Mamarazzi School

Fun Photo Tip (Keep it BUSY!)

2008-06-25T01:12:00.000-07:00

Rule number one - keep your backgrounds SIMPLE!

You have heard that rules were made to be broken, right? :)

Today's photo tip is ... KEEP IT BUSY! Most of the time you should try and keep your backgrounds as "clean" as possible. Sometimes, though, it's fun to change things up a little. Today was Mckenna's 9 month photo shoot and I just KNEW she'd be full of smiles. I also figured she'd be sitting up great now and pulling up on furniture, so I wanted to make this session fun with some retro-cool patterns. Off to Fanny's Fabrics! For less than a hundred bucks, I got enough fabric to cover one of our big studio chairs, create a seat for a rickety old wooden chair and to hang up on the wall! Check it out ...

Two yards of fabric on the wall. Two yards covering the chair to the left and two yards folded up on the chair to the right ...

Notice how the chair on the left is only partially covered? Yeah, that's 'cause 2 yards wasn't really enough. Ha! Oh, well. Here's another photo tip for you ... crop it close! :)

Here's a close up of the right chair, too. I plan on taking the fabric off and using it as a backdrop later ...

A closer view of my FAAAAVORITE fabric (and my rockin' cool pink record player!)

And the results? Pretty freakin' ADORABLE!

Thanks Mckenna, for always being the BEST model!

XOXO, Sarah Q

HOMEWORK!!

2008-04-28T17:35:00.000-07:00

This week is going to be catch up week for me! I'll be updating the blog, posting tons of stuff on the forum and answering all your long-ago asked questions, so STAY TUNED! :) For now, let's do some homework!

Yesterday was the April Mamarazzi Workshop here at the studio and it was SOOOOO much fun! One thing we talked about was depth of field and how aperture affects it. If you've been reading the blog, you know I've been telling everyone how much I LOVE my cheap-o little 50mm lens. The reason I love it so much is because you can drop your aperture number WAY down low when using it - all the way to 1.8. (REMEMBER - the camera doesn't decide what aperture you can set, the LENS decides! I know some of you are still learning about apertures, so if you need a refresher, check out this older blog post ... http://mamarazzischool.blogspot.com/2008/02/lenses.html)

So, yesterday at the workshop, we let everyone try out the 50mm and pretty much everyone commented on how tough it can be to focus up close when the aperture is set all the way down to 1.8. This is SOOOO true! 1.8 is fun to play with, but definitely takes some getting used to.

Here are a couple of photos from the workshop yesterday. The first one is by me and the second one was taken by one of our AWESOME Mamarazzi students, Staci. My aperture was set at 1.8. Staci's was at 2.8.

See how shallow the depth of field is? Even his little ears are blurry! That's because our apertures were set to such a low number and because we were both up pretty close. If we had stepped back a little, more would have been in focus, even at the same apertures. Check out this photo, taken by Mamarazzi student, Nicole. Pretty much his whole body is in focus, but it was shot at the same aperture as Staci's picture (2.8). Why? Because Nicole was back a little bit farther. Just one step can make a huge difference!

Here's another great one, by Mamarazzi student and mommy of our ADORABLE baby model, Jenn. Thanks for letting us use Fred for the day, Jenn. He was PERFECT!!

Okay, so what's the homework? SHOOTING AT LOW APERTURE NUMBERS! If you have the 50mm lens I was talking about, use it! This homework is going to be a little tough for anyone using just a "kit" lens (meaning the lens that came with your camera when you bought it.) The reason it'll be tough is because "kit" lenses generally have aperture numbers that go down to 4 or 5.6 at the lowest. It's hard to get background blur at anything above 3.5 unless you have a really long telephoto lens. If you only have your kit lens and want to participate, head over to B&H and buy a 50mm - it's only around $90 and it ROCKS! You'll LOVE LOVE LOVE it and you'll get some AMAZING photos (that are worth way more than $90!) Here's a direct link (to my favorite store!) : 50mm at B&H

Okay, homework details ...

HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT (for everyone, not just people on the forum or attending a workshop) :

Set your aperture to the lowest number you can (depends on your lens!) Anywhere between 1.8 and 2.8 is best. Bribe one of your kiddos with candy to get them to model for you and start up close. Shoot some close ups of their faces, hands, feet, whatever you think is cutest! Then move back a step. Don't change your aperture - just your feet! After you've taken a few there, take some more steps back and keep on shooting. Finish up by taking some full-length shots (at the same aperture!)

After you've taken a ton of photos, go through them and pick out your 3 favorites. One should be a close up. One should be a mid-range. And one should be a full-length. Size them to 5" wide at 72dpi and send 'em on over to us! We'll pick our faves and post them up here and on the blog. FUN!!

Email address to send your photos : sarah@roxyandkai.com

Homework Deadline : May 7th, 2008 (that gives you time to order the 50mm if you don't have it already!)

Now go start shooting!!!

XOXO, Sarah Q

PS ... Feel free to post up any questions on the FORUM!!

The FORUM is LIVE and ROCKIN!

2008-04-01T15:21:00.000-07:00

The Mamarazzi School Forum - CHECK IT OUT! Whoo hooooooo!

MamarazziForum.com

XOXOXO, Sarah Q

WORKSHOP!!

2008-04-01T10:53:00.000-07:00

We had such a GREAT workshop at our studio this past weekend and I was BLOWN AWAY with some of the great photos taken of our adorable baby model Weston! For those of you who came - it was SO much fun meeting you and I hope you learned a TON!!

Here are a a few of my faves ...

Mamarazzi Attack! (Photos by Sarah Q)

Soooo cute! This one taken by Jenn :

Love these! (by student Krista) :

Some more cuteness (by student Leah K) :

And some more great stuff (by student Leah H) :

Student Memoree ROCKED these ...

And student Meredith got some great shots, too ...

Here are a few of mine!

Fun Photo Tip : Windows are your friends!

2008-03-25T19:30:00.000-07:00

Even if you don't have huge windows in your house, the light coming into your house from outside is ALWAYS better than light from your flash! Window lighting works great for sweet baby portraits like this one ...

(TIP : Don't have your subject face directly into the light. Have them at an angle to get some nice sidelighting. Also - it's better to go a little darker on the exposure for window shots like this one. You don't want to "blow out" the whites and lose all your detail!)

After you do some sidelight shots ... move around and see what other angles look good! Sometimes silhouettes are just as sweet ...

What are you waiting for? Go find a window and shoot from every angle you can find!

XOXO, Sarah Q

RAW ( ROCKS! )

2008-03-13T22:26:00.000-07:00

How many of you are shooting in RAW format? Have you ever even heard of RAW format?? If you're just a mama at home, shooting playtime pictures of your kids, do you need to shoot RAW? Nope, you don't have to. But should you? ABSOLUTELY! RAW format ROCKS! Need proof? Well, here you go ...

A Sarah Q screw up (turned into a Sarah Q FAVORITE!)

From blahhhhh sky to BLUUUUUUE sky!

From mid-day sunny blue skintones (YUCK!) to late-day warm golden skintones!

How CRUMMY are those "before" pictures?!?!?! Pretty bad, I know! Truth is EVERYBODY screws up sometimes ... even your favorite photographers :) Personally, I like to overexpose my photos a little bit since I like bright, fun colors. (When you underexpose and then try to lighten photos in Photoshop, they can get really muddy looking.) But sometimes, since I shoot in all manual mode, I'm off a little. Lighting changes pretty quick sometimes so there are often times when photos are overexposed TOO much, like the first example above. I use RAW format as a safety net for times like those. See, RAW format captures more data than JPG format. If that first photo had been a JPG file, I wouldn't have been able to bring back the color in Jakob's cheeks and neck. Since it was a RAW file, there was all kinds of hidden data to work with and bringing back the overexposed spots was as simple as sliding the exposure slider in Lightroom. A two second fix! Can't beat that :)

Let's shoot some RAW baby!

First, grab your camera's manual or push the Menu button and find the "Quality" control. There should be lots of options and probably a few symbols and it might look pretty confusing. Skip over all those letters and put it on RAW! All those other options will give you JPGs, which are great for printing directly from a memory card, but now that we want to do some fun photo editing, we need more control! RAW is all about CONTROL and DATA! When you shoot in RAW format, you have more control over the final photo because it captures a lot more data and doesn't compress your files into JPGs. (Want to learn more about JPGs and RAW files? Click HERE!)

First important difference you'll notice ... your memory card won't hold NEARLY as many photos when shooting in RAW format! I know that kinda stinks, but that's the price you'll pay for control. RAW files are MUCH bigger than JPGs because of all the extra data they collect. No biggie, though ... memory cards are cheap these days! Go out and grab a few 4 gig cards and you'll be set! :)

Try this when you shoot for the first time in RAW ... shoot some correctly exposed photos, then some overexposed, then some underexposed. Shoot in the shade, shoot in direct sunlight and shoot inside, too. Get a wide variety of shots so you can play with your editing later and see the RAW magic!

The next difference you'll see will be when it's time to download the photos from your cards. RAW files aren't ready to print, can't be uploaded to Flickr and can't even be opened by Photoshop until they've been through a RAW Processor. So where the heck do you get a RAW Processor?!?!?! Well, if you have Lightroom - you're all set! Lightroom recognizes RAW format files and lets you edit them just like you would JPGs. Easy as pie! If you don't have Lightroom you can use Adobe Camera Raw, which is a plugin for Photoshop (and is included when you install it) or the software that came with your camera. For simplicity's sake, I'm going to be posting examples from Lightroom. To follow along, download a free trial from the Adobe website! You'll love it :)

Once you're in Lightroom, import the photos from your memory card. Once they're all there, click on the Develop tab on the top right. Now you'll have all your sliders right there on the right side of your photos. To see what RAW can do, find one of the overexposed photos you shot and then pull the exposure slider to the left to bring back all the detail in the blown-out areas. COOL isn't it?! Try that on one of your JPGs (that you shot before learning about RAW format) and see how much detail comes back. It won't be nearly as impressive!

Another GREAT reason to shoot RAW is the White Balance (WB) flexibility. What is White Balance?? Put simply, White Balance is the shade of white in your photos. Sometimes your whites will have a cooler tone (like when you shoot in the shade or the middle of the day) and sometimes they'll be warmer (like right before sunset or indoors). WB is HUGELY important in how your photo looks! See the photo above of the little girl and her lollipop? In the "before" photo, her skintone was blueish and cold and the background was funky looking. By simply changing the WB setting in Lightroom, I gave her skin a warmer tone and made the green grass behind her look great! Here's another example ...

This is Evie - the cutest baby ALIVE! She came by our studio earlier this week with her mom Gia and I got to snap some fun pictures of her with our newly painted blue wall. See how the blue wall reflected onto the floor and her skin in the "before" photo? All it took was a little WB tweak to give her skin a sweet, warmish pink tone. SOOOO MUCH BETTER!

Another fun way to play with White Balance is to go too far and give your photos a cross-processed look. This was a cute picture of Gia and Evie that I thought would be fun to play with. The look isn't "realistic" but it's fun and the blueish/green tones make the picture a little more interesting and edgy. (We'll play more with cross-processing in a few days. Your next homework assignment is going to be all about fun editing, so keep checking the blog!)

Once you've finished getting your color and exposure right on your RAW file, it's time to export. Until you export the photos from Lightroom, you won't be able to print them or upload them online. I'll do a little tutorial later this week to help you figure out the best way to organize your photos in Lightroom, but for now you can just export them one at a time. To export, click on the photo that you want and then go up to File-Export. Under "Export Location" pick a folder for where you want your picture saved. Under "File Settings" choose JPG and put the Quality at 100. Under "Image Settings" make sure the "Resize to Fit" button isn't checked. You can leave the "Resolution" at 72. Don't worry about the rest of the boxes ... just click "Export." Within a few seconds your photo will be processed and exported into the folder you selected. It's now ready to print! Whoo hoo!

Okay, so I hope I convinced you to give RAW format a chance! The files are bigger and there's an extra step involved in the processing, but I think you'll LOVE the flexibility and control over your results. Leave me some comments and let me know what you think!

XOXO, Sarah Q

Homework Contest Winners!

2008-03-04T11:04:00.000-08:00

Sorry for being a day late getting these winners posted. I had SOOOO many favorites! It was hard to narrow it down!! After going through HUNDREDS of photos that were submitted, the winner is ... DRUM ROLL PLEEEEEEASE ...

Rosjuane Stevens!

I just loved the detail shots she got of all her little guys favorite things! Garret is 19 months old and is SOOOO SO CUTE! Here he is, with his favorite things ... (the first one is my absolute FAVE!)

CONGRATS ROSJUANE!!!!!! You get an awesome 5x7 print mount album from Finao featuring your winning images (plus a few more!) Email me to get all the details!!

And you know I have to post some of the runners up! All these entries were great! Thanks everyone for submitting your photos!! New homework coming soon :)

Runners up :

Photo by Leanne Stamatellos (Joshua loves his red crocks!)

Photo by Shelley Smith (Karsyn loves sleeping with her piggies!)

Photo by Melissa Hunnicutt (Garrett loves his ball pit!)

Photo by Lindsay Warren (Taylor and Makenna love their webkins!)

Photo by Addie Talley (Gabe loves his best friend "lion!")

Photo by Stacy Canzonieri (Julianna loves her princess game from Grandma!)

Photo by Stacy Canzonieri (Julianna loves her colors!)

Photo by Stacy Canzonieri (Julianna loves to make brownies!)

Photo by the Snap Sisters! (Emma loves sidewalk chalk!)

Photo by Elaine Gates (Gabriella loves her "beautiful baby") - This is one of my FAAAAVES of all the runners up!

Photo by Stacey Johnson (Mary-Kate loves Starbucks!)

Photo by Stacey Johnson (Kai loves the trampoline!)

Photo by Jennifer Langford (Parker loves her toy piano!)

Photo by Laura Perkins (Kenleigh loves putting stuff in daddy's boots!)

Thanks again everyone for participating!! I'm always so overwhelmed with the response and the great photos that come in! Keep on submitting and checking back for photo tips! :)

XOXO, Sarah Q

Fun Photo Tip (DON'T BE AFRAID TO CROP!!)

2008-03-02T23:05:00.000-08:00

Yesterday's photo tip reminded you to move around and get creative with angles and perspectives. Today's tip is similar, but something I know a lot of you have a hard time with. As simple as it seems, some of you are just big ol' scaredy cats when it comes to cropping! GET OVER IT!! Ignore grandma (who says "Oh, no, you cut the top of his head off!") and MOOOOOVE in CLOSE!

Remember Roxy putting on her "lipsticks" yesterday? I loved that second shot I got but I wanted something a little funkier, too and I REALLY wanted to show just how much make up she cakes on! It's so hilarious to watch her add layer after layer. To capture that, I got as close as I could and snapped away ...

I LOVE THAT SHOT! She looks so grown up and so little at the same time :)

Another shot I got yesterday was this one of Roxy with her "Magic Wand." It's another photo for our "Favorite Things" project so I wanted the focus to be on her wand and not as much her. Her sassy little pose blurred in the background was PERFECT, though - it shows just enough of her personality to remind me exactly how she sounds when she's running around casting spells on her baby brother.

So remember - you don't have to have faces to show personality and the way you crop a photo can make it so much more interesting and fun! Don't be scared - get a few "normal" shots and then go crazy! I bet your favorites will be the creative shots (and you can always print out the boring ones for grandma!)

Homework winners coming soon!

XOXO, Sarah Q

Fun Photo Tip (Move Around!)

2008-03-02T22:14:00.000-08:00

Has anyone ever told you that you have an "eye" for photography? I remember a friend of mine telling me once that even way back in high school when all we had were throw-away cameras, I always found a way to be creative. Technical ability is definitely important but one of the easiest ways to take better photos is to MOVE AROUND! Be creative! Think outside the box! Start out shooting one way and then step back, re-think it and find another angle. Have fun with it - you'll be amazed at what you end up with!

To show you an example ... here are some photos of my 3 year old Roxy. This week's homework assignment was to photograph your children with their favorite things. Since I'm doing the homework with you this week, I took Roxy out with a couple of her favorite things today. First one ... MAKE UP! She looooooves make up! Every day she asks if she can put on some of my "lipsticks." So when we first got outside, I laid down on the grass in front of her and started shooting. I almost always start at eye level with the kiddos I photograph since a lot of the time that's the best angle.

After a few shots, though, I could tell I wasn't getting what I wanted so I got up and moved around! She was so into her "lipsticks" that she barely even noticed me scrambling around trying to find the perfect spot. And it only took me a minute to find the shot I wanted ...

Makes those first few shots look pretty snap-shotty, huh? :)

So there you go ... a fun fun photo tip! Stay tuned for another one tomorrow! Homework results are coming tomorrow, too, so check back soon!

XOXO, Sarah Q

Hellllooooo!

2008-03-01T09:45:00.000-08:00

Hey Mamas! I haven't fallen off the face of the earth! I've had two weddings, three portrait sessions and some crazy personal stuff going on this week so I haven't had a chance to blog ... but I'll be back tomorrow with LOTS of fun stuff! In the meantime, check out my photo blog and comment on Baby Ben's adorable 6 month old portraits. He's a HEARTBREAKER!

Stay TUUUUNED! :)

XOXO, Sarah Q

San Diego (and BEYOND!)

2008-02-24T23:50:00.000-08:00

Anyone in San Diego wanna do a workshop August 2nd? If so, shoot me an email! More details coming SOON!!

We've also gotten some interest from these areas ...

Houston
Rochester
Colorado Springs
Jacksonville
Twin Cities, MN
Upstate NY
Knoxville
Nashville
Toronto
Boston
Chicago
New Jersey
Palm Beach
Seattle
Baltimore

Keep the votes coming and if you REEEAAAALLY think you can recruit some people for a workshop in your area, let me know! Hosts get half price workshop admission! :)

Hope to see you all SOOOON!

XOXO, Sarah Q

HOMEWORK! Their Favorite Things ...

2008-02-24T22:47:00.000-08:00

How many photos do you have of your kids smiling? How many do you have of them laughing? If you're like me, you have a LOT! But what are they so happy about? Why are they laughing? How often do you take pictures of the THINGS that make them happy?

Their Favorite Things ...

Did you see the interview I did with Leah from Lily Blue a few days ago? If not, scroll down and check it out! This photo was my inspiration for our next homework assignment ...

Why was I so inspired by this photo? Because my three year old Roxy LOOOOVES to play tea party! She can sit for hours with her little cups and saucers, pretending to be a princess having tea. So why haven't I ever taken a picture of her playing with her tea set? I don't know. I guess because it's such a normal activity, it never occurred to me to take a picture. DUHHH!

HOMEWORK TIME!

This week, I'm doing the homework with you and I'm SO SO SO EXCITED about it! If you haven't figured it out yet ... the assignment is to take pictures of all the little things that make your kids so happy. Think about what they love to do, their favorite toys, clothes and games. Do they love to swing, ride bikes, catch bugs? Sit down and make a list, then set aside 15 minutes a day to shoot detail shots of your kids interacting with their favorite things. These mini-shoots should be EASY PEASY! Don't pressure them (or even ask them) to look at you, smile or say cheese. They should almost not even notice you there, snapping away.

Since I'm doing the assignment with you, here's my list. I have two babies, Roxy and Kai. Here are their favorite things :

Roxy (my three year old daughter) LOVES ...
1. Her Dollhouse and Polly Pocket Dolls
2. Her "Princess Clothes"
3. Shoes (which she ALWAYS puts on the wrong feet!)
4. Arts & Crafts Supplies
5. Her Tea Party Set
6. Makeup

Kai (my two year old son) LOVES ...
1. Stuffed Animals and Baby Dolls
2. Basketballs, Baseballs and Bouncy Balls
3. Candy and Cookies (or "Tookies" as he calls them)
4. Balloons
5. Hats and Sunglasses
6. Roxy's Tea Party Set :)

My goal by the end of the week is to get at least one good photo of everything on my list so I can create a mini-book that I'll be calling "Their Favorite Things." I love making books and albums and have been wanting to start some kind of "photo story" like those I've featured here on the blog. "Their Favorite Things" will be a running project for me and hopefully for you, too! It'll be so so cool to look back in ten or twenty years and remember not just what our kids looked like, but what made them happy back when life was a little bit simpler :)

My first photos : Roxy with her Dollhouse and Dolls, putting her shoes on the wrong feet and playing outside in her "Princess" tutu ...

Okay, so here are the homework details ...

The Objective : Shoot your kiddos and their favorite things!

The Rules : You can submit anywhere from 5 to 10 photos per child. No more, no less! Your kiddos can be of ANY age (teeny babies and moody teenagers have favorite things, too!) and they HAVE to be in the photos in some way (even if it's just their hands or feet!)

What to submit : Your photos and a brief description of each "favorite thing" pictured in them. Your kiddos first names and ages. Your name and the city/state/country you live in.

DEADLINE : Sunday, March 2nd at Midnight!

The Prize : It's a surprise, but I PROMISE you're gonna LOVE IT! :)

Okay, that's it. Go start shooting!

XOXO, Sarah Q

Contrast Homework Contest Winners!!

2008-02-23T13:14:00.000-08:00

Okay, so we had A TON of entries to the last homework contest! I was blown away by all the great photos and great examples of adding contrast. I was originally only going to choose one, but I couldn't decide so I picked THREE winners and four runners-up!

Remember - if you DIDN'T get picked as a winner, it doesn't mean you didn't do a great job! There were NO bad entries and nobody did the homework wrong! So, don't be discouraged! Keep on shooting and submitting! Make sure you post on the blog if you have any questions or comments, too :)

And now for the WINNERS! Drum roll, please ..........

YAY!! These examples are SO great - thanks Cortni, Hope and Kristi!! Email me and let me know which camera strap you like best and I'll get it ordered for ya!

And now for the runners-up! Great job to all of you!! You get an A+ :)

By Shelley Smith ...

By Crystal Fox ...

By Christy Wisely ...

By Angela King ...

Thanks again for everyone who entered! Check back tomorrow for a fun photo tip and Monday for a new homework assignment!

XOXO, Sarah Q

Featured Photographer - Leah from Lily Blue!

2008-02-20T20:15:00.000-08:00

This week's featured photographer, Leah Zawadzki, is SOOOO inspiring to me! I absolutely love love love her work. Check out her website here and if you're near Southern California - BOOK HER for a session! She ROCKS! :)

.........

What's your name and where do you live?
leah zawadzki, southern california

How long have you been a professional photographer?
about one year

Do you have kiddos or do you just love to shoot them?
yep. i have a six year old boy and boy|girl twins--2 1/2.

Your photos have a very vintage-y, classic feel to them! I love the depth, textures and (sometimes) graininess of them. Do you use all
natural light or do you work with flash sometimes?
only natural light--i don't even know what to do with my flash!

How about ISO? It looks like a lot of them are shot with a high ISO. Do you love the grain like me and crank it up?
i usually just adjust ISO to the lighting condition. i think more often than not, i find myself in low light conditions and it becomes a necessity. i never mind a little noise or grain--so i keep it where it's easiest to get good exposure.

What's your favorite place to shoot?
oh my, that's a hard one!! i think i'd have to say anywhere i can find light!! it doesn't really matter to me--just someplace my subject feels comfortable and happy - and has good light. you can do anything if the light is right :)

How long does a session with you usually last?
forever. days sometimes :) i have been known to go back again if i am not happy. i love to get to know the kids ... so we play and hang-out, get ice-cream. my sessions are almost always the three hour kind.

Do you shoot everything (weddings, music, etc) or do you prefer to work with just little ones?
no weddings or music for me. weddings seem a bit too stressful. i like to keep things simple right now since my kids are little. someday i wouldn't mind being a second shooter at a wedding just to see what it's like - plus second shooters can be more artsy about the whole thing.

What do you do when a baby or child just DOES NOT want their photo taken?
don't take it. at least at that moment. put the camera down and play. find something they want to do and let them do it. then just capture them in their natural environment.

What inspires you artistically?
my kids. and the incredible love i have for them. it makes realize how precious life is--i think i am constantly striving to capture that feeling in a photograph. they really have taught me how to see.

And, of course, some fun, non-photo related questions!

Who was your celebrity crush when you were a teenager?
a teenager? how about now? it's sad i know....but i just adore brad pitt.

What's your all-time favorite movie?
chocolat. but i also really loved shawshank redemption.

Where's the coolest place you've ever traveled to?
Le Corbusier's Ronchamp. i made my husband drive for hours out of our way to see it. to have studied it in college and then get the opportunity to see it in person was amazing.

If price weren't an issue, would you rather have a tiny but artsy loft in a big city or a huge ranch out in the country?
if price wasn't an issue i would have both :) really.

What's your favorite dessert?
the creme brulee we ate in a little french restaurant the night we visited Ronchamp. the french really know their creme brulee. that was a good day :)

And now for some of Leah's favorite photos. How AMAZING are these!?!?! Leah, you're SOOOO talented!!

Thanks Leah, for answering my silly questions! Your work is so inspiring! I hope to meet you in August when I visit California for the workshop!

XOXO, Sarah Q

Reminder about Homework

2008-02-20T09:43:00.000-08:00

Just a reminder - ANYONE can enter the homework contests! You do NOT need to be signed up for a workshop to participate!

We've gotten a bunch of entries already and they're SOOOO good!! Keep 'em coming!

XOXO, Sarah Q

Homework (Add Some Contrast!)

2008-02-18T21:00:00.000-08:00

Up to now, we've only talked about shooting and composition. Today, we're skipping ahead to some fun stuff! EDITING!

I LOOOOOVE black and white photos! I remember when I was just starting out with film photography, I would buy rolls and rolls of B&W film, shoot like crazy and then run them over to Walgreens to get some prints. When I'd get them back, they were B&W, but flat, blahhhhh and nothing like I was hoping for. I was always SO disappointed! I wanted deep, dark black tones and bright whites. I wanted the kind of B&Ws I saw in magazines. No matter what I did, I couldn't figure out how to do that, though. I remember googling this exact phrase : "How to get black blacks and whites white" Haha! Little did I know it wasn't so much how I was shooting, but what was going on at the lab that was giving me flat, blahhhhh looking photos. Come to find out, Walgreens isn't exactly a "pro" lab :) and their machines are set up to spit things out exactly as they are on the negative. Since my camera was set on Auto mode all the time, it was making sure I had properly exposed photos with lots of middle gray tones. No contrast. No deep blacks. No white whites. BOOOOOOORING!! :(

Fast forward to the digital age. Never again do you have to buy a roll of B&W film (unless you're feeling really creative and artsy fartsy, which is always fun) and worry about flat, yucky, muddy photos. Photo editing software is everywhere! But do you know what to do with it? There are so many controls. So many menus. So many options. Actions?? Presets??? Can you make sense of it all? DON'T WORRY! I know it's overwhelming! I've been learning Photoshop for more than ten years and there are still things I'm sure I don't know how to do. The good news, though, is that you DON'T HAVE TO KNOW EVERYTHING! You just need to know a few steps to get you headed in the right direction and make a HUGE difference in your photos.

Check out these examples. The first photo is straight out of the camera, in color. The next photo has added contrast and a vignette (darkening around the edges) added. That's it! It took me less than a minute to go from the first photo to the second photo in Adobe Lightroom!

Now check out these B&W conversions. The first photo is what you probably get when you try to convert one of your photos to B&W. A flat, muddy, kinda blahhhh photo. The second one has ... yep, you guessed it ... some added contrast and a vignette. Just like the color photos above. This took NOOOOO time in Lightroom, yet it makes SUCH a BIG difference!

So how do you do this?? Well, it depends on which editing program you have. I recommend using either Adobe Lightroom or Adobe Photoshop. Lightroom is the VERY BEST program for beginners! It's soooooo easy to learn and has easy to figure out sliders for nearly everything (exposure, contrast, saturation, etc). It's also the cheapest professional editing program out there and is worth every penny of the $300 it costs. Photoshop is a bit more involved and tougher to learn, but gives you more control over detailed editing that we'll be learning later on. If you can afford both, get 'em both! If not, get Lightroom. You'll love it! Download a free 30 day trial on the ADOBE WEBSITE.

Once you have some software, find the contrast controls. Here's some help ...

PHOTOSHOP :

There's a contrast control slider here in Photoshop : Image - Adjustments - Brightness/Contrast. BUT WAIT!!! DON'T USE THAT ONE! Weird, I know, but that contrast control STINKS! :( To get good contrast, you need to play with the curves control. It's harder to work with but gives MUCH better results. Find it here :

Image - Adjustments - Curves

Once in there, you'll see a box like this ...

See the way the line curves? That's called an S-Curve. To get that, click on the line right in the middle. Photoshop will put a dot where you click. After the first click, click again to the left of that one and pull it 'til the line makes an "S." You'll see the photo changing as you do this and after a little playing with it, you'll be a contrast-adding-pro!

LIGHTROOM :

There's a contrast slider in Lightroom, too. It's not as bad as the Photoshop slider, but it's still not the best way to add contrast in Lightroom. Scroll down a little 'til you see this part of your controls ...

In case you didn't read the Photoshop instructions ... See the way the line curves? That's called an S-Curve. To get that in Lightroom, just pull the sliders around! I almost always pull the "Darks" slider forward and the "Shadows" slider back (like in the picture above). Try it on your photo and see how the photo changes!

So ... what have we learned? Contrast is GOOOOD! You'll quickly see that you can definitely add TOO MUCH contrast, but for the most part, contrast is the easiest thing you can do to take your photo from blahhhh to YEAHHHH BABY!! Try it out and see for yourself!

HOOOOOOOMEWORK TIME!

Go out and take a picture in regular, flat lighting. Save your original to your computer and then open it up in Photoshop, Lightroom or whatever editing program you use. Find the contrast controls and work that "S Curve!" Do your best to take a blah photo to a wow photo and send them both to me at sarah@roxyandkai.com. I'll pick my fave and post it here on the blog! The winner will get a funky cool new camera strap from emfalconbridge's fun shop on Etsy!. Deadline is Friday at Midnight and the winner will be announced Saturday, so get to shooting!

XOXO, Sarah Q

Austin Mamas, we LOVE you!

2008-02-17T21:12:00.000-08:00

There's a lot of great cities in the world, but none as awesome as Austin! The people here, the atmosphere, the amazingly quirky attitudes! WE LOOOOOVE AUSTIN and we LOVE our Austin Mamarazzis! To spread that love, we're doing something FUN ...

Everyone who books a seat at an Austin Mamarazzi School Workshop gets a FREE family, child, pet or baby session with Sarah Quiara from Roxy and Kai Photography! How awesome is that?!?! Email us for more details or to sign up!

PS ... If you're already signed up for an Austin workshop, this applies to you, too! You should be getting an email shortly from Sarah with more info :) YAY!

Workshop Info!

2008-02-17T19:16:00.000-08:00

Fun Photo Tip (What time is it?)

2008-02-17T09:21:00.000-08:00

A little quiz for you ...

1. What's the best time of day to take pictures outside?

2. Is it better to shoot when it's sunny, dark or overcast?

3. What is the "Golden Hour?"

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ANSWERS :

1. The best time to take pictures outside is right after the sun comes up and right before the sun goes down! It's called "The Golden Hour" by photographers because the light is golden and soft and in just the right place in the sky for photography. Think about the times you've gone to have portraits taken in a studio (even a crummy one, like Wal-Mart!) When they positioned the lighting equipment, was it directly over your head? No, of course not! Overhead lights, just like mid-day sun high in the sky, leave shadows under your eyes and nose. Have you ever taken a photo inside your house without a flash (with only the overhead lights)? Same thing - funky shadows that usually result in dark, racoon-style eyes. YUCK! So, think about a setting sun - where is it in the sky? It's low - perfect for some nice sidelight or backlight. The first and last hour of sunlight is the softest, most flattering light of the day. Try it out and see!

I'm away from the studio this weekend and don't have my kiddo pictures with me on this computer, so here's a couple of examples from a couples session I did last week. This is my friend Jennifer and her hubby CJ, about 20 minutes before sunset. Check out the awesome golden backlight! LOOOVE IT!

2. OVERCAST!! Sun is great for summer days at the pool, but bright, harsh sun is awful for photos! Why? Just like I talked about in the first answer - weird shadows on faces. Next time you're outside when it's really sunny, look around you. You'll see tons of hard shadows. While sometimes hard shadows look really cool, most of the time (especially in portraits) soft, diffused light is WAY better. Overcast lighting is GREAT! Clouds and hazy skies help diffuse the sun and give you nice, even light to work with. So what do you do if you have to shoot at noon? FIND SOME SHADE and shoot in it! :) Shade is a photographer's best friend!

3. See the first answer :)

New homework assignment coming TOMORROW!! Stay tuned!

XOXO, Sarah Q

Homework Contest Winners!

2008-02-16T13:32:00.000-08:00

Thanks to everyone who sent in their homework assignment!! I got SOOOOO many great photos - it was hard to pick my favorites! For those of you who won, shoot me an email and I'll send you a $25 gift card to Fred Flare! You're gonna love that store. They have the CUUUUUUTEST stuff :) If you didn't win, don't be sad! Keep on shooting and PLEASE keep entering photos in the homework contests! There will be a new assignment up on Monday and a fun photo tip tomorrow, so keep checking in.

WINNER! Category : Sidelight

Notes from Sarah ... Pam, this a a GREAT shot! I love love love his expression and the crop is perfect. I love that you got in close! Great work :)

WINNER! Category : Frontlight

Notes from Sarah ... Good job Barb! It can be tough to do frontlight and still get good depth. You did a good job getting in close and using an aperture that blurred the background.

WINNER! Category : Backlight

Notes from Sarah ... Love this one, Leah! Way to use your surroundings to make the photo interesting. That circle was the perfect framing and your backlighting is great!

California UPDATE!

2008-02-12T16:32:00.001-08:00

Hey everyone!! There are still four spots left for the Mamarazzi Workshop in ORANGE COUNTY! That means we sold EIGHT SPOTS in just ONE DAY! That ROCKS! I'm so excited at the response and can't wait to start doing workshops in other cities, too.

If you're interested in signing up for OC and have gotten the Agreement form from me, make sure you email me before you send it in to make sure there are still spaces available. Once you've emailed and gotten confirmation from me that you're in, I'll hold the space for ONE week. After that, it goes back up for sale!

XOXO, Sarah Q

Homework Question!

2008-02-12T11:56:00.000-08:00

HEY MAMARAZZIS!! I had an email question today so I wanted to answer it here ...

You DO NOT need to be participating in one of the workshops to do the "Homework" contest below!! ANYONE can enter and I hope everyone does, even if you think you're not that great yet!!

We've gotten a couple of entries already and are looking forward to more! So GO SHOOT and send in your stuff!

XOXO, Sarah Q

Featured Photographers - Sara and Mel from Whitebox Kids!

2008-02-12T08:32:00.000-08:00

This week I got to interview two of my favorite photogs - Sara and Melanie from Whitebox! These girls are SOOOO talented! If you haven't seen their stuff, check out their Kid's Site, Wedding Site and Blog!

SARA + ELIZA :

MEL + TIM :

Who the heck are you?
SARA: I am Sara Brennan-Harrell. 1/2 of whiteboxkids.com
MEL: I am Melanie Litchfield, the other half.

Where do you live?
We are both NC girls, are married to awesome guys and life is good!
SARA: I live in rural N.C. We are just outside of Greensboro. I grew up out in the country and I love it so much that I now live about a 2 miles away from my childhood home. My husband and I built a little farm house that looks old on the outside (white clapboard with a green tin roof and a big porch) but modern and bright on the inside. I love color!
MEL: Right now I live about 10 minutes from Sara but I'm in the process of buying the house across the street from Sara! We'll move the studio to the new house once we sell our current house, we're pretty syked about that. Anybody in the market for a cute little house in NC?

Do you have kiddos or do you just love to shoot them?
SARA: We have one crazy, funny, creative, energetic, headstrong, beautiful 3 1/2 year old named Eliza.
MEL: No kids yet, just our dog, Jackson

How long have you been photographers?
SARA: Mel and I met when we both went to photography school in 2001. I have been taking photos since I was on the high school yearbook staff, but did not "get serious" about photography until around 2000.
MEL: I didn't really become interested in photography until I was about 23. I had never pursued anything creative up until then.

Do you get to travel for photo shoots? If so, where's the coolest or farthest place you've ever gotten to go?
SARA: We seem to be traveling more and more for work. We just got back from Cancun. That is probably the farthest so far. We travel a lot to the mountains of NC (Asheville and Boone) and to the coast. We are going to be in Portland, Oregon this summer for some portrait sessions. Portland is one of my favorite places. If i ever decided to live the city life I would move there!
MEL: Ditto that. I have traveled more in the past year than I have in my whole life and 2008 is looking pretty crazy too. We get to go to Maine and New Orleans this year to shoot weddings and we have a couple trips to NYC planned. Who would've thought that wedding and kid photography would take us so far!

What's easier - shooting kiddos or shooting grown ups?
SARA: No question - kids are easier! Kids are so uninhibited and sincere in their emotions. By the time you are an adult you are sooooo trained to look at the camera and smile. It takes a lot of work to make adults feel at ease and natural in front of the camera.
MEL: I think it depends on the client, most are easy but some days can be challenging :) When we can effectively communicate our vision to the client I think we are the most successful, with either kids or adults.

What are some of your favorite places to shoot?
We shoot a lot at Sara's farm. There are tons of great places to shoot and kids love to run wild out in the open! On the flip side, we like to shoot anywhere that is new. the reason we love our jobs so much is that we get to do something new on every shoot. Each subject is different, but we love the challenge of finding new locations and the challenge of sometimes making a not so nice location look cool.

What do you do when kiddos DO NOT want their picture taken?
We play! We put down the camera and play. Sometimes we have to be sneaky, make faces, do funny dances, make ourselves look ridiculous. We always shoot together so sometimes one of us will play with the kiddie and the other will get sneak shots with a long lens.

What's your favorite time of day to shoot?
SARA: Just before sunset is the most beautiful.....the golden hour.
MEL: I'll take anytime with good backlight. I do love some flare!

Tell us more about the Day in the Life shoots! I LOVE those!!
We wish we had a day in the life shoot from our childhoods! Basically, we join your family for a day of fun. A day at the beach, the lake, camping, the fair, the farmers market, whatever you want to do. We hang out with you and capture life as it happens. then we make a book from the photos. The book is a pictorial essay of a slice of your life. It is a wonderful keepsake.

What's one great photo tip you can give to moms who want to take better photos of their kids?
Hmmmm, I am trying to think of one that you already do not have on your blog. Guess it would be to use window light instead of flash. If you want to take a photo indoors try to position your child so they are facing the window for diffused light.

And now for the fun, non-photo-related questions ...

Are you morning people or night owls?
SARA: With a 3 year old I have no choice but to be a morning person!
MEL: I'd say I'm a mid-morning person. 10am is good :)

If you couldn't be a photographer, what would be your dream job?
SARA: A quality control tester for 5 star resorts all over the world.
MEL: ha, ha- that sounds good, I could do that too :) I'll make up the questionnaire....
1. Was the pool at the perfect temperature for your optimal enjoyment?
2. Did your pool-boy bring your drinks quickly enough?
3. Was there enough rum and fresh coconut in your Pina Colada? :)

What was the first movie you remember seeing at a movie theatre?
SARA: I do not remember seeing it, but Jaws was my first movie ever! My parents took me to the drive in when I was about a month old to see Jaws.... I still hear that music whenever I get in the ocean!
MEL: I think it was Disney's Song of the South....zippity-do-da (not very politically correct though). If it wasn't that it was ET.

Who's your all-time favorite band?
SARA: I have too many favorites to pick one! I love so many different kinds of music. reggae, bluegrass, and funk are my favorite genres. On my iPod I have everything from Dr. Dre to Hem. My new favorite kid's music CD is: Here comes the ABCs by They Might Be Giants. Eliza loves the "E Eats Everything" song!
MEL: Oh, that's really hard. Sara and I pretty much like all of the same music. Our husbands are both musicians and total music nerds, so they keep our iPods stocked. I think they could both make a full-time job out of downloading music ;) My favorite band to see live is Old Crow Medicine Show, and I'd pretty much give my right arm to see Ryan Adams in concert.

Some of Sara and Mel's favorite kiddo pics ...

Thanks you two! You're the BEST!!
XOXO, Sarah Q

California!

2008-02-11T08:37:00.000-08:00

It's official! Mamarazzi School is headed to beeeeaauuuutiful Orange County, California! Here are some details ...

WHAT? A Beginner/Intermediate Mamarazzi Workshop!
WHERE? Orange County, California
WHEN? August 3rd, 2008
HOW MUCH? $350 per person
INCLUDES ... A full day of learning in studio and shooting on location with Sarah Quiara (the very lovable, huggable Austin Mamarazzi!) PLUS an in depth look at Adobe Lightroom, a tasty lunch and a cute Mamarazzi t-shirt.

REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN!
There are only 12 spots available so email us today to grab a seat!

(Did you vote for Minnesota? Or even CANADA?! Well, don't feel left out! We've been blown away by the response from all over the world and have BIG BIG BIG PLANS in store for the Mamarazzi School! Keep the votes coming because we want to make sure and hit all the places that want us there. Keep checking the blog for updates, too!)

HOMEWORK (Find the Light!)

2008-02-11T06:51:00.000-08:00

This week's homework assignment comes from my friend Amber Holritz at Holritz Photography. She's an amazing lifestyle photographer so I'm super excited to have her here at the Mamarazzi School. Thanks Amber! :)

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FIND THE LIGHT!

Look around you. It doesn't matter what time of day it is, or where you are, somewhere, there is light. Light is the most important ingredient in photography... it's what differentiates professional imagery from snapshots. The only way that you can learn to utilize the light is to learn to see it!

The light that you can see right now. Put your hand in it. Is the light coming in behind your hand, illuminating it from the back? That's called backlight. Is the light coming from the side, making one side much brighter than the other side? That's called sidelight. Is the light falling onto the front of your hand, casting a shadow below? Yep, you guessed it, that's frontlight!

In case that verbal description didn't help you understand, let me show you a few pictures!

Backlight:

Sidelight:

Frontlight:

THE ASSIGNMENT :

Your homework assignment is to take three images of the same subject with these three different types of light. Use a window, that's probably the easiest for you. Put a subject near it, and find these three types of light. Turn that flash off, crank up your ISO, and find the light!

(Not sure what ISO means? Check out the post right below this one!)

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HOW TO TURN IN YOUR HOMEWORK :

Email your three best photos (one with backlighting, one with sidelighting and one with frontlighting) to : sarah@roxyandkai.com. Name them with your name (for example : sarahquiara01.jpg) and save them to at least 600px wide. If you don't know how to resize, you can send in full size files or email us for help. If you have a website with your photos that you would like listed, make sure to include a link in your email. Also important - your three photos DO NOT have to all be the same subject!

THEN WHAT?

There will be three photos chosen for the blog - one for each type of lighting. Each winner will receive a $25 gift card to one of Sarah's FAAAAAAVORITE online stores, Fred Flare!! Winners will be chosen on Saturday, February 16th. All entries must be received by Friday, the 15th, to be included in the contest.

KEEP IN MIND ...

By submitting your photos, you agree to let MamarazziSchool.com post your images online as "student" examples. All photos will be credited to the photographer who took them and no copyright is transferred by entering.

THANKS!

I can't wait to see everyone's photos! Now go start shooting!!

What the heck is ISO?

2008-02-11T06:29:00.000-08:00

In Amber's homework assignment she says "crank up your ISO!" Soooooo ... what the heck does that mean? Let's dig a little deeper ...

The acronym ISO refers to the International Standards Organization. Very basically, ISO is a way to adjust how sensitive your camera is to light. Look at your camera's manual and see how to change your ISO setting. You'll see a few options. 100 is the lowest ISO for most digital cameras and 800 is the highest for most non-pro DSLRs. If you set your camera on the lowest (100) you are essentially telling your camera that you have lots of light to work with. This is a great setting for a sunny day, shooting outdoors. If you don't have quite that much light (for example if you're outdoors, but it's cloudy) you should bump your ISO up a little, to the next setting - 200. Heading indoors? Better go up to 400! You might even need to go all the way up to 800 or 1600 if your camera will let you, depending on how much indoor lighting you have. By setting the camera on a higher number, you're telling the camera "Hey, I don't have much light to work with here, so I need to you to be REEAAAALLY sensitive to what light there is!"

So why does Amber say crank it up? Because flash sucks!!

Most people have cameras with pop-up flashes that conveniently turn themselves on whenever there isn't enough light to shoot with. Convenient ... but crappy! Direct, on-camera flash is the WORST THING you can do to your photos! It's harsh, it's too bright, it's unnatural looking and it just royally sucks. So STOP USING IT! Instead of popping the flash up and blinding your subjects, change your ISO! Crank it up as high as it'll go, find some great window lighting and shoot away. Your results will be a thousand times better, I promise!

ISO ROCKS!

Yep, ISO does rock! There is one minorly annoying thing about shooting at high ISOs, though ... the NOISE! The higher you go, the grainier (or more noisy) your photos will be. Experiment a little and see the differences. Some people (like me!) don't mind a little graininess!

Jinky!!

2008-02-10T00:00:00.000-08:00

This week's featured photographer is Australia-based Barb "Jinky" Uil! If you've never seen her work, you've been missing out! She's AMAAAAAZING! Check out her WEBSITE and BLOG and check out some of her awesome work below the interview.

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What's your name and where do you live?

Barb Uil. I live in the clouds. Literally. I live in a small community called Mount Tamborine which is behind Brisbane, QLD Australia.

How long have you been a professional photographer?

A few years... about 3 to 4 or something like that.

Do you have kiddos or do you just love shooting them?

I ADORE kids. I love love love them. I have my own...however Im not really that bias..any ol' kid will do.

Was photography always your dream job or did you ever want to be anything else?

I always wanted to be a kindy teacher.

Your photos are always sooooo bright and cheerful! Do you shoot in all natural light or do you use flashes and studio lights, too?

I shoot using natural light.

What's easier to shoot - tiny newborns, silly toddlers, cute kids or moody teenagers?

Oooh silly toddlers, cute kids ...love them. Im definatly a kids photographer formost. I do adore all other ages however kids are everything to me.

On average, how many sessions do you do per week?

1 or 2. I travel a lot and spent a lot of time doing commercial work last year.

Are you a prime girl, a zoom girl or both?

24-70mm is my baby of choice.

What kind of clothing/outfit suggestions do you give parents before a session?

I dont. I ask them to dress for comfort, but to avoid colors that dont mesh for family shoots.

And, of course, some fun, non-photo-related questions!

Are you a morning person or a night person?

Night.... the mornings are shocking for me.

If you couldn't be a photographer, what would be your dream job?

Kindy Teacher

Favorite song of all time?

Oooh thats so hard. I love music.. I listen to it all day long. Probably a Beatles or Bob Dylan song ... Music is so about mood and state of mind.

How old were you when you had your very first kiss?

URG!!! Hahah. My first kiss was with a boy name Rodney.. Hot Rod haha. I was 14 I think. He came to my house on his skateboard and was standing on it when he went to kiss me. We kissed and I pushed him away because I was so embarrassed and he went flying off his skateboard. He skated off down the street all embarrased himself. I remember thinking that it felt like sucking on the end of a vacuum cleaner.

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Thanks Jinky! Mamarazzi School LOVE LOVE LOVES YOU!

Samantha. Almost ...

2008-02-08T11:29:00.000-08:00

Check out this gorgeous work from John Michael Cooper, an amazingly talented photographer out of Nevada ... ohhhh, how I LOVE POLAROIDS! See more on his site and blog.

"Our beautiful daughter, almost 16. every year just before she changes her age, i shoot Polaroids. titled "almost" . I started when she was almost 4, then almost 5, then 6. now 16. always a difficult shoot. always manual, no metering, no electronics or flash. these were taken with a 1950's era crown graphic on type 79 Polaroid. I think maybe i shoot this project on the eve of her change as a way of trying to hold her back and stall the inevitable. as you can see they grow up regardless of our efforts."

Almost 5 :

Almost 6 :

Almost 7 :

Almost 8 :

Almost 9 :

Almost 10 :

Almost 11 :

Almost 12 :

Almost 13 :

Almost 14 :

Almost 15 :

Almost 16 :

Thanks for letting us re-post these John! They're soooooo inspirational and your daughter is GORGEOUS!

XOXO, Sarah Q

Mamarazzi School (coming soon to a city near YOU!)

2008-02-08T10:38:00.000-08:00

So far, in the month that this blog has been up, I've gotten emails from California, New York, Washington, Oregon, Louisiana and Michigan asking when we're going on the road and where we're headed. How FUN is that?!?

We definitely want to hit up a few other cities this year so we need suggestions! Leave a comment on this post with a city suggestion. If we can get 12 people in your city to sign up and a photographer to let us borrow their studio for the day, we'll be there!!

Make sure you leave your level, too - Beginner, Intermediate or Pro. See the FAQs to the right if you're not sure what level you are.

Soooo excited! We can't WAIT to meet you!!!!!

Fun Photo Tip (WHOOOOPIE!)

2008-02-08T09:47:00.000-08:00

Big thanks to Anita Matejka for today's tip! I LOOOOVE IT!! :)

"Self-inflating whoopie cushions are the best! I stock up on them at the KB Toys Outlet and stick them under a rug during our session. Boys really love them, and it's a great way to get them loosened up! They're trying to figure it out, blaming dad, etc. It's great fun!"

Lenses!

2008-02-07T10:25:00.000-08:00

People ask me all the time for camera recommendations. I usually tell newbies to grab a Canon Digital Rebel XTi, but stress that quality LENSES are really the most important part of any camera. If you've ever gone lens shopping, you know they're EXPENSIVE! Sometimes the lenses cost even more than the camera body. Crazy, isn't it?! But I promise you, once you start using high-quality lenses, you'll notice the difference immediately.

So how do you pick a good lens? First you need to figure out what you want to shoot. Do you want to shoot your kids playing outside on the playground? Or do you have a newborn with adorable little toes that are just begging for a closeup? Once you know what you want to shoot, it's easy to pick a lens based on focal length (how much you can zoom in) and aperture (how blurry you want the background to be). Confused yet? Let me explain more!

Focal Length ...

Every lens has a focal length. Basically, what that means is how close or far away you can shoot. Grab your camera and look at the lens - on the front where the glass is, there are some numbers and the letters mm. If your lens has two numbers, like 18-55mm, that means it's a "zoom" lens. If it has just one number, like 50mm, that's called a "prime" lens. Most likely you have a zoom lens, which is great for beginners. With a zoom lens, you can shoot things close to you and farther away. The numbers on the lens tell you exactly how close and far you can go. In our example, we have an 18-55mm lens. When zoomed back to 18mm, you'll be able to get a pretty big area and keep everything in focus. When zoomed in to 55mm, you get closer-up shots and the background generally becomes a little bit blurrier. That blur is controlled by aperture more than anything, so we'll talk about aperture in a minute! There are lots of lens choices, but a good mid-range zoom (like the one in our example) is a great starting point. Later on you can move up to longer lenses and more extreme wide-angles. Those are FUN!

To show you the different looks you can get with different focal lengths, check out these two examples. Both are pictures of kids swinging but they're SOOOO different! The first one I was so close I almost got kicked in the face and the second one was taken from more than 10 feet away!

Standing really close and zoomed waaaaay back to 17mm ...

Stading farther away with the lens zoomed in to around 100mm ...

Aperture ...

Aperture is one of those things that scares people away from Manual Mode! It sounds confusing but it's really not that tough to figure out. Apertures are the same things as F-Stops, so if you see an F before a number (like F8), we're talking about Apertures! The simplest way to explain apertures is this : the smaller the aperture number, the blurrier your background will be. The bigger the aperture number, the more in focus everything will be. So, what do you want to shoot? Do you want a photo of your baby girl's tiny toes, up close with the background blurry? Set your aperture on it's lowest number and zoom in close. Are you trying to take a photo of all the kids and the dog in front of your new house? Set the aperture on a higher number and shoot with a wider angle to keep it all in focus! Check out some examples ...

This photo of Roxy was taken with a 1.8 aperture ... see how only a tiny bit of the photo is in focus and the rest is blurry?

This one was taken with an aperture of 7.1 ... See how a lot more of the photo is in focus? That's because of the bigger aperture and because I used a wider focal length.

Your lenses smallest aperture is probably around 3.5 zoomed back and 5.6 when zoomed in. The biggest number is probably 20-something. Change the dial on your camera to A or AV mode and change the aperture to the lowest number it will let you. Shoot something still (like some flowers maybe) and see how it looks. Zoom all the way in and back out and take a few shots to see how the blur changes. Now change your aperture to a bigger number and shoot a few more, zooming in and out. See how everything looks more in focus? Play with it and you'll start to understand it better! Once you've shot a hundred photos of the flowers :) move on to the kiddos!

QUICK TIP : When you're practicing, DON'T DELETE!! Even if it looks awful in the camera, keep it so you can learn from it! See what worked and what didn't by changing the display on your camera (usually by finding the "info" setting in your camera's menu) to show you the aperture settings you used for each photo. And take a LOT! Stock up on memory cards if you need to, 'cause the more you shoot, the more you'll understand!

LENS RECOMMENDATION : While zoom lenses are GREAT, prime lenses are great, too! Most prime lenses let you use a lower-numbered aperture which means more background blur! THIS 50mm, 1.8 LENS from Canon is AMAAAAAZING! It's the lens I used in the close-up of Roxy in the above example. And the best part?? It's CHEAP! For less than $100, this lens will give you professional looking photos that you'll love. Nikon makes a lens just like it, too! Buy it here at B&H Photo, my favorite online camera shop : Canon 50mm at B&H PHOTO VIDEO.

Now go practice! Next week is your first homework assignment! Whoo hoo!!

XOXO, Sarah Q

Alison

2008-02-07T00:00:00.000-08:00

When I saw this on another blog, I was sooooooo inspired by it! So, I emailed the photographer and asked for permission to re-post it here. The photos in this story are not like any of the other photos on this blog - they're not colorful and bright and full of smiley kiddos in the grass. So why are they so inspiring? Because they're REAL. I love love love these kind of documentary photo stories. They remind me to strive for photos that capture who my children REALLY are, instead of who I might want them to be. - Sarah Q / Roxy and Kai Photography

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"Alison" By Jack Radcliffe

"When my daughter Alison was born, in the tradition of a new parent, I began to photograph her, initially in a separate and private body of work. However, in the process of documenting Alison's growth, I developed a passionate interest in human relationships and capturing intimate moments in the lives of family and friends.

This affected my photography in a profound way. Rather than the isolated subjects of my earlier work, I became interested in the strength of relationships, oftentimes using personal environments to amplify those conditions.

My photographs of Alison, because of the nature of our relationship, are very much a father-daughter collaboration-Alison permitting me access to private moments of our life, which might, under different circumstances, be off-limits to a parent. The camera, early in her life, became part of our relationship, necessitating in me an acceptance, a quietness. We've never had long photographic sessions, but rather moments alone or with friends.

The significance of these pictures emerges in retrospect. I realize as I look at them, that I created a visual life story of Alison, capturing moments in her metamorphosis from infant to woman-her relationships with friends, her rebellion, and underlying it all, her relationship with me, a constant throughout her life. I wanted to photograph her in all her extremes, and to be part of these times in her life without judging or censoring. Only in this way would I have a true portrait of Alison."

HUGE thanks to Jack for permission to post these! See more photos from this story here : Jack Radcliffe's Alison

Fun Photo Tip (Get Down & Dirty!)

2008-02-06T00:00:00.000-08:00

Today's photo tip comes from Jennifer Nichols, my friend and new studio-mate! She's an amaaaazing photographer! Check out her website and blog and leave her some lovin'! :)

"When I'm photographing kiddos, I spend 90% of the time I'm shooting on the ground. The best way to capture the world as a kid sees it is to get down on their level and don't be afraid to get dirty. By the time I finish up a kid session, I'm filthy! Besides the great perspective you'll have with low angles, babies and toddlers will be more receptive to you if you're willing to roll around on the ground with them and have fun! For both of these shots, I wasn't just squatting or sitting, I was laying down. So go ahead, grab your camera, and get down!"

Fun Photo Tip (Get in CLOSE!)

2008-02-05T07:59:00.000-08:00

When I asked some photographer friends to give me photo tips for moms, the first and most popular tip I got was TELL THEM TO GET IN CLOSE!! As a photographer, getting in close is a no-brainer for me. I love to focus close on those big brown eyes or teeny-tiny toes. My very favorite lens is a "macro" lens that lets me get super close up to document every little freckle and baby roll. I've noticed when teaching moms, however, that getting in really close seems scary to some people. I think part of this is because most people start out using point and shoot cameras that won't allow you to get too close. They have a fixed lens that only focuses at a certain distance and a yucky on-camera flash that blows out any subject within five feet. Once you've upgraded to a Digital SLR (one of those big cameras that has removable lenses - like a Canon Digital Rebel XTi), though, you don't have to worry about being back so far. Even with the most basic of lenses you can come up pretty close and get those fun details you want to remember forever! Worried the kids will be turned off by a camera in their face? Start off shooting from farther away and slowly move in. After a few minutes they'll be ignoring you like pros and you'll be able to get those great candid shots you crave. Or, grab a zoom lens and stand back like the Mamarazzi you are! :)

Check out some of my faves of Roxy and Kai (my two sweet babies!) Wanna see more of these awesomely cute kiddos? Check out MY photography site (Roxy and Kai Photography)!

Thanks to Lacey Buchorn for sending me an example of a great close-up ... here's what she had to say : "Children have naturally beautiful and delicate features, so don't be afraid to get in close and show them off! By getting in close and filling the frame, you have the opportunity to peer deep into their soul. It is also a way to avoid cluttered, non-flattering backgrounds that can take away from the photo. Afraid of invading personal space or having a shot look *too* posed?! Try it out with a zoom lens!"

Check out Lacey's Site and her blog! Thanks Lacey!!

One of Lacey's favorite close-ups ...

Featured Photographer Tara Whitney!

2008-02-02T00:00:00.000-08:00

Check it out! Our very first FEATURED PHOTOGRAPHER!! We'll be doing these fun interviews from time to time ... if you have a favorite photographer you'd like to know more about, let us know and we'll see what we can do to get them on the blog!

TARA WHITNEY!!

Today I got to interview one of my all-time FAAAAAAAVORITE family photographers, Tara Whitney! Her work is so fresh and clean and modern and fun and colorful and happy. You can't look at her website without smiling! Check it out yourself : Tara's Website and her BLOG!

Your name? Tara Whitney. I also answer to babe, dude, and MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Where do you live and work? Orange County, California (if you want to see a REAL housewife of orange county, come to my house)

How long have you been a lifestyle photographer? Professionally: almost 3 years, for fun: 8

What's your shooting style? Do you hang back and rock the zoom lens or are you rolling around in the grass, getting down and dirty with the
kids to get all those great moments? I am totally getting down and dirty. I come home from sessions a complete mess ... sweaty, dirty, sand everywhere. I lay down on the street, whatever I've got to do. I don't even think about it at the time. I just reACT.

What do you love most about photographing babies, children and families? I LOVE getting to know people ... like, really get to know them. Not superficially. And thats what I do with my clients. I feel like I have a way of making people feel very comfortable with me - I'm not sure how it works - it's just happened to me my whole life. People trust me.
Families are my favorite, and after them probably couples. I love capturing the connections that happen so naturally with both.

You probably have a lot of repeat clients! Do you ever start feeling like family to the kiddos you photograph? If not family, definitely close friends. especially with Mom. I honestly come away from each session with a new set of friends.

Do you ever travel for sessions? If so, what's the farthest or coolest place you've ever been? I do actually. I started it last year. The farthest I've gone is New York City. I'm hoping to make a trek to Australia either this year or next. My favorite place is always San Francisco. I selfishly book a lot of sessions there. :)

What's a good tip you can give moms that want to take better photos of their children? Get a zoom lens and go outside and let them play. Don't ask them to look at you or smile. Just capture them doing their thing.

What photographer inspires YOU? So so so so many. I love all types of photography in general, but I am REALLY inspired by the things people do that I cannot-like commercial work, fashion, high editorial, etc.

And of course, some fun, non-photo-related stuff ...

What's your all-time favorite movie? A toss up between Eternal Sunshine for the Spotless Mind (I like to think if my husband and I lost our memories we would find each other again-and the music, oh the music in that film), Notting Hill (because I want to have a flat with a blue door in London, and a roommate called spike), and The Family Stone (someday I hope my family is as funny, smart, and eclectic-without the cancer of course.)

Favorite flavor ice cream? Homemade concoction of vanilla, chocolate syrup, and a scoop of JIFF peanut butter. (Creamy)

What was the first concert you ever went to? Depeche Mode - Violator Tour NINETEEN NINETY THREE baby.

If you weren't a photographer, what would you want to be? A lady of leisure. Sipping drinks pool-side and traveling the world with my cabana boy Jeff.

And of course, some of Tara's favorite photos ...

THANKS TARA!! The Mamarazzi School LOOOOOOOOVES YOU!

Fun Photo Tip (Keep it REAL!)

2008-02-01T00:27:00.001-08:00

This photo tip comes from Chelsea Hudson, an awesome lifestyle photographer in Phoenix, Arizona! Check out her website HERE and leave her some BLOG LOVE love, too : .

"When shooting kids, get them in their environment, their comfort zone... not yours. Follow them around (like any good paparazzi or "mamarazzi" would) and strive to capture the RAW moments of joy, laughter, frustration, and motion (because we all know that motion pretty much sums up toddlerhood and childhood!) These are the real moments. Capture that look of surprise and glee when they look up at you after getting that dang playhouse door open. Capture them in their dream world dancing with their dolly or having a tea party with daddy. Have your finger on the shutter, pressing halfway down, focused and ready to snap because the moment is fleeting! These kinds of photos may not make it to Grandma's formal picture mantle, but they will certainly capture the essence of youth more than any traditional sit-and-pose-and-for-goodness-sakes-smile kind of portraits!" - Chelsea Hudson

Some of Chelsea's favorite photos (SOOOOO CUTE!) Thanks Chelsea!!

Are you a baby, child or family photographer? Email us with your favorite photo tip and we may just feature it here on the blog!

Fun Photo Tip (Color POP!)

2008-01-31T07:05:00.000-08:00

This photo tip is coming late (sorry about that!!) and it's really just a plug for the workshops we're going to be announcing this weekend (stay tuned!!) I'd LOOOOOOOOVE to explain how to do this in a blog post, but it's a little complex.

So ... come to our workshops and learn how to do THIS! Color Poppin' Lightroom FUN!

Fun Photo Tip (Negative Space!)

2008-01-29T07:44:00.000-08:00

Today's Photo Tip is about NEGATIVE SPACE! What is negative space? Yesterday's photo of Mckenna had lots of it - it's basically just empty space that makes a photo more visually interesting. Sometimes negative space can give great perspective to show your subject's size (like yesterday!) and sometimes it helps you crop out a decluttered background in a creative way. Here's a good example of Baby Ben ...

Now look at this one that I took right before the first ... notice the cluttered background? There are SOOOO many things drawing your eyes away from adorable baby Ben! While it's nice to see dad's face, he's not really the subject of the photo so he's distracting, too. The first picture had dad in it, but he definitely wasn't the focal point since all you could see were his hands. This photo is much less interesting, so I'm glad I kept shooting!

So next time you're shooting, be on the lookout for negative space and try to creatively crop in the camera!

See you all tomorrow!!
XOXO, Sarah Q / The Mamarazzi School!

Fun Photo Tip! (Show Some Perspective!)

2008-01-28T00:00:00.000-08:00

If you're a mom you know how hard it is to remember when your baby was newborn size. Every once in a while I'll find some of Roxy's newborn clothes and it just seems crazy that she actually fit into those little pink-striped jammies! Since they grow up soooooo fast, it's important to document just how tiny they are (while they're still TINY!)

This is one of my faaaaaaaavorite models! We did Mckenna's first photo shoot was when she was only three weeks old and WOW, was she itty bitty! I took a lot of closeups to get her adorable little wrinkles, but this shot ended up being one of my faves ... it's a photo of Mckenna laying on top of her bookshelf. Just a couple of months later I went back for a follow-up shoot and she was already waaaay too big for the bookshelf. I was so glad I got this shot when I did!

So how do you show perspective? Back up a little! Most of the time, I tell people "Get closer!!" but to show perspective you have to step back and show how your subject fits into their surroundings. Sometimes when you back up, you can lose focus on your subject, though. You definitely don't want a snapshot-style picture of a baby in a cluttered room. Make sure to pay attention to your background and use the cleanest, brightest part of the room. In this case, the empty wall was perfect for what I wanted to show. Leaving so much space kept Mckenna tiny in the frame, but still the main focus of the photo. Tomorrow's tip will have some more ideas on using negative space like this one, so stay tuned! :)

That's it for today. See you again tomorrow!

XOXO, Sarah Q / Austin's Original Mamarazzi!

Leave us some comments! What do YOU want to learn?

Fun Photo Tip! (Watch for Shadows!)

2008-01-22T00:30:00.000-08:00

Sooooo many people think when you're shooting outside, you should head for the sunniest spot you can find. Sunlight is great light, right? WRONG!! Direct sun makes everyone squint and leaves tons of harsh shadows. Shady spots are perfect for nice, diffused light that flatters faces, young and old. Make sure you watch for dappled light, though. Here's a great example from our very first Mamarazzi Class this past weekend ... check out Jakob, the world's cutest model. He's standing under the same tree in both pictures. In the first one, he's looking towards the sun, though and has shadows on his face from the tree. Notice the even lighting in the second picture? I noticed the shadows in the first shot so I asked him to turn his head away from the sun. Instantly, we had a MUCH better photo!

PHOTO #1 (face to the sun)

PHOTO #2 (face in the shade)

More photos from this class coming soon!

XOXO, Sarah Q / The Mamarazzi School

COMING SOON ... Mamarazzi School Workshops!

2008-01-17T08:07:00.000-08:00

WOW! The response so far to Mamarazzi School has been OVERWHELMING!!!! We've gotten so many great emails and met so many moms already that are interested in taking better photos of their kids. Classes are already being booked, so if you're interested, shoot us an email!

Next up, The Mamarazzi School Workshop!! Stay tuned to the blog for some big news coming next week! Also stay tuned for DAILY tips on how to get great photos starting Monday!

We'll also be posting up some photos from our very first class on Monday. If you haven't bookmarked us already, what the heck are you waiting for?

See you SOON!!

Welcome to Class!

2008-01-15T02:13:00.000-08:00

I'm so excited to announce a brand new way to get great photos ... Mamarazzi School! Learn how to use that digital camera one-on-one style, in your home, by me, Sarah Q from Roxy and Kai Photography. Look to the right for some FAQs and EMAIL ME to reserve your spot today!!

Mamarazzi Gear!

2008-01-14T05:20:00.000-08:00

Check it out! The Mamarazzi Shop is now OPEN! T-shirts, bags, caps, cups and all kinds of fun stuff for your favorite photo-obsessed mamas! A few of my faves ...

I'm getting this one!!

Or maybe this one ...

Look at the BABY STUFF!! It says "My mommy is a Mamarazzi!" How freakin' cute is that?!?!

Cool bag, baby!

Leave some comments! We LOOOVE comments!