Mark

I know that I already commented on your pictures Mark, but I just thought I would play with this one. I got a little too carried away though I think!

Mark, I think you should try zooming way up close so you can see only her face. Focus on the eye that is closest to you. With your new lens, I think it would look sweet!

Also, everyone, feel free to comment on everyone's pictures if you want.

Beth

Way to go ! You took 100 pictures! Yippee! I love it! :)

I really like these pictures. You are like me, I think, in the sense that we look at the eyes. I love eyes. I like the lighting in all the pictures. That first picture's lighting is really cool looking. The only thing I don't like is that I can't see his eyes. They are "dead" (meaning again - that there is no reflection in them). Like I said, I love the light, but you need to get light into those eyes. This is also a problem I often have. One thing I try and do when that happens, is I get out a reflector. When I first started taking pictures, I just used a white board or one of those car reflector things you put on your dash. You would place it so that the light is reflecting onto the dark side of his face a little. It takes a little bit of practice. That might be one thing you might want to experiment with.

After we do lamp lighting, we will start learning about the settings on our cameras.

Behind

I am behind on commenting on the pictures.

The one you like the most of Sadie is "the best" picture because the flash was on making it nice and clear. From that standpoint (sp), it is the best picture you posted. That is a down side to natural lighting. You have to have plenty of light or a camera that allows you to shoot in "Shutter Priority Mode" or "Manual Mode". It might be better if your camera would at least let you choose your ISO. Your camera might. When you have a point and shoot camera, the camera desides what settings to shoot the photo at. It usually sets the shutter speed so low that any movement at all makes the picture blurry. Anyway! Yes the pictures without the flash on are blurry, but I really like the picture I posted. I love the light coming in the window. The lighting is good in all but the third. That one is over-exposed. The camera must have metered off something different than the rest. The first too are nice and close, and I really like the picture of her curls. I even like that bottom shot. That made me laugh. The best light is shining right on her bum!

My advice would be to really think about how steady the camera is. You might want to try setting it on a table while taking some pictures or using a tripod if you have one. Does your camera have a burst mode? That is where it will take like 2-3 pictures at one time. That might help as well. Unfortunately, with our younger kids, it is more difficult to get a sharp picture when the lighitng conditions are low. Little ones are always moving. That is why you will see me take like 10 pictures in a row. I am trying to get a clear shot because I know the lighting is not ideal and chances are very good that they are going to be blurry. You might also want to take one of your older kids while they are home and have them sit still for you. That might be a better test of what your camera can do. Also, see what your camera will do on a day that is not cloudy.

Finally, week #2

It took me a while to get around to doing these pictures. I just haven't felt up to it lately, but Heather, you inspired me to get it done! So the lighting on these is from a cloudy day at 5pm. Not great you would think (or maybe you do :) ) but I really liked it and thought most turned out pretty well. Funny thing- when I read that you said we should take at least 10, for some reason i thought to myself that that was kind of a lot. Haha, I ended up taking 100.

This one is not quite in focus but I love the eyes.

These last two it's the eyes again! I love it when I get his big beautiful eyes.

Okay, so there aren't a lot of different angles because I had a hard time with them. All of the above shots were out of focus for me. Also I tried standing back and zooming in but none of them turned out. Should I try a flash so it'll focus better?

HELP

First, I apologize for putting up so many pictures. It is not because I think they are great pictures. Quite the contrary. I am not happy with any of them. So I am looking for feedback and pointers. It has been awhile, so I'm not sure which ones are flash and which ones aren't, but I can guess. And yes, I know I am still on the first week's challenge. But it just took me forever to load these. My first problem is a VERY wiggley subject. Second is a cheap (and I do mean CHEAP and old camera). But even with those things against me, there must be some things I can do/learn to improve my photos. I'm guessing this is with a flash. But is was next to a really bright window. Not direct light (northside) but it was a bright Tucson morning).
Maybe without flash??

I don't think I turned the flash BACK on, could this just be too much sunlight?

This looks better. I think I closed the window? Or maybe just turned off the flash finally? I honestly don't remember. This turned out the best, I think. Sorry about the provocative pose ;)

This is today. In a different location. No flash, just window. It is a cloudy day.

I like this one okay. I wish the background was "fuzzier" -- I know you told us how to do this, but there wasn't any room to back up and zoom in.

Maybe this can count for different angles??? LOL. Not exactly what you had in mind ;)

This one was mostly just for me, so I could see her curls. I know they won't last forever and I want to have as many pictures of them as possible.

I am open (honestly) to any and all tips. Thanks.

Mark's pictues

Well here they are. My subject like to look at me and Derek hate the light.