Babyhood Captured! Part II

Your baby is already halfway through his/her 1st year, and he/she is already turning your life upside down. Yet, they are the best gift of life ever. Anyway, here is my second half for the rest of your baby’s 1st year milestones.

7th – 8th month

She is now going everywhere. Yes, she’s already begun to crawl. At this stage you will have to be more alert with your baby as they tend to put almost everything they found all along the “trip” into their mouths! But that’s how we could get great pictures too, just put their favorite toys in front of you and starts calling your baby’s name, and when they starts to crawl towards you, starts clicking away. Do remember though, you have to be at the same eye level with your baby in doing so.

9th – 10th month

At this stage your baby can already recognize familiar faces, so it is advisable for you to have those familiar faces around while you’re taking pictures so that your baby can be in a perfect, relaxed environment. And these are the times when your baby is already starting to get up and cruise all along the sofa. One great way to capture these moments is to have your loved ones holding your baby while putting her feet on their own, and let them both starts pretending to walk together. Take a picture or your baby “cruising” along and one thing for sure; this will be a great way to remember that bonding moments too!

11th month

They can now walk on their own (roughly measured, not all babies can start walking at this stage; namely me). This would be a perfect time to take your little one to her 1st outing at the park. You could take a picture of her starting to walk in her 1st trainers towards mommy or daddy, or you could even take a picture of grandma and granddad holding her at both sides while walking along the path. Just don’t forget to let her rough and tumble around a bit, it will be cute additions for her scrapbook album later on.

12th month

She has already reached every single milestone! And now it’s time to blow the candles. At this age they may not understand yet what it meant to party but you could take great picture nevertheless of the birthday princess/prince. Just let them sit on a high chair in front of the birthday cake, and take a close up shot of your baby with the cake as foreground. And then when all that is done, another important shot is of your baby with all the birthday gifts. What you can do is put her/him right in the middle of the gifts and snap away! Don’t forget the party hats! They will look great in the pictures.

* Applicable for all stages, do remember to make sure the background isn’t cluttered and don’t be afraid to take pictures from many different angles, and let your baby occupies almost ¾ of the frame. And yes, babies look better in sweet pastel colors.)

I hope these tips would come in handy, though the list may not be quite complete as it has been quite a while for me but I hope you guys do have fun while doing this little project ya. Next on the list would be my take on what do you do with all these pictures…? Stay tuned!

Regards,
KC aka Aiza Azril
LittleBigShots Photography

Practise makes perfect by Zubye

Sehingga ke hari ini saya tidak pernah berpuas hati dengan gambar yang saya ambil. Selalunya selepas setiap kali gambar dihasilkan.. saya akan melihat, menilai dan mencari di mana kekurangannya.. walaupun kadang-kadang di mata orang lain gambar itu kata mereka sudah cukup perfect.. tetapi tidak pada saya.. Ya, memang saya gembira bila gambar itu cantik.. tapi secantik mana pun gambar itu mesti ada kekurangannya.. itu pada saya.. dek kerana sentiasa sahaja mencari kelemahan pada gambar-gambar yang saya ambil, ini menjadikan saya seorang yang sentiasa ingin improve dalam setiap apa yang saya lakukan.

Tidak pernah ada istilah bosan dan putus asa dalam diri saya. Ini membuatkan saya sentiasa peka dan bersedia untuk membuat sesuatu yang baru yang mungkin lain dari yang lain. Di rumah, saya prektis. Saya membaca jikalau ada masa. Saya melakukan research di internet. Saya prektis dengan mempelbagaikan setting-setting di kamera dan apply mengikut keadaan yang berbeza-beza. Saya try and error. Saya melihat gambar-gambar fotografer-fotografer tersohor yang menjadi idola dan inspirasi saya, tidak kira luar atau dalam negara. Saya teladani sikap mereka. Dan saya semat dalam hati, saya ingin berjaya seperti mereka. Begitu cara saya memperbaiki kelemahan diri saya dan improve dari masa ke semasa.

Ambil gambar perlukan kesabaran. Jika hari ini gambar kita tak jadi seperti yang kita impikan, cuba lagi. Buka hati dan minda kita untuk dikritik. Jadikan kritikan itu sebagai satu tangga untuk kita buat yang lebih baik lagi pada masa akan datang. Saya suka hasil kerja saya dikritik. Setiap orang ada mata yang berbeza dalam menilai seni, kecantikan dan kesempurnaan pada sesuatu gambar. Saya suka mengumpulkan kritikan-kritikan ini dari mata-mata yang berbeza-beza kerana ini dapat mambantu saya secara keseluruhannya.. misal kata si A kata gambar itu gelap, si B pula kata gambar tu anglenya tak cantik, si C pula kata gambar tu expression kosong. Jadi saya menjadikan kritikan si A, B dan C itu sebagai satu kata semangat untuk saya dan saya kumpulkan kritikan-kritikan itu semua untuk saya jadikan peringatan dan membaiki kesilapan saya. Supaya di masa akan datang saya tidak akan ulangi kesilapan-kesilapan yang sama.Kadang-kadang tiada pula orang yang mengkritik, jadi saya dengan sendiri berusaha untuk bertanya kepada orang lain tidak kira dari pro, viewer, kawan mahupun clients apa pendapat mereka tentang gambar yang saya ambil.

Begitu juga dengan apa yang disediakan di Photomama ni. Platform sudah di beri. Bermacam ilmu terkandung, samada di tutorial mahupun kritikan-kritikan yang diberikan oleh experts, semuanya terkandung berbagai-bagai ilmu di sini. Terpulang pada kita semua bagaimana kita ingin merebut peluang dengan ilmu yang dicurahkan.. Kita punya kuasa memilih samada ingin duduk diam dan membaca sahaja, menonton gambar-gambar yang diberikan oleh ahli-ahli forum, bercakap tapi tidak melakukan apa-apa, ataupun kita memilih untuk MENIMBA ILMU, PREKTIS SELALU, BERTANYA APA YANG TIDAK TAHU. Semuanya sudah tersedia di sini. Tepulang kepada kita untuk memanfaatkannya Cuma, kita kena pegang kepada satu perkara, kejayaan tidak akan datang bergolek. Kita kena ada usaha. Begitu juga gambar. Kita mahu gambar yang cantik. Tapi kita tak akan berjaya kalau kita tak ada usaha untuk melatih skill kita, pemikiran kita. Jadi, Berlatih! Prektis! Usaha lah selagi kita terdaya dan mampu

Ok, sekarang masa untuk gambar hiasan

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Earth Day Little Project

I was scanning through my mail box last week and one email caught my eyes.  It was from babycenter.com.   I almost forgot Earth Day was nearing until I got an email from them!  So I started to google and browse through some pages trying to get some ideas on how to celebrate Earth Day with my daughter.

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Now that she is already a preschooler I thought celebrating Earth Day would be a good start to introduce a little thing or two about our Earth to her.  And letting the little one to grow a small plant was just perfect for the idea!  Another thought came into my mind.  Why not treasure her first experience getting to know the green life by taking pictures of just that?

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My girl loved the whole idea! She was really excited when we brought her to the nursery.  My daughter who’s turning three this year practically chose her pot and plant for our little project.  I could tell she was enjoying every moment of it.  Back at home she couldn’t wait to start the project.

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And that was when the real fun began.  As much as she was eager to grow her own plant there was hesitation at first when it came to getting her hand dirty with the soil.  But it won’t take long for my little girl not to bother about it and started to focus on her ‘little work.’

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I know probably many of us do not get to celebrate earth Day today but the weekend is coming, and it is never too late to celebrate Earth Day with your children.  There are many activities that you can do together especially for bigger kids.  Here are some of the sites that you can check out for some Earth Day projects:
http://www.ehow.com/how_2249974_earth-day-unit-study.html
http://halifax.savvysource.com/cityguide/ca_10214_0_0_celebrating-earth-day-with-your-children

Your kids will definitely love the idea!  And don’t forget to make sure your camera is beside you to capture the moments.   Here’s another hint.  Why not we keep those pictures and turn them into a book?  It will be their special “Earth Day” book because there is them in every page of the book and learning about nature will be more fun when they are in the picture.

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Happy Earth Day!

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Earth Day is celebrated on April, 22nd every year.

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Warmest Thoughts,

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Milin Kassim.
capturedbymilin.blogspot.com

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Babyhood Captured! Part I

It has been haywire these few weeks. Yesterday was no exception. Just when I thought it could get worse, suddenly an old DoubleA box fell down on top of everything else. Inside I found one whole stacks of old pictures of my two young ones. Being a mom was the best thing I could ever ask for, and looking back at those pictures brings back flashes of memories and I could barely hold back flood of tears. Yes, the wonder of babyhood that sometimes could left you bewildered and yet wiser. And these are the times when it calls for a photographer mommy, the term which i lived by constantly. I believe almost every mom could be a great photographer of their babies, as they know their babies well enough that they sometimes could already decipher their baby’s cries! To help you along the way, I’d love to share some tips to get those near perfect snapshots (though in some stages you may need daddy’s help too):-

1st month

This is the best time to do a portrait study of your baby. Just propped your baby in a sweet pastel color blanket and start taking pictures of her cute button nose, those tiny ears or you could even take a picture of your fingers holding hers, that would look so great in the picture which shows how little and fragile your baby was at that time.

2nd month

Your little one is starting to show her personality, and at this time you may even get to glimpse her 1st smile! So it’d be perfect timing to capture pictures of you and your tiny little ones as you’d also be feeling way better now since the delivery. Just lie down beside your baby on a bed with nice crisp white sheets on, and starts playing with your baby while your hubby snaps away those precious moments.

3rd – 4th month

Your baby is growing fast! And at this stage she could already pull a stunt of her own, and that is rolling to one side to the other. And what could be perfect than a picture of your baby doing her tummy time. Just let her roll to her side and put a towel on her head, play some peek a boos and snap away. It will be completely adorable!

5th month

At this age, your baby is becoming more aware of her surroundings, and she is already starting to play with her fingers, toes and just about anything. One great way to take picture at this stage is to have your baby on the play mat and capture them playing with their 1st toys. Just remember not to clutter the play mat with so many toys and let your baby take her own sweet time while you are taking the snapshots. (the foot and wrist rattle set would be a great prop at this age)

6th month

She now eats solid food. She can almost sit on her own. It’s time to bring out the Bumbo seats (as seen in the picture above). Just remember to take as many shots as possible consequently so that you can capture your baby’s entire reaction to her 1st meal. Let it be messy and wild! Rest assured; you will end up with so many cute pictures of your little one to fill up your photo album.

* The best time to capture your baby’s pictures is after they had their bath, meal or nap (not particularly in that order). Don’t worry if you couldn’t get the snapshots during your 1st attempt, you could always take them later, as babies love to repeat what they’ve just learnt again and again. Most importantly, don’t worry too much about the camera settings and have fun! I’ll be back with part II real soon…watch this space ya!

Regards,
KC aka Aiza Azril
LittleBigShots Photography

Personality Typing

There are a lot of feedback that has been arise by the mommies and daddies out there asking WHY their kids is like this and like that (hard to be photograph, not wanting to look at the camera and etc) So I hope this articles helps. I understand that most of you out there are really excited to create a stunning image of your kids growing up but sometimes we forgot that working with kids you need to do a lot of homework before you can even press the shutter.

Personality Typing means ‘a way to learn and understand your kids personality and character’ We have to really understand how our kids react and their unique character so that you could create a more interesting image (MORE OF THEM IN PERSON) From my experience there are four types of person’s personality:

1. How they make decisions
2. What makes them happy or sad and how they react.
3. How well they can accept 3rd party (in this case a camera)
4. How you could help them energize themselves (make them comfortable)

By answering this questions you will actually have a detailed definition of your kids unique character. And with this information you could easily go after their natural smile and their authentic excitement. For a Performer kid, they wouldn’t have any problems for you to photograph them but if your kids happened to be a shy one, you may have to warm them up or work together with your other half as a team (This is what we usually do with a shy babies)

During the skeptical ~ Why is this camera pointing at my face (warm up)

The final BIG NATURAL LAUGH

Sometimes you really have to wait for the right time to photograph them. When they are sad, unhappy or sick, dismissing their feelings isn’t going to help you capture any of these amazing images so, it is important that you must be patient with them.

So, I hope these articles will help and you could learn to understand your kids better. After all, as mommies and daddies there are always short-cuts because nobody knows your kids better than you do.

Good Luck!

Regards,
LAM
Professional Photographer
Lafa Pixellutions | www.lafa.com.my

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Capturing Heartfelt Images of Your Children by Milin Kassim

One of the rules – if not the number one rule - to create beautiful pictures of children is to fall in love with them.  Hence the person who is at the most advantage when it comes to photographing your children is YOU.  Do you know that the strong bond that you have with your children will actually help you to come out with amazing pictures of your little ones?

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As parents, you have the advantage of knowing them in and out.  But how do you go about photographing them?  Pay attention and lean on your feelings.  Yes, those incredible feelings that you have for them can actually be transferred into capturing images of LOVE.  Isn’t that what we feel for our children?  We can’t help but always be head over heels with every little thing that they do and every little expression that they make.

Thus anticipation for the moment is important.  Always make sure your camera is at your disposal.  You will never know when your child will start cracking a joke or showing off her antics resulting into a heart-warming situation that make everyone burst into laughter.

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Yet again, sometime it is also important for you to actually plan ahead prior to photographing your little ones.  This is to avoid frustration that you may have had experience.  Does this sound familiar to you?  The moment is there but you were not satisfied with the whole picture due to the background, poor lighting or even their clothing.

Planning doesn’t mean that you have to make a complicated or thorough preparation for the picture taking.  It can be as simple as getting your children to play in a place where the light is abundant, the background is clean and you have made sure they are dressed nicely and comfortably.  Go to the backyard or front yard.  For more adventure, bring them to a park or playground.  Children just love to roam around in a big field.

Let them be kids and play as much as they want.  Most important they will be very happy for the idea, and you will get your dream picture!  Once the trigger is released, not only you will get to capture a priceless moment, but everything else in the picture is beautiful as well; the background is lovely and they look great in their favourite outfit!

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Be with them or even join them while you anticipate the moment.  And don’t forget, pay attention to their expressions!  This is the time for you to fuel those feelings that you have for your children into heartfelt images.  And if you need to get your belly down to the ground, go ahead if that is what it takes to get the best view of your child!

Do remember this though.  As much as we want them to smile for the camera, never force or coax them to do so.  Keep in mind we are looking for those emotions that are expressed genuinely.  Let them smile naturally because when they do, those smiles are definitely going to melt your heart.  And that’s the kind of smile we want to capture, and treasure for a lifetime.

Photographing your children is also a psychological game.  Asking your children to pose, especially for a long time, without them willing to do so can make them feel uneasy.  Enforcing them to pose certain ways will actually make your children stiff and tense.  You too do not want those stiffness and tenseness to be seen in the picture, right?

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All in all, picture taking should be an activity that we and our children both enjoy having.  I know it’s pretty hard sometime – we are so eager to have our little precious in the picture!  In spite of that, always try to avoid from turning it into some imposed situations, making your children to think of the camera as a silly little box!

Make it as natural as possible.  Let it be a pursuit of love to your children.  Hence, when they see you with the camera they know that you are there for them, paying attention and cherishing every moment of their childhood.

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Warmest Thoughts,

Milin Kassim, capturedbymilin.blogspot.com