Letter to my sons:

               

      Dear boys,

When I was a little girl I always imagined I would have one boy, and one girl.  

I was a bit surprised to end up raising two boys!

That said, it was somewhat of a relief when boy #2 joined our little world... I knew 

you would always have a playmate in each other (I prayed the age difference 

wouldn't come between you).

While your relationship started out a bit rocky I've really seen it blossom through the years.

I watched as you, 'Half Pint' ignored the new baby (now 'Monkey Boy') in the hospital room... then when grandma asked you where your brother was you went and pointed him out.  Everyone ooohed and ahhhed over how cute and sweet you were.

Then you loved him.

You showed him off.

You loved on him.

You helped me by bringing me diapers or wipes, bringing him a pacifier, and all those special big brother jobs.  You would even bring Monkey Boy toys to play with!

But then it happened.  

He learned to crawl.  

He got into any toy he wanted. 

Your toys.

Suddenly our little monkey was getting on your nerves (and you on his)!

But what really amazed me is that even when you boys drove each other crazy you still missed each other when 

you were apart.  Both of you would ask for the other during nap times.  Half Pint, you would try to sneak

 into Monkeys room to wake him up during nap time even, just so you could play together!

As we have traveled to various bases (in different states as well as different countries), 

and new friends had yet to be made, you played together.  You are friends.

Best friends.

                                       


You always know you could count on
each other... to laugh at each others
jokes - or funny noises (even when we,
as your mature parents, roll our eyes).


Monkey boy looks up to you Half Pint...
you are his big brother and he likes to
copy you.  He also finds confidence
when you are there, and you have helped
 him overcome his shyness several times
already... just by being there with him.


I love that you can give each other
courage and joy without even trying.

Oh, it is still love and hate some days.  You know how to push each others buttons... 

you wrestle on the ground together (and inevitably someone gets hurt), 

you complain that he's playing with YOUR toy.  But you also have your own special way. 

 A way you play together. 

 A way you speak together.... a special language of your own, kind of like twins do

 (but you are almost 3 years apart in age)!

 I hope you always have that bond.  Always remember that you are brothers.

                                                             Brothers for life.

                                                                         Like it or not.

Please continue along the chain to see more awesome 'Letters To Our Sons', our next stop is with Monica Moore!

Letter To My Sons - Swansea, IL Photographer

Dear boys,

Ten years ago today I became a mother for the first time.  We welcomed your big sister, Alyssa, into this world.

We held her, we loved her, but there was nothing we could do to protect her.  She was born with too many problems.  10 years ago tomorrow we had to say goodbye.

But this letter isn't about her.  It's about you.

You may not always like it, but we do what we can to protect you.

We buckle you into carseats.

We make you wear a helmet when you ride bikes.

You wore floaties in the pool until we knew you could swim (then we still watched you like a hawk!).

We buy a net for the trampoline, so you don't fall off and break your neck.

We hold your hand as you cross the street.

We keep a good eye on you and do not let you wonder too far when we are shopping, or at the zoo, or anywhere else in public... because we need you close to protect you from strangers.

We will put you in time out when you do not listen, so you can learn from your mistakes.

We warn you not to climb on the towel rack because it might fall, and you could hit the head on the way down and need stitches.  See what happens when you don't listen?!  You just thought we were joking!

We make you do these things because we know about the dangers of life.
Because we love you.
Because we never want to lose you, like we lost your sister.
Because we never want you to suffer that pain, when it could be avoided.

But pain is how we learn and grow.  So we will not protect you from everything.  We will not wrap you in bubble wrap.

You will have days where you lose.

You will still fall on your bikes.

And at the playground.

But I promise let you be a kid, and experience life and joy without fear of those little things.

And we will pray for you. 

So you can be mad at us when we make you use a carseat until you outgrow it.  You can be annoyed when we make you hold our hand, even when the road is small and no cars are around, or when we're in a crowded area.

We do all of these things because we can't imagine tomorrow without you.

Because we love you.



Please check out more 'Letters to our sons' - the next stop our blog chain is Kelly Roth Patton!

Newborn Baby Eve - Studio Portraits Swansea IL

I love love love photographing newborns.  Baby Eve was no exception.  So sweet and snuggly, I may have had to steal a few cuddles between poses.

I was so excited with this baby's daddy surprised me by bringing in his flight suit and helmet into the studio.

 Not only that, but he brought his sunglasses and dog tags... things I wouldn't have thought to ask him to bring!  I love the personal touches!

As an Air Force wife and a military photographer I have the vision of this image in my head for a few years.  Yes, years!  Finally I was able to bring it to life.

While I was worried little Eve wouldn't like being in the helmet so we made sure she was good and asleep first, but she loved it.  Nice and snuggled up just like in the womb. 

 Newborns and their daddies?  They just get to me!

  

The best time to book your newborn session is when you are pregnant!  The appointment date will be loose and finalized after your baby is born... don't wait until the last minute!

For more information and images check out www.PixelThis.com or email Laurie

Professional portrait studio located in Swansea Illinois, on location photography available locally including Belleville, O'Fallon, Fairview Heights and Scott AFB IL.

How to photograph snow flakes

Gear: 

For my most recent work I have used a 105mm macro (some with extension tubes) on the D700.  I have also used a 'poor mans macro' setup with a 50mm, and using a crop sensor camera with a regular lens will give you extra zoom!  You can also use just extension tubes with regular lenses, but I have had the best results with combining the extension tubes and the macro lens.

It is often helpful to add more light, such as a macro ring light.  I used a LED ring light for many of the images used in this tutorial.  

Some people use tripods - these can definitely be helpful for lower light situations, but if the snow is melting fast or blowing away quickly you may not have time to set up your shot!

Lens cloth - for cleaning your lens if it gets snow on it.

Settings:  

If you're handheld or if it's windy you'll want to keep your shutter speed at 1/200 or higher (especially if you're cold and shivering!).  If it's on a tripod you can use much longer shutter speeds.

Close down your aperture.  I suggest at least f/10.  The closer your are to your subject (in this case snowflakes) the shallower the depth of field, by closing down the aperture you can increase the DOF and help keep your flakes in focus. 

Boost your ISO - you are likely going to need to boost up the ISO to make sure you get proper exposure.  How high will depend on your other settings and how much light you have, and when it's snowing it's cloudy (And sometimes very cloudy with very little light).  It's not uncommon for me to shoot at 2500-4000 ISO for flakes!  Remember that you will get less noise from proper exposure than you will get if you underexpose your image in camera and have to compensate with post processing.  Extension tubes will also cause you to lose light and require higher ISOs, but the extra reach gave me more detail even with removing the noise in post processing.

Poor Man's Macro:

Take your 50mm lens and put it on your camera backwards!  You will have to manually adjust the aperture (some lenses have this adjustment on the lens, you will just need to unlock it, I hear if you don't you can set it in camera then remove the lens and it will stay at the aperture last set - but I can't confirm this).  There are reverse mount rings that will allow you to do this without having to hold it.  The meter will not work but you will get macro abilities... and it's a challenge so that makes it more fun!  

Look for interesting flakes:

You can actually see the flake patterns with the naked eye.  I will search for flakes, then work on focus.  Not every snow fall will have flakes like these!  Sometimes it comes down in clumps or looking more like shaved ice.  Sometimes it's a mix.  Sometimes it changes as it snows, so just because it starts off as poor quality flakes doesn't mean that in 15 min it won't be the most awesome flakes ever (yes, I've had that happen)!  Go in and warm up and try again later if it's still snowing.

It helps to find flakes that you can shoot straight on (flat side to you, not at an angle to the camera).  This is because the DOF is so shallow for macro work that I find when I shoot at an angle sometimes the middle of the flake is in focus, and both edges are not!  By photographing them straight on you can get the whole flake in focus.  

Cropped in close (about 100% crop) you can see that both edges of the flake are slightly out of focus:

To find the flakes I will search the tops of fences once the snow builds up and look for flakes that stick up, or put out fabric (see the backgrounds section below) to catch the flakes on as they fall.  

Focusing:

 Cameras tend to have trouble locking focus when the subject is so close, so I flip the lens/camera focus mode to manual.  Then I turn the focus so it focuses as close as possible so I can get maximum zoom.  I line up the camera with the flake, and then use my body to move further and closer until I see the flake come into focus (it's like magic to me to watch this!).  

Take lots of shots:

It's not always easy to see if you nailed the focus perfectly on the LCD, so take extra to make sure.  If it's a flake I really like I will take 5-10 shots!  

Try different backgrounds:

Dark colors help show the flakes details, adding color can be fun, and don't forget textures!  Soft fabrics are great for snow that is falling fast, as it helps to prevent them from breaking.  

Fur fabric (This is actually brown fur but I edited in post to blue to fit the coldness of the snow):

Blue and white scarf (fleece type material):

Snow on a fence, neighbors house in the distance as a backdrop.  Shaded areas behind the flakes helps to make them pop:

Black sheet type fabric:

Plexi glass (I keep a sheet in the garage so it's cold and doesn't melt the flakes).  In this image I put it at an angle against the garage, over a small bush:

Try different compositions to add interest:

And last but not least - 

HAVE FUN!