Gimme an R...Gimme an O...Gimme a T....

Gimme a T...Gimme an E...Gimme an N....

What does that spell???  

Well, we all know what it spells, it spells "my kids"!

I don't know if it's packing to move or my son's 1st bday coming up, or Christmas shopping that's really opened my eyes to the level of spoiled in my house, but I do know that it has become abundantly clear.

The more we pack for moving, the more I realize how incredibly much stuff they have!  We are packing in 24"x24"x18" boxes.  I'm not even kidding when I say that they EACH have an entire box OF THEIR OWN that is filled with nothing but notebooks, journals, stencils, stationary sets, pens, pencils, gel pens, and stickers...PLUS there is an entire additional box with "group" pens/pencils/crayons/markers/etc in it.  OH and they each still have an entire shelf in the broom closet (which houses nothing resembling a broom at all) that is full of writing and drawing stuff that they did not want to box up yet.  No wonder I don't have much room to store food in my kitchen, I lost my pantry to their drawing and writing stuff...and don't even ask me about actual art stuff, my 12x10 mudroom is 1/3 shelves with art stuff on it that belongs to them.  

Cake Monster

I'm not even kidding, my son is getting 4 count it FOUR cakes for his birthday!
How does that even happen?!?

Photo Spot Lesson: Do it yourself studio

Lesson #8 from The Photo Spot:  Do it yourself studio

Setting up a studio the professional way can break the bank.  Is it really necessary?  If you're going to open a business and do studio work, hell yes.  But if you're a mom who wants kick ass photos of her kids, hell no.

So what do you need to set up space for yourself to shoot "Studio Quality" images?

It's easy peasy lemon squeezy!

Yes,  you CAN watch eBay, watch the sales, pick up a backdrop stand and lights and umbrellas and backdrops and seamless paper and props etc or you can choose to do it in a way that doesn't break the bank, at least until you know what type of equipment you want.  There are so many choices with hot lights and strobes and slaves etc etc etc that my suggestion is, find a studio photog to learn the ropes from first (or spend some time with a sales rep at a photo supply co that knows their shit and can show you how things work) so you know what you want before you spend a small fortune.

So what do you do in the mean time if you want to get great studio shots?  Here's my guidelines for a home based pseudo-studio:

For starters, you need a few things for a studio set up:
1.  Space
2.  Backgrounds of some sort
3.  Ideally-decent flooring (this is not necessary depending on how you crop your images)
4.  Lighting

I hear hearts dropping already.  It's not as hard as it sounds!  Lets take it one thing at a time.

1. You need SPACE.  That doesn't mean you have to set an entire room aside for shooting!  Obviously WHAT you hope to shoot will dictate how large the space needs to be, but lets assume that most moms starting out who have fairly standard camera are shooting with a 28-55mm kit lens; you can be as close to your subject as 3' and when photographing kids and babies you don't need anymore space than 4' wide. 

Try to choose a space close to a window (preferably southern exposure)-that helps with your lighting issue which we will touch on in a bit.  When I am not photographing at my studio, I have a corner area set up in my son's nursery that I use.  I reserve this space for my close friends who don't feel like driving to my studio or for pics of my own children because it's not a good place to bring paying clients to but the images are just as good as images from my studio location.

This is the corner of my son's room that I use most often.  There is a large window with southern exposure and a wall that has a great paint job which can be used as a background sometimes.  The floor isn't ideal.

2.  Backgrounds sound very intimidating.  There are muslins, papers, velvets, and more.  Prices range from $30 for seamless papers to hundreds for specialty backdrops.  OOOOOOOOOOOR...you can hit your local fabric store and pick up yards of different types and textures of fabrics and do it yourself!

Every one of the backdrops pictured above is a fabric purchased at Joann's.

When purchasing fabrics for backdrops think of things that will not be too distracting.  The above blue anti-pill fleece was an excellent purchase.  It was been used and washed more times than I can count and only cost me $8 for 3 yards when it was on sale...BUT because it has a busy pattern, it has to be used carefully in images with no other distracting elements.   Two of my favorite photos using that background are these:

The possibilities with fabrics are endless.  Velvet is much cheaper at a fabric store, you have faux furs...faux leathers.  I HIGHLY recommend those photographing children and babies look into the fleece fabrics, they're durable, washable, cheap, and come in TONS of colors and patterns.  

If this isn't in your budget, pick up a can of paint and a roller and make your wall whatever color you wish it to be.  If you have photoshop, I would recommend sticking with white...there are tons of programs out there now that allow you to digitally add a backdrop in, white and 'green screen' backgrounds in images make this easiest.  I myself am just starting to play around with these programs, so I will reserve recommendations on those for a later time.

You can even get creative and pick up other items to use as backdrops.  One of my favorites is a grass beach mat that I picked up for $0.50 (that's right FIFTY CENTS) on clearance at the dollar store!

Still out of your budget?  Dig through your house...even something as simple as a beach towel can be all you need for a cute photo background!

Ok I have my backdrops, now what?  There are 2 easy ways to use them: 

1.  Screw a 2x4 board into your wall (a single screw at each end will suffice and it's easy to spackle the holes in later).  Then A, use these:

to fasten your backdrop up for each shoot ... or B, buy 2 curved hooks like this:

and some shower curtain hooks:

  

and clip your backdrops to the shower curtain hooks, and toss the hooks over the wall hooks and VOILA!

So you have space set aside and some 'backdrops' purchased...now what?

3.  Flooring.  If you don't plan to drape your backdrop or crop the floor out as seen in the above images, then you need to take into account your floor.  The easiest fix for ugly flooring or flooring not becoming of photos is this:  go to Lowes/Home Depot/Menards...pick up ONE box of laminate wood flooring in a neutral color.  Sometimes you can even buy individual boards instead of a whole box.  A box of the cheap Tarkett brand stuff will run you about $18.  It snaps together and is beautiful not only as a floor for full length images but also as a backdrop for images if you want to get creative:

Space...check!  Backgrounds...check!  Floor &/or backgrounds that drape...check!  Last but most important of all, lighting!  *GASP!*  It's not as scary as it sounds!  "But there are slaves and hot lights and..."
And, and, and...forget about ALL of that!  Yeah, having studio lighting will allow you to manipulate shadows and high lights and throw extra light on backgrounds...you can use colored lights...but wait!  You can do all that (not to the same extent but somewhat) without lights.  Get this...not a single one of the above images was shot with ANY studio lights, flashes, or strobes.  They're all shot in a natural light setting.
What is a natural light studio setting?  It's exactly what it sounds like!

A natural light studio (which is all the rage right now:  with clients because the images are beautiful and with photogs because its CHEAP overhead!) is essentially a photo studio that utilizes NO artificial lighting.  Some photogs use a combination of natural and artificial, but to be a true "Natural light studio" there must be no lights other than that of our one and only sunshine.

So how does this work?  Simple.  Remember that southern exposure window I talked about?  Depending on the time of day, you will either get bright direct sunlight:

or soft bounced light (the direct light will be hitting the other side of the room from the wall you shoot on, or higher up in the room than your photo area):

How do you get some light on the side of the face that the window isn't on (or on the background for added punch)?  Reflectors, baby!
I have this one:

Which will run you between $50 and $80 depending on where you get it...but you don't even need that!  Ever heard of white poster board?  It's totally reflective and works GREAT!  This photo, was shot with plain white 10 cent poster board as a reflector::

How did I do it?  The sun was coming in a window that was on the wall behind him and off to the left a little bit.  It was shining off to the left.  I took the poster board, stuck it in the direct light, and put it at approximately a 45 degree angle to his face, moved it around a little until it was perfect, and shot!

Skeptical if any or all of this really works?  Every single photo in this post with the exception of the color image on the blue background and the last image above, were shot in my son's bedroom, using Joann fabric or dollar store backgrounds, natural light, and most likely a hammer and nail directly into the wall type of fastener for my backdrops.  The shot of the baby on the blue backdrop in color, was photographed at my studio location but not actually IN the studio, it was in a sitting room upstairs and was shot with indirect natural light and no reflector.  The last image above was in my kitchen (as you can see, we were eating carrots at the time).

It REALLY IS as simple as all this.  Some of these images have been edited in Photoshop because I believe that most images require a little tweak here and there, some of them have not.  Keep posted for tutorials on tweaking your images in Photoshop to get the most out of them!  As always if you have questions or comments, please feel free to post on here or email me at notsodomestic at yahoo.com

Mom's not ready!!!

Well, ladies & gents...it happened.
My sweet baby boy...who turns 1 year old a week from today...walked last night!!!  EEEEEEEEEEK!!!!

I'm not sure if I should 'squeeeeeeee' with joy or throw up at the idea of him getting so big so fast and uhmm...inevitably getting into EVERYTHING!  I have my father to blame, who babysat him yesterday and spent the entire time he was here trying to con and coax my little man into walking to him.  There's no one else in the world that I would rather have had teach him that...and the way his 1st steps last night went down was so perfect!  In the middle of Sons of Anarchy while my husband and I were sitting together, Moose stood himself up on the corner of the chair, put his arms out, and walked to me a whole 5 steps!  My husband's face was PRICELESS (as I'm sure mine was too).

Planning a 1 year old's bday party seemed like such a breeze at first but now the mom in me has taken over and I'm obsessed with it being perfect.  Yes.  Obsessed.  Crazy psychotic out of my gourd ... ok not really

but I do want it to be cool.  I know he won't remember and I'm not one of those moms spending $300 on a party, but the photog in me wants awesome memories for both him and myself.

So I spent an hour this morning working on a project, the idea for which I got from a photo blog I follow...and I have 3 other little projects planned.  I ordered Harley Davidson and Gravedigger (monster truck) plates and napkins and a really cool centerpiece for the table...one of my mothers in law is picking up a perfect cake...and I'm now debating getting him a new shirt for the occasion.  Get this...I've even planned out MY outfit!  Yeah.  It's like that!

So as I obsess over the silly little details of snacks that he will like and snacks that we will like...plates and napkins and decor that screams "I'm the only little boy of 4 kids!" and trying to work around our already done Christmas decor (some of which might have to come down for the party)...I took a few minutes to check out some bday party ideas online and...OH EM GEE!

While the idea is cool, there will be none of this:

or this:

or this:

(although, that center one is SO COOL!!!)

Unless you make $500,000/year I just can't fathom putting yourself in the poor house over a party.  A party.   A FREAKIN PARTY!!  It's not even something you can keep!  You can't hold it or touch it, you live it and like a wedding, it's a blur when you look back.  Yeah yeah, photos photos...if anyone knows that it's me, but even photos only go so far to jog the memory and stir emotion.

I belong to a bunch of mom websites and I just don't understand these insanely extravagant bday parties for kids who are too young to remember them.  I love my son more than words can describe but really...he's 1.  He's not going to have a memory of this day, only I will...and the photographs I take will show him how much fun he had and how much he was surrounded by loved ones on his special day.  That's enough for me.  No pony rides, no "Kid's DJ" as I saw one mom mention, no purchase of 1000 balloons.  

Oh yeah.  I said Kid's DJ!  Just how one becomes a Kid's DJ, is beyond me.  Perhaps its a normal DJ that one day just gets tired of paying Boot Scootin Boogie and that "left foot stomp, right foot stomp" song that I would have fired my wedding DJ for playing, had I not had a live band.

A poll on cafemom.com shows the average amount spent on a kid's bday party:

Poll Results

Question: How much did you spend on your child's birthday party?

$0-$50

3%

$51-$100

23%

$101-$200

23%

$201-$300

25%

$301-$400

8%

$401-$500

3%

More than $500

11%

Shut the front door!!!  Are you broads out of your fucking minds?!?  $300 is a car payment!  $500 is more than half of a mortgage payment!!!  Do you hear me, MORTGAGE PAYMENT!!  

Let me break this down for you in case you got hit with the 'poor money management' train:

Plates/Napkins with a cool design ~ $45 INCLUDING SHIPPING!

 <~~ those are the ones I got!

Banners/signs/hanging things (non-balloon items..why?  cuz balloons are a choking hazard!  mom up, people!  kidding...I just don't like balloons) ~ $10

Yard signs/front door signs/etc  ~ $20 (check this link on vistaprint.com lawn signs for under $9-CUSTOM!)

Appetizers (you should average 1 appetizer per every 6 people attending according to Jamie Borodoshuk of jamiestable.com so figure on at least 5 appetizers)  I figure this cost as homemade appetizers not store bought because #1 they're tastier, #2 I don't do store bought shit for my parties because it's how I was raised, #3 it's cheaper 99% of the time ~ $40

Cake ~ $40 if its BIG and custom designed from a bakery not just Jewel (no, I'm not baking the cake for the party...but I am for his actual bday)

Uhmmmmmmmm yeah that's really all you need!  Oh ok, I bought custom postcard invitations, also from vistaprint.com...50 of them cost me $17 including shipping.

Front:

Back:

TOTAL:  under $170.00!!!!

He's one so it's safe to say his "friends" won't be disappointed if they don't get treat bags but assuming I had invited say 15 kids his age and made little bags for them, add $12 for dollar store stuff and little bags.  Plus its a 1st bday-not a big drinking party...I hope!  Even if I bought  couple cases of beer or bottles of wine for adults attending, still under $200 and if I had made the cake, the cost would have gone down to only around $15 so that and no bags would have put me back at $130.

I can see how it could be easy to get carried away and spend a ton but have some self control people.  "He'll only be one once!"  No shit?  I had no idea.  If I was a kid, I would rather have a modest bday party and more presents, but hey...that's just me.  

The 11% of moms who say they spend over $500 blow my mind.  Unless you're hiring everything done, I just don't get it.  To me half the fun of this whole event is doing this stuff for him!  I want him to look back at the pics and be like "Wow, Mom!  That hanging decoration you made with my picture on it is so cool!  I can't believe you made that yourself!  The whole place was decorated so awesomely!"  (Shut up! Awesomely is a word!!  Well...it could be!)  I see very little joy in someday hearing him say "Gee, Mom you sure can order shit off the internet and tell people where to hang things!"

If I hit the lotto, had hundreds of millions of dollars to spend on anything I wanted...I still cant fathom spending more than $200 on a bday party...gifts not included.  Say whatever you want about it, lord knows I always do...all the excitement in the world about my baby boy talking, walking, and turning 1 can't make me dump a small fortune on a single party.

We do not remember days; we remember moments.  ~Cesare Pavese

All it takes is a moment to keep a memory alive.  My moments are brought to you by my not-quite-empty-wallet.

Pics of the big party day to come next week!  

Spreading the Humbug!

Spreading the Cheer

It doesn't take having much to be more fortunate that others; especially with the economy the way it is.

Even those I know who are struggling are better off than many others.  So with the Christmas season rapidly approaching, I challenge each one of you to do something to help someone less fortunate.  

I know, I know!  Everyone wants someone to do something to help someone!  Well, it's the season of giving (which I personally think is a crock-o-crap...we should help others all year round...but I will give in it).  Actually stop and think for a minute about how Christmas morning would be at your house if you had no tree, if you had only one small gift for each person...or no gifts at all except hand made cards because there was NO MONEY to do anything.  What would Christmas dinner for your family feel like if it consisted of Top Ramen, a loaf of bread, and hamburger helper instead of a goose or turkey or ham with all the fixin's?

It's easy to read this and think to yourself "It would be ok as long as I have my family with me" if you've never been in the position to wonder whether or not there would be presents under your tree for your kids, how to explain to them why Santa didn't come, etc.

To say my kids want for nothing, is a pretty accurate statement.  This was Christmas at our house last year.  Yeah.  That was all for them...spoiled little shizzles that they are.  But thanks to some generosity and the Christmas spirit, there was a very needy family out there that got even more than this under their tree.

I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth.  Those of you who read this who remember me from back in the day...well most of you were too!  We had full  length rabbit fur coats when we were kids, went on shopping sprees, vacations at least twice a year, we had everything we wanted and then some.  But material objects are easy to have ripped out from under you, and there was a time when my family didn't know if we would have a home to live in, much less have much of a Christmas.  So, to me, helping those who are in that same position is something that doesn't just feel good, it feels amazing.

Each year we go to the leaders of our church and ask them to hook us up with a family in need (ok, fine...my mom does the leg work).  We adopt them, if you will...for Christmas.  Last year we had a family in such need that the father, who worked construction...had not owned a winter coat in years!!  Can you imagine working outside in Chicagoland in the winter just layered with sweatshirts??!!  HELL NO!  I can not even tell you how much stuff we collected for this family!  The husband actually had not one but FOUR Carhartt coats!  We had so much stuff for them between all of the things we got them, and the things our friends donated to them, that we had 2 HUGE 36x36x48" boxes filled to the brim and overflowing to deliver to them!  There are very few things that warm your heart like the joyful tear filled eyes of someone who is truly touched by the generosity of others.

When talking to a friend the other day, I was disheartened by her statement 'I want to help another family but I just can't.'  I wanted to smack her and say "WHY NOT!?"  My family is by no means loaded...but we find a little something this time of year to pass on to someone who needs it.

Do you know a family that doesn't have a tree?  Lowes has 6-7 ft Scotch Pines for $17!!  SEVENTEEN DOLLARS!  If that's too rich for your blood then get another person to go in with you for it!  For $9 each and a half hour of your time (maybe a few scratches on the roof of your car but seriously who's going to notice) you can make someone's house warm with the scents and sights of a tree!

Know someone who can't afford gifts for their kids this year?  Hit Goodwill!  For $20 you can pick up a couple things for each kid and a roll of wrapping paper.  Try a new method of ding-dong-ditching...when the family is home...leave the presents on the front step and ring and run.  If that doesn't inspire belief in Santa, I don't know what will.

Pick up a few bags of discount dog food or cat food and drop them off at your local shelter.

Go through your pantry and take out food you have been saving but never used and see if your church knows a family in need that could use the food!  Box it up and wrap it in paper.  The gift of a meal is a heart warming thing.

Ask your church or community leader if there is a family in need and get your friends all together to help collect items for the family.  You can even use a web group like Freecycle.org to accumulate items to gift if you need to.  There are ways to help those in need even if you don't have cash to throw around!

Know a family in which the parents work multiple jobs and are rarely home?  Make some meals to take to them.  I can hook you up with super yummy and cheap recipes that you can freeze.  Seriously, email me.

There is no excuse to not help others!

Sadly there is no shortage of families in  need.  This year we have another sweet family from our church.  You wouldn't know by meeting them that they're hard up.  There's never a complaint from them about money or possessions.
If you want to join in to make a Christmas to remember for the family we have adopted, here is how you can help:

Our family this year is a single mom and her four kids. According to our source they are “deeply in need.”  The mom is divorced; she receives no support from her ex.

 B. (19 yrs old) She is in college and would love Jimmy Johns (or other fast food) gift cards

M. (16 yr old boy) is in military school graduating in December would like Visa Gift Card, Best Buy gift cards 

G. (7 yr old boy)  Loves spy stuff, Legos, & Kung Zhu Battle Hampsters

C. (8 yr old boy)  Also loves spy stuff, Legos, and Tech Deck stuff 

Mom W.  Needs pots & pans badly.  She would also love to have a set of red dishes & cups.  She really could use new bath towels and wash cloths (Dark Brown)  and her wardrobe could use some new items...she would like to shop at Fashion Bug.  They also need clothes for the kids and grocery money.  They shop at Meijer, Walmart & Jewel when they can.

This is not a ploy to get stuff out of you guys but if any of you wish to donate toys or gift cards to our adopted family or donate $ which will be used to purchase the above items, please contact me at "notsodomestic at yahoo dot com"  (notsodomestic@yahoo.com)

I encourage you all to find someone to help this holiday season; be it the family we've adopted, your local shelter (animal or human), or a family in need in your area.  A little holiday spirit goes a long way!  May your hearts be lit with the joy that come with knowing that somewhere you have made a difference :)

All Aboard the Stabbity Train

I hate to break it to y'all but uhm...

YIKES!!!!!

So today I broke my cardinal rule and went Black Friday shopping.  The store was misleadingly calm and once loaded to the point of having to say excuse me more times than I can count to get past people and after a few mishaps of things falling off my stack so tall I couldn't see past it...I stood in the check out line for TWENTY MINUTES!!!  Black Friday-you suck.  Never again!  I'll pay extra to maintain my sanity!

After my shopping trip, I hit the attic to dig out some holiday cheer to decorate with, which is where I found it...a stabbity unlike any other stabbity I have ever seen.
What is a Stabbity?

According to everyone's favorite dictionary (www.urbandictionary.com)

Stabbity Doll: (n) Creepy-ass antique doll that looks like it will come to life and kill you while you’re sleeping. If this thing is in the guest room where you’re supposed to sleep, you will *not* be able to fall asleep because you’re listening for the tappity tappity of tiny little shoes. Has those creepy eyes that open and shut; one of the eyes is inevitably wonky so it looks like it’s winking at you as if to say, “night-night!” Variation: Stabbity Nana Doll; same thing but with human hair from your dead Nana. Bonus points if said doll has actual human teeth as well.

That stabbity doll I saw on stark. raving. mad. mommy. is the creepiest thing I have seen in the whole history of ever.

If you read stark.raving.mad.mommy you know all about Stabbity dolls and how awesomely creepy they are. Mom in a million recently jumped on the stabbity train with a Stabbity Elf found here:  http://www.mom-in-a-million.com/2010/11/santas-little-covert-agent/ and in the spirit of the holidays I am jumping on board myself.
I present to you my very 1st stabbity...The Stabbity Reindeer:

Once upon a time this was a very cute reindeer candle similar to this...but with stabbity eyes...

...but each year it has warped further and further out of shape in my attic.  Now it's deformed and contorted body and what is left of it's ears only add to my belief that the reindeer pulling santa's sleigh are more wild and unruly than anyone ever let on.

So while the hillbillies down the street get their unique decorations set up:

...I am weighing the options:
*Toss the Stabbity Reindeer to the depths of the local dump and let one more piece of Christmas past fade to memory
*or keep the it, and find some twisted way to display this creepy little guy

Back to decorating and making sure no one has found the present stash!