Jen here with another First Year post!

Last month, Logan was not a fan of tummy time.  If we got a few minutes in before the pouty bottom lip came out and the tears instantly began to flow, it was a miracle.  But here she is at four-and-a-half months and so much stronger and more confident at lifting her noggin’ – she is starting to enjoy this new trick, especially when her overly excited momma is cheering her on!

Along with any of Logan’s new milestones comes my desire to capture the action with my camera!  I consulted Me Ra’s book, Your Baby in Pictures, for a photo recipe that made documenting tummy time a cinch!  Here’s what I did…

Preparation

The best photos of tummy time are when the camera is positioned at eye level with baby.  Logan’s tummy time is usually on the floor, but if you can find a large flat area off the ground for these photos, you will have a much easier time maneuvering around.  I used the bed, but you could also use a smaller surface, such as a couch or chair, just as long as someone is able to be on standby next to baby in case he or she wants to practice rolling!

I placed Logan near the natural light source in the room – a window covered by a sheer curtain.

Camera Settings

I set my camera to Aperture Priority mode and selected a lower aperture of f/2.8 to blur the background.  My ISO was set to 200 because there was an abundance of light in the room.  I needed to be able to freeze the action, especially since Logan’s head is still wobbly during tummy time, so my shutter speed was 1/200 sec (200).  I always make sure my on-camera flash is turned off.  I turned the camera to Continuous Shooting mode so that I could quickly capture several frames at a time.

Compose

I like photographing this milestone horizontally, but vertically would work just as well.  I positioned myself to be at eye level with Logan.  I filled the frame with her head, hands and arms.

Capture

When Logan was looking straight at the camera, I simply focused on her eyes and clicked the shutter!  Cheering her on gave her increased confidence and she rewarded me with big, gummy smiles!

I also tried my hand at a few shots with Logan laying on the floor in her nursery, but it was a lot harder for me to move around and get at eye level with her.  My camera settings here were ISO 1000, 1.8/f and 1/80 sec (80).

I tried this photo recipe several times since these photos were taken, and the best shots were always at the very beginning of Logan’s tummy time session since she gets tired quickly.  If at first you don’t succeed, take a break and try again later.

Now it’s YOUR turn!  Use this super easy photo recipe to capture you baby during tummy time and share your favorite image on Me Ra’s Facebook page.  We can’t wait to see what you capture!

Meet me here next week when I share with you images from Logan’s first taste of veggies.  Meal time just got a whole lot messier!

First Year Cheers!

Jen

Jen here with another First Year post!

It was 2:00 a.m.  Logan and I managed to get some much needed sleep that night, but as the effects of her teething tablets started to wear off, she woke up needing extra comfort.  We ventured into her nursery, found the baby Tylenol, and made our way to the glider in my favorite little corner of her room.  As I sang her favorite lullabies, I felt her body begin to relax.  The rocking back and forth kept time with the soft melodies and whispered words floating from my voice.  Soon my little Logan was asleep.

I was beyond tired.  This was one of several nights in the beginning of a new chapter of Logan’s first year – teething.  The sprouting of her tiny teeth was the source of so much change in her little body.  The once peaceful sleeper was now up every few hours in discomfort.  It broke my heart to listen to her whimpers during the day as I massaged her gums with my finger.  But now, after she was finally comfortable enough to drift off to sleep again, when she and I were able to return to bed for another few hours of much needed rest, I found myself staying awake a little while longer just so I could look at her.  Tears streamed down my cheek.

I took in all her beauty, her innocence, her simplicity, and found I was thinking so many things.  I remembered, after a period of unexpected loss and illness, how excited and nervous and relieved I was the moment I found out I was pregnant.  I remembered the first time I felt her move in my belly, the little flutters that reminded me I was creating new life.  I remembered the moment she was born into this big world and how looking into her eyes for the first time made me feel complete.  I thought about how much joy she continually brings to my life, how I love watching her discover new things and grow.  How did I ever get so lucky?  What did I do to deserve such a miracle, this perfect little baby?

Logan had been asleep for some time.  I was still holding her in my arms, rocking gently, keeping her warm and safe.  In that moment, I’m not sure who needed who more, so I continued to hold her.  I would gladly hold her all of her nights.

Do you find you still get misty-eyed when you look at your baby, whether she fits perfectly in the cradle of your arms or is starting a family of her own?  Please share your thoughts and memories below.  I’d love to hear what you think of when you look at your beautiful child.

Meet me here on Monday when I’m going to share a photo recipe from Me Ra’s book, Your Baby in Pictures, that helped me to capture Logan’s tummy time smiles!

First Year Cheers,

Jen

*Jen is teaching a May Workshop for Moms in Georgia.  Click here for more details on Jen and her workshop dates!

This week is all about celebrating Mom whether we get to do that in person in TX at Flourish or through the blog posts!

What better way to make Mother’s Day this Sunday unforgettable then capturing a beautiful photo of mom?

With my dear friend, Sarah Wilkerson–the fearless and beautiful CEO of Clickin Moms, (if you haven’t checked out the wealth of photo inspiration at Clickin Moms, you must), and my awesome team of CONFIDENCE teachers around the country, together we have come together to give you twenty four different photo tips for helping mom shine in a photo!

Photos of mom are so important, they are the visual legacy we leave our children.  When my kids are older, I want them to have a rich collection of images of their mama so their kids, and the generations to follow, will know how much I loved life.  Even though I endured seasons of great pain and deep loss, their mama still shined from within.

Photo: Brian Tausend  / Sitting on top of Egypt’s Sand Dunes, 2013.

Every mom has that beautiful, inner, shining spirit.

Follow the link to my Babble column for 24 Ways to Help Mom Shine in a Photo this Mother’s Day.

xo,

m

Looking for the Perfect Mother’s Day Gift? 

Check out my bestselling book, Your Baby in Pictures.  Find out why almost 70 people gave it a 5 Star Review!

Jen here with another First Year post!

Logan turned 4 months old yesterday!  Can you believe how fast her first year is flying by?  Sometimes I wish I could press the pause button and freeze time for a little while so I can enjoy her at this stage a little while longer.  But with every new day there seems to come another exciting, new development, and I’m always excited to see what’s next.

These days, Logan is so observant and really takes in her surroundings.  One day, as I was watching her stare at one of our dogs eating her treat, I thought…I wonder what the world looks like from her perspective? And so, I thought I’d have a little fun and capture with my camera some things she sees daily from her point of view.

Ten Little Toes

Logan is all about sucking on her fingers and hands, which are easily available for chewing.  Her feet, however, are not as reachable and just amaze her.  Whether she’s sitting in her swing or on the couch, she is captivated by her wiggling toes.  It’s so neat watching her begin to figure out how to make her toes move.  She stares at them so intently, you can practically feel her brain working!  Don’t you just love baby feet with their pudgy little toes?

Reach Out and Touch Someone

I read that one of the best things for developing a baby’s brain at this stage is reaching for and grabbing things, so Logan spends a lot of time at the gym…the activity gym, that is!  She loves visiting her colorful friends who dangle overhead.  Over the past several weeks, Logan has gone from accidentally hitting the toys to reaching and grabbing for them with one or both hands.  Her favorite is Mr. Lion.  The two of them have had many babble conversations.

Peek-a-Boo!

I’m not sure who loves the game of Peek-a-Boo more – Logan or me.  Her big gummy smile and little laugh light up my heart each time I peek around her favorite blanket.  I wondered what I must look like when we play this game, so I found out.  I will tell you that this was a real eye opener for me – I make some crazy goofy faces!  I thought I’d share with you one of the tamer, less embarrassing images.  After all, I *do* want you to come back to read this column next Monday!  HA!

What are some of the things your baby sees or does on a daily basis?  Why not get creative and capture these things from your baby’s point of view?  What a fun, unique way to document your baby’s milestones!  Post your favorite image on Me Ra’s Facebook page – we’d love to see what you capture!

Meet me here next Monday for Logan’s latest, not-so-greatest milestone – teething!

First Year Cheers!

Jen

*Jen is teaching a May Workshop for Moms in Georgia.  Click here for more details on Jen and her workshop dates!

Jen here with another First Year post!

Warning: This is going to be one of my more serious posts.  I’ll wait while you put on your serious face and get prepared.

Let’s begin, shall we?

Ever since Jason and I have been living in Georgia, we made it our tradition to visit the zoo every Easter.  What a fun way to celebrate, don’t you think?  And how excited we were to take Logan with us for her very first trip!  It was our first big outing as a family, so I was really looking forward to documenting the day with my camera.  I had an idea to create a photo book comprised of a variety of photos of Logan, Jason and me, as well as some of the animals we saw that day.  It was going to be so adorable!

Once we were inside the zoo, we entered the first exhibit, which was an aviary filled with beautiful birds, a pond with turtles sunning themselves on rocks and a cute little waterfall.  Jason picked Logan up out of the stroller and began taking her on a tour.  The two of them looked so adorable – little wide-eyed Logan and Jason being a good daddy, pointing out the different birds.  I whipped out my camera, got my settings and started snapping away.

I quickly realized something was really off.  I couldn’t zoom out as much as my lens usually could, nor could I open my aperture as wide as I wanted to.  And then it dawned on me – I brought the wrong lens!  UGH!  How could I have done that?!  I was SO disappointed, but I kept on taking photos of Logan, Jason and the animals.

We went to a few more exhibits – the rhinos, elephants, cheetahs – and I enjoyed taking photos of Logan taking in all these new views.

Besides not being able to take as technically beautiful images due to having the wrong lens, it was also a little difficult trying to push the stroller around from exhibit to exhibit AND take photos.  We stopped to give Logan a bottle, and I mentioned again how disappointed I was that I brought the wrong lens.  I was obviously flustered.  Jason made the suggestion that I put the camera down for a little while, and he could get some shots of Logan and me with his smartphone camera at the next few exhibits.  I agreed, and we were on our way.  We went to the giraffe exhibit – one of our favorites – and took some photos around that exhibit.  And to tell you the truth, I had so much fun showing Logan around, I completely forgot about my camera.

The next exhibit was my absolute favorite: the jaguars.  Two were out and playing with their toys – the liveliest we’ve ever seen them!  This lady came up beside me and was snapping photos of them, then moved to my other side and took more.  I moved down the exhibit some so I could get a closer look, and a moment later, the same lady was right next to me again, snapping more photos.  I noticed her husband walking alongside of the exhibit, holding their young daughter’s hand, and she was just delighted with how the jaguars were playing.

We followed a group of people into a dark indoor exhibit, where we began checking out the dozens of reptiles, bats, and frogs.  Jason, Logan and I were looking at one of the terrariums in the wall, and one of the lizards began crawling out of the water.  We were pointing him out to Logan, when, all of the sudden, the same lady from the jaguar exhibit squeezed in next to me and began snapping away at the lizard with her camera.  She proceeded to follow us through the rest of the exhibit, snapping away at whatever animals she saw.  I looked around to see where her husband and daughter were and found the husband squatting down next to the daughter, both of them laughing at the pygmy monkeys and chatting away – they were having so much fun!

And then, like a thunderbolt, it hit me: that woman who was spending too much time behind her camera and not enough time with her family?  I was in danger of becoming her.

The first portion our time at the zoo, Jason got to play with Logan while I was behind the camera, trying to document it all, worrying about camera settings, trying to get the best angles, and frustrated at myself for bringing the wrong lens.  Did I have fun during that time?  No, not really.  Did I feel like I was a part of my family’s first zoo experience during that time?  Again…no, not really.  I looked at that woman’s husband and daughter and saw Jason and Logan down the line.  I also saw a choice.  Where would I rather spend my time right now and in the future – always behind the camera or with my family?  It seems silly now to even have to ask that question because it really is a no brainer – I’d much rather be with my family.  However, my actions from the first part of our zoo trip don’t correspond with that answer.

I vowed right there to not become that mom, the one who is always separate from their family, the one who doesn’t get to enjoy special moments and trips and everyday family life, simply because she feels like she has to photograph everything.  Instead, I want to be the mom who, when my daughter looks back on her life, can say was truly present.  So does this mean my camera is going away for good?  Absolutely not!  I’m a mom and a photographer – capturing my family’s story is so very important to me.  But I am going to better balance my time being behind the camera with being in front of it and being without it.

For the rest of our zoo trip, my DSLR rested comfortably in its bag.  Every once in a while, my husband or I would take out our smartphone and snap a few candids.

And you know what?  Not only was our first zoo trip as a family incredibly fun, but I actually got to enjoy every minute of it!  I will be honest – there were times that my photographer’s eye saw something that would have made a fantastic image, but I looked down at my daughter and decided those shots weren’t as important as holding her up to see her first zebra.

Did today’s post strike a chord within you?  Do you feel pressure to always have a camera in hand and feel like you are not being a good parent if you don’t?  Do you have an idea on how to balance your time between spending time with your family and photographing them?  I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below!

Meet me here next week, when I try another one of Me Ra’s photo recipes from her book, Your Baby in Pictures.  I’ll be showing you some of Logan’s million-and-one facial expressions!  Get ready to laugh!

First Year Cheers,

Jen

*Jen is teaching an April and May Workshop for Moms in Georgia.  Click here for more details on Jen and her workshop dates!

Jen here with another First Year post!

Three months?  Is she really three months old ALREADY?  Each day, I find myself having the same struggle.  Half of me wishes Logan could stay this little forever, with her soft coos, gummy smiles and her tiny fingers that wrap around my pinkie when she’s nursing.  The other half looks forward to the new discoveries she will make, which seem to happen almost daily.  Despite what I may wish, Logan is growing up faster than I ever could have imagined, and I’m enjoying documenting her growth both in my journal and with my camera.  Here’s a peek at what I’ve been capturing the last few weeks!

If It Looks Good, Eat It!

Logan has never been a fan of the pacifier, which I’m actually thankful for, since it will be one less thing to wean her from in the future!  But within the past few weeks, she began exploring putting her fingers or the side of her hand in her mouth and sucking on them for a mid-day snack.  And that seemed to open her up to the idea of tasting everything!  Her favorite things to put in her mouth are her blankets, which she loves dearly.  I was the same way when I was little!  I wonder what other similarities Logan and I will have?

Photo tip: You don’t always have to have your subject’s face in focus!  I wanted this image to capture the story of Logan putting things into her mouth, so I focused my camera on  her hand and lips.

Sit Me Up!

Two weekends ago, my husband was encouraging Logan to sit upright.  And ever since then that’s all she wants to do!  It’s rare that she wants to recline back anymore, except for when she’s nursing or really tired and prefers to relax in her swing.  But because Logan’s head and body are still a bit wobbly, I have to constantly hold her in the sit up position.  And that is not very convenient sometimes, especially when I’m working!  Have I mentioned that I am now amazing at holding a baby with one arm and typing out these blog posts or editing photos with the other?

Photo Tip:  How can you best tell the story you want to tell in your image?  I loved the idea of only photographing Logan’s bottom half while she sat upright in a chair.  You can tell she’s sitting without having to see her whole body, plus you get the added bonus of seeing details of her cute hands and feet.

When You’re Smiling, the Whole World Smiles at You

Look. At. This. Face.

Seriously.  How can you not smile at this?!  Logan has become a very smiley baby, and each and every smile makes my heart do a little back flip.  I am in love with those gums.  I adore the way she crinkles up her little nose, squints her eyes and even sticks out her tongue with some of her bigger laughs.  I know she could start teething soon, so I’m trying to get as many photos of these beautiful toothless smiles as I can.

Photo tip: Logan is such a little ham.  To accent the silliness of her facial expression, I chose to tilt the camera on my smartphone on an angle and off-center her a bit.  I think it adds a little character to this close-up shot of her face.

Say What?!

Oh, the babble conversations we have!  In the past month or so, Logan discovered the joys of making all kinds of sounds.  I love the stunned look on her face she gets after realizing she made a new sound and then tries to figure out how to make it again.  There are so many things about her babble conversations that I love.  I just laugh at how she uses her whole face to make a few sounds – those facial expressions are the cutest!  And I’m absolutely amazed that she “talks” to my husband with different sounds than she uses to talk with me!  I wonder what she’s trying to tell us?  I wonder when she’ll say her first word?  They may not make much sense now, but these babble conversations are absolutely perfect in every way!

Photo Tip: Off-centering your subject can give it added interest and importance.  While her dad is in the photo, too, Logan’s the star, so I chose to off-center her to the left to give her added importance.  (You’re still important, Jason.  No worries!)

Logan’s first year is going a little too fast for my liking, but I am so enamored by this little lady who changes and grows every day.  I am truly enjoying watching her personality develop, and I find myself falling in love with her more and more with each passing day.  I’m not quite sure what I did to deserve such a blessing, but not a day goes by that I am not incredibly thankful to have been given the honor of being her mom.

Are you a new mom like me, have kids in school or have already watched your kids grow into adults?  No matter how old they currently may be, I would love to know what fond memories of your children’s first three months this post reminds you of.  Please share your stories in the comments section!

Meet me here next week when I tell you about our annual trip to the zoo – Logan’s first! – and the lesson another mom at the zoo taught me without having to say a word.  It’s going to be a good post – one I think all moms with cameras need to read.

First Year Cheers!

Jen

*Jen is teaching an April and May Workshop for Moms in Georgia.  Click here for more details on Jen and her workshop dates!