Beautiful Monday!

Happy Monday! Another beautiful week ahead of us.

Woke up to this guy chirping up a storm. I’ve been hearing him for over a week and didn’t actually see the bird making all this racket till yesterday. So this morning I grabbed my camera and snuck up to him. I got within15 feet before he decided I was too close and flew off lol. Ahh oh well, glad he is enjoying the sunflowers my daughter and I planted.

Weather looks great for the entire week, hope you all get out and enjoy it before it’s gone! Have a great week everyone 🙂

Shelly ♥

How many Megapixels is enough?

Have you ever wondered how many megapixels is enough?  Well the answer is….. it depends!  There are a few things to consider.  The photograph’s intended end result is one of the most important factors to consider.  If you are wanting to create your own computer desktops, virtually any camera including cellphone cameras will generate the 3.6MP required to fill even the largest computer monitor.  Printed photographs however up the ante a bit.   Generally speaking, a 4×6 photo only requires about 2.1MP, where as an 8×10 needs about 7.2 megapixels!  That’s a significant difference, and you may wonder, why the big change in the file size?  Printed photos require greater pixel density for the same percieved image quality as what you see on your average 19″ computer monitor.  Since most cameras are 10MP or greater, there’s no problem right?

There is another factor to consider – how your photo is composed when you take it.  Most photos end up being cropped to some degree before being printed.  The size that the subject of the photo, takes up in the photo…  is an important aspect to consider – confused?  Lets look at it another way.  Lets say you’ve just taken a photo of your kids, or your pet dog in the park.  When you go to print the photograph, you realise that there’s some random stranger, or something else distracting in your photo, or perhaps you think should have zoomed in more – no problem you’ll just crop out the distraction right?  Here’s where you can lose a lot of image quality or photo size.  If you crop out 30% of the photo, you also lose 30% of the megapixels in the file, that 10MP master image just became a 7MP cropped image.  You can quickly see how important it is to properly compose your photos.

So remember, you want to shoot wide enough to allow for some cropping, but not too wide or you’ll lose too much image quality when you edit that final image.

Happy Snapping!

Ðannψ

Another Long Weekend Down in the Books

Horse Team at Pioneer Days

Well another long weekend done and back to work for most people. We covered a lot of ground with the kids – Pioneer Days in Steinbach on Saturday and Winnipeg Art Gallery to see the 100 Masters exhibit. We even squeezed some much needed yard work into the weekend! The only thing we were hoping to do was hit the beach, but unfortunately the weather was just too cool for that – there is always next weekend! Yesterday was a lazy day – we baked in the morning and sat around having coffee and eating cake and then headed out on a drive in the afternoon followed by a delicious BBQ dinner.

One more long weekend before the kids go back to school (YAY!) and we pack up all that summer stuff and prepare for the blanket of S-N-O-W … sorry, had to say it lol. Ahh, Manitoba weather – 6 months of winter, about a month of spring, 3 months of summer, and if we’re lucky, fall lasts 2 months unless winter creeps in early. So with the last long weekend in 4 weeks, what are you doing for the last hurrah of summer?

Shelly ♥

I Don’t Like Mondays!

This great group of ladies are the instructors who lead everyone through a great workout!

That song is running through my head this morning – but I do like Monday’s. It’s a fresh start to another week that leads up to a long weeked. Yay! I always feel like on a Monday I am starting over on a fresh clean slate. Maybe that’s why so many people start a diet on Monday. I usually line up chores/jobs for the week and plan. Yep, I am a planner – much to Dan’s dismay lol. I like to keep things in order because once you get behind, it becomes overwhelming. I also like to plan, so that if something comes up last minute, I know if I can squeeze it in without causing to much havoc. Last week was one of those – I found out about a great fundraiser and I was able to fit in doing some photo’s for them. The weather didn’t co-operate so the event had to be moved inside and we made the best of it. Morden’s first Zumbathon was held on Thursday evening to benefit South Central Cancer Resource and it was a huge success!
Congrats ladies on a job well done 🙂

Shelly ♥

When Things Don’t Go as Planned

Lake Minnewasta sunrise

We’ve all had it happen. You plan, and then things change. Well this past weekend was going to have a day that was what we call a “photo run”. That’s when we pack up our gear and head out, most often with no destination in mind. That was the plan when we went to bed Saturday night. Well Sunday morning that all changed. I am an early riser 7 days a week, 5:30-ish lol – alot of great stuff is going on when the sun comes up. The picture here was taken as the sun came up at Lake Minnewasta. It was taken in the fall so it wasn’t too early, but most were still in bed! Anyway …

As I lay in bed yesterday morning I had an idea (Dan always says “uh oh” when I says hey honey, I have an idea!). We’ve been very busy and had this home reno project that sort of got put on hold when spring/summer arrived. There is an unfinished bedroom in the basement that we promised to Victoria in exchange for her bedroom upstairs that we’ve converted to an office last winter. She eagerly moved to the “space” at the bottom of the basement stairs to wait for her room to be completed. With a 5 month wait for a drywall taper, it seemed like it would never be done, but eventually we got a taper. Then spring came and well then yard work … and then Grad season was upon us. Long story short, Victoria was away with my mom yesterday and I thought – we could pimp her room while she was away, move all her stuff in and then act like nothing happened when she comes home. The goal was to prime the drywall, paint 2 coats and put carpet in. We had roughly 10 hours. Could we pull it off? Hmmm … the primer had no dry time, but 6 hours between coats. Well we could paint, but probably not get her stuff in. So after searching for an hour for the rollers I bought, I put out a plea on Facebook and Mary-Anne saved the day with a roller. Two others were right behind her – Facebook is great in an emergency lol.

Needless to say, we pulled it off! One coat of primer, 2 coats of color rushed with a hour between coats and 2 fans going high speed, carpet cut out on the driveway right before the first round of rain hit. Dan hung the new door and installed a door knob, added plug and light plates. Both Kyle and Nicholas helped move all of Victoria’s stuff – Nick was even folding clean laundry for her! With everything in place, Nick found a bow and put it on the door knob and closed the door and then we sat and waited! She was pleasantly surprised and this morning I have found a bunch of muscles I didn’t know I had.

Someone pass the Advil … it’s going to be a long day! LOL

Shelly ♥

Ahh… The weekend! :-)

It’s the weekend, seemed like it was a long week, but TGIF!  It is time to take a break.  While I’ve talked about the rewarding aspect of Lifestyle photography, this weekend my goal is to indulge in another aspect of photography – nature or scenic photography.  For me, nature photography is almost like therapy, it’s quiet, serene, peaceful aura is silently refreshing.  It is an opportunity to practice a different style of photography from Lifestyle photography.  In nature photography you can take different approaches to study the light and shadows of a given scene, allowing room for a creative composition aspect that is unlike any other.   I am particularly fascinated by panoramic photos and I hope to find one of two to capture this weekend.  Just before I run off, here’s one I snapped with my iPhone a few days ago.

Have yourself a great weekend, I’m off on the hunt! 🙂

Ðannψ

Another Beautiful Week!

Good Morning! Well this week looks like it’s off to a great start … the sun is shining and I don’t think it’s going to be as hot as is has been! Yes, I am complaining LOL. I like to be able to enjoy being outside and not melting and yesterday was the perfect day and it was a pleasure to be outside all day in the yard working. I am paying for it today though – every bone in my body hurts! Time to get out the Advil and get moving 🙂

Have a great week!

Shelly ♥

The Joys of Lifestyle Photography

There are few things in life I find more rewarding than Lifestyle Photography.  Not to take anything away from the more formal posed portraits, but there is something uniquely introspective about the informality of a Lifestyle session.  I really enjoy being able observe and photograph a family as they spend time together enjoying themselves in some park or beach or even their own backyard.  There’s a freedom that kids in particular seem to gravitate to more readily.  I’m always amused at how quickly the dynamics change, one moment you’re a complete stranger, and the next moment you’re a new friend to be given the grand tour to, and in every tour you find moments that lend themselves nicely to some posed shots as well.  The playful energy generated by kids always brings out the smiles in everyone!

Here’s hoping you find time to enjoy your family & friends this summer!

Ðannψ

What is Lifestyle Photography You Ask?

Hannah was showing Dan around their yard and stopped to take a quick swing on the branch before continuing on!

When we say that we are lifestyle photographers, what does that really mean?

Well, we are that proverbial fly on the wall and we will capture you and your family as you really are, doing things that you do every day. And yes every member because mom or dad won’t be behind the camera!

For family sessions we typically go to a park or the beach – somewhere your family enjoys going. It could even be your very own yard! Dan and I will capture the interaction between family members. Children are hard to pose and therefore much easier and natural for them to be allowed to just be kids. This way we are able to capture them smelling a flower, blowing bubbles, playing catch or just giving a cheeky smile.

Life goes by fast, especially with children. You’ll blink and those little quirks that they have now will be gone. Lifestyle photography is the perfect way to capture your family the way they are now. Everyone may not be looking in the same direction, someone may have their tongue out or even making a scrunchy face, but that is them and that’s what we capture!

Lastly … Please don’t worry if your child misbehaves or won’t smile – we have patience and if we move on to another family member, they generally tend to get over what was making them unhappy and join back in the fun.

Have a great week!

Shelly ♥

Family Time!

Wow it’s been a long week! Yeah I know, it was really a short one LOL. I never thought Friday would come! So now I see they are still forecasting rain … I bet because it’s the weekend they will be right. We really could use it, the ground is cracked in my yard and everything looks heat stressed! I have my fingers crossed that we get a lil bit of moisture. Finishing off Jenna’s grad session tomorrow and then taking the rest of this weekend off for some family time! Have a super duper weekend everyone!

Shelly ♥