How to Take the Best Fall Pictures - Contributor Post

It's full-swing fall, and here to give tips on taking great seasonal pictures is Alex Nguyen from Alex Nguyen Portraits!

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Here in the Pacific Northwest where I live, it is definitely fall. When I walk my kiddo to the bus stop in the morning, if it's not pouring rain on us we like to play the crunching-as-many-leaves-as-possible game. Fall is also my favorite time for outdoor pictures. The scenery is beautiful, there are so many opportunities between apple picking in the orchards, pumpkin picking at the pumpkin patches, playing outside in the leaves, or just dressing up in halloween costumes. Here are six easy tips to keep in mind to capture those moments with your own kiddos.  

1. Keep it simple.

I think everyone has seen the Pinterest picture of the baby in the pumpkin. I'm here to tell you - it's NOT THAT EASY. Instead, put an adorable pumpkin hat on your baby, and snap a picture that way. Here I put my baby in a basket to make sure he didn't crawl away. WAY more comfortable than trying to squeeze him into a pumpkin.

 

2. Pull Out Props!

These are apples from our yard, but you can try to find an U-Pick apple orchard near your area, and take some adorable pictures as well.

This was super easy, I just put apples 0n the ground and set my kiddo down to sit among them.

3. Sibling Poses: make them laugh

For my two boys, I had them lay down, then told them a joke while I took a picture above them. It cracked them up, and I got some cute smiles out of the deal.

4. Don't forget to capture the funny moments as well

my youngest really wanted the apple my husband was eating, and pulled his arm down to grab a bite. I snapped a picture while I was laughing because it was totally his personality.

5. Always have your camera on hand!

We were walking at an outside mall when my boys started throwing leaves at each other. It was super cute. For this picture, I had my husband throw leaves on the boys while I snapped pictures

I had taken my kiddo to the park, and saw these beautiful leaves. We weren't dressed up or anything, but it was too pretty to not try to get some pictures. I had him throw some up in the air to get the falling leaves pictures.

 

The red leaves made such a pretty contrast to the green grass, so I also had him lie down for a few snaps as well.

 

This was totally unplanned, but look at how wonderful the pictures turned out. Since we weren't dressed up, neither of us were stressed out about messing up the clothes, or getting dirty in the grass.

This was on a different day, and we found yellow leaves for a background. Again, no stress, just had my kiddo lie down and snapped a shot.

6. Don't forget to take costume pictures when your kids aren't trick or treating!

My youngest was Captain America last year, and he *loved* his costume and wore it everywhere. We went to the park, and I got some of the cutest smiles ever on camera.

  

Picture taking doesn't need to be planned, with dressy outfits, and stressed out parents or kids trying to keep clean. It can be spontaneous, and fun, and joyous as well. Always keep your camera on you (even if it's just a cell phone), and look for those moments to capture. Hope these fall picture taking tips helped!

 

Get Up, Get Out - Contributor Post

As school has started, our entire morning routine has shifted, and not in an easy-to-swallow way. Thankfully, Alex Nguyen from Alex Nguyen Portraits has done this before and she's got some great ways to get the kids up, out, and into good human beings.

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School normally starts up around here after Labor Day. With the beginning of school, begins also the morning struggle of getting my boys ready and out the door on time in the morning. I have two kids going to two different schools, so it took everything I had to keep my sanity from reminding them of the same things every. single. day. They could recite whole episodes of Curious George, but not remember to brush their teeth in the morning without a reminder. Times two! Fortunately, I instituted a morning chart routine a couple of years ago when my oldest started kindergarten, and it's really streamlined our whole morning process. Now, instead of me getting frustrated that, yet again, I'm reminding him to go pee and brush his teeth, I just redirect him to check out his morning chart, and he can look and cross off what he needs to do. It's been a sanity saver, and let's me make a cup of coffee in the morning so I can get going with my day.

The second thing which also helps in our household is a chore chart. I downloaded a template and laminated the different chores and velcroed it to the chart. I love it because there are things that need to be done such as feeding the pets, practicing spelling, not fighting with their brother, etc. that isn't necessarily a chore that I want to reward. The template has a "morning", "afternoon", and also a "to earn" column. In our household, I give out chore coupons for completed chores in the "To Earn" column. One coupons = one quarter OR 30 minutes of screen time. Each boy gets their own chore chart to complete, with age appropriate chores. It really helps gives them a sense of responsibility, and also gives me a chance to redirect them to being helpful (and in the older son's case, making sure his homework is completed, he has practiced his soccer skills or tae kwon do poomses). In the long run, kids who *want* to be helpful get to be, things get done, and sanity gets saved. It's a win, win for everyone!

Project Links: Morning Responsibility Chart Template for Chore Chart (.PDF File)
 

This is the responsibility chart I have for both my kiddos. It's SO helpful in the morning because I can just tell them, "Go look at your chart!" instead of nagging at them in the morning. The step-by-step tutorial I found on Spoonful.com here. To make your own you will need: corrugated cardboard, paper, bamboo skewers, and a straw.

 

My older son's chart reads: wake up, go pee, brush teeth/puffer, eat breakfast, get dressed, pack back pack (includes homework AND lunch). This is simple stuff that needs to be done every day! My younger son has pictures since he can't read yet.

 

Here is the chore chart I have for both my boys, I downloaded the template from Home School Creations (it's a .PDF file, free to download!). I laminated mine, and then put velcro on the backside. I like this template because it has morning, afternoon, and also a "to earn" column, because I want my boys to have automatic things to do that aren't just for money (such as feeding their pets). It also has pictures AND words so both kids can look at it and understand what it asks.

 

What the velcro looks like, it's very easy to adjust around. When the boys are done with a chore, they put it "upside down" on the chore chart to let me know that it's been finished (easily done with velcro).

 

I got my squares from Home Depot, but you can also buy them from places like Lakeshore Learning, or Amazon.com

 

Some of the different chore squares the printable template came with! It also came with some blank ones where you can make your own.

 

In our househole, one chore in the "to earn" column equals one chore coupon. The value is 25 cents OR 30 minutes of screen time, whichever they want.

 

Rock Painting - Contributor Post

Today Alex from Alex Nguyen Portraits is here to talk about one of her other passions...crafting!(And since it's summer time, I'm going to need all the help I can get, so I am eternally grateful.)


If your kids are anything like mine, they like to collect things like rocks. (And sticks. Sometimes I get a surprise and it's something that's alive such as a worm or beetle. Or baby spiders, although that is totally another post once I recover from the trauma). Then, when you try to tell them that their "treasures" belong outside the house, you get tears and lots and lots of wailing. Here's a simple craft you can do to occupy them, decorate up their "treasure" rocks, plus it's actually pretty fun.

What You'll Need:

• rocks (cleaned and dry - my kids love giving their rocks a "bath")
• paint
• brushes (don't be limited to just paint brushes. We also used pencil top erasers, toothpicks, and q-tips as "brushes")

Start off with some cleaned rocks

Our painting set up. I have box lids for the actual rock painting, just so there's not accidental floor paintage

Then, get your paint. I set mine out in paper plates for my boys. 

Then, let them paint!

Here's what dot painting with a pencil end looks like as well. 

Some of our finished creations. 

My oldest was super proud of his Captain America shield rock. 

We even glittered some rocks to make them look like real "treasures" 

In rock land, Hello Kitty and Batman live side by side in peace 

We painted some to look like caterpillars and bugs 

And my youngest loves all things ladybugs. Happy crafting!



Don't forget to check out Alex's blog, too, for more fun crafts and photography!


 

How to Take Photos of Your Child Outside - Contributor Post

The ever talented Alex Nguyen of Alex Nguyen's Portraits has agreed to give an outside candid photo shoot tutorial for me!

Most of the time, if your child is like mine, he's running around outside while you're trying to capture a good picture of him. Here are some easy things to consider and keep in mind to get better pictures of your cuties. This doesn't guarantee non-blurry action shots (that's another post!), but it should help you get out of the cheesy-smile rut, and deliver some sincere, cute pictures of your kiddo.

TIP) Check Your Background. Are there lots of things around, will your kid still be the focus, or will the eye go to someplace else? Maybe just turn around and see if there is another direction you can face. This was facing our house. You can see our deck, the shed, and all sorts of things in the background. My kiddo is kind of lost in everything else going on in the picture. I just looked to another part of our yard instead for pictures.



TIP) Shake The Sillies Out. Let your kids be silly! You get some pretty awesome personality shots. Plus, it takes the pressure off of them performing for you, and it takes the edge off of you that they're not looking at the camera, making faces, or whatever. I told my kiddo to make the scariest and silliest faces he could for me, and this is what I got.



TIP) Get Out Of The Sun. Like turning off the overhead light, having the full sun overhead is not your best friend when taking pictures. It creates harsh shadows on your kid, they'll be squinting in the sun, and you get black pits as eyes. You want to find something called "open shade", which is basically like a big, shady spot. Good ideas are under a tree, a covered porch, inside your garage, your back deck, your front doorstep. Here is my open shade. It's the underneath area of my kids' tree house. It's not a very big space.



Here is my kiddo close up in the exact same spot. Notice how sweet he looks?


TIP) Play Games with Your Child. My kids LOVE peek a boo, and hide-and-go-seek. I get the best expressions from these games, especially if they think they are "fooling" me. Where'd he go?


  Oh, there he is!


TIP) Above all, let it be fun for both of you. You want your child's personality to shine through. My funny boy in all his moods.

A Quick Overview:

• Check your background to make sure it isn't overwhelming your child (your main focus)
• Let your kiddo shake their sillies out in front of the camera. Takes the pressure off both you and them.
• Don't shoot in full sun
• Find open shade
• Play games with them
• Let the child have fun, and their personalities will shine through

 

Tips on Taking Photos of Your Children - Contributor Post

The lovely Alex Nguyen has agreed to share some of her expertise, usually on Alex Nguyen Portraits, with us today! Taking pictures of your kids can be tough, especially if you suck with a camera as much as I do. Here's what she says!

Most people assume that you need a fancy camera, or lots of equipment, or intimate knowledge with the words "f stop" and "shutter speed" in order to get that perfect shot of their kids. I'm here to tell that while all that stuff is awesome and groovy, it's not at all needed. You can get that great shot of your kid with your point and shoot camera, and this post is to give you some tips on how to achieve some of that. First of all, all the following pictures are done indoors, near a large window. I set up near our slider, with my kid facing me and the window. You don't have to have a floor length window, any largish window will suffice.

This is my actual dining room. I just pushed table back, and plopped my kiddo in front. Note that it is not a large space, and I have no additional or special photo equipment.



 Also, TURN OFF ANY OVERHEAD LIGHTS OR LAMPS. They will cast an odd, yellowish light on your pictures. If you have a nice, largish window, you won't need additional light on your child.

See this? I call this "Cheesy Four Year Old" smile. This is what you get when you tell your child to "say cheese". You get, a cheese smile. Stiff, unnatural, and while cute, definitely not "him".



 Next, get down at your child's level. Sit down with them if you can. Engage them in some conversation. Don't be afraid to be silly.



 Don't get stuck in the rut of always taking a horizontal picture. Mix it up, and take vertical pictures (up and down pictures) as well.



Don't get fixated on taking the picture smiley picture. Get pictures of their silly faces. Of them playing with a favorite toy, or just being contemplative. If your child is normally serene, capture that.



Don't be afraid to capture the silly moments, sometimes they are the best pictures.



Get close to your child, and fill up your viewfinder with their sweet face.



A quick overview:

for shooting indoors, set your child near a window

turn off any overhead lights

get down to their level (sit down! )

don't say cheese

don't be afraid to fill up the viewfinder with your child's face

remember to take vertical pictures, as well as horizontal pictures

get your child to talk to you

let your child play

take lots of pictures, one of them will turn out

don't get stuck on getting the perfect pictures or perfect smile. concentrate on just getting your child comfortable in front of the camera, and watch the magic happen.