Prisma! It's like crack for your artistic-but-still-technological-soul... and I'm addicted, I won't lie.

Man!! Have you tried this app??

Prisma (I feel the need to explain, that although I'd LOVE it if they paid me cause I seriously advertise for them blatantly and frequently... I am NOT in fact being paid to endorse this app. It's just THAT great!)

It's the "filter" app I've been waiting for, hoping for... DREAMING of!

 

 

The fun doesn't stop, like, EVER!

A few quick tips I've discovered just by using it almost daily.
1. have a good internet connection. it doesn't run off preloaded memory like some game apps, so make sure you're in a good service area or are on some WiFi.
2. Test filters. You'll find that pictures with people/landscapes/still life/etc. do better with certain filters.
3. don't be afraid to click through every filter! See it ON your image first... THEN decide what you like.
4. also, don't be afraid to edit an image first. with iPhotos or whatever app you have for editing, make that image amazing BEFORE prisma... sometimes it can give you more spectacular results.

I'm a photographer, by my very soul, so I literally make images ALL day. Some on my phone, some on my Canon, some make it to the light of day raw, some are edited quickly, some are edited with specific photo apps, some are erased immediately. So having a way to add the artistic flair I've been missing from my darkroom days has been #PhotoFood for my soul. (Prisma has also opened the door for me to "illustrate" my children's books... if I can ever get to that!)

When I have an image I want to Prisma, I have a specific process. Yes, it's planned out. Yes, I'm a nerd.
1. prisma does square images like instagram. So take it in square format or compose it to account for the crop taking part of your image out. I forgot this ALOT when I first started using Prisma... it was frustrating to FINALLY get the 2 year old to cooperate for the perfect! picture... only to realize I forgot to make it square and now Prisma was cutting off her head. Remember! #SquareImages
2. I'm still learning and playing with Prisma, so I will tap thought EVERY filter! Unless I'm focusing on the colors of an image and then I'll skip the B&W filters.
3. As I tap through, there are some I just know I don't like. So I just move on. But then, I LOVE more than one filter. So I SAVE them, just tap save as you're tapping through the filters. I'll regularly have 8-10 images to pair down.
4. After I've saved all the ones I LOVE. I head to my photos. I start with the first 2, swipe back and forth till I decide (out of only those 2) which one I like best (this is a Montessori method for comparing things, yes, my preschool training is in my daily life :). Repeat till only 1 image remains. I'll find that though I LOVED a filter, as I look at it next to others, it doesn't capture my #PhotographicSubject as I had planned. The beauty of digital is deleting stuff. No wasted film. Yay!
5. #PhotographicSubject : Sometimes this is simply my daughters beautiful eyes, my sons hilarious faces, or a nice view. But sometimes (as I'm a small business owner), it's more specific. The color of a scene, a detail I want to emphasize, an angle I thought was interesting. As I delete from my photos I keep this subject in mind.



Ex: I wanted to show off the Moose... and still see the pattern of my #LLRNicoleDress. I wanted to show the fluffy-ness AND the colors of the dress not being distorted was important.

Original

 

 




Ex: I wanted to show hiking with my Tula. There were SO many that I LOVED for artistic reasons that I had to pass up.

Original

     

Loved the trail ahead of us, but the Tula is lost in blackness.







LOVED this purple foliage, So artsy! and the Tula is light enough to see the folds and whatnot. But it was for a hiking blog so the trail being more 'realistic' was a motivator.

  

Me, Tula, and #LunaScout look good, but the trail is too dark/distorted. Which I LOVE artistically, but not for the hiking blog post.

 

 





You can see the image I finally settled on here:
HWK changed my life.








What I LOVE most?? New filters. I regularly get on Prisma and see new filters have been added. I guess that's the benefit of being cloud based, you can add new stuff without requiring updates everyday.

Take my advice! Download this app and let it consume your creative picture making...

ING
!jen

30 Days Thankful...

Hello, my name is Jen... and I'm a Thankful-Aholic.

Many years ago I was a very "Grass is greener on the other side" type person. It was a hard life. Always questioning my choices and decisions, constantly comparing myself to those around me thinking "What. A. Life." Feeling way more like Brak watching Butch the gorilla, then I ever care to admit. Spending many days thinking to myself, if only I could get this job or move to that town or live in this house.

Then HE came along :) my husband. Without meaning to he changed me into a 'live in the moment', 'thankful for everything' person who didn't compare herself to everyone she met. Do I still have bad days? Yes. Do I find myself wishing the grass was greener on my side of the fence? Nope. Not anymore. The Grass is Greener Right Where I Am.

While in conversation with my husband many years ago, I realized in a moment of clarity that THIS was my life lesson. The reason I was born into this life and not another. To learn that the Grass is greener, RIGHT where I am. Then he drew me a tattoo to remember my life lesson. I went to a few different artists to get estimates on the cost of placing it on my ankle. One even said he would only do it if he could lock me in the basement for a week... to make sure it healed properly ;)

I said no thank you and moved on. We walked into a little shop in Racine, WI. Stephanie took one look at my husbands drawing and said "Oh I see, the grass is greener right here." SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY..... I screamed, I'm pretty sure the internet was listening that day, because now my exclamation is everywhere. :)

I got my tattoo, without spending a week in a strangers basement and could not be happier. It's a daily reminder to, not only be thankful, but enjoy every moment. To enjoy you must begin with Thankful. Thankful for people. Thankful for food. Thankful for sun and moon and wind. Thankful for laughter. Thankful for pleasure. Thankful for ocean and boat. Thankful for house and hearth. Thankful for parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. Thankful for moments in which my children make me laugh when I want to scream... Thankful.

In honor of my Grass-Is-Greener-Right-Where-I-Am tattoo and my 'Addiction to Thankful' living, I've created, the 30 Days Thankful Photo Challenge.

I thought November was appropriate. I'll be posting my images in my FB album and on Instagram.

ING
!jen

17% - 20% End in Miscarriage!

17-20 %!! Did you know that? This 'common knowledge' was spouted off to me in an attempt to be comforting as I tried to make sense of my body ejecting this baby so soon after making it. 17-20% of pregnancies end in miscarriage (defined as prior to 20 weeks, so that's not even including the still births and infant deaths)...

17% - 20%

If asked prior to this experience I would have guessed less than 5%. I would have been wrong. And now my body had dumped me and my baby into that 20%. How could I even begin to heal? How could I trust my body to get it right next time? How could I put my husband and family through it again? I choose taking action. I gave my baby a funeral. It was the closure I needed to find Peace. I decorate my alter every September to honor the child I never met and more importantly, to honor the family they helped to create. 

The english language has no single word for an unborn child. Science calls it an embryo, a fetus, still birth, spontaneous abortion, fetal demise. I believe these diminish it’s impact on our lives. I was 27 when I miscarried, it still impacts my life in many ways. I have since had 3 healthy full term pregnancies resulting in 3 beautiful children. A blessing never lost on me, never taken for granted and ritualistically appreciated daily. When I lost my first pregnancy I was overseas, in Japan. A military wife, far from home, friends and family. I spoke to family on the phone, chatted with local acquaintances I had made since arriving, and was fortunate enough to have my husband there, through the whole thing.

None of this made it easier. My body had rejected a baby. A baby we wanted! A baby we planned for. A baby that we had already told everyone about. And my body said ‘nope, not happening’. 

Although English couldn't assist me with my healing, the Japanese had a word for my baby, Mizuko. An unborn baby. Simple. Direct. And comforting. Mizuko. 

Now Mizuko comes to life through brave women and families ready and willing to share their stories. Because through sharing, we learn, we connect, and we heal.

How do you remember your Mizuko? How did you come to peace with your Mizuko? Share your story by booking a session and participating in the Mizuko Project.

All alone, those years ago, I chose taking action. Gave my baby a funeral. It was the closure I needed to find Peace. And now, I take action again. To assist others in finding Peace.

I hope you are find

ING Peace,

!jen

Lifestyle? Photography... 10 tips.

Lifestyle? Photography... since when?

While getting ready to head to La Jolla on sunday for a day of beachy fun, my mom asked me to bring my camera in case there was a good shot of her at some point. She wanted something candid and unposed. I informed her that they call that "lifestyle photography" now.

Did you notice this change? cause it was very subtle and it wasn't until that conversation with my mom that I realized, just HOW subtle the change was.

Now at first, I was mad. I've always prided myself on getting the candid shots that you cherish for years to come 'during' my 'photo shoot'. This is why my childrens portraits are always met with some variation of 'that's SO (enter childs name here)!'. And yet NOW, everyone is claiming to have this... super power.

But then I came to terms with the fact that, that was the point. Lifestyle Photography is something everyone can do... brilliantly. My 5 year old takes amazing 'lifestyle' photographs.


A Beautiful Mess describes 5 tips for lifestyle photography.

1. bring your camera.

This may seem obvious, but you know you do it too. As you load up the 1001 things you're going to need or not going to use at all but can't leave at home... just in case, into the car you contemplate NOT going back for your camera. So just go get it.

These Tiako drummers were randomly in Carlsbad when we decided to go at the last minute. I almost didn't bring my camera...

2. zoom in.

This is something I learned from my high school photo teacher 'Half'. Although his reasons for zooming in during shooting were because we printed our own pictures and we were supposed to 'crop on site' so we didn't have to crop out in the darkroom. But the lesson still stands. Even more so in the digital world. Zooming in not only gives you a more interesting subject matter but saves you precious pixels in the digital darkroom.

this picture is on the 'A Beautiful Mess' blog as 'weird' cause it was the morning after she got engaged. I like it's cropping. Up close, could be any woman at starbucks but that ring pops either way.

3. be weird.

This she describes as getting those things that only make sense or matter to those 'in' on the joke. This is your odd subject matter or difficult to infer meanings category.

This is my son and his god mother. I have the same picture of her "hugging" his big sister when she was a little younger that he was in this shot. Eventually I will touch it up and clean the background and frame the 2 kids being 'hugged' by their god mother together. Weird picture? yes. Meaningful to us? YEP.

4. using your cell phone as a camera is ok.

This is true. 100%. a picture can be great no matter what it's shot on.

My son Icarus. Eating a hammer at Home Depot while his big sister builds something with her hammer. Snapped with my phone.

5. there is no such things as a 'wasted photo'.

Now I have to say that with digital this is a true statement. The amount of pictures you can get on a single card is sometimes mind boggling, so shoot away! However, I have to disagree if you're experimenting with film. Unless you have access to and know how to develop your own film and print your own pictures.... there can be lots of 'wasted photos' which translate to wasted money.

I would give you an example of any one of the MANY wasted shots I have on film... only I tend NOT to print those, go figure. and they are surprisingly difficult to scan in film form... until I get my film scanner. Someday..... someday.

I'm adding a few tips myself. Lets see how many I crank out before my toddler wrecks the kitchen and I'm called to entertain him while my husband finishes cooking.

6. Don't be afraid of getting dirty.
Thats where the most interesting angles are. I will be the first one to lay on the floor to get the amazing shot of the Tokyo Tower rising up into the sky.

Lay down, squat, lean over a railing or bench, whatever it takes for the perfect angle.

7. get creative with your light source.

Using the fire from the Poi my husband spins as the ONLY light source makes for much more interesting shots.

A long exposure did the REAL magic. But another light source would have completely washed out the image with a longer exposure.

8. Make things look undefinable.

Get SO close to her bent arm that you cant tell that its an arm. Take a picture from the back of something instead of the front.

9. Shoot the awkward.

get in the face of your grandmother as she screams at the neighbors to get off her lawn. Follow your son around until he eats another piece of dog food... don't stop him!! Shoot it.

10. Have patience.

When you see the perfectly mischievous grin creep across your daughters face and you race for your camera to try and catch the 'daddy jump' she is about to embark on and she's too fast for you... wait. moments, months, whatever it takes. Wait.

I'm still waiting for this shot...


Lifestyle Photography is full of interesting angles, unconventional lighting choices, odd subject matter, difficult to infer meanings and... fun. So grab your camera, start shooting and call it 'lifestyle' photography. Then enter it in a contest or something, you never know.


Happy shooting.
ING
!jen