Coincidentally, this photo is actually taken on my phone (iPhone 5s) and the topic on the Better Photo Project this week is all about taking pictures with your phone and mobile photo editing.
For this week’s Project 52, I have done one picture each of all the boys. Instead of capturing them busy playing or in a candid shot, I have asked them to stay still and look at the camera, but they still manage to show their personality in the photos. For three photos of three brothers all next to pretty much plain cream background they have all ended up with quite different photos.
It’s always been important to me to take plenty of pictures of the children, especially on special days or occasions to help preserve the memories. From one year to the next, they grow so much! Although I take a lot of pictures, I do wish my photography skills were much better at times, and I have had a look at some better camera ranges hoping that perhaps a better piece of kit may give me better results.
I have been wondering about a DSLR but the cost and high file size makes me hesitate a bit. The high performance cameras from Sony’s Cyber-Shot range look like a good option though with wider lenses to capture more light, and a powerful zoom. When upgrading my camera, I will also want to look for a camera with that can take a sharp crisp photo even in low light. A wide lens will help with this to allow in plenty of light even when taking a photo with a fast shutterspeed, this should hopefully help to capture my kids who do not stay still for so long!
My husband was telling me about his friends camera which is from this Sony Cyber-Shot high performance range. They used it on a long exposure to take pictures at night time and it let in so much light that the picture came out brilliantly despite the dark and difficult conditions, so he was really impressed with it so I’m sure he would be happy with this choice. It would certainly make life easier when trying to capture some of the moments which I find challenging like getting great shots of Christmas lights after dark.
I always find the changing seasons give some great opportunities for photographing the kids, and Winter is no exception – with Christmas giving the perfect opportunity. I love all the twinkly lights and reds and golds. If it snows, that also gives the chance to get some fantastic shots with a real sense of fun! Sometimes I have to remind myself that it’s not just pictures of the children or family that will preserve the memories, it’s also worth while taking photos of the food or decorations as these can result in some really effective pictures and will still bring back plenty of memories in the future!
A camera is an ideal gift at Christmas too, not just for grown ups but even for children who are starting to show an interest in photography. Mr Z was given a camera in the summer and he felt so grown up taking pictures himself and being in charge of his own camera. It’s also great to see the pictures and find out what parts of the day your child has seen it most important to focus on! Once he gets a little bigger, one of the portable and powerful range from Sony Cyber-Shot would be ideal for Mr Z as its a lightweight camera which is not too bulky for him, but is still a very good camera at 18.2 megapixels.
Below are some great tips on how to take better photos at Christmas. I found them really useful myself. I had always wondered how to create bokeh in photographs, I think they look gorgeous! So sparkly and effective!
There is a new Linky out over at the lovely PODcast blog. It’s another photo linky, but with a difference in that it asks you to explain all about the photo and tell the story. Love the idea of this so I am really happy to be joining in and showing my support. I have to admit, I have been told off from Silent Sunday before for not being Silent enough – what can I say, I talk too much and always seem to have the urge to explain the backstory behind the pictures, so this may end up being more my kind of Photo Linky.
Where better to start, than with my header image as this is the first picture you see when you come on the blog. It’s also my personal Facebook header, and it is on my phone cover too. I would say it’s my favourite picture of my three boys, or because I am a bit indecisive, it is at least definitely in my top 5 😀
This picture was taken around September, almost a year ago now! So they would be (L-R), just over 1 year, 4 years, and 2 and a half.
I can never ever seem to manage to get them all to stay still and pose for a decent picture together, so when I manage to snap one unexpectedly with them all in it and it comes out nicely, then it’s great! This was taken in our back garden, and I was really happy that we had just bought that outside table to enable me to do crafts and painting with them outside to save my house from the mess! I gave them loads of cardboard to paint that day, they painted everything blue and purple and they loved it.
I love the look of concentration on their faces and bit of paint on the little ones nose!
I am generally not that great a photographer, and this was just taken with my iPhone but when I see this picture, it makes me happy. It shows my boys all together and having fun, and reminds me a lovely simple day together that probably would have otherwise been forgotten, so this photo means a lot to me 🙂