Monthly Archives: August 2011

Capturing Our Everyday

by Adel Posted on August 31, 2011

The past month or two I’ve been practicing shooting the kids in an environment I’ve “semi”-set up with a minor prop or two here and there. I would pick an interesting backdrop or setting, bring some little treat or new toy and start shooting. The shots were still pretty candid but there was definitely some set up and thought that went into it beforehand.

About a week ago I decided I wanted to try to just capture our everyday life at home. No (very little) tidying up the living room. I stopped telling them to look at me. I continued chatting and playing while I shot. I did keep the camera close at all times though. It was a little bit outside of my comfort zone but I kind of liked the results I saw.

I noticed that my kids communicated without talking

My daughter lies on her brother’s lap to watch cartoons sometimes

Our kitchen sink sprung a leak. Grizz replaced our entire faucet. Jack-Jack did not like watching half of her dad’s body disappear under the sink

But she did enjoy the knee pads. I mean chest plate that daddy used while he worked

I took ONE kid with me to the grocery store. Heaven.

Yes my kids eat off the floor sometimes. More often than I like. I pick my battles

Her latest trick – Climbing to the top of the chaise and FREAKING mama out

She sits in the rocking chair while he brings her random toys. One by one.

Chatting with my boy. A droid shoots him. He’s dead.

Iphone frustrations? Daddy always knows how to fix it

She knows the basic buttons. On. Off. Volume. Enough to drive me NUTS

My days. They are made up of all these moments.

Posted in Family, Photography | Leave a comment

Click It Up A Notch – August Favorite

by Adel Posted on August 30, 2011

I know I say this every month when I select my favorite, but really this month has just disappeared. Something to do with kids and getting old, I know. Sigh…

I took quite a broad range of pictures this month. As usual it wasn’t easy to choose from so many, but it’s late and this one stands out right now.

I used it one day on my Project 365 blog. I love it so much. This is the love I see in our house between my kids and their dad everyday. Sometimes I manage it to capture it with my camera, sometimes I miss it. Not this time.

This shot is a small glimpse into the love and laughter I have in my life

Check out the other fabulous entries for August via the link below

Posted in Photography | 6 Comments

Fabric And Pearl Bunting

by Adel Posted on August 30, 2011

I’m really not sure what to call it. It’s not triangles or squares on a string but it IS on a string (ribbon actually) and it kinda serves the same purpose. Anyway, I’ve seen so many beautiful buntings all over the web and pinterest I knew I wanted to make some version of it for Jack-Jack’s room. It felt like the boring gray curtains needed just a little more than the curtain bling ties

I picked up a yard each of some yellow and pink fabric at Jo-Ann’s. I don’t remember exactly how much but it was definitely less than $10 for both.

It’s a challenge for me to see how little I can get away with spending when I work on a project. However, I did splurge on this rotary fabric cutter. If you sew you probably already own one. But I don’t. And MAN this thing is awesome. I used my 50% off coupon at Michaels and it still cost me $10! No worries. I am now on a mission to work on a certain amount of projects that utilizes this said cutter so I get my money’s worth!
Just look how straight those lines are. And I cut all the strips of fabric (1.5″ wide x 20″ long) in about 10 minutes.

The next part is probably the most tedious part. I just took my time and did it whenever I found a free moment. I knotted each strip to my ribbon, alternating the colors

My table was a mess for a few days but that’s the price you pay when you craft with small children who still need most of your attention

But it got done. Sooner rather than later thank goodness

Someone asked me where I find the time to work on these projects. I’m often working on a lot of it while they sleep, or eat!

I find some fancy way to set up and work by the babe. It’s all very technical as you can see

After I’ve tied all the fabric strips I start attaching strings of pearls and beads in random places throughout the bunting. These were the pearls and beads that were leftover from the curtain bling ties and wall flower accents so they are already present in various spots in her room

After I was happy with the amount of beads and pearls I used, I hung it!

I love how they completely change the feel of the curtains and the room as a whole. It feels warm and feminine but not overly girly when you walk in.

I’m going to have to find a way to take a photo of the room as a whole to give you an idea of how it all looks together. I’m sure we’ll redecorate the entire room once she gets old enough to form an opinion and probably insist on a Goth look or something. So I’m enjoying it while I can

Posted in Crafts | Tagged bunting, pearls | 3 Comments

Date Night Cocktails

by Adel Posted on August 29, 2011

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted about our date nights. Thank god it’s not because we haven’t been in that long. I’m not sure I can last too long without some adult time with my husband. I’ve just been too lazy to bring the camera when we go. I’ve also found it’s not really that romantic to be snapping pictures while you’re on a date.

This time though I thought I’d make an exception since I wanted to try capturing the city vibe after dark and sans kids.

After shooting my kids all day every day, it’s creatively refreshing to shoot… umm… bicycles? Laugh if you want, these particular bikes didn’t move. In my book that’s a win already.

I do love how the city completely changes from day to night. My state of mind and perspective is also vastly different from when I’m shooting the kids during the day.

I like being able to try random techniques I read on the web that I normally can’t with two little ones running around. This one was taken at a really low ISO (200) and I had the shutter on bulb. I didn’t time it but I think I had it open for about 10 seconds. It’s on the bar counter so there’s no shake

Since I brought the camera, my date and I discussed lots of different techniques. If I hadn’t already mentioned, Grizz is actually the family pro photographer (the 3rd shot from the top was taken by him) and I’ve learned a lot about our camera, skin tones and the importance of light from him.

After dinner we decided to stop at Beretta for some of their famous specialty cocktails. I’d been craving an alcoholic beverage with egg white in it all evening (not kidding). This is huge for us. We’re usually a ONE stop date night kind of couple. Well we felt like getting a little crrrazy that night. So Beretta it was.

I quickly located my egg-white-cocktail (The Airmail), ordered and watched the bartender put it together in front of me

I think he was enjoying the attention (the big camera focused on him) so from then on, he made all his drinks in front of me

Or maybe that’s just where his drink-making station is

My personal favorite part was the hearts he made on the drink using an eyedropper. Fancy stuff here.

We made it to 2 drinks each then called it a night. Yeah it was pretty wild
I think we were both just ready to get home and check on the kids. Yes we’re sticking to that story.

Posted in Photography, Sans Kids | Tagged beretta, cocktails, date night, sf | Leave a comment

Faceless Friday

by Adel Posted on August 26, 2011

Here we go again. I’m starting to enjoy this

Chasing Jack-Jack around at McCovey Point

Retail therapy! Replacing my mommy-jeans with more mommy-jeans

Lunch!

Baby girls come with all kinds of hair-tying needs

Hungry kids waiting for Emmy’s (Spaghetti Shack) to open

I clean this up 10x times a day

My son loves pink tiaras and my daughter’s favorite toys are cars. No gender stereotyping in our house

Waiting in the exam room at the doctor’s office. Looking for the one cabinet/drawer that might NOT be baby-proofed

Her very first pair of actual girl’s shoes. (She only has 2 other pairs. Both purchased from the boys department)

I have to admit, I DO love a toddler in a tutu. I’m on the hunt for a matching adult one… Stay tuned

So happy it’s Friday and I don’t have to pack a lunch in the morning! Happy weekend people

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Wall Flower Accents

by Adel Posted on August 25, 2011

Most of my little projects these days involve decorating the kids’ rooms. I thought I’d share a simple one I did for Jack-Jack’s room

Remember the ridiculously expensive flower hole punch I bought for my baby girl’s birthday party decorating?

Well I still don’t feel like I’ve gotten my money’s worth from that frivolous purchase. So I decided to punch out more paper flowers!

What to do, what to do with all these embossed paper flowers?? It felt like I could combine them with those dusty old pearl necklaces I picked up from the flea market…

So I trimmed a bead at a time from the necklace and hot glued them to the center of each flower. Then I folded the petals a little toward the center to give them a more 3 dimensional look

I’d seen those 3D butterfly accents you can purchase at Target and online to put on your walls, so I figured I’d use these the same way on my paper mosaic art I made awhile back. I stuck them on the wall with sticky tack in a somewhat random diagonal pattern

It gave the mosaic art a little bit of a feminine touch. Not too shabby

And then just because I made so many (again) I stuck them in random places around her room! I’m sure I’ll think of more ways to use these soon!

Posted in Crafts | Tagged flowers, paper mosaic, pearls, wall accents | 4 Comments

Siblings

by Adel Posted on August 24, 2011

My kids. Some days they drive me so bananas I want to scream at the top of my lungs all kinds of obscenities to random passers-by outside our windows. Thank god we have very little foot traffic on our street. And also no one would probably bat an eyelash if I did since we live next to the “hood”!

Other days they bring me so much joy I wonder what I did with my life before they arrived.

It’s a special kind of bond I can already see growing between them. Often times unspoken…

They kind of just know how to work together. Which is surprising at their age given their 4.5 year gap.

My older one is usually very considerate. Always waiting for his little sister to catch up to him. (Well maybe not always) And remembering to hold doors/gates for her

Jack-Jack has begun to idolize her big brother lately. Always wanting to sit where he’s sitting and eat what he’s eating. At least that’s what I think she’s doing. Or maybe it’s just that she knows he gets the good pancakes with syrup (she just gets cream cheese on hers). He usually puts up with it for a while letting her steal a couple of pieces.

However, sometimes he is just not in the mood to share and makes sure she knows it.

On first glance these look like shots of two loving siblings…

Look closer

He’s actually trying to keep her from his food! She is turning into Jack-Jack and this is moments before she tries to attack him with all 6 of her teeth

As good a big brother as he is, he does enjoy bossing her around. In his defense he mostly is trying to keep her “safe” and away from things she’s not supposed to get into

My Jack-Jack has learned very early to come crying straight to mommy or daddy. Well usually it’s daddy since he’s the one she’s got wrapped around her pinkie

These are the “real” days we have all the time. It jumps from one happy moment to the next tantrum and fight. For the most part they get along and play together surprisingly well. I’m grateful for those many moments each day. Good and bad.

Kids. They really are something else.

Posted in Family | Tagged siblings | Leave a comment

Storm Trooper Luggage Tag

by Adel Posted on August 23, 2011

With the start of Kindergarten I’ve learned that my son needs EVERYTHING he takes to school labeled! At preschool there were only 8 kids in his class so his teacher kept track of everything the kids came and left with. Well with a 22:1 child/teacher ratio at kindergarten and 3 kindergarten classes, I definitely could not count on his teacher to keep track of his stuff. And once I learned there was at least one other boy with a Captain Rex lunch box well, I quickly went to work coming up with these luggage name tags!

So I knew I wanted to make something quick and easy, Star Wars themed and out of the foam sheets I had on hand. I decided on luggage tags. At first I thought I would try and draw the Storm Troopers free hand. Ha! My experience making the Star Wars peeps obviously gave me lots of confidence in my Storm Trooper drawing skills! Well I remembered I had ordered these stamps a couple of months ago and decided that it would be much easier to stamp the Storm Trooper helmets than drawing them

I started by creating my template for the tag

Total length I made it was 8″. 2″ square and 6″ strap

Then I stamped my Storm Trooper on. I wasn’t happy with how light the ink was so I went over it again with a permanent marker to give it more definition

Much better ya?

I wrote his name in underneath the image

And to make it more durable I covered it with a clear contact sheet trimmed to size

Ta-da! All done.

I looped it around the handle of his lunch box and hot glued it together. I was a little concerned that the hot glue wouldn’t hold but I’ve yanked hard on it and it seems to be pretty durable. If it comes off I’m going to make the next one using a brad to secure it.

Lots of fun possibilities to personalize this more with the other characters and colors of foam sheets I have. But for now, my Rex knows which lunch box is his!

Oh and I also tagged his backpack!

Posted in Crafts | Tagged crafts, luggage tag, name, star wars, storm trooper | 3 Comments

15 Month Baby Mini-Shoot

by Adel Posted on August 22, 2011

Where does the time go? I’m surprised I remembered my daughter turning 15 months with all the excitement of the first week of kindergarten! Well since I remembered I had to do something to mark the occasion. Enter the $10 tutu, a gray rocking chair and one quick stop at McCovey Point behind AT&T Park.

My baby’s rocking chair that usually sits in her room looked adorable against the green grass and blue skies with Jack-Jack climbing and crawling all over it.

For the most part she was content to watch her big brother and daddy play from her shady spot on the chair with cookie in hand

The novelty of having her favorite chair outdoors didn’t last too long…

She’s soon off toward the rocky edged waters where her big brother is.

That totally looks like a whole lot more fun than sitting in the shade with mama

So I plop her on the rocks closest to me to give her a bird’s-eye view on the boys’ shenanigans

She’s happy to watch them tossing rocks into the water from her rock for a while

I’m thinking she might have been a little unsure about the rocks and not that willing to move at first

Well she gets comfortable real quick. Starts picking flowers…

Losing shoes… Not to worry, daddy always comes to the rescue. Mama never puts the camera down. Those shoes are almost too small for her anyway

Well we’re now done with the rocks and have moved on to plucking wild flowers with her big brother

Rocking chair, rocks, wild flowers… Yep time to go home

I was pretty happy with most of the shots I got. The sun came out from behind the clouds right when we pulled up so it wasn’t the most ideal light but I made it work the best I could.

I learned that when in doubt about whether I was over-exposing my shots because I couldn’t see my preview screen well in the harsh sunlight, turn the histogram on and err to the right (dark) of my meter. Oh and shoot in RAW of course