Let it snow!

While it has been unusually warm this winter, that did not stop us from enjoying a little snow in Long Beach last weekend, thanks to councilmember Patrick O'Donnell who had ten tons of snow delivered to a local park for some wintertime fun.

In addition to the snow play area and four lane toboggan run, there were lots of fire engines, police vehicles (including a helicopter), inflatable maze and slide, carnival games and police officers and fire fighters grilling hot dogs and hamburgers. Everything was free and lots of fun!





Who are we kidding, this is Long Beach, we don't need a winter coat!



A day in the snow wouldn't be complete without sno-cones.


Ethan got hauled away in the paddywagon for having too much fun!

Photo Tip: Read The Manual

What's the best way to decipher your camera's sometimes cryptic icons? The Owner's Manual.

Whether your camera is old or new, digital or film, SLR or point-and-shoot, I encourage you to get out the manual and read it. While not a best seller, the manual is one of the best resources for learning all of the functions and settings of your camera.

Find a setting that is new and interesting to you and practice using it every time you take a picture over the next week. Choose another feature next week. You will be surprised by some of the creative things you can do with your camera and how quickly these adjustments become second nature.

If you do not have the manual, you may be able to download it from the manufacturer's website, I've listed several popular manufacturers below. If a link does not take you directly to downloadable manuals, look in the "support" section of their website.

Canon
Casio
Fuji
Hewlett Packard
Kodak
Konica-Minolta
Nikon
Olympus
Sharp
Panasonic
Pentax
Samsung
Sony
Toshiba

Need help with some technical terms, go to PhotoNotes or Wikipedia.

Silas

Bruce and Heidi are friends from college. Both are talented artists. Bruce is a graphic designer, illustrator, furniture designer/builder. Heidi is a painter, sculptor, assemblage artist. Check out their websites (click on their names above) to see some of their work.

I had the opportunity to photograph their son, Silas, again this summer. It was inspiring to photograph Silas in their new home where art is such an integral part of the space.

Frames for your little Michelangelo

Ethan makes a lot of art these days. I have wanted to display some of it in a more formal way (than just stuck to the fridge), but also wanted to be able to easily update the display with his latest masterpiece. Here is a great solution from the latest issue of ReadyMade magazine. Tacking the art onto small cork boards makes it easy to update with the latest painting (or photograph of the painter), while maintaining the look of framed art.

If you're not familiar with ReadyMade, check it out. In their words, "ReadyMade is a magazine [and a blog] for people who like to make stuff, who see the flicker of invention in everyday objects -- the perfectly round yolk in the mundane egg." They have lots of fun, do-it-yourself ideas. Pick up a copy of the latest issue to see how to make these cool corkboard frames.

Micah

I recently had the opportunity to photograph one week old Micah. What an honor to document those tiny parts and capture some early moments of this new little family.

September 2006 in Portland, Oregon

I have one more trip this year to Portland for child/family portraits and portrait parties from September 24 through October 1. The schedule is filling up quickly. If you would like to book a session contact us soon. This is the last opportunity of the year for those in Oregon to get portraits for holiday cards and gifts.

Contact us to learn more about our session options (or click the link).

Travel Tips: Create a Vacation Scrapbook

In case you missed the first Travel Tips post, my family is taking four long road trips this year and I wanted to share what we have learned about traveling with children. Feel free to contribute your tips in the comments.

Creating a vacation scrapbook can be a great way to preserve memories and pass the time during a long trip. Encourage your children to collect mementoes like ticket stubs, postcards and brochures during your trip. Be sure to bring a small scrapbook or notebook, pens, scissors and a glue stick or tape for the children to assemble their scrapbook on the way to the next stop or during down time at the hotel. In addition to mementos, have them draw pictures, write poems and stories or simply lists of the things they see and do. Leave blank pages to include photographs later.

Instead of having each child create their own scrapbook, try having each child create one or more pages about the trip and put them all together in a family scrapbook. You will be able to see the trip through each persons unique perspective.

A postcard travel journal is a simple variation on the vacation scrapbook. I don't remember where I read about this idea, but it is a great one for children or adults. (I did it myself a few years ago on our trip to Russia.) Buy a postcard at every stop and/or one for every day of your stay (try to find postcards with pictures of things you will be seeing on your trip). Journal about the events of the day on the back. If a post office or mail drop is easily accessible, mail the postcard home each day. The postcard will be postmarked so you will know when and from where you sent it. When you arrive home you will have a complete journal of your trip, including photographs of where you have been. This can be especially fun for international travel because of the unique postage stamps and postmarks. Even if you don't mail the cards, this is an easy and inexpensive way to create a unique scrapbook of a family trip.

What are your families favorite ways to document the trip? Share them in the comments.

Travel Tips: Involving the Kids

On our road trips this year, we have gone over our plans for the day with Ethan every morning, so he knows what to expect, and included fun stops along the way to break up the monotony.

Children love routine and predictability. Discussing the plan for each day at the beginning of the day can help them know what they can expect and deal with the change in their normal routine and environment.

One way to make this more tangible is to get a map or Trip Tik and talk about the route you plan to take and any stops you will make.

Include older children in the planning and the progress. During the trip assign one child to be the navigator, providing him with maps and a compass. Assign another to keep track of expenses, equipping her with a notebook, pencil and calculator. Even if they are too young to understand these tasks, children love to pretend and imitate adults.

Whenever possible, give your children choices. Children like to have control of their lives and make their own choices. When you take them out of their routine and familiar environment and sit them in a car for hours on end, it can help tremendously to offer choices. You do not have to provide a lot of options, just two is enough. For example: grapes or carrots; read a book or play a game; do you want to sit by the window before lunch or after lunch and so on.

What are your favorite ways to involve the kids? Share them in the comments.

Gymboree Lake Oswego

It's Gymboree Play + Music time again. I will be photographing during most of the classes at the Gymboree in Lake Oswego, Oregon during the week of July 31 - August 5. Get more details here. If you've never attended a Gymboree class before, I encourage you to try it out. You can attend a free preview, just contact the Lake Oswego Gymboree for information and available classes.

Photo Tip: Capturing Fleeting Moments

Anticipating the action and pre-focusing (at the bottom of the slide, for example) can help you capture the excitement at the end of the ride.

One of the most common complaints I hear about digital cameras is that it is impossible to photograph children because of the delay from when the shutter button is pushed to when the camera actually records the picture. This delay is called shutter lag and can be maddening when trying to photograph children (or other fast moving subjects). I had to use an old digital point-and-shoot camera on our recent trip to San Francisco and got lots of shots of the back of Ethan's head and Ethan walking out of the picture (I was so frustrated I bought a new one as soon as we got home).

Here are a few suggestions to help reduce shutter lag:

Turn your camera on before you need it.

Pre-focus: Press the shutter button half way down and hold (this allows the camera to focus, but does not take the picture). Wait for the right moment then push the shutter button the rest of the way down. Note: if the subject has moved closer to or further from the camera, you may have to refocus.

Anticipate the action: Try to anticipate where your moving subject will be when you want to take a picture. Pre-focus on that area and be ready to push the shutter (press a little sooner than usual). If you want your child to be looking at the camera, position yourself in front of her, pre-focus, then get her attention and press the shutter button. If you let your subjects know when you're going to take the photo by counting down from three, press the shutter on "one" and keep counting to three.

Better yet, don't worry about posing, smiling or looking at the camera, just capture your child doing her thing.

Get a faster memory card: Your camera may not take advantage of the fastest memory cards available, but slower cards can definitely slow down the recording of your pictures, increasing the amount of time before you can take another picture.

Turn off the display: Instead of using the display on the back of the camera to compose and review your pictures use the optical viewfinder and edit your pictures later on your computer. The camera will be a bit faster since it does not have to recreate the picture on the display and you will conserve the battery allowing you to take more pictures.

Charge (or replace) the batteries: Cameras need power to reset the sensor, focus on the subject and record the picture. Batteries that are low can slow down the process. Batteries can go bad after years of use. If yours isn't holding a charge for very long, it may be time to buy a new one.

Upgrade: There is only so much that these tips can do to decrease shutter lag. If you have an old digital camera, it may be time upgrade. Digital cameras have gotten much faster over the last couple years. Need help choosing a new camera, check out our list of camera review sites. These sites can help you choose the right camera for your budget and needs.