3.01.2011

party of three: 8/52

Take one picture a week for 52 weeks of the 3 kids together. How hard could it be? Well, you can already see I am ridiculously behind on this week's post.....and after my super successful week 7, it's only fitting that I be knocked squarely backward onto my posterior for week 8.

Let's recount the day's events:

-6:50 alarm goes off
-hit snooze repeatedly for 30 minutes
-7:20 realize I can no longer put off the inevitable; get up
-8:09 screech into the school drive-thru lane with one minute to spare (nice!!)
-8:15 arrive back home & feed the tornado
-make 2 doctors appointments and 1 dentist appointment
-get a wild hair and start re-organizing a random kitchen cabinet
-get distracted and hunt down the tornado
-play dollhouse
-9:30 there is a request for toast; feed tornado again
-cuddle on couch with tornado; watch Dora
-10:30 put tornado down for nap
-debate between cleaning up kitchen cabinet disaster or taking picture of dead tulips
-take picture of dead tulips
-11:00 realize picture of dead tulips is nothing exciting and debate between re-tackling kitchen cabinet disaster and online shopping
-decide on online shopping
-become overjoyed to find the cool peace sign leggings the tornado had as a baby are back for another season!!!!
-order peace sign leggings in size 3T
-12:00 peer warily into kitchen, become overwhelmed with kitchen organization project and head upstairs for a quick nap
-12:30 awaken with a jolt to the sound of shrieking from the tornado's room
-rub tornado's back as requested
-12:45 bring tornado to my bed to see if she will go back to sleep
-she doesn't
-1:00 win the mother of the year award by opening only one eyeball as I see the tornado perched on the edge of my (massive) king bed telling herself to "be careful"
-1:10 win another mother of the year award by still pretending to be asleep even though the tornado is softly patting my leg saying "yake up mama"
-1:15 jolt awake again to "hungry eat!!! all done seeping mama!!!"
-grudgingly roll out of bed to tackle the laundry
-put piles of folded laundry away
-return from Collin's closet to see tornado back in my bed, under the covers, hands behind her head, reclining on a pile of pillows and saying "watch tv mama"
-realize I could have rested for 30 more minutes
-1:30 turn on Bubble Guppies
-1:35 come downstairs to type this list
-1:45 realize this list is really boring
-fix lunch for me and tornado
-2:53 pick up boys from school
-3:15 arrive at allergy shots
-debate between waiting the mandatory 30 minutes or being a rebel and leaving after 15
-leave after 15
3:30 hit the mall

Perhaps the day's events caused my brain to short-circuit, but here was my thought process: Take the kids to the mall, let them have a pretzel and lemonade for a snack and snap the picture of the week. Everyone occupied - check! Cute sibling moment - check! TT strapped in a high chair and unable to escape - check! All the makings of a great candid shot.

Did you ever notice that when you get your child's picture taken professionally, they don't eat while taking pictures?

So now...not only do I have to deal with 3 kids making odd faces at any given moment (blinking, sneezing, scratching a nose)...now I have to deal with chewing. And it wasn't pretty chewing. Think horse and hay bale.

Picture of the week? Here ya go.
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Now for some tips/tricks/things I learned, etc:

1. I thought the lighting at the mall was going to be a breeze. It's always light and bright and there are huge skylights overhead. Would you believe my ISO was 1,000, my shutter was 1/100 (too slow) and my aperture was f/5 (too wide).
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2. If you're not into photography, you might wonder why I always say my settings are "too slow" or "too wide" or my ISO was "too high." When you're using natural light (no flash), everything is a balancing act. If I set my camera to my ideal settings: let's say f/8, ss 1/500, ISO 200....the picture would be underexposed; probably to the point of being totally black.
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3. I mentioned my ISO was 1,000. For some reason I can't allow myself to go over 1,000...I have no idea why. It's a mental thing. Did you know that a properly exposed photo at a higher ISO has less noise than an underexposed photo at a lower ISO. (I always lowered my ISO and used Photoshop to bring up the exposure. WRONG!)
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4. Are you wondering why my b&w shots are hazy with low contrast? If you try to do a dramatic black and white when there's a lot going on in the picture, it can be overwhelming to look at. (This is only my opinion!) By adding a bit of haze, you're reducing the stark contrast between dark blacks, and light whites...kind of toning it down a bit. (Again, just my opinion).
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If you're thinking I forgot my new mantra of not taking 50 pictures from the same spot...
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...and forgot to incorporate "quite observation from afar..."
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...I haven't.
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I just didn't want to be creepy creeperton roaming around the food court with a camera.
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So there you go...week 8 is done! :-)
Happy Tuesday! ♥

42 comments:

Anonymous said...

Cuteee shots!
Kisses.

Laurie said...

You just made my day! I love your humor. And anytime I see a mom of 3, I think, "Okay, it IS doable!" :0

And thanks for explaining the faucet image a while back! I really appreciated it!

Kristi said...

What a great 'day-in-the-life'. I have to admit it, I'm somewhat jealous of your nap. ; )

Pitterle Postings said...

Love it. Sometimes you just have to get creative!

Anonymous said...

Oh mall light is horrible, just as horrible as dressing room lights. I usually resort to b&w automatically if I'm shooting at the mall. Or try to find a white wall to set the white balance manually.
On the other note it has lots of pretty sparkling signs that make up for a great background.
What camera do you shoot with? My 5D mark II doesn't show any noise until I get to high 3000s. But I did the same thing when I had a rebel, was Sesotho afraid of going over 1000 iso.
Though you know what sometimes noise looks cool...

Mandy@ a sorta fairytale said...

You are one busy lady!! And yes mall lighting is icky. Nice choice to do the hazy b&w instead of the contrast!!

Skye said...

Great shots as usual. I can't wait to get my DSLR so I can be cool and take great photos without all the flash glare from my handy dandy point & shoot lol - I am drooling for a DSLR ... espceially when I see your photos! :)

Warren Baldwin said...

You are busy!
And great shots. A picture a week of all 3 kids would get to be difficult. For me right now impossible, since two of the three are at different colleges :).

Stopping by to let you know I used one of your leaf pictures in a blog post here: http://titus2inaction.blogspot.com/2011/02/memory.html

The article is on "memory." Your pictures, esp the nature ones, help me conjure up articles in my mind for the blog, my radio show, etc. Thanks!

wb

Unknown said...

he he he! glad you had a fun, busy and adventurous day all to get a shot of your three precious children. hope the organizing gets done too!

hugs and thinking of you!
jill

Ashley Sisk said...

I shouldn't laugh but you crack me up. I hope that one day I'll win that mother of the year award too. Just pass down your mommy diaries!

Sara said...

I don't know what I love more, your commentary or photos! You always bring a smile to my face!! And we've all won a mother of the year award at one time or another :)

Anonymous said...

I know days like this! lol

My Rebel can be terribly noisy just at 800. Thank goodness for Scott Kelby and his CS5 book...now I can eliminate it in Camera Raw. Makes me so happy! lol

bek

Natalie said...

I am laughing about paid photographers not giving food (aka hay bales) to their little models. lol

These are cute. Give yourself bonus points for not missing a week yet and getting a nap in to boot!

Liz said...

You are a funny lady I love it. What a day you packed in.

I like the hazy look. I am trying to achieve that because I see it more and more. It is a nice effect. I like how you do tell yoiur settings, for me being new to this whole thing myself it helps.

Well hope your evening goes a little smoother for you.

Tiffany Franklin said...

This makes my day seem lazy and unmotivated (so ashamed) Im going to attempt to clean and organize my house tonight since I'm not a morning/day person haha. the photos look good to me. I havent tried playing with the iso with my new camera I'm slightly nervous lol ;-)

Unknown said...

XD

I heart your list.

And I really love that second last shot, too! Looks normal. Real life. :)

Anonymous said...

I'm exhausted reading your day and I homeschool! LOL

Lighting... a photographers friend and foe!

Unknown said...

Oh, thanks soo much for letting me in on your editing goodness. I DO have Coffee shops simply vintage and I ran it and merged the layer, but it made my photo a blue color....so, I changed the blending mode to screen and I LOVE how it turned out....a little different, but....not bad. I'll post some of the results tomorrow! :) Thanks!

Casey Martinez said...

Only you could write a list about your day that is so entertaining I read it all with a smile on my face! I had a brutally long day today too with my TT. She is teething, still sick and cried all day loonnnggg. I think today was officially my first mommy fail day as far as patience is concerned but, humor is the best medicine in life. It's how I cope with my tough days and see the silver lining and it appears that you have the same talent! God Bless you and what darling pictures!! I LOVE the series of pictures you have been posting lately with all 3 kiddos. Really does get me excited about the days when Daisy will have siblings;0. Hard work, but SO worth it right;0.

Kari said...

I love everything about this post. Clever, informative, and such cuties...

deb duty said...

Enjoyed your recap and the awesome photos. And I never stay the required amount of time after my allergy shots, but so far I haven't gotten in trouble. :)

Lori Allberry said...

Karli, you were CRACKING me up! I LOVE the list of your day! I could just imagine it happening! Had it visualized in my head!!! :o)
And I LOVE LOVE LOVE the photos!!!! And the pretzels look sooo yummy! You do know don't you that those pretzels are not anything I can get in my neck of the woods, I have to head out to your end of the state to get those yummy nummies!

♥Lori

Anonymous said...

He he. I love these. Cute photos.

Carrie said...

I so heart the recap of your day. Your posts crack me up! I love it and the pictures, I only wish that my best pictures looked as good as your worst... if there were such a thing!

kitten said...

I love how i always learn something from your posts. Lovely photos as always, k!

happy me said...

"...to see tornado back in my bed, under the covers, hands behind her head, reclining on a pile of pillows and saying "watch tv mama".

Oh no she didn't. ;)

You've lessened my fear of super-high ISO. Thx! Going to practice tomorrow morning.

Naomi said...

Thanks again for making me smile! Love your shots and I love them in black and white. Nice work! :)

Anonymous said...

Your so sweet to come by after I have commented !
Hope you have a nice weekend too !

Lindsey Clair said...

I so love your work Karli, you almost make me want to take up photography though I don't think I would be any good at it! lol

Blog
www.peacefulislandmother.com

Anonymous said...

Oh a nap sounds fabulous right now. Love the look on TT's, she's very focused on that drink.

Wrote about you today. In theory I wanted to go with your Party of Three idea...in reality it didn't happen.

Heather Mullin said...

Love your blog! I love your photos and the stories behind it. I am a photographer and am a new blogger. Still learning. Thanks for sharing!

Heather
www.hdstokesphotography.com

Tracy said...

Been super busy this past weekend and past few days so I haven't done much blog reading, so I'm playing catch up and can I just say WOW!!!! Your photos are phenomenal and you just crack me up!!!

Brooke said...

You are killing me! I really love these posts..... I think I like hearing about your frustration. (Totally mean of me, right!!!) But it is nice to know that your FABULOUS photos don't come easy (because you always make them look like they do!) These are very real! I love them. The first straw drinking one, where you can see all their cute faces is my FAV!!!

Michelle R said...

hehe. Karli -- you are a doll!

first: "Picture of the week? Here ya go." LOVE it!

And we wouldn't want you to be creepy!

These are all great -- and I love the hazy-ness in them. And all the close up action! Who needs to be a quite observer every week???

(hugs)
xoxo
Michelle

stacey said...

Crank up that ISO, girl! :-)

Love these. Real life. And I loved your play by play of your day.

Hope you have a great weekend!

Ashley said...

You crack me up! I love the food court pics, they are so sweet. Your boys are frickin adorable how they look at TT! XO

Eileen said...

Mall lighting=Yuck. But you did the best you could w/ what you had. Love the photos of your kids, as always. You continue to inspire this mom!
~Eileen

Shannon said...

Goodness I just love your blog! Your photography is AMAZING! I am your newest follower!

Natalie said...

So you once again managed to make me smile through the whole post! I know you may thing things like this are boring but actually it's quite wonderful as a mother also to read about another mother's day and have them be so similar to mine! I too play "blocks" or "color" with Dillon and get 'wild hairs' and start projects only to abandom them and procrastinate about finishing them! HEHE but seriously..i can't tell your ISO was 1,000! Your camera handles noise like the bomb diggity!

hipchicagomom said...

Your photography is outstanding. I love the candid shots, horse and hay bale and all. ;)

Anna said...

Oh I LOVE your sequential list of "a day of the life of super-mom" ..and the pics are so cute as always! :) Always making me smile.

Gina Kleinworth said...

I love the shots but your comment about being the creepy person walking around with the camera cracked me up. :) I often feel that way when I go places with the idea of taking photos. My husband has banned me from taking photos of people's landscaping because he thinks I will freak them out. I have a hard time getting the shots I really want because people can get nervous when one has a camera in hand