You see, I’m trying to figure out what I should focus my writing on when I post to the blog or send out tips in the newsletter (so it will benefit you!). And I can only do that if I know where you’re at in your photography journey and what you’re looking to learn.

If you wouldn’t mind filling out this very short form, I’d really appreciate it. Your response is anonymous and sent privately to me.

Update: Survey is closed, but I’d still LOVE your feedback. Just use the “Contact Me” link above.

Pretty please? If only two people do… I might be a wee bit sad like my friend Liam here…

If no one fills it out… Oh goodness… I’m not sure what I will do…

So go on…click and make me smile!

Update: The workbook is here!

And because every blog post is better with a picture, here’s an image from a recent family shoot. And here…are my manual settings:
ISO – 400
shutter speed – 1/400 second
aperture – 4.0
the family – gorgeous

So, an idea for you…. Dress your little ones up in their costumes and snap a few cute pictures in this next week. Then on Halloween night you can relax and enjoy the moments rather than being a maniac with your camera. Here’s what I did. I set up a white paper backdrop inside my house near a nice big window and I took some pics of my little ones in their costumes. You could tape a big long piece of butcher paper to your wall or you could use a white sheet, or you could simply shoot your kids picture against a blank tan (or similar) wall and have it be natural with the wall, baseboard, and flooring. That photographs great. Don’t think that you don’t have a good enough set up…cause you do. And if none of that sounds doable, then shoot some pictures of them in their costumes in your backyard.  Here are a couple of pictures that I took and my manual settings. These are not my kids (I have two wiggly boys) but these are two of my girlfriend’s ones. Adorable, aren’t they?

My manual settings (for both shots…they’re the same):
ISO – 1600
aperture – 2.8
shutter speed – 1/160 second
lens – 35mm 1.4L
I had the flash pointed up at the ceiling to fill the picture a bit.

Photographing young children requires:
1. patience
2. flexibility
3. thorough and quick knowlegde of your camera functions, you can’t be stopping to process what to do next with your camera. You’ve gotta be quick…for sure.
4. sweat
5. hard work (including a squat workout cause you’re up and down constantly)

Got it? Good. Here’s one example of a large group (with little ones) that I took recently.

And my manual settings for each of these shots:
ISO – 400 (shade in the early evening)
aperture – 3.2
shutter speed – 1/800 second
laughter – a result of the little guy attempting to eat the dirt, he just thought it was so hilarious. :)

And my manual settings for this one:
ISO – 400 (shade in the early evening)
aperture – 3.5
shutter speed – 1/250 second
laughter – a result of the threat of more tickling  :)

And my manual settings for this one:
ISO – 1600 (indoor near a window)
aperture – 3.5
shutter speed – 1/125 second
laughter – her mama helped to create this laughter…that and a little eye contact

This facebook page is a place to practice, get encouraged, get critiqued, and to ask questions. Come check it out!

This week’s challenge… Challenge #4 – A specific aperture (2.5)
Post a picture that you have taken at the aperture of 2.5 and please post your manual settings as well.

Are you wondering, “How do I find my manual settings on my computer?” Well, if you are on a PC, open windows explorer, click on the picture, then you should see the settings on the bottom of the windows explorer screen. If you are on a Mac, open iphoto, under the “photo” option on your toolbar, click “show photo info” and your settings are under the exposure tab.

Now, are you wondering, “How do I post a photo on the bruises and bandaids facebook page?” Go to www.facebook.com/bruisesandbandaids then write your manual settings on the wall (where it says “write something”) and then click the photo button under “write something” and upload your photo there.

My photo for challenge #4 (a specific aperture of 2.5) and my manual settings for the shot:
ISO  – 160
aperture – 2.5
shutter speed – 1/320 second

Like the bruises and bandaids page on facebook. Check it out! And then after you check it out, don’t be shy! Try to do one of the photography challenges and then be bold enough to post your image on the facebook wall. You’ll learn more if you do… that’s for sure! :)

These two pictures below are taken at the aperture (also known as f stop) of 2.2. That means the hole in my lens is open up really wide, the hole is big. So, my depth of field behind my subject is shallow, creating a blurry background. The background is not sharply in focus. Right? So that’s a shallow depth of field. Make sense? These two pictures were taken with the same settings but a different focus point. When taking the picture on the left I focused on my little boy’s eyes. In the picture on the right I didn’t change any of my settings, but instead I focused on the donut. :)

My manual settings for this shot were:
ISO – 800 (inside the donut shop)
aperture – 2.2 (open pretty wide open for light and for a very shallow depth of field)
shutter speed – 1/250 second