USA

One picture, of a bedroom, and a child, can tell so much about who someone is, what they have, and where they come from.  So incredible.  What a world we live in.

Create a better story for your family. And photograph it.

I've been working crazy hard on the content of the "Tell My Story" intensive two part course.  I believe in the message.  And I believe in the importance of the message.

The first time I taught a photography class, it was because someone asked me to.  Now that I have found the real message of the class, I teach because I feel compelled to share something that directly impacts the course of my family story.


The next "Tell My Story" photography class will be on THURSDAY, MAY 15th.  It will begin at 9:45 am and will be over around 2:15 pm (depending on the amount of questions).

The course has TWO parts.   The first portion of the course will be completed online where you can work at your own pace before the live portion of the class on May 15th.  The theory behind this goes along with the Khan Academy where we're essentially flipping the traditional classroom model and you will do your "lecture" at home, and then come to class to do the "homework".  (You can see Khan's TED talk here)


The online portion of the course will cover all things related to "better" photos.  Both technical and emotional.  We will also talk about CREATING a story for your family.  Ways to be an intentional parent.  And then how to photograph that story so it is documented and continues to fuel our memory and hearts.


After completing the online portion of the class, we will meet together and use that foundation of knowledge in an interactive, hands on class where you will learn how to be in control of your camera, get consistently "better" photos, and intentionally create and document your family story.

You can read more about what you'll learn at the "Tell My Story" course HERE.  

And as always, e-mail me with any questions!  ltross17@yahoo.com

You deserve this!  And so does your family.

"Photography fuels memory....

and memory fuels the heart and soul"

Mitchell's Journey

Project Life

"Cultivate a good life and document it"

That's the slogan of Project Life.  And I can't believe it has taken me this long to find out about it.

I am NOT a scrapbooker.  The thought of designing and even worse, creating a scrapbook page makes me want to cut my fingers off.  It does not appeal to me.

Sure, I love the end product.  But even then, I always had an "issue" with scrapbooking because it felt like it was more about the "stuff" than it was about the pictures.  And I want my displays to be about the pictures.  About the people.  About the story.

So I've tried several different ways of displaying photos.  And, unfortunately, I've just left a lot of my photos on my computer where no one gets to see them but me.

Until I found Project Life.  It's exactly what I've been looking for.  Simple.  Affordable.  And something I can keep current with.   And it supports my intent to display photos that will enrich our family's life.  Project life is about the STORY, not about the STUFF.

I listened to a 3 day conference Becky Higgins (the creator of Project life) did online and decided we should probably be friends.  Because our mission is the same.  Document your life.  Tell a story.  CREATE a story/life (cultivate a good life).  And in the process of doing that, you become more grateful, more aware, and more intentional.

"The truth is, if what we choose to do with our lives won't make a story meaningful, it won't make a life meaningful either."  Donald Miller

Cultivate a good life, and then tell the story by documenting it.

Project Life goes hand-in-hand with the Tell My Story class.

Here's how it works.  You buy a Core Kit, an Album, and Sheet protectors (I use 40% off coupons and get them at Hobby Lobby or Michaels).  Select and print your photos.  Then it's simple.  You just slide pictures and journaling cards in pockets.  And in no time, you have a completed album.  (You can watch video demonstrations on the Project Life website)

There are a few reasons I prefer Project Life over an album you design digitally online.

First, I sit in front of a computer far longer than I'd like to for my business.  Any more hours in front of the computer and my eyeballs might fall out.

Second, I like to be able to do it while I'm doing something else (like catching up on all my DVR shows, or sitting by kids while they do homework).

Third, it's FAST.  And super simple.  Both of which are requirements in pretty much anything I do these days.

Fourth, they look AWESOME when they're done.  More visually interesting than a traditional photo album with pictures in pockets.

Fifth, my kids can get involved and help.  They become invested in the project.

Sixth, you can also journal in the albums.  There are "journaling cards" where you can write small amounts of information to supplement (note I said supplement as the pictures are the main focus of the album for me) the pictures.

Seven, you can make some killer unique gifts with Project Life.  I'll post some things I've done with them so far in a separate post.

But the biggest reason I appreciate Project Life is that I'm able to look through my albums and see what we've accomplished and what efforts we've made at living a good life story, but it also helps me see what we're missing so we can be more intentional about our future and live the life we want to live.



The boxes also make a great spot for folding paper cranes.  Folded 30ish of those (out of 1000) for a friend fighting stage 4 Lymphoma.  

Try it out.  I'm pretty sure you'll fall in love like I have.
And your kids will love you!

Click here to visit the Project Life website.

And for another idea on displaying photos in your home, click here for a super awesome wall display.

Picture Display Movement. Step 3. Organize

{For Step 2 in the Picture Display Movement, click here}

For me, this step initially felt the most overwhelming.  But once I got started, it turned out to be no big deal and went really fast.

I use iphoto for all my photo organizing.  BUT.  You don't have to have iphoto to organize photos like this.  You can use the same "folder" system on any computer, Mac or PC.

But the problem for me initially was the lack of organization within iPhoto and being able to effectively choose what I wanted to print and keep some sense of order in doing that.

All my pictures were in iPhoto, but that's it.  I started using iPhoto in 2009 so I had 5 years worth of photos in there and was overwhelmed by the prospect of organizing them.

Until I came up with this system.  Keep in mind there are hundreds of different ways you can organize photos.  Which is what overwhelms me.  So I had to pick something simple. That I know I would do and that I would maintain.

To organize the photos that were already in iPhoto, 5 years worth,  (you can google the steps on how to do all of this) I created folders for each year as well as a "vacations" folder.  See the photo below, under "albums" where it has folders for each year and one for vacations

I then created an album for each month in that year as well as an album for Holidays in that year.  Then I moved those albums into the folder for that year.

Then I clicked on "Events" in my library so all the pictures in my iPhoto library would come up and went month by month and put the pictures in their corresponding folder.  The physical pictures don't move so they are all still visible in the events part of your library.  But then when you click on one of the months folder, only that month shows (which can make it easier to find certain photos).

To do this quickly, you can click on the box with pictures from the first of the month, then hold down the shift key and click on the box with pictures from the last of the month.  Then just drag and drop them into the appropriate album.

{See how the boxes for July are highlighted in yellow.  Then just drag those into the "July" album.}

After each month, I would look through that month for any holidays or vacations, highlight those pictures and drag those into the appropriate albums as well.  You can have the same picture in multiple albums without moving the original file.  It just makes a "copy" of those pictures which takes up very  minimal space on your hard drive.

This entire process of organizing 5 years worth of photos (I have about 30,000 photos in my iPhoto library) took me about one hour.  Quick.  Easy.  And simple.

And I feel So. Much.Better now that it's done.

Now to maintain, my plan is, at the end of each month (on a SET date) I will move those files into their album for the month and put them in the folder for their year.  Should take about 2 minutes.  

If you don't have iPhoto, figure out a photo organizing system that works for your family.  Just keep it simple and schedule regular times to maintain it.  If you have the right system, it really doesn't take very long.

You can still set up a Folder for each year, then folders for each month and drag the photos into those folders.

Step 3.  Organize those photos

Now don't stop there!  Step 4 is to PRINT THOSE PICTURES!!!! 

If you have questions, please feel free to contact me!  I'm happy to help where I can.

Where should I print my pictures?

I get asked this question alot.

My answer:  It depends on what you're using the pictures for.

I know most professional photographers will say to only get your photos printed at a professional lab.  The only time I disagree with this, is based on your answer to the question, what are you using the pictures for?

If I am printing pictures 5x7 or smaller and they are intended for an album, like Project Life, I print my photos at Costco (if I want a white border around them or if I need them quickly).

Keep in mind when printing anywhere, what you see on your screen isn't necessarily what you get from the printer (unless your monitor is calibrated to that specific printer).  I have learned that Costco prints tend to be a little "dark".  So before I send them to Costco I lighten them up a little (bump up the exposure).  All of the photos in this wall collage I did are from Costco.

OR I print my 4x6 photos at York Photo online.  If you google "free 4x6 prints" a code for 100 free prints to york photo should pop up.  You can use that the first time you order prints from them.  They also have sales on their prints all the time so I have a folder on my desktop with pictures I want to print and I wait until there is a sale and then send a batch of those pictures in to be printed.

If I am printing bigger than 5x7 or printing anything large that will be hung on my walls, I use Pixels Foto and Frame (for the Utah readers, it's on 90th S. and State Street in Sandy) or online I use Mpix.  These are both professional printing labs with affordable prices.  And their customer service is killer!!

I use pixels for regular prints (they'll do custom sizes which I love to do) and I also use them for matboard prints like this one:

Mpix has a bunch of novelty photo items like calendars and photo books and cards along with regular prints.  I also use them for printing stickers and business cards.

Any photos I print I use a matte or lustre finish instead of glossy.  Makes them look better in my opinion.

If you have never printed somewhere before and don't know what the prints will end up looking like, just send a few photos to be printed.  Then if you like how they look, you can send a bigger batch for prints.

I have also printed at Persnickety Prints in Orem, UT.  They do printing for Instagram pics (square photos) as well as Project Life album sizes (3x4's).  I also love their polaroid type prints.  Hoping to get a lot of those for a wall display I have in mind.  The printers at Persnickety have a different color than what I see on my monitor, so if you plan to print there, do a "test" print first to make sure it looks the way you want it to.  (For anyone who cares, my monitor reads an RGB color space, and persnickety does heavy stock prints which are CMYK color space.  Different from photographic prints which are RGB)  Regardless, the prints still look awesome!  I'm sure I'll be posting more about Persnickety in the future.  Killer customer service and response time!

I personally would never print at Walmart.  For anything.

Picture Display Movement. Step 2. Load and Back up.

{Click here for Step 1 of Project Picture Display}

After I am focused on taking more photos, the next step is to get them on my computer.

I'm really good about doing this with my dSLR, but horrible about doing it with my phone.  Some pictures sit on my phone for months before I ever put them on my computer.  And a lot of the pictures I take these days are with my camera phone for convenience/logistical issues.  (I'm still busy just trying to keep track of the four little humans I usually have around me and all the "stuff" that seems to accompany them).  And without that handy camera phone, I'd miss pictures like this.  Of my kid hugging a mannequin.  Not weird at all.

Here's the key to the rest of The Picture Display Movement.  There HAS to be a system and it has to be SIMPLE or it will never get done.  So find a system.  Schedule a consistent time to do it.  And keep it simple!!  We schedule time to clean.  Time to do laundry.  Time to exercise.  We should DEFINITELY schedule time to organize, print, and display our photos.

Here's the system that works for me.  This will have to be tweaked for each family just like chore charts have to be tweaked for each family (still working on fine tuning our chore/money system), but find something, anything, that works for you and stick to it.

I load my photos directly into iphoto.  When I plug in my camera or phone to my computer, iphoto automatically pops up and the pictures go straight in there.  The pictures automatically sort by date.

Once the pictures are loaded, I make sure they are backed up onto an external hard drive.  You can get those at Costco.  I just bought a 3TB external drive for about $120.  Worth every penny if my computer hard drive crashes.  This is a step that should never be skipped.  It's not hard and only takes a few extra minutes.

I also back up my computer on an online site.  I researched several online storage companies and finally settled with Backblaze because it is unlimited storage for a really affordable price ($5 per month) and it allows me to back up all my external hard drives as well (as long as I plug them in every 30 days).  I have 7 full external hard drives and a nearly full computer hard drive.  I see the "your startup disc is almost full" message more times than I care to keep track of.  I need a lot of storage space.  I have also heard good things about Carbonite and Mozy.

Step 2.  Load 'em and BACK THEM UP!!!

Click here for Step 3.  ORGANIZE those Photos.

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Picture Display Movement. Step 1. Take pictures!!

I was talking to a friend the other day and she said she had misplaced her SD card with an entire years worth of photos on it.  I skipped right over the part about her saying she lost the card and couldn't wrap my head around the fact she had an entire years worth of photos on one card.  I can fill up a 4GB card in about 20 minutes taking pictures of my kids.

And after seeing how often my sister and a few other relatives who will remain nameless take pictures, and by often I mean never, I realized maybe this is an issue for a lot of people.

So I decided Step 1 for most people would have to be TAKE MORE PICTURES!!! This applies to me as well.  And probably a lot of other professional photographers I know.  Because we're so busy taking other people's pictures, we sometimes forget (or choose not to) pick up the camera and take pictures of our own people.

The actual process of taking a picture costs me nothing.  Monetarily speaking.  So why not take more?

Even if they aren't always (or ever) "great quality" photos.  The few pictures I have of my childhood won't ever make it into a magazine, but I'm so grateful I have them :)

And the benefits of photographs in our lives is so great, I should be taking as many as I can!

When I pick up my camera and take a picture of something, intentionally or unintentionally I send a message.  A message that whatever I am taking a picture of is important to me.  Because taking a picture of something signifies I want to remember it, whatever "it" is.  A person, a moment, a feeling.

So without saying anything, when I stop what I'm doing and take a picture of something, I show that moment/person/thing/feeling/event was worth stopping for, was worth my time, and was worth documenting.

Photographs tell the story of who I love.  What relationships I cherish.  Moments that make me laugh.  And moments that make me want to cry.  What daily life events I find value in.

If I don't have those photographs, what story do I have to tell?  And what message do I unintentionally send when I choose not to photograph anything (or many things?)

I'm not saying I need to spend my life and every waking moment taking pictures.  But I definitely think I should be intentional about the photographs I DO take and to make it a priority to document our stories.

So.  Step 1.  Take a lot of pictures.  :)


Click here for Step 2.

Uniquely awesome photo display.

The walls in my home are sacred space.  Whatever goes on them is something we'll see every.single.day.  So I'm pretty choosey about what gets a spot on those walls.

Which is why many of the walls in our home are still bare.  Just waiting for the perfect thing to hang on them.

The wall in my office is one such space.  I spend a fair amount of late night hours on my computer.  And I wanted something inspirationally awesome to go on the wall I see the most while in there.

I've held out.  And I finally found the perfect thing.

It went from this:

To this:

It took a little longer than anticipated to get on the wall.  And I didn't finish during naptime (which created some challenges with a two-year-old who will remain nameless that was eventually banished from the room) or before my girls got home from school so they sat on the floor and watched me finish.

While I carefully selected photos out of my rather large pile, the girls commented on the photos.  The things they said were unsolicited.  I asked for no commentary on what was going on (because usually by that time of day, I'd like to give my ears a time-out).  I was in full concentration mode to hurry and get those things on the wall before the previously mentioned two-year-old sabotaged the entire project.

Mya:  "Whooooa.  I can't believe you put so many photos of just me.  All by myself.  I must be special."

Jaida:  "Mom, I'm really glad you can take such good photos of us"

And my favorite (and most gratifying since I have an intentional purpose for taking SO many photos of our everyday lives):

Mya:  "Wow, Mom, you sure do take a lot of photos"
Me:  "Why do you think that is, Mya"
Jaida: (without a pause) "Because you think we're awesome!"

Intentional parenting for the WIN!

I got the photoclips at fotojojo.com 

I went back about 4 years and looked through all our pictures, picking out some of my favorites.  I printed them at Costco (I know, gasp--but when I'm only printing as a 4x6 and I'm printing THAT many, I just use Costco).

I started with a block of photos put together first.  I taped those to the wall, and then added pictures one-by-one directly onto the wall.

There probably was an easier way to do it, but this worked for me.  Eventually.

It took a few hours.  But it's my favorite spot in the house right now.  The kids too.  We've all spent a lot of time gazing at that wall, reminiscing about a lot of really good family memories in our home!

I ended up with 153 photos on the wall.  At some point I may go down the wall further, but for now, I have to keep the pictures out of reach of certain little fingers who like to destroy things.

And the view from my desk now.  I dig it.

 Of course it looks cooler if the photos are good quality.  So if you want to do this in your home, learn how to improve your photo skills.  Not just the quality of the photo, but also the type of pictures you take.  You won't regret it.  One of the best investments you'll ever make.