Capturing Families
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Posted on September 18, 2011
We took the kids to St. Louis the weekend of Labor Day so that we could catch a Cardinal game with our family.
We spent one night at Greg’s grandparents farm house…
and I knew we may have a chance to get some photos in some great light.
So being the crazy person I am I packed some extra “photo shoot” outfits for the kids.
The light was great.
But we were running out of time.
We drove to town for some soda and then needed to find a gas station…
all eating up precious moments of beautiful light.
The kids hadn’t eaten and it was getting close to 7pm…
but the girls (Naomi) was willing to get changed and allow me to take her photo
(Hannah just had to go along with it since she doesn’t have a say in it yet).
Micah wanted nothing to do with photo shoots (and that’s okay).
The light was great.
The outfits were cute.
The mood was good for a little while.
My camera wasn’t set properly.
I was too worried about catching the great light.
I made a big mistake and didn’t check ALL my settings.
I was playing the role of the forgetful mom and not the precise photographer.
The baby wasn’t happy.
The photos are grainy.
But I love them.
Here is one of my favorites…that I will share today for i heart faces a touch of light challenge!
check out some more touches of light at i heart faces
I will be posting more photos from this mini session later this week!
Posted on September 17, 2011
If you’re hanging out on pinterest (and if you’re not you should be) then you’ve probably pinned a few photo wall collages. I’ve got half a dozen if not more. People often ask me and assume that since I’m a photographer I’ve got photos all over my house and I have to admit that I never had a ton of my favorite images surrounding me. I’ve got large canvas prints in the kids rooms and some other small frames around but I was ashamed to say that I didn’t have a ton of my favorite photos on my walls. That has now changed.
I knew that I had the frames to pull off a photo collage wall but wasn’t sure how it’d go over with my husband. I knew that if I took my time and did it right we could totally pull off a photo collage wall in our (rental) home. We didn’t have a big hallway in our old house so something like this wouldn’t have worked (except maybe in a bedroom). I was trying to figure out which configuration would work best when I decided to take it all a step further and measure everything and use a grid to lay the whole project out. You can get by without the grid paper step but it really helped me figure out which of the many frames I wanted where.
So in 5ish easy steps here’s how to make your own photo collage wall…
1. Measure your wall and all your frames (you need to know what you’re working with)
if you want to go as far as I did map everything out on grid paper…one square=one inch for me (it was just the easiest way for me to do it)
Move things around and make sure you have the best configuration. Don’t forget to include light switches or thermostat boxes that are on your wall.
I labeled each piece of paper that represented a frame with the size and a description of the photo in the frame so I knew which ones went where, this proved very helpful later on.
1a. If you don’t want to take the extra step of the grid paper you can just lay your frames out on the floor and see if you like how it looks. This works well if you can do all the steps in one day and if you don’t have little curious children hanging around!
2. Cut a piece of paper to the size of your frame. Line the paper up with the back of the frame and with a crayon rub over the back of the frame where the hangers are. That way you’ll know exactly where to put the nail and you’ll have a straight line!
3. Tape the papers to the wall where you want the frames to hang. Use a level to make sure your line is straight.
4. Hammer your nails right through the paper where the hangers of the frame are…and you know right where they are because you rubbed over the hangers with crayon!
or have your handsome hubby hammer the nails for you! (then they can take stock in the project as well).
5. Take the paper off the wall and hang your frames.
6. Stand back and bask in the glorious photo collage wall that you’ve just created!
Somewhere along the line my measurements of the hanging paper were not pinpoint precise but I’m not a perfectionist so it doesn’t bother me too much that the line is not COMPLETELY straight on the bottom.
I smile every time I look at my photo wall. I LOVE it. I know we won’t live here very long but I can tell you that my next home WILL have a hallway that will be awesome for a photo wall because it makes me that happy!! I still need to change out some of the photos that I am waiting on to be printed but I just had to share this with you now!!
And look, now we don’t have to look at the thermostat box anymore!!! clever hey?!
LOVE IT! 
Do you have a photo wall? I’d love to see it! I have a few others in the works in the kids bedrooms and I’ll make sure to share them when I have them completed!
Posted on September 3, 2011
For the past five years I have been taking an insane amount of pictures. You see, that’s when my first child was born. I’ve been a photographer longer than I’ve been a mother, but I’ve been capturing my own family memories in great detail for almost five years. I always took photos of my husband and I when we went on vacation or when we were visiting friends but didn’t just randomly snap off 100 photos because my hubby was looking so cute (I don’t think he would let me). I have always been the one taking the photos and placing each printed photo into an organized album with care. I have shelves of photo albums and LOVE looking through them. I entered the digital scene full time about a year and a half into my journey as a mother and the number of images of my family skyrocketed. However, the number of photo albums to look through plummeted. The images are stuck on my computer. Many people say, “You’re a photographer you must have your photos all over your home and you must have tons of albums”. The sad thing is…I don’t. And I’m slowly trying to remedy that.
I tried traditional paper scrapbooking for a while and I love to do that, but once Naomi was born my time was cut in two. Add two more kids to the mix now and well, you get the picture. I discovered digital scrapbooking and jumped on board with full force. My computer was very slow after a while of doing this and I got very frustrated with trying to create even one page. I only have one “almost finished” album of random pages from Naomi’s first year. So sad. Eventually I just started uploading images online and putting them in a cookie cutter, boring old album just to get them off my computer. This works but it’s not me, it’s not pretty. One thing I make sure to have done is a birthday album for each of my kids after their birthdays. Their album includes pictures from the party, a letter from us, photos from their birthday photo session and a few pages with my favorite images from the past year. I love doing these and know that at least something is getting printed and my kids will have some way to remember their childhood. Digital media is constantly changing. If we do not print our images how are we guaranteed that our children will be able to access the images from their childhood?
Maybe you have Photoshop or some other digital editing program, I hope you are using it. But if you are like me, it still takes time to learn the program and to design pages that will make you happy. I was so excited to learn about My Memories digital scrapbooking software it is the perfect response to my dilemma. My dilemma being; finding the time to properly preserve the memories that I am capturing day in and day out of my children and finding a way to easily showcase our memories so that we can sit down as a family and reminisce and not have to crowd around my computer screen.
“My Memories Suite is the #1 rated scrapbook software (that comes as an instant download so there’s no waiting for your CD to get started (although you can order a CD to have as a back up)). Not only is it affordable and fun, it’s also extremely easy. Whether you’re new to digital scrapbooking or a seasoned pro, My Memories Suite is the perfect digital scrapbooking software to use.” You can create albums in a snap, whole years worth of memories preserved and printed for all to see in a matter of a few hours (not including print/shipping time of course). The learning curve on My Memories Suite software is very short. In fact, let me make a little confession. I was given this product to review two weeks ago…but then my daughter got sick, then I got sick and I finally downloaded and started playing with the software on Tuesday. Wednesday my computer was not turned on and Thursday I crafted this post/giveaway (too much info? oh well, now you know the truth). So in a matter of a day and a half I was able to create three beautiful albums that I would be proud to print and show off. Yes, I will add more pages and maybe some more little embellishments but I’m a simple kinda girl and I don’t like a lot of fluff on my scrapbook pages, so these pages suit me just fine!
This video will show you all the awesome things that this software can do:
My husband was telling me the other day how he’d like for me to start printing more photos so that we could look through albums again. I was kind of surprised by this but then again not really. Like I said before, who wants to crowd around the computer screen. My Memories Suite has so many options that you are sure to find the type of album that you need. When you download the software you are given awesome templates, papers and embellishments. There are so many options that you won’t have to make the same page twice…unless you want to! You can also use any of the papers and embellishments that you have in your personal digital stash. The software is not very difficult to figure out and if you need help with something there are video tutorials online. It’s like they hold your hand and walk you through it so you have no excuse to not be able to make the software work for you. They also have a TON of digital products to help you in your quest for the perfect layout. I will admit that I am picky when it comes to digital scrapbook supplies and I have a specific style that I look for. The designs at My Memories are awesome. I found myself making a list of all the kits I wanted to buy…*shhhh* don’t tell my husband 
.
Here are some more details about this great scrapbook software straight from their website:
My Memories Suite 2.0 is a fun and creative way to keep and share memories, whether you have a Mac or PC. The scrapbooking software’s design tools will help you to build entire albums effortlessly using one of the many installed templates, or designing your very own pages from scratch. Version 2.0 includes 20+ new templates, over 1,500 new papers and over 1,300 new embellishments. There is even a new color swatch library with matching sets of papers and embellishments. And if you’re searching for even more templates, visit My Memories Suite’s online Design Shop, which offers a growing library of digital scrapbooking templates, papers, and kits to inspire your creativity!
My Memories Suite Version 2.0 software is bursting at the seams with new features! With Version 2.0 you can…
- Drag & drop page elements such as embellishments, backgrounds, and layouts from a convenient sidebar with the Resource Gallery.
- Have precise control of your page design with Zoom.
- Position journaling around circular and angled shapes.
- Create your own word art with effects like bevel & emboss, gradients, warping, and more!
- Space elements on your page evenly with advanced align function.
- Search through thousands of embellishments quickly to find the one perfect graphic.
- Layer multiple background papers—perfect for mats, paper strips, frames, and more.
- Combine pages from albums with different shapes.
- Edit your text directly on your page with precision.
- See your effects on your page as you add and adjust them with intuitive preview.
- Duplicate and mirror your pages easily.
- View your page layouts one at a time, or together as double-page spreads.
- Easily share your album with enhanced photobook, calendar, and card wizards.
- Add multiple pictures to your layout quickly with FastFill.
- Burn your creations onto a CD or DVD with better optical device support.
You have to go to the website and check out all the great things you can do with your pages once they are created. Gone are the days of scrapbook pages lying dormant on your hard drive. Share your album with your family and friends by getting it printed, burning it to a CD, and posting albums online. Bring your memories to life. The great thing is that after you create a great scrapbook page you can take it a step further and add video and audio to the page. I have some great video of Hannah laughing at Naomi and Micah so I added it to the scrapbook pages of her. I can burn that all to a DVD and watch it on my TV. Not only do I get to see beautiful images of my daughter but I get to hear her laugh as well. Amazing! That’s what capturing memories is all about.
Let me tell you about a few other things that My Memories has to offer. They have a Design Club: you pay a discounted price upfront and get 5 digital packs each month and a discount on all other downloads. They have weekly challenges to get you using your photos, creating beautiful layouts and preserving your memories. There are great software tutorials to help you when you’re stuck. They also have a YouTube site so you can get even more information The MyMemories site is very well organized and you can search for kits by the designer, themes, bestsellers, top products and they even have a DOLLAR STORE!! yay!! If you know me you know how much I love the dollar spot at Target and the Dollar Tree so this is right up my alley. Not to mention the freebies that you can download and use right away with your awesome digital scrapbook software. Okay, enough talking already…let’s take a quick peek at something I whipped up in a matter of minutes.
If you’re like me you are a digital scrapbook paper/element hoarder. My Memories Suite allows you to use papers that are on your hard drive. It’s super easy to do and you will have an album done in no time flat. It’s high time we get these amazing memories off our computers and into our lives!!!
The possibilities are endless! Think of all the hybrid cards you can make with these great templates and supplies. Everything is printable so you can make tons of different items for your home. I will share more projects that I’ve done with this great software later in the week…
My Memories Suite v2 sells for $39.97 which is a fraction of the price of many other digital photo editing programs. That is a steal of a deal when you realize all that My Memories Suite can do. But you my readers are in luck…I’ve got a COUPON CODE!!!
Go to MyMemories.com and enter this code: STMMMS59866 to get $10 off the price of the software…but it gets even BETTER. Once you download the software the nice people at My Memories will give you a $10 code to shop in their store!! Yippee!! That’s like a $20 coupon! Trust me you won’t have a problem finding something to spend your $10 on once you have this amazing software!
The coupon code can be used anytime!!! But the giveaway is being hosted at The Trendy Treehouse, so head over there to enter to win the software.
Good luck, I really hope you win because this software is amazing!
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Posted on September 2, 2011
{Jackson, TN child photographer}
Love the vintage look of these images…the sweet baby girl doesn’t hurt either!!!
She figured out how to get out of the stroller…
Posted on September 1, 2011
Do something you love EVERYDAY!
For me, it’s hanging with my kids, painting, taking photos, blogging, pinning, eating chocolate, drinking coffee, watching a movie with my sweet hubby, reading a good book or sewing…in no particular order or rank. So what did you do today that YOU love?
Working on a few different versions of this for my etsy store. Yes, the “shelves” are bare but I’ve got some goodies I’ve been working on. The supply will be limited but it will be good. Keep an eye out!
