From the Blog-O-Sphere

Haven’t done one of these in a while.

First up:

Oklahoma, we are thinking of you. May you be reunited with loved ones. There is something about being a parent now that just tears me in two when I hear about lost and injured children. Last night I couldn’t bring myself to stop looking at pictures of the on-going rescue of children at the school in Moore, Oklahoma. Stay safe. Also, this video of an elderly woman finding her lost pup is a tearjerker. [than you Colleen and Amanda].

The world according to a google-ized two year old (that really wants juice).

The US Stereotype map. Funny or in poor taste?

Thinking of going camping with small child this summer? Then this blog is for you. Lots of good tips about keeping your wee bambino warm - which is exactly the reason that had us driving down a mountain at 3am last August after we’d ditched our camping plans.

On my summer reading list: The Boys in the Boat, Daniel James Brown

Daniel James Brown’s robust book tells the story of the University of Washington’s 1936 eight-oar crew and their epic quest for an Olympic gold medal, a team that transformed the sport and grabbed the attention of millions of Americans. The sons of loggers, shipyard workers, and farmers, the boys defeated elite rivals first from eastern and British universities and finally the German crew rowing for Adolf Hitler in the Olympic games in Berlin, 1936. 

The real sounds of hearing loss. Can you tell what’s being said?

Funny pregnancy announcements.

This is a fun little tool: turn any map into a watercolor. I feel like I’ve already posted this. Sorry if it’s a duplicate.

Have you been following the big discussion in Portland about fluoride in the drinking water? I love you Portland...but come on. You guys are starting to sound like the anti-vaccine crowd. And that’s not a compliment.

We tried out a new restaurant with some friends last weekend: Cafe Munir in Loyal Heights (North Ballard). It was tasty! Sharing small plates is definitely one of my favorite ways to nosh.

Thought this was a fun little way to draw the community together: In Westchester, a chalkboard to write a dream on.

How to have happy, long-lasting relationships. [Thanks Sara]

xo,

Sonja

Tips for Photographing Toddlers

First, a few disclaimers: 

-I need to do makeup work for my parenting class and since I’m the class photographer at Ben’s co-op, the teacher suggested that I do a little tutorial on how to take pictures of toddlers. Voila. Here you have it.

-I am not a professional photographer. Amateur at best. As such, I’m struggling with the fact that I’m writing tips given that I have absolutely no credentials to lean upon. The internet is full of questionable material and I’m hesitant to add to that volume. That said, I do have a lot of experience photographing a very active child and I’ve learned a lot, through trial and error, over the past few years. My hope is that I can share what worked for me, in the hopes that other parents will find some of the information useful. 

So here we go. 

Warning: This is long.

1. Get Outside

The light is way better. And there is generally lots more of it. This allows you to have a faster shutter speed - which is essential for getting an in-focus shot of a speedy little toddler.

2. Look for solid shade or overcast weather. 

Overhead bright sunlight is a challenge for beginning photographers because it often produces harsh glare and big contrasts between light and dark. And your subject also likely has his eyes screwed closed against the light. I look for shady places where the shade is solid - none of this dappled light stuff. The contrast between the light/dark areas in dappled light often results in a blotchy photograph, particularly on faces. Overcast weather is also great and plentiful, if you're a Seattle resident.

Here are some bad lighting examples. Pay special attention to the shadows on the face. 

Here is the classic dappled shade example - not awful, but the contrast between light/dark patches on Ben’s face and on the ground behind his shoulder are distracting. Clearly he doesn’t like it either.

Again, light/dark does not make for a pretty picture. I have too much sun, Ben doesn’t have enough. You can tell that the sun is low on the horizon (in this case it’s almost dusk), which can often yield beautiful photographs - just not in this particular case. Also, this is a crappy camera phone picture. And my son is picking his nose. 

Here, all the wrong places (Chris’ face/elk’s head) are dark. Plus, the white patch of Chris’ shirt is distracting. What you should be examining is that giant elk tongue that is about to coat Chris is gallons of spit.

This is a tough shot because it’s in bright, high sun and there was literally no suitable shade within 100 miles.  In this case, probably the best you can do is suck it up and try not to squint too hard. Lightening the contrast in post production might help a bit.

Here are a few shots that are better, in terms of light:

Here the shadows are light and serve to add depth to Ben’s face, rather than cripple the photograph with contrast. This was taken on an overcast day (but not in shade).

Same with this one, except it was in light shade (but also on an overcast day). I actually like the yellow-ish cast to this one - it’s slightly softer than the one above.

Also on an overcast day, but not in shade. The colors are nice and warm.

3. Get low. Or get the kids high.

Eek. That didn’t come out the way I intended. Regardless, I’ll often drag a chair outside for Ben to stand on for photo shoots.

Baby on a box

Baby on a chair

This serves two purposes: Getting him up to my level and keeping him confined in one place. Especially helpful for active toddlers. This is great until he falls off. 

Ben - literally falling off a chair

Here is a ‘get low’ example: These women were sitting on the ground. I was squatting a few feet away to get an eye-level shot. Had I been standing (and looking down at them), it wouldn’t have been as interesting a photograph.

4. Enlist Help

Because four hands are better than one. This also allows you to concentrate on taking the pictures, rather that getting the kid to smile/look at the camera. For Ben’s two year photoshoot I asked my in-laws to help entertain the kiddo. The backdrop/banner we pinned to our back porch supports and he sat on the stoop. Bob and Cherie were in charge of smiles/laughs/etc. I positioned my father-in-law close to Ben (but out of the shot) so that he could catch Ben if the kiddo made a break for it. My Mother-in-law was next to or behind me - he’s actually looking toward her (but close enough so that he’s looking in my direction as well).

5. Not all of your photos have to be of a perfectly smiling child

Some of my favorites don’t include any face or smiles. Plus, you have to get at least one shot of a temper tantrum. Just for posterity’s sake.

Slightly fuzzy? Grainy? Overexposed? Yes, yes and yes. But I still love it. Go Bailey Dog. A photo doesn't have to be technically perfect to be a favorite.

If you must be Indoors:

1. Find the place in your house with the most natural light. 

For us, that’s a three square foot spot on the floor in front of our big french doors. We also have a good spot on our bed because there is a south and an east facing window. I try not to use my flash as it often produces hard contrasts.

Baby on a white sheet

2. Look for natural reflectors to light up the dark areas. 

Anything light-colored will do. When I photographed Ben as a baby on our bed, I’d often place a white pillow on the north side to provide a little light on that side. 

The sun is coming through the window from behind him. The white pillow bounces light back onto his face.

3. Learn how to use your light meter.

I have a non-professional mid-range 5+ year old DSLR Nikon. Not a super fancy camera by any stretch of the imagination. Many of the new cameras are really good at reading the ambient light - meaning they can tell the difference between light types (sun, florescent, incandescent, etc). If you take pictures indoors and the resulting photos have either a yellow or blue cast, it’s generally a sign that your camera needs some help reading the light. [This is totally the non-technical way of describing this, sorry kids]. I carry around this grey card set that allows me to take a reading of the available light against a known color. 

Bad light reading - note the blueish tint

Better light reading - sadly those yellow stains in the tub are true to life

Once you’ve taken your photos:

1. Make Use of Free Photo Organizing Tools

Picassa is awesome. And Free. I use iPhoto but that’s only because I have a Mac. I actually like Picassa better. I organize all my photos in the following manner: Year - Month - Day - Description. So a folder might read: 2013-01-30 Ben’s 2nd Birthday. This allows me to sort and search easily. 

3. Be Delete Happy

Chances are you’re using a digital camera. Which is great because you can take a ton of pictures of your kid. But once you get them on your computer, delete the 85% that are awful/blurry/etc. It will save room on your computer and you’ll be able to find the great pictures more easily. This is a case of ‘do as I say and not as I do’ though as I am terrible at deleting on a regular basis.

4. Learn How to Use A Photo Editing Program

I use Lightroom. Photoshop is great too. Lightroom is nice because it’s fairly user friendly and there are a ton of video tutorials on YouTube about how to navigate around the program. Try out their free 30 day trial. Also, if you’re a student, they have pretty good discounts when it comes time to purchasing. 

That said, go easy on the editing. This is another classic case of ‘be ye not like me’ - I am a sucker for saturated colors and slightly overexposed shots. Ruby red lips? Neon yellow sun? Electric green grass? Hell yes. 

But I’m trying to reign in my saturated color impulses, especially when it comes to pictures of people. Even now, as I look through this post, I think: “Yep, just a wee bit too much”. Sometimes simple is best. Learning how to make a good picture using the available light of your surroundings will make for better photos and require fewer tweaks in post-processing. And you’ll be less tempted to crank up that saturated color bar, too. 

For what it’s worth, these are the settings I typically use when photographing Ben outdoors during a little photo shoot:

On a Nikon D5000:

Aperture priority mode

White Balance: either Auto or [using the grey card] Preset Manual

Release Mode: Continuous 

Focus Area: Single Point

Meter: Spot

Flash: OFF

Lens: Nikkor 85 mm [This is an expensive lens - but you definitely don't need a fancy lens to take great photographs. A kit lens will work just fine, especially when starting out].

Ok, My Dears, I hope that was helpful! And if you have additional questions - take a photography class or consult/hire an expert [Bronwen Houck and Melinda Hurst Frye, for example!] but we have now reached the limits of my photographic knowledge so it’s time to draw this post to a close. :)

xo, 

Sonja

Miss Josie and Her Most Ardent Admirer

My Dears, 

Have I told you that Ben has a huge crush on one of his little buddies?

It’s this sweet girl:

We were in birth class with her parents back in December 2010 and we are lucky to count them as friends through the birth and babyhood of our children.

Last weekend we had a little reunion brunch and all three of the toddler boys kept inquiring as to when Little Miss Josie was going to arrive. She clearly has a retinue of groupies. 

Ben is completely and utterly smitten.

He is constantly asking: “When are we going to see Josie and her mama?!"

"Let me show you how much I love you. I’ll give you this grubby rock."

"And look deep into your eyes"

Oops. He scared her off. Too much soulful staring, Ben.

"Let’s do polar bear kisses instead."

And ring around the rosie.

Hard to go wrong with a beautiful day, the Aboretum, bridges to climb, and ducks to chase. It’s like toddler heaven. 

It was so much fun to photograph this little gal. She has a quiet, arresting gaze that just grabs the camera. The one on the right she insisted that we take especially for her daddy. 

Cute story: Right after this she looked up into the sky, spotted a plane, and said: “Oh, there’s a seven eight seven!” As a fellow daughter of a Boeing engineer (whose dad frequently does this same thing), I thought it was hilarious. This gal is a quick study.

And one of my most favorites: A sweet girl and her loving mama.

xo, 

Sonja

Mother's Day

My Dears,

I hope you had an awesome weekend. I woke up on Sunday to hot croissants and a sweet card. Then it was off to Lord Hill Regional Park for a little hike.  

It was a little buggy, which is not completely unexpected for this time of year. 

Ben is enthralled by all things creepy, crawly, slimy and sticky. We kept him walking down the trail with new exclamations: "oh Ben, look, another slug!"  And lots of beef jerky. 

The kid probably walked a mile, which is great, but it also made for a much longer hike, time-wise.

We were starving on the way home and decided that a burger and shake from Kidd Valley was definitely in order. Three guesses as to the Jernström that drank the most shake!

Then it was home for nap time (everyone) and a dinner that night with my parents. My mom brought a great dessert: chocolate fondue with skewers of strawberries and mangoes. Simple yet so delicious! Definitely adding it to my repertoire, especially for big group dinners. 

xo,

Sonja

Seattle in the Springtime

Spring in Seattle can be lovely or awful, depending on the year. As Mark Twain once remarked:

"In the Spring, I have counted 136 different kinds of weather inside of 24 hours."

This particular year?

GORGEOUS.

Benisms Vol. 837

Ben was going crazy: jumping around the room, singing at top volume, clapping, launching himself off the end of the couch.

Pure mayhem.

I asked him to pipe down just a bit as we were getting close to bedtime and a general wind-down period is always a good thing.

Magically, he complied.

He’s been in a sweet mood lately: lots of hugs, kisses, “love yous," etc.

He came over to the couch and stared intently into my eyes from about three inches away. He leans in close to my ear. “Aww” I thought, “He going to tell me how much he loves me”.

He whispers horsely : “Mama....[I] need chocolate chips”.


-scene-


xo,

Sonja

Baby Talk: Nursing Adventures

Warning Peeps: Breast Discussions Ahead. Consider yourself warned.



Well, my dears, we are done with nursing. The baby toddler is weaned.

It’s been almost two months since the kiddo ceased nursing and the first four weeks were much harder than anticipated, mostly because Ben was awfully fond of our morning ritual. He asked for ‘mama’s milk’ constantly, and even does, still, when he’s feeling particularly glum.

We nursed regularly for the first sixteen months of Ben’s life and then cut back substantially to once-a-day after that. It was our little routine: Ben would trundle into my room after rising and he’d nurse for a bit as I did my best to drag myself awake and greet the day.

I tell people that the only reason we nursed so long was due to pure laziness on my part, not because of any die hard nursing philosophy. But eventually I decided it was time to reclaim my body - Ben was also getting vocally demanding and having a kid holler across the room: "Momma’s Milk, NOW, Mommy", isn’t very endearing. At least I didn’t think so.

But it was the changing of the routine for both of us that was unexpectantly difficult. It was our morning thing and Ben had a hard time figuring out why the order of events had suddenly changed.

There are times when I miss our routine: when he’s still sleepy and cuddly and asks oh-so-sweetly for milk. And when I tuck him in at night and I can’t believe this little boy has grown into a giant toddler, when just yesterday he was a squalling infant, begging for more milk. But time marches on and we’re ready for new phases.

As for Ben, he has a new favorite food: Chocolate ice cream. Nothing can top that.

xo,

Sonja

Projects: Little Lunchbox

Ben’s sturdy lunchbox got a little makeover this week. 

We started with avocado green (which was looking pretty tired):

I sprayed the top and ends dark blue and then stuck some stickers on the front like so:

Then ends (already painted dark blue) got the fancy tape treatment (as did the handle):

Then the whole thing go sprayed with four coats of baby blue (over the top of the stickers):

Peeling off the stickers took all of two minutes and we were left with the nice dark blue letters. Here is the finished product:

It probably needs a final clear coat to prevent the letters from getting too beat up. It’s rough being a toddler’s lunch box. 

We also did the sticker treatment on the back with our phone number as both Ben and I have a tendency to misplace our possessions. 

xo, 

Sonja