Tuesday, January 2, 2018

How to Take Better Photos in One Year, and a Quick Reflection on 2017



What a whirlwind, wonderful 2017 it's been!

When I think back, these are some words that come to mind:

Joy
Love
Giggles
Snuggles
Adventures
Naps, so many naps
Sleep deprivation (*coughJUDEcough*)
Babyhood
Tantrums and limit pushing (*coughJOHNPAULcough*)
Toddlerhood
Cleaning/cooking/laundry
Changing diapers
Little house projects (I must write more about this soon!)
Post-partum anxiety
Dairy-free diet
Stronger marriage
Teaching NFP
Post-kids'-bedtime Netflix shows
A new hobby: photography!

It really has been a fantastic year! From meeting Jude in January, to getting to know John Paul better and how to navigate his toddlerhood, to finding new ways of falling in love with my husband, it's been a year filled with awesome family time, and for that I'm incredibly grateful.


On top of that, I worked through my post-partum anxiety and learned how to eat a dairy-free diet after my nursling was diagnosed with a milk protein allergy. The anxiety and diet changes have been challenging, but we've learned to manage them, and now that they're routine, they're manageable and, dare I say, easy! Who knew?!

So overall, my biggest accomplishment this year, by far, has been keeping my three boys (husband included), alive and well and happy. That's really all I can ask for, and more than enough in this life. A joyful family. 



But second biggest accomplishment? . . . 

You may laugh, because it's so teeny tiny compared to taking good care of my family. But I'm super pumped that I finally figured out how to work my DSLR camera!! In manual mode, no less! 

My husband and I purchased our Nikon D3200 three years ago in hopes that we'd take lasting lovely pictures of our kiddos, but then it basically sat and collected dust for two years. I was excited to open the box, but then quickly became overwhelmed by all there was to learn. Aperture this, ISO that, shutter speed blah blah blah.The photography learning curve is STEEP! And I wasn't exactly pleased with how pics were turning out in auto mode. So I basically gave up. We'd take it out on occasion and just deal with mediocre auto-mode photos, but for the most part, it hibernated in its camera bag.


I guess it was Jude who really pushed me to want to take better photos. When Jude was born, John Paul was about 1.5 years old, and I was regretting not getting better pictures when he was younger. So when Jude was nearly due, I decided it was time to buckle down and finally master the DSLR camera. I wasn't going to make the same mistake again!

But when was I supposed to find time, as a full-time mom (and vvv part-time NFP teacher) to take a photography class? Or self-teach by reading through the overwhelming web of internet photography advice blogs? 




Enter: Shoot Along.

Around December last year, my good friend Emily, over at the Mama Holi blog, posted about taking a year-long online DSLR photography course for parents and asked if anyone wanted to join. Perfect timing! I looked into it a bit on my own and decided this was exactly the course I was looking for. So I signed on immediately and now a year later I can confidently say I'm SO happy I did!



First, it was SUCH a joy to take the course with Emily. One of my favorite parts was talking about the different lessons with her and cheering each other on when we took good photos. So much fun!

And second, we both learned and grew so much! I went from knowing nothing about all the bits and bobs and buttons on my camera to being able to confidently take pictures in manual mode. Something I'd always dreamt of, but never had the time to figure out. Shoot Along made it easy and possible. I couldn't be more pleased!





Direct from their website:
Shoot Along includes 52 weeks of photography lessons delivered by email. Learn new concepts, understand how your camera works, and build on your existing skills. A mixture of both creative and technical lessons make it easy to stay motivated. 
We teach photography step-by-step and offer the support you need to step up your photography game. Using your family's life as the classroom, you'll spend the year documenting special occasions, important events, and, perhaps most importantly, those fleeting day-to-day moments you'll someday treasure.



Whether you're a clueless beginner or a seasoned pro, the course offers help and motivation for all participants. They break things down simple enough for even the newest of newbs and then add extra prompts each week for people who have been doing this photography thing a long time. No matter where you are on your DSLR journey, you'll learn and grow plenty with Shoot Along.



One of my absolute favorite parts of the course is their private facebook support group. So after you get a chance to practice the lesson for the week, you can post your pictures to the group, who then offer encouragement and constructive criticism. The feedback was fantastic, and seeing pictures from hundreds of other Shoot Along photographers kept me going through the year. Other participants' photos inspired me to take pictures I would have never thought of framing on my own.



My year with Shoot Along just wrapped up and I now have hundreds, nay, THOUSANDS (!!!) of images from the past year that are leaps and bounds ahead of what I was once taking with my iPhone. My heart is happy every time I go back through them. I feel I've really done the memories of 2017 justice with all these fancy photos of our favorite moments.

I really never thought I'd be capable of capturing high quality photos of my kiddos. I was too intimidated to try. But taking a class that spread the learning over the course of an entire year and was easy to work around my busy mom schedule, finally helped me figure it out. 



I'm so pleased with how far I've come, that I've decided to take the course again! Shoot Along 2018, here I come!

And I'm wondering if there are other moms or dads out there who want to join me? If your DSLR is hibernating somewhere collecting dust, maybe it's time to jump right in and finally pick up that photography hobby you've always dreamt about. :)



Or maybe you don't own a DSLR but have always thought of getting one? Or you don't know what DSLR means but you want to take better pictures? I promise you that a new camera + a Shoot Along subscription = a winning combo and a new favorite hobby!

The course started on January 1st, but no need to worry about that! I started the 2017 course a few weeks into the new year as a latecomer, and it was easy breezy to catch up and get going.




So who's with me? I'd love for you to be my classmate this year! 





2017 really was a blast of a year!! And looking back, I mainly picture myself cooking, cleaning, nursing a baby, and taking a bunch of photos. This new hobby was such a huge part of my year and I loved loved loved that! 

I especially loved that I was able to capture Jude's first year with much higher quality than my iPhone is capable . . . 






Gah! Those newborn details still slay me. <3


And this photo of Jude crying over a dropped cheerio. I die.

As a little experiment, my husband and I took the same picture from the same spot in the same moment, but with different cameras. The first is my husband's picture using his iPhone, the second is my picture using my Nikon D3200 (with a little editing in PhotoShop to brighten).

 

I know which one I'd like to keep for the baby book. ;) How about you?

Happy new year, my friends! I think of you all often and hope you and your loved ones are well. Here's to a happy, healthy, photo-filled 2018!



>> This is an affiliate post. Thank you for your support! <<

Monday, January 1, 2018

Jude, Eleven Months

Jude is 11 months old!


Time out. How can my baby only have 1 month left 'til he turns 1?!?! 

I know, I know. Moms have been saying this since the beginning of time. But I still can't believe it. The first year really really flies!

Weight
Welp, my bud is still only around 19lb, which means no weight gain since last month. We'll be seeing his pediatrician soon to make sure it's not being caused by a bigger issue. If I had to guess, it's just a combo of being a super active boy, super distracted nurser, barely eating much table food, and not being able to eat any dairy (he's still allergic to cow's milk). Please pray it's nothing more than that!

Height
We'll see how tall he is at his 1 year appointment next month! But for reals, he's a TALL boy, just like his brother. And since he's skinny and tall, we've got a bit of a string bean baby on our hands.

Sleep
Not gonna lie, sleep has regressed a fair bit. Naps are still stellar. One or two awesome naps a day. But the overnight has become a one- or two-feedings-a-night thing again. For most of the month, he just needed one feeding between 3am and 5am, and then would go back to sleep until 7am or 8am. I wasn't thrilled, but was totally on board with it because he definitely *needs* extra calories at this point. But as of this last week, it's also a 12am or 1am waking/feeding, plus the other one. So yeah, we're tired again over here. Once we get his weight back on track, this boy is officially being night weaned, gosh darn it. 


^^The many stages of a happy Jude.

Firsts this month
-Stands unassisted for several seconds!
-Tried to take the world's tiniest first step. I think walking is right around the corner!
-Claps when we say "yayyyyy!" or when others are clapping.
-Waves and says "bye bye" when prompted.
-Shakes his head no when we say "no."
-Signs "more" when he wants more food.
-Climbs from the bottom to the top of the stairs (with close supervision, of course).
-Gets into EVERYTHING. Opens all the drawer/cupboards. Unravels the toilet paper. Pulls folded laundry apart. JUDE THE DESTROYER.
-First word: "All done!" which he pronounces "aww DUH!" and says when he's DONE with high chair or crib time, totally unprompted!
-New dance move: sways back and forth, in addition to the bounce he's being doing for a while now. Cute central!
-Opened Christmas presents and instinctively knew to tear into the paper.

Nicknames
Boo Boo
Jude the DESTROYER -- John Paul especially likes to use this one as Jude pulls apart his toys.



Other things to note
-I thought he was really starting to get the hang of table food last month, but apparently not. This month he basically picks at his food and eats like a bird. Sigh. I promise you we've tried ALL the fatty non-dairy foods: avocado, coconut milk, coconut oil, egg yolk, nut butters . . . this boy just doesn't want to eat enough to chunk up. So for now, we still nurse a bunch, basically every three hours during the day. I'm praying my milk supply can keep up with his demand, even a year out from birth, because I can basically promise you he won't like the special formula we'll have to give him for his dairy allergy.

-Big brother John Paul got the woorrrrrsssttttt stomach bug I've ever witnessed. It lasted <are you ready for this?!?!!?> 3 weeks!!!! That's vomiting and diarrhea for 3 very long and yucky weeks. Thankfully he's on the mend now. And Jude didn't catch it, which is honestly a miracle. PRAISE GOD! But I do wonder if his stomach was still somewhat affected and maybe that is what caused him to barely each much this past month? Anyway, knock on wood, this house is finally vomit/diarrhea free and we'd like to keep it that way for a long time now. Kthanx.

-Current favorite foods: smoothies, peanut butter, hummus, and french fries.

-This boy is PERSISTENT! Way more so than his brother was at this age, if I'm remembering correctly. For example, he lovvvves trying to touch our TV speaker whenever we're watching a family movie and it doesn't matter if we pull him away from it 100 times and say no, he'll be right back at it a minute later. And he crawls over to it super fast and looks back at you with a huge grin because he knows he's doing something he's not supposed to. It's pretty hilarious when you get right down to it. Hilarious and a little exhausting. It's so fun to see these parts of his personality now.

-I really think this boy will be walking by 1. He's got it all down, he just won't take a confident first step.

-I took an Instagram poll about whether or not he should get a haircut before 1 and the internets agreed: 45% YES // 55% NO. So I guess I will be persuaded by peer pressure and not cut his fluffy locks until after 1. But srsly, it will probably be the day he turns 1 and I won't be sad, not one bit. I'm ready NOW. It's the husband who says no no no, not allowed until he's a big boy 1-year-old. Meh.

-When Jude gets tired, he'll crawl around until he finds a soft spot, and lay his head down on the ground for a few seconds, I think to signal to us: PUT ME TO BED NOW, PARENTS! It's really the cutest thing ever.

-EDITED TO ADD: How could I forget?! Jude got his first big booboo this month. He was playing on top of our carry-on luggage bag and his brother went to pick it up to roll it around. Jude must've been chewing on the edge of it as he fell because next thing I know, he's completely slid off the luggage and his bottom left tooth is sticking out and bleeding. It was so scary in the moment, though thank GOD he's completely fine now. As it turns out, baby teeth can set back into place even after they've been partially pulled out like that. It was wiggly for a few days, and his gums got torn up a fair bit, but now it's solid as ever again, completely normal. Is this a small preview into the life of a boy mom? My momma heart just can't handle seeing her littles get hurt!




^^Not pleased with having to sit still for Christmas pictures.

We love you, Jude! What a fun 11 months it's been. Here's to the last month of your first year being the best yet!


Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...