Everyday moments

MrKLB and I are both working on becoming better photographers.  Not because we want to be professionals one day, but because (like most parents) we want to try to capture the moments that happen as our children grow up all too quickly.  I take a LOT of photos.  Sometimes it's a big event like Christmas or a birthday party, but most of the time it's just every day moments that I want to remember.  MrKLB sometimes gets tired of me getting out the camera or asking him to take photos, but he's a really good sport and I know it's because he knows how happy we'll be to have these photos to look back on when our little man is all grown up.

The majority of the photos I take are not technically perfect.  I do try to use our DSLR on manual mode when I think about it, but mostly use it on Aperture Priority mode.  Often I end up with photos that aren't perfectly lit, aren't in focus, or are under or over exposed.  I have learned some tricks on how to correct a few things in post processing, but really that's not the point.  The point is that the photos I take are emotionally perfect.  I was reading a photography blog the other day about how most people don't take technically perfect photos every day, but the emotionally perfect photos - the ones that capture a moment or expression that you want to remember - those are the ones that will be looked back upon fondly and bring back a cherished memory.  Of course, if I could take an emotionally perfect photo that is technically perfect, I'd prefer that!

Anyway, on the topic of everyday moments, I had MrKLB take a few photos of Brady during bath time last night because he is always such a happy baby during baths and I think "we really have to get some pictures of this!" and then I forget because the camera generally isn't in the bathroom.  We got a few shots that I am in love with... and I will look back on these in the future and remember what a fun little guy he is!

When I was looking at these photos it made me start looking back at old photos and I found this one of Brady taking a bath at 8 months old (he's 18 months now).  Such a sweet face... he's grown so much since then!

Another everyday moment I like to capture lately is how much Brady loves on his puppies.  He loves both of them equally, but our yellow lab is a little more forgiving of him sitting, laying, or pulling on her, and he just loves to give her hugs!  Here are a couple of shots that I took that were not posed or styled or technically perfect, but I love them:

Brady also loves to read and I love it when he sits down in the floor and opens a book and flips through it... totally acting like he can read every word on the page!

And peek-a-boo!  I love that this never gets old for him!  If he's upset about something and you want to make him smile... just get him to play peek-a-boo!  When you find him behind those little pudgy hands, he'll have a huge grin on his face!

Pure joy!  That's what I will remember about Brady at this age.  He really knows how to feel pure joy!

Anyway, that's just what was on my mind today.  Hopefully you'll be inspired to keep the camera handy and take some photos of your everyday moments, too!

A homemade gift: Yarn Wrapped Letters

I was in need of a cute, inexpensive gift idea for Christmas presents for two of my nieces who are 5 and 9 when I came across this cute craft project for yarn wrapped letters.  My nieces love things for their rooms and I thought the idea of hanging their monograms on the wall in the form of these yarn wrapped letters would be a really neat idea.  So, a couple of weeks before Christmas I went to Michael's to get the letters and yarn, and I got started.

One girl's room is blue and pink and the other is pink and purple so I tried to match those themes.  I got white wooden letters in different sizes and yarn from Michael's.  I took some in-progress photos but I can't seem to find them anywhere so here is the finished version:

You can see that I wasn't perfect at geting al of the little corners covered but I still think they turned out pretty well...

I added strings so they could be hung and then hung them on a piece of cardboard so that I could box them up and wrap them for gifts.

The girls loved them and hopefully next time I go see them I can get a shot of the finished product in their rooms!