Flash

It's been a while since I last blogged. Life has been busy busy with family and study. Now my 2nd last course of the cert program is done, so that I could have sometime to blog :)

 

Many photographers described themselves as lifestyle photographers who use natural lights only. I love natural lights as well. However, the courses that I've been through recently had brought me the new level of understanding flash. I wasn't a fan of using flash. An instructor said that it is because you didn't know how to use flash and he's talking about the truth. Once you know the tricks, it helps to create mood and enhance the photo.

 

Here are some examples.

 

This is one flash, off camera, that creates a more dramatic result. While keeping the exposure of the sky correct, the subjects are not under-exposed.

 

   

photo credit: Helena Chu

This one too. Kung Fu boy at Dundas Square :P

This one is my fav taken yesterday at the X'mas party with Santa Claus. It was taken at the basement with a bit of light from the sun roof. I forgot my 24-70mm f2.8 at home, so gotta use the standard18-55mm f3.5-5.6 with flash. This is basically done with pop-up flash. Got the right distance between camera and subject, got the right setting, there we go.

 

 

 

Last but not least, flash can also fill in the light on the subject that is seemless. When the subject is behind the sunlight, boom, Little Monkie #1 is a cool looking handman :)

 

Of course, when the subject is in indoor that has low light, flash would do its work too. This is simply flash set on the camera. My self-portrait... lol...

Little Monkie #3 Being Mommy's Model today

Little Monkie #3 is almost 5 months old and I'm half way through my 2nd last course to complete the certificate program in photography. Assignment is due tomorrow and I was almost out of ideas of what to do.

 

What's better when you have little ones at home? Have them to be your model at your last minute request. Today, it's missy's turn because her bros were at grannies' place for a bit of fun.

 

Having said that, I gotta set things up and be quick in pressing the shutter.

 

pic 1 "Mommy, are you ready? I'm getting bored..."

 pic 2 "smile? sure :)"

 

Just need dada to come back for the real shot. 1, 2, 3 cheers...

 

 

What's this about? Daddy and baby reading time - using flash.

 

How did it turn out?

 



An afternoon at Jack Darling Park

Back in May, I donated a photo session to Munden Park Public School for their fundraising event. This past weekend we had the shoot done at Jack Darling Park, Oakville. The 3 siblings had a long day at school and we're under direct harsh sunlight... eeks...

 

We had some fun time tho'. Let's see.

 

 

Christina and Rina were playing peekaboo with mommy on the other side.

 

Smile beauties :)

Rina is really photogenic.

 



 

Last but not least, the handsome and fast crawling little brother Andreas.

Big day for Little Monkie Boys

 

As promised the last time, the next post will be about the Monkie Boys. Here it is.

 

A few days ago, it was a big day for both of them... first day of school.

 

  

Little Monkie #1 has been waiting and waiting for the arrival of this day. Not only because he's going to be in SK and that his little bro is joining him for school, but it's also his birthday! Every other day, he would ask us "is September here yet?"... he also wanna a Ninjago cake.

Although we didn't throw him a party, however, did fill his day with Ninjagoes.

 

The night before, daddy decorated their room with streamers and banners. Also placed our present to him - the Ninjago Cole alarm clock. He actually likes Ninjago Jay better, but this sounds like a rare item and its alarm clock is way much $$$ than the others. He's fine with Cole, so let's stick with that :)

 

 

We had also prep'd him a few loot bags for his close friends at school. We slided in a couple coloring pages, apple juice and Pocky sticks... all in Ninjago theme.

 

 

Thanks to those who generously uploaded the templates onto Pinterest for free... phew... saved us a big time and $.

 

Of course, we surprised him with more Ninjas when he returned home from school. More streamers, birthday banner and Ninjago Jay balloons. Dinner was his fav food too.

 

 

As for his cake, I spent the longest time on getting ideas. Most Ninjago themed cakes are in heavy food coloring, which I don't prefer. So, let's do it myself.

 

2 minifigures - ordered from my co-worker's wife

Sponge cake - in order to save time, I bought a plain cheese cake from the bakery.

Filling and cream - got the ingredients from grocery and worked on it from scratch.

 

Finally, torched it for a bit before singing the birthday song and he's happy with his one of a kind Ninjago cake. Yay!

 

At the end of the day, daddy and mommy were exhausted from prep'g all these. It's actually lots of work. But he's happy, we're happy :)

 

Little Monkie #2 was excited too. He had placed his request while enjoying the cake... "he wanted the red Ninja, white Ninja and blue Ninja... that's it"...

 

Oh right..."that's it"... will see :P

 

PS - here's a closer look of the minifigures... it's cute... thanks Jenny!

 

Little Monkie #3 is at her 3 months

While I was patiently waiting for her arrival, the little bumper didn't allow me to tidy up the place. So I spent my time on browsing the web for inspirations on baby pictures. Now I finally have a bit more time to execute the ideas.

 

The one on the left is a pin from glowportraitsbyalli.com.

 

The one on the right is my little cutie pie.

 

As a mom of 3 and a photographer, the sweet part is I could practice different ideas with my kids and improve. And that I could do a quick 5 to 10 min session when I feel like it :)

 

Below is what I did for Little Monkie #3 today for her turning 3 months.

 

The pink backdrop is a DIY fringe blanket that I made myself, also prior to her arrival. People normally place it on a basket, which is something I would try the next time, along with the hats that I ordered for newborn shots. Here's a closer look of the blanket.

 

The next project is to weave a X'mas blanket using yarns.

My Little Monkie #3 (aka Cutie Pie)

My Little Monkie #3 is almost 3 months and I have yet to blog about her. This little one has been behaving so far, altho' we are still in the 3 hr routine. The other 2 monkies love her so much - talk to her, play with her, calm her down and needless to say, they kiss her all the time. And she smiles and laughs all the time.

 

Look at her... full of different expressions...

 

Many of our friends said that the little one and I look alike. What do you think?

 

Summer vacation is coming to an end... while the boys are back to school, mommy is getting ready for another course to start. She's also glad that 2 mini-sessions are upcoming. Getting busy and stay tuned for more posts in the Fall. Feel free to drop me a note if you'd like (or you know anyone) to book a session. 

Nom nom nom

I usually get some treats for my monkies when picking them up from the camp. 2 weeks ago, I decided to try out the cupcakes place that I often pass by - Dolled Up Cakecakes at Meadowvale Town Centre. I got 6 mini-ones... rainbow, vanilla, chocolate, key lime, cookies & cream and banana. They all tasted good and my fav was the key lime. My monkies loved the rainbow 'coz all 7 colors were layered nicely instead of getting mixed together. Since then, I always wanna go back for more. Of course, my belly asks me to better behave :P

 

Daddy monkey has reached his 1 year milestone at his current job this week, and he's pretty excited about it. So I've decided to celebrate it with a couple of cupcakes. Hee... got a good excuse. Today, I got the toasted coconut and raspberry bliss... nom nom nom... Most of the cupcakes out there got really sugary icing, but this place doesn't. I would say this place is better than the famous one located at FCP downtown.

 

Before they went into our tummy, I did a few fun shots of the cupcakes. Still remember from my Small Product course that cupcakes and donuts are the two difficult items to shoot - swirls, holes, cuppies, etc. They all create shadows and it's not easy to get rid of them.

 

Below are my shots in 2 different styles. What do you think?