Friday, April 15, 2011

photography q&a, pastel dipped eggs, & a special baby.

i recently wrote an article for a website about photography and how anyone can take a better picture. i thought long and hard about what i felt should be included in the article.

at first, i included some pretty good tips on composition as well at the technical side (iso, aperture, shutter speed). it all seemed basic at first, but it wasn't, and it wasn't correct. it wasn't correct because #1 you don't need to know much at all about your camera to take a good photo (unless of course, you were hired to shoot somebody's wedding:)

and #2 all the technical stuff can bring a newbie down. overwhelm them. squash their creativity. although, there IS a place to know your stuff, my article was not the place for it.

it was titled, How Anyone Can Take Better Photos, Even You!

i'm not posting the article...yet, but i will soon. it just got me to thinking that just about anyone-ANYONE can take a really good photo.

things like clarity, tack sharpness, iso, aperture,... it's enough to make a novice photog go crazy, so let's not talk about those things today.

it's really much more simple than you think if you listen to your heart and eyes and less to google and digital photography books. don't get me wrong, i went to the University of Google and i poured over amazing books by the funny man scott kelby and the great bryan peterson, tirelessly. TIRELESSLY.

however; looking back, i should have calmed down, cried less, and enjoyed it more...at the beginning.

it's a fact that i am as clueless now as i was then, but the difference is that now, i have more confidence in myself and my work...and even that comes and goes.

* before every shoot, i still become nervous and sweaty. every time, and i have come to find comfort in those feelings. if the day comes that i do not feel those emotions, it's time to step it up and challenge myself more or hang it up.

*after every few shoots, i'll call my girl kelle or my man jeff and say i blew it. "it sucked. i wasn't myself. what if i didn't get anything?!"

"heidi, of course you did. i feel the same way sometimes. i'm sure you did fine!"

99% of the time, those are my favorite shoots and i love the photos and i worried for nothing.

sometimes we are our own worst critic.

so in keeping this q&a simple, in your next photography excursion simply try do this and i promise you a better photo. i don't care if you're shooting in automatic, AV mode, or practicing in Manual.

1. try to shoot shade, bright shade (i think i made that up. it's shade, but not dark shade. you still want some light illuminating the faces of your beautiful children).

this shot is a perfect example of finding even shade but with light directly and evenly illuminating peyton's face
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2. look for pretty background colors or lines that would work well with your subjects in front of it. for example, throw a few throw pillows on the floor and open your front door and let the light shine in. get low and shoot.

try either one of these tips and if you have one that you LOVE, send it to me (dheidi@ymail.com) and i'll post it! who cares if it's sharp...i'm not afraid of a blurry or grainy photo. sometimes is makes it even more interesting. feel free to tell me what you did differently this time!

***
okay, this was one question that i received of a few regarding shooting the photos i posted from the fair

Hi!!! I just have to tell you that I love your pictures...like all of them! I am just wondering, how do you get such clear shots at night? I have some pictures from a fair we went to and everything looks blurry, including my kids :( I would love to get such clear shots!!! ~Shaye
(thank you, shaye! you are making me blush:)

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it's easy to shoot something like this because even though the sun was setting, there was enough light to capture what i wanted and without having to worry about harsh sunlight and shadows, this is why i LOVE to shoot right before sunset. it's golden and this light does not dictate where i have to shoot.

also, i can practice my backlighting shots:
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you can see that peyton is 'framed' in golden light. maybe not the best quality shot, but i still love it and i love practicing with different kinds of lighting situations.

but onto answering shaye's question.

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i think this may have been the photo. did i use flash?
No! i didn't need to. there is so much ambient light around beckham, flash would have looked unnatural and would have darkened the background which would have defeated what i was trying to capture with this photo:
beckham. at the fair. enjoying his lemon ice (best lemon ice ever btw!)

it's not perfect, but it's all i wanted it to be. a memory of being at the fair eating lemon ice at 9pm at night!

the photo on the left was taken by shooting up and hoping for the best. the skyflyer was moving which makes it harder because blurriness could have been a factor (and it was), there was a lot of light on the ride and in front of it. i just kept shooting and checking the screen on my camera to see if i got what i wanted. when i did, i stopped and we moved on to something else.
{for you technical peeps out there, my settings... shutter speed 1//160, f2.8, iso 800} i can't remember if i set my camera that way or if i set my camera to complete AUTO without flash allowing it to find it's own settings}
***
these last examples are to show you what happened when i was not standing near enough light...
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i like to practice playing with my settings, especially in low situations such as the fair, but if you want to photo and you like to shoot in auto...no problem. turn off your flash, go near some light (funnel cake sign is bright enough) and shoot. take 20 photos if you need to!

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none of these three photos are fabulous in quality, but the last one is a little clearer because the subjects (kelle and nella bean) are standing pretty still and so am i. i could have used flash, but i really don't like to and this shot is good enough for me!

sometimes the moment is all that needs to be captured and you shouldn't worry about the technicality of taking the photo!

i hope you find some of these tips helpful. these are things that i try and that i find work for me right now. you may have other ideas or systems that you use that will yield the same or better results. use them. do what works for you. i am still very much learning about my camera and work. that is what keeps me on my toes and keeps me interested.

keep shooting because the MOST important thing you can do for yourself (besides believing in yourself) is to PRACTICE!!!
xo
***

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one basket of beautiful eggs...

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some dye,

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and a couple of excited kids and you've got an easter holiday tradition!

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we colored eggs at sunset. each egg perfectly rounded and textured with ridges, indentions, and maybe a crack or two and when the dye touches it's hard shell, the real beauty pops and you find yourself admiring each egg, one by one and wondering why we don't do this more often.

we didn't stop until we had colored every egg in the house, even the ones that i had hid in the fridge to use for tomorrow's breakfast. we were having fun and the kids wanted to color everything in sight.

proud eyes and smiles as they presented daddy and i with each egg...

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and when i thought we were done, i decided to go a step further to lengthen the night's festivities by rolling the perviously colored eggs in a mixture of dark purple dye and oil. (warm water, tablespoon vinegar, red and blue food coloring, and 1 tablespoon oil-mix with a fork)

we watched as each brightly colored orb took on a marble effect and they are beautiful!

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happy easter! enjoy each other and eat good, fresh food! xoxo
***
i'm in michigan right now. away from my family for a few days but for a very good reason...my sister, elaina had a baby. he arrived a little early...four weeks, but he is healthy and happy and we are all very much in love with the little guy!

his big sister loves her baby spencer much and so do we. congratulations, mommy and daddy! more photos from our session coming later!
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Spencer Adam Luckow arrived to us on April 12th weighing 5 pounds, 13 ounces. 19 inches.
and happy to meet his baby sister, Evelyn!
lots of love!

leaving you with the song i sang to my little beckham the night he was born in the hospital. it's on loan to little spencer tonight as surely i will hold him close, breathe him in and remember my own little angels as they entered this world and captured my heart.
here comes the sun... i love you, little sister.
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star charts and chicken nuggets.

we are seeing stars in the darwish household! gold ones, silver, red, and blue!

i decided we needed a way to manage/remember in a tangible way, to reward our little grown-ups for a job well done. we got off to a rocky start, but that was my fault because i didn't know what the hell i was doing.

yes, i used to teach first grade, but i have to say that effectively managing 18 first graders seemed to be MUCH easier than managing my own two little ones.

i'm assuming that is because i have so much more invested in the development and well-being of my own two. OR maybe it's because i subconsciously know that when my six year old throws a completely inappropriate fit in the toy aisle at target, i as her mother (miracle-making-know-it-all-cape-wearing mama) is held in contempt by some, but certainly not all of the target shopping and head shaking nosy passersby.

it happens. believe me. in those moments, i either want to flip that person a friendly bird or and in most cases- want to explain that i have been traveling all over the city running errands (hate that word) dragging with me my two bored, tired, and hungry kids.

end tangent.

so, with ten stars earned within a weeks time, peyton and beckham get to choose a treat or place to go as a family.

the golden arches it is...
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this is what peyton orders every single time we visit mc donalds...
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it was fun unusual to eat greasy food, past bedtime on a school night. i'm pretty sure that is why is felt more fun than usual.

and the kids,sensing that we were doing something different, pretended they didn't know it was dark out and avoided any talk of school the next day. it always cracks me up when the kids think we don't know what's going on.

when i was younger, my sisters and i would hide behind the couch and at about half hour before bedtime thinking our parents would forget and leave us behind the couch. never happened.

i love that my two think the same thing now.
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we didn't miss even a drop of our shakes.

but before we left, i looked down at my placemat and saw a familiar face...


among 40 other CELEBRATED teacher's photos ...and my french fries, i spotted one of my oldest naples friends whom i graduated with in education 8 years ago,wylie b staring back at me. (mickey d's in a sponsor of the golden apple in collier-a foundation that observes and celebrates excellence in our teachers. they always print place mats with the photos of the teachers that should be recognized for that year.

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congrats wylie on being one of the best teachers in collier county. you deserved this honor, but more importantly, thank you for being the kind of teacher i would be proud to have teach my daughter. i love you.

***
a few sneak peeks...

{ella and ben}
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such sweet and fun kids to hang with! we ran around dancing all the while on the look out for a pirate ship that was soon to attack at any moment....
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it was...not work! i love that.

***
{adrey and charlie}
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these precious boys are growing up so quickly.

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and their bond stronger each time i see them again.

with beauties like these, it's not possible to take a bad photo!

on another note, i have had a few more photog questions. i know one had to do with shooting at night, possibly at a fair. flash or no flash?

no flash if their enough light around you. i will talk more about this in depth on the next post in a few days.
***

lots of love and happy spring!

Thursday, April 7, 2011

ignite your light.

yesterday, i was driving down a perfectly manicured road while the sun just happened to be setting. as a photographer, of course i like me some golden sun-setting light. it's sometimes called the golden hour or magical light.

and in true heidi darwish fashion, i over think just about everything and i couldn't help but see how this gold dipped light made everything seem neater, greener, uniform, more 'spring' like. it was like Tinkerbell herself waved her magic wand and glittered everything up for the benefit of meeeeeeeee and me only!

as i drove home from publix, florida's favorite grocery store, i blared my radio (katy perry's firework was on...freaking love that song) and belted out katy's song like it was my job. i felt good. real good! i know the guy in the car next to me was looking at me while i was stopped at the light but it was one of those times where i forgot to slow my singing roll before i stopped the car and i didn't want the guy next to me to know that i knew he was watching me act like the next american idol (pia, really?) so i pretended to not notice i was being stared at, so i instead just kept singing as loudly as i was but looking out the opposite window of where mr. simon cowell/nosy pants was.

i was embarrassed, but what are you going to do? nada, so i kept on truckin' or singing in my case with indignant thought rolling around my head. it's my car, my space and i'll sing like an idiot if i want to. yeah.

i went grocery shopping, so we had fresh things to eat; my house was clean for a minute and we all know that there is nothing better than walking into a tidy house after being out... with the exception my house being tidy with dinner and candles on the table (hint;)

it was unmistakable: i was feeling grateful and the sun setting at that exact moment of clarity was just a perfect metaphor for how i was feeling in that moment. i wanted to celebrate it, i wanted to dance, plant a garden, solve world hunger, call my friends, my sisters. guess what? i just bought fresh italian parsley! ...and the sky is the color of a blood orange. i wish you were here.

i started seeing things and loving them on the spot...like my mailbox.

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i was giddy and i love when i am giddy because truth be told, i'm not giddy enough. people aren't giddy enough. i know why...we are too busy and tired to be giddy. we have houses to clean, kids to love and model ourselves for,dinner to make and clean up, homework to do, emails to tend to, personal upkeep is taking longer these days, and somebody puked on the floor.

yeah, giddy comes once in a while so when you get it...grab it by the neck and take it for a fast and hard ride and don't stop until you are to tired to smile.

a few things that have made me smile lately:

*this video. i had to cut a lot out in order to upload it, but the beginning is cute too.
ever since our little girl had her bangs cut, she's turned into a little teenager with the dance moves to prove it. we don't watch mtv, so i have no idea where these moves are coming from but it made me smile and laugh hard so it made my list!
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*this coupon for the tangled movie peyton wants for easter.

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*having my house full of friends and kids. a bottle of red and dinner doesn't hurt either.

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*a manicure by beckham. styling by peyton.

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*my new and vintage table cloth. i found it at an antique shop last summer and scored it for $25. i love how it makes me feel like i'm in italy sitting around my grandma's table among all of her homemade lace doilies and table coverings.

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*unexpected rainy afternoons when the air smells like rain and worms and trees are waving wildly in response to the brewing storm.

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*when beckham asks to cook...cookies.

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recipe here.

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*wednesday mornings.
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*this boy and how he loves his nella.

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*peyton's face when she gets into gido's car for a surprise ride to school in the vette.

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*craziness that causes non-stop laughing...while on the floor.

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*a sandwich that is soooo good and easy and fast to make.

Pesto Sandwich
take good bread and swipe some pesto on both slices, add a few slices of {good quality, such as ugly tomatoes} thinly sliced tomato, and few slices of fresh mozzarella, sea salt, and pepper. put butter as you would a grilled cheese sandwich and place the sandwich in a grill pan or panini press. cook until cheese melted. sooo good and addicting.

i served mine with a tomato basil soup.
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*dinner with this bunch that i love so much.
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"beckham, wait here, i have a surprise for you!" as she gets up from the dinner table to get something out of her backpack.

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"here it is-a tomato!!!! I brought it from school for you to eat! do you like it?"

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i love it so much i'm going to blow you a kiss.

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*after dinner playing together.
trying to make a string attached to a paper heart fly like a kite. peyton made it and then beckham called it doo doo because it wouldn't...fly.
***
in not always finding the 'magical light,' in feeling buried under being a mommy, a housewife, a business owner and with all that that entails, i am happy to be uncovering it tonight while writing this blog and sharing our lives with family, friends and some people that we have never met...yet. i realize that some days can feel full of obligation and work and the mundane details that make up our day.

as women, guilt of all kinds can cast a shadow on our light. it's normal and real and it just means that we...feel as deeply as we love. we care.

we rock. and we are all in this together and i recognize how powerful that is.

somedays i am ready for the night to come quickly so that i can tuck my little ones safely into bed and begin to find myself again in what seems the first time since i opened my eyes to my little guy begging for juice at 6 am.

however, today was one of those special days where everything seemed...good. the kids argued a lot but they played in the setting sunlight like sunny and cher. my work overflowed but didn't feel overwhelming. dinner was good even though the dishes are still waiting for me patiently in the kitchen. pretty sure i'll be waking up to a sink full in the morning which kinda sucks, but on the other hand, i just bought me a new coffee cream...so with the dawn of a new day coming and the promise of a strong cup of coffee...i feel ready for tomorrow and all the little details that will need my attention!

"...ignite your light and let it shine!" because we women, are amazing creatures. each one of us in our own way.
xoxo

**i have received your recipe requests, thank you, and i am working on getting them organized and making/posting some here later on!

***uploading drama:pics are randomly small and big; photos cut off early. i fixed it for next post, but i left this post as is;)