Family Pictures

July 11, 2015 6:15 pm

I decided to make use of my new photography lighting equipment and took some family pictures today.  Originally it was going to be a little photo shoot for Corinne, but that rapidly expanded.  Unfortunately, I wasn’t planning on taking a full family picture so I didn’t have the tripod and remote out and configured.  So don’t have one of the whole family, but we’re all in there in some way or another.

It was tough trying to get Heather and Corinne looking in the same direction at the same time with something amounting to a smile on their faces.  I resorted to tickling Heather as she’s reached the age where asking her to smile results in bizarre grimaces.

Here are some of the best shots:

IMGP3497as IMGP3516asIMGP3462as IMGP3445as

And the other shots that came out well:

June Junk

July 4, 2015 10:13 pm

Okay, not junk. Not at all. But alliteration, you guys! And I get sick of titling these posts “miscellany” or “camera dump.” But anyway, here are all the fun pictures from June that didn’t already get their own blog post. Enjoy!

Heather with some art. She loves to art.1-IMG_20150602_164523as

If you’re going to be realistic about feeding your doll, you need the Boppy. Obviously.2-IMG_20150603_105238as

On any given day, looking into the family room, you may see something like this: 3-IMG_20150604_133348asTotally normal, right? Isn’t this how everybody uses their tablet?

Sometimes feeding the baby gets boring. That’s when you move to the family room and watch TV.4-IMG_20150605_092807as

Kyle turned 30 this year! Wahoo! The girls helped him open his presents.5-P1010506as 6-P1010508as 7-P1010510as 8-P1010519as

And blow out the candles.9-P1010527as 10-P1010530as 11-P1010532asSo we decided to experiment with the cake this year, and it came out YUMMY! I just used the recipe for chocolate cake and frosting off the back of the Hershey cocoa tin (also found here), but the secret was the filling. Kyle has invented this mousse stuff (it’s essentially instant pudding made with whipping cream instead of milk) that is divine, and that’s what I used (vanilla flavored). Kyle needs to blog the recipe, and when he does, I’ll link it (Edit: Link!). He also declared it’s even better the next day. It did not last long.12-P1010533as

Heather really likes to snuggle up in blankets. Even when it’s 100F outside. She’s also started piling up the cushions and pillows and making all sorts of comfy arrangements.13-P1010536as

I’m the Primary secretary in our ward, and our chorister asked me to help out a few weeks ago. To help the kids review the song for Father’s Day, they got to put something in my hair for each line they remembered. Everybody had a lot of fun with it!14-singing time

One afternoon, Heather came up to Kyle and said she wanted to marry him. (When I asked her what that meant, she said they dance!) So she put on her flower tiara thing and they danced. When I showed her this picture and asked her what it was, she said, “Me and daddy…being married…” in a sweet, sing-song voice, and she twirled away. She obviously has fond memories of this event.15-H and K marrying

 

Kyle walked by Heather’s doorway one morning to discover her in bed with what she declared to be her “perfect family.” I don’t think that requires any further explanation.17-perfect family

This is Heather’s dance class at their in-studio dress rehearsal. Too cute.18-dress rehearsal

And this was a Mommy fail. I packed the sunscreen! I just forgot to put it on her. Poor thing. Ibuprofen and aloe vera helped, but she was pretty uncomfortable for a couple of days.19-sunburn

On Father’s Day, Heather helped me make some peanut butter brownies for Kyle.20-Fathers Day brownies

In Primary, the kids got cards with Pop Rocks candy to give their dads, and Heather thought the candy was amazing. She liked watching it pop in Kyle’s mouth:21-Fathers Day pop rocks

And lastly, Heather had swim class the last two weeks in June. It was her first time not being in a parent/child class, and she loved it! They were in a 2-foot pool and the class was very small, so she had a lot of one-on-one time with the teacher. I love watching her learn new things!IMGP3277as IMGP3279as IMGP3281as

May Miscellany

July 3, 2015 11:06 pm

Kyle and his girls:12-IMG_20150501_185406as 13-IMG_20150501_185827as

Heather was so tired she laid down on the couch and fell asleep in the middle of the afternoon. This has never happened before or since. In fact, later that day, she didn’t believe it had happened until Kyle showed her photographic proof. (For the life of me, though, I can’t remember WHY she was so tired! Some adventure with Daddy, I believe.)14-IMGP2990as

Heather spent an afternoon with our friends the Badgers. She got her nails painted for the first time!15-IMGP2994as

All dressed up in her recital costume for picture day:17-IMGP3025as 18-IMGP3029as

Awww, sisters!19-IMG_20150519_161631as

Heather and I got to do some sidewalk chalking one afternoon, and it was super fun. I drew a face, and she proceeded to add the digestive system (‘cuz she’s awesome like that). This is the only art I got a picture of, though:20-IMG_20150520_162048as

21-IMG_20150525_150026as

The girls and I went for a walk downtown, and Heather somehow ended up in the fountain. She thoroughly enjoyed herself, though, and has fond memories of our adventure on “the First Street.”IMG_20150526_153737as IMG_20150526_153742as

Let There Be Light!

July 2, 2015 10:46 pm

I saw a deal on Slickdeals yesterday for this entry-level studio lighting kit from Cowboy Studio.  For $45 it comes with 3 light stands, 2 white umbrellas, 3 light & umbrella holders, and 3, 45-watt CFL daylight bulbs (~225-watt incandescent equivalent).  I certainly wasn’t expecting professional quality components, but they’re better than what I had for staging a picture (which was nothing but my off-camera flash).

IMG_20150702_221159s

First, I’m quite pleased with Amazon.  I placed the order Wednesday afternoon with 2-day shipping, and it arrived Thursday morning.  Can’t argue with that.

Second, I’m quite pleased with the products.  Definitely worth $45.  Many of the components are plastic, rather than metal, but I even so they seem pretty sturdy.  For hobbyist use they seem like they’ll be fine.

Heather, as usual, was super excited to find out what was in the box that arrived this morning, so I told her she could help me test out the equipment after work.

So here are a few test shots.  The only lighting used was from the kit.  I’ll probably get a shoe mount to hook up my flash with one of the umbrellas at some point so I can get more power and a faster shutter speed; or maybe just some brighter / more-directional lights.

The setup for these photos was 2 lights behind an umbrella in-front of her to the left at about eye-level and the 3rd light & umbrella below, behind, and to her right.

Really decent soft lighting!

IMGP3401as

The first picture is Heather’s natural face when I ask her to look at something. Not sure why she looks so sad. Afterwards Jess came in and got Heather laughing. Since she’s moving around so much the images aren’t as crisp, but that’s where the flash would help. She also stood up, so the lights on the left were now below eye-level, so her eyes ended up shadowed in this next picture since her head is tilted back.

IMGP3407as

IMGP3410as

Heather’s Dance Recital

June 27, 2015 10:15 pm

Heather has been in a toddler dance class for the past year.  They had their recital today.  Heather thought it was the most amazing thing ever.  I think she burned through 3 days worth of energy reserves during and after it.

IMGP3327as

The studio strictly forbids anyone recording video during the performance (they’re more than happy to sell you a DVD for $40 though).  So I only have photos.  Their pricing only really irks me because they charge admission for the recital at $16 per person.  At a rough estimate they brought in around $10,000 at the recital (held at the high school), seems like they could afford to provide the video at a reasonable price (considering everyone has to pay for their own costume, makeup, shoes, and to be in the class in the first place).

They had a picture day a few weeks ago and we bought a print from that so we’d have at least one high quality picture of Heather in her costume:

Heather Dance Costume (s)

At the recital the lighting was challenging.  To compensate for low light, I used a wide aperture (and thus shallow depth of field, making focus difficult) and still needed to apply a rather aggressive noise-reduction algorithm.  And then my task was complicated by the guy in front of me who, just as Heather’s class came on stage, pulled his cellphone out to take pictures.  We were sitting in the third row, so our heads were actually below the level of the stage, which is why the dancers are cut off at the shin in every picture.  So the pictures aren’t amazing, but I think they get the gist across.

They gave each dancer a little medal after the performance.  No matter what we say, Heather is convinced this means she “won” and was the best dancer.  She is incredibly competitive.  We have no idea where she gets it from.  If anything, we go out of our way to downplay any competitive aspect of the activities she participates in.

IMGP3345as

After the recital I asked her where she wanted to go for dinner to celebrate.  She chose Chick-fil-a.  We left at about 3pm and she fell asleep on the way there and on the way back and then went to bed at about 6:15pm (hence why we left for dinner around 3pm).  Going to bed she was complaining that her stomach hurt and her head hurt.  I think she’s just beyond exhausted; hopefully she’s feeling better in the morning.

As we were leaving the theater, Heather got tripped and fell pretty hard.  She was crying and one of the studio’s employees (possibly the owner) gave her a fancy cookie from their concession stand to try and cheer her up (you can see the cookie in the last picture below).

Enjoy the photos: