Category - Family

Nobody Is Grading Your Holiday

December 7, 2015

Tis the season! Time to gather with loved ones, make cherished memories with your children, and celebrate the birth of our Savior! Yea for Christmas!!!

I love, LOVE, LOOOVE Christmas!

Yet this time of year can get overwhelming. Very overwhelming. I was talking to a friend a few days ago who already seemed tired just anticipating the celebrating and dealing with the pressures to do ALL the holiday things and do them all well.

I knew exactly what she meant. As moms, we especially feel this pressure to pull off a Pinterest-perfect, Instagram-worthy Christmas. We want it to be “sparkles in the air” exciting for our children, with joy, laughter, and precious memories being made daily.

From decorating our tree and home, baking Christmas cookies and treats, sending holiday cards, attending numerous Christmas events and gatherings with friends and family, shopping for “just the right gift,” not to mention making sure that the season is truly meaningful for our families by doing Advent calendars or Bible readings with our children every day, December can be a busy, stress-filled month.

Well, it can if we let it.

I mean, who says we have to do it all? Who says we have to do any of it?

Don’t want to send Christmas cards this year, or can’t bake cookies to save your life?

Then don’t do it.

*Gasp*

I know. It’s revolutionary.

But seriously, if you’re zapping the joy from your holidays (and probably of those around you) by striving to live up to all the expectations you think someone has for you or that you’ve put on yourself, let me tell you what I told my friend:

Nobody is grading your holiday.

Nobody.

Not your family.

Truly, your children won’t miss half of the things you think they might. Sure, you want to do the things they love if you can, but they don’t need a lot of activities, crafts, goodies, or even presents (yes, I said it!) to have a wonderful, memorable, meaningful Christmas. Besides, sometimes we have them so Christmas-saturated that it’s no wonder they have trouble seeing Jesus amid all the chaos and noise.

Pick the things that are the most important to you to do as a family during the holidays, and do those. Everything else can fall by the wayside or make the list to do another year.

Not your friends.

We all have things that make our holidays special. What is an important tradition to my crew may not be special for yours. Just because another family is celebrating a certain way doesn’t mean that we need to be doing it, too.

(For example, my friend liked the idea of St. Nicholas Day, something that my family began observing last year. However, she knew that she wouldn’t be ready this year to introduce it to her boys.)

Not even Jesus.

If all your Christmasing is exhausting you physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, or financially, I honestly think Jesus would probably tell you to chill.

Think about it: Sometimes all our wonderful holiday doings actually make it harder for us to focus on Him and all His coming means to us.

That’s the whole point of the season, isn’t it? Focusing on Jesus. Remembering that moment in time when God “became flesh and dwelt among us.”

And if you miss a night of reading your family’s Christmas devotional (it’s happened in our home once or twice), breathe.

God isn’t impressed with how much we DO to observe Christmas. The Bible tells us that “man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

If your heart is toward Him, God knows.

We could run ourselves ragged keeping up with all the best traditions for Christmas, but if our hearts are NOT on Him in the midst of those activities, what are we really celebrating anyway?

So, cut yourself some slack this year. Let go of some of that holiday to-do list. Give yourself and your family some time to truly enjoy each other and reflect on the One you’re doing all this to celebrate.

My advice: Even if you don’t make it to see “The Nutcracker” this year, at least make sure you see Jesus.

Why We Started Celebrating St. Nicholas Day

December 1, 2015

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Why We Started Celebrating St. Nicholas Day - Life in Lape Haven. While our family doesn't "do" Santa Claus, we do observe Saint Nicholas Day, because honoring the true story of St. Nicholas helps keep the focus on Jesus throughout the entire Christmas holiday season.

A few years ago our family added a new tradition to our Christmas celebrations: the observance of St. Nicholas Day.

If you’ve never heard of St. Nicholas Day, don’t worry. Neither had I until my sister-in-law shared about it a several years ago, and it wasn’t until a few Novembers ago that I really started looking into the day to find out more about it. (It’s a big deal in European countries, but not as widespread in America. While it seems to be more prevalent as a Catholic holiday, since Saint Nicholas was a priest and bishop of the early Catholic Church, in my researching, I have found that Christians of all denominations celebrate the day honoring the real-life St. Nick.)

(This post contains affiliate links, which means that at no cost to you, I may receive a small commission when you use the link to make a purchase. For more, see my full disclosure.)

Growing up, our families didn’t focus much on Santa Claus at Christmas time, even though we didn’t completely shun the idea. Now that we are parents, Brad and I don’t want our children to be overly obsessed with the story of a jolly elf bringing them lots of toys either. We’ve not encouraged our boys to make Christmas lists or write letters, mainly because we don’t want them to think that that is the main point of Christmas. In fact, when Elijah was little, it wasn’t until random people (at the store or church) started asking him what he wanted from Santa that he even thought to ask for specific things at Christmas.

Of course, again, we don’t avoid Santa. We watch Christmas specials, sing “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town,” and if we see a Santa and Mrs. Claus while we’re shopping or at Christmas events, our boys say, “Hi,” just like they do with other costumed characters and maybe get their picture taken (if it’s free or I can take it. Haha). Elijah has never been fooled by people in costumes or thought that they were real. He just sees them as playing dress-up like we like to do, so we didn’t even need to pretend with him. Josiah was a bit more shy, so while he might not have been sure if they were real or playing, he wasn’t as likely to be as anxious to see them either way.

So for our first few Christmases with kids, we just kept Santa on the sidelines, acknowledging him as one of the back-up dancers to the holiday, along with Frosty, Rudolph, the Grinch, and even good old Charlie Brown, while Jesus – of course – always took center stage as the true Star of the season.

However, knowing what I did about the real Saint Nicholas, and then learning more as I investigated his holiday, I wanted my boys to see beyond just the Santa stories and learn the truth about the man behind all those Christmas legends because THAT Saint Nicholas clearly points to the heart of Christmas and the Savior.

(There’s also a really great fictionalization of the story of Saint Nicholas by Christian author Roseanna White, which, while more for adults, is a great read and helpful in understanding the times in which he actually lived.)

After talking it over with my hubby, we decided that we would add celebrating December 6, St. Nicholas Day, into our Christmas traditions.

First we all watched the Veggie Tales version of his life, Saint Nicholas: A Story of Joyful Giving, which is a great way to share with little ones about where “Santa” comes from. Then Brad and I talked to the boys about the real Saint Nicholas, a Christian man who helped the needy and gave to bless others. We told them about how he had even been in prison for serving God and how his story eventually morphed into the tales of Santa Claus that we hear today.

: Elijah put out his snow boot for St. Nicholas Day.

: Josiah was excited that his boot had a Twix in it!

Then we gave them the exciting news that we were going to celebrate a special day in his honor, and as part of that celebration, they would leave their shoes out overnight, re-enacting one of the most famous stories about Saint Nicholas.

As St. Nicholas Center shares it:

“One story tells of a poor man with three daughters. In those days a young woman’s father had to offer prospective husbands something of value—a dowry. The larger the dowry, the better the chance that a young woman would find a good husband. Without a dowry, a woman was unlikely to marry. This poor man’s daughters, without dowries, were therefore destined to be sold into slavery. Mysteriously, on three different occasions, a bag of gold appeared in their home-providing the needed dowries. The bags of gold, tossed through an open window, are said to have landed in stockings or shoes left before the fire to dry. This led to the custom of children hanging stockings or putting out shoes, eagerly awaiting gifts from Saint Nicholas.”

Leaving shoes out to be filled with little treats was the way that my sister-in-law always celebrated the day as a child growing up and the way that she and my brother do now with their children.

Elijah was quite excited to have yet another day in the month to expect something special. However, mixed in with his anticipation of a small surprise and goodies, instead of thinking of flying reindeer and sacks of toys, there was an appreciation for someone else who loved Jesus and used what he’d been given to minister to others.

That’s a pretty good take away any time of the year.

St. Nicholas Day is December 6, and if you’d like to find out more about who he really was, you can find lots of information at St. Nicholas Center and all over the web.

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The Legacy in an Apple Pie Recipe

November 30, 2015

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The Legacy in an Apple Pie - A Delicious, Easy Recipe Four Generations in the Making, Life in Lape Haven. This simple, delicious apple pie recipe combines one of my great-grandma's apple pie filling with another great-grandma's pie crust recipe.

A Delicious, Easy Apple Pie Recipe, Four Generations in the Making

This past week, for Thanksgiving, I made a homemade apple pie from scratch.

Now while that might sound tasty to you, it probably doesn’t sound significant, and maybe in your family, it’s not.

However, for me, this apple pie represented four generations of good cooks (yes, I’m counting myself in there. Trust me – this apple pie earned it for me).

My Great-Grandma Leora (my maternal grandpa’s mother), whose pickles I learned to make this summer, used to make apple pies. It was one of the many recipes for which she is remembered. She often made apple pies ahead and froze them, so that she would have them when apples weren’t in season.

Amazingly enough, when she died, my grandfather found some of her apple pies in the freezer. Since I was pretty young at the time, I don’t remember how many there were, but I do remember my mom telling me that Grandpa had the last of her pies about a year after she’d passed.

How cool is that?

Now I don’t know if Great-Grandma expected her legacy to be her baking, but at least part of it is. Not only was she still feeding her family a year after she’d died, but her recipes have become an inheritance for her grandchildren, great-grandchildren (my cousins and me), and even her great-great grandchildren.

From her pickles to her pies to her cakes and cookies, she’s still at all of our family gatherings.

Of course, Great-Grandma didn’t give out all her secrets. For example, my mom’s apple pies didn’t start tasting exactly like Great-Grandma’s until she figured out that the apples that Great-Grandma used in her pies, the ones from the tree in her yard, were Cortland apples. It made all the difference.

With that knowledge, my mom makes some delicious apple pies!

: Roll out your first half of dough

: Place pie dough into the pie pan

: Add the apples to the prepared crust

As for me, well, I’ve always struggled with getting my pie dough just right. I can slice up the apples and toss them with the sugar and cinnamon and freeze it in batches ready to fill a pie. But my pie crust has never gone well or been “as easy as pie.”

However, knowing that I CAN make pie crust from scratch, I refuse to buy it. I have kept trying out new recipes to find one that works well for me and tastes good.

When I was at my grandma’s learning how to make the lime pickles, I talked to her about my frustrations with making pie dough.

Flipping through her recipes, my grandma found a recipe from her mother, Edith, titled “Never Fail Pie Crust.”

“This is the one I always use, “she told me.

Scribbling it down, I tucked it away with several other family recipes that she gave me that day, anxious to try them all out.

Of course, I waited until the day before Thanksgiving to try out the pie crust recipe.

Thankfully, it was the easiest pie dough I’ve ever worked with. I mixed it up and rolled it out in one take! Yea!!!

As I was laying the dough into the pie plate, it occurred to me that I was making an apple pie with one great-grandma’s filling recipe and another great-grandma’s pie crust.

I thought about all the family holidays, church potlucks, and special gatherings that each of those ladies had baked for and brought dishes to. I imagined them as mothers, working in the kitchen while their children (my grandparents among them) played in the next room or helped them with a chair pulled up to the counter. I could see my mom as a little girl, learning how to roll out pie crust from her mother and her grandmothers so that one day she could teach me.

Suddenly I related to my great-grandmas in a way I hadn’t really done before, as wives, moms, and women. It was kind of like that moment as a child when you realize that your parents are people, too. (Haha) I could see the legacy they passed down beyond just wonderful recipes. They both took good care of their families, loved God and serving Him, and shared their gifts with those around them.

I imagine they would both be quite pleased to know that their recipes were continuing to fill the tables (and tummies) at our family festivities.

To top off my great-grandma pie story, at our Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday, my grandpa reminded us that the day would have been his mother’s (my Great-Grandma Leora’s) birthday.

I was definitely giving thanks for Great-Grandma Leora, Great-Grandma Edith, and their baking legacy as I bit into my first piece of delicious homemade apple pie.

Want to enjoy some tasty apple pie of your own? Here you go – my Great-Grandmas’ Apple Pie recipe. (For good tips on how to roll out your pie crust, read here.) Yum

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The Thought Box

November 23, 2015

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How a Vacuum Cord (& God) Sparked a New Way to Encourage My Child

Last week as I was getting ready to vacuum the house, I began to unwind the vacuum cord and then stopped. The day before Elijah had had to sweep up a mess he’d made, and I had shown him how to wrap the cord onto the back when he was finished.

As I looked at the precise job he’d done of wrapping the cord, I made a mental note to tell him later that

I had noticed his effort. With his curious, active personality and stubborn, independent nature, there are some days when he gets “noticed” more for less-than-positive reasons (bossing his little brother around, getting into things he’s not allowed to, talking back), and I wanted to make sure I pointed out this “something good.”

The more I thought about it, the more I wished I could just send him a little note so he would know that I was thinking about him. Had it been my husband I wanted to acknowledge, I’d probably just shoot Brad a text message, but Elijah is only 5. He’s not going to have a phone for quite a while.

Then I had an idea.

I’d write a note and leave it for Elijah to read when he got home from school. However, rather than just hand it to him or tape it to the refrigerator, I’d make it fun and special.

Grabbing an empty cracker box, I cut down the sides, tucked three of them down in, and left the fourth as a flap that covered the opening.

Ta-dah: a miniature “mailbox.” (All my Pinterest browsing has kept my creativity very active.)

I wrote out an easy-to-read note for my little man and slid it into the box.

This would be a special place where I could put notes of encouragement and praise throughout the day to let him know that I had thought about him often while he was away.

I dubbed it his “Thought Box.”

While I was in the note-writing mood, I went ahead and made one for Brad because, you know, husbands like be appreciated, too.

Once I had Elijah back home from school, I showed him the cracker box. I had every intention of digging out some wrapping paper and making it all fancy, but as it happened, the day flew by before I could.

However, Elijah didn’t mind at all. He was thrilled to have a special note just for him, delighted that Mommy had seen his careful work, and overjoyed at the prospect of getting more messages from Mommy and Daddy in his Thought Box.

He immediately wrote a letter for his Daddy’s box, too.

The next day, Brad was off work, so he picked Elijah up from school, and as Elijah came running into the house, the first thing my little boy said was, “I want to see what’s in my Thought Box!”

And I winced. I HAD thought about writing his note, but then got distracted by a phone call, and HADN’T WRITTEN ONE.

I said, “Oh, honey! I didn’t write one yet.”

Elijah’s face went from radiant to rejected in a heartbeat, and I felt like the WORST MOM EVER!

I apologized and explained that I had started to write his message but didn’t get to it right away and forgot later that I hadn’t done it.

Thankfully, he’s a sweet, understanding boy, and he was fine with Mommy writing it out right then. (Whew!)

But seeing how important it was to him made me determined not to let him find an empty box again.

It also confirmed in my heart what I felt when the idea first sparked in my mind.

This was more than just a good “Mommish” idea. This was God once again directing me to a unique way to love my child. Just like the book I wrote for Elijah, this “Thought Box” idea would minister to his little heart and help us to encourage and affirm who he is growing up to be.

This weekend we finally decorated the boxes, and Elijah changed his from a cracker box to one that used to hold teabags and has a lid. It now holds all the notes from last week.

Life in Lape Haven: The Thought Box - How a vacuum cord (& God) sparked a new way to encourage my child.

Clearly, I live in a house full of boys: Star Wars, blue, and Spiderman.

We made one for all my guys, although Elijah didn’t see the point in Josiah getting notes when he can’t read yet. (The plan is to draw pictures or read them to him.)

As if encouraging my family wasn’t enough, this idea has another facet that illustrates just how efficient God is when He does even the smallest things.

Following the example of Philippians 1:3, “I thank God for you whenever I think of you,” I have purposed to pray for my guys and thank God for them every time I write a thought about them for their boxes.

Clearly, He had all of us in mind from the start of this. It’s a nice reminder that we are always in His thoughts, too.

How to Take Better Pictures of Your Kids – Part 4

November 20, 2015

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Life in Lape Haven: How to Take Better Pictures of Your Kids, Part 2. Simple tips and advice for taking better photos of your children, no matter what kind of camera you use.

This post may contain affiliate links, which means that at no additional cost to you, I may receive a small commission if you use the link.

Here it is – the last of my tips and advice for getting better pictures of your family. Hopefully you’ve been trying some of them out and seeing a positive difference.

Now that we’ve got everyone acting naturally, situated where they need to be, and you’ve figured out how to frame an interesting shot, what else is left?

Just a FEW MORE POINTERS

(Sorry, no catchy title to pull these together)

#1. BE BRAVE & LEARN TO SHOOT IN MANUAL MODE

I know I said that you could use these tips no matter what camera you have, but this one, well, you kind of have to have a camera that allows you to adjust settings, such as Aperture, Shutter Speed, & ISO.

I understand that the technical side of photography can be intimidating, but once you have even a basic idea of what those things do, you’ll see that it’s not as scary as it seems.

Your pictures will never be the same again, and your confidence as a photographer will grow exponentially.

While every camera’s settings and how you adjust them are different (check your manual or look online for tutorials. Canon has a ton on YouTube), the 3 main exposure factors to your shot are the same. They each deal with how light enters your camera, but in different ways. When you adjust one, it affects the others.

For some very good technical definitions and explanations, check out Photography Life’s articles here: Aperture, Shutter Speed , and ISO.

In my mind, this is how I think when looking at my settings:

APERTURE: Controls my depth of field. Do I want everything in the picture to be in focus, or do I want just my child’s face to be sharp and the background to be blurrier?

You know that cool effect with lights looking like blurry circles, “bokeh”? That’s accomplished by using a higher aperture. The confusing thing to some people is that a higher aperture actually means a lower f-stop number on your settings.

A higher aperture (lower f-stop, such as 2.8) lets in more light. A lower aperture (higher f-stop, such as 10) lets in less. When I need just a little more light for my picture, I can adjust my f-stop to a lower number, as long as I know that the background may get blurrier the lower I go.

: Shot with a low f-stop, Elijah is in focus, the background blurs away.

: Christmas is fun for the bokeh effect because of all the lights.

: When you have a large group, you want a higher f-stop so that everyone is in focus, not just the front row.

SHUTTER SPEED: Allows me to capture motion. The shutter is what opens at the front of the camera to allow light in. However long it’s open will depend on how much light and information get into your picture.

Shutter speed is measured in fractions of seconds to full seconds. When my boys are running around outside, I need a fast, short shutter speed to freeze their motion without blurring.

When you want to capture something in lower light, you need more time to gather more light, so you would use a slower, longer shutter speed. With a slower shutter speed, you may want to use a tripod because the slower shutter will also create a blur effect on anything moving or if you move the camera. It’s harder than you may think to stay perfectly still for a half-second. Slower shutter speeds usually don’t work well with busy children. Haha.

: Running pictures require a fast shutter speed.

: To “freeze” water, shoot with a fast shutter speed.

ISO: Adjusts the camera’s light sensitivity. Remember buying actual film for your camera way, way back in the day? (No? Well, then I feel old.) ISO is the number you looked for when buying your film – 100 to 200 for a sunny day, 400 for lower light, and 800 for sports.

Sometimes it was called the film speed. That’s because the higher the number, the more sensitive your camera is to light, so less light is needed, and you can capture the image in less time (faster shutter speed).

In low-light settings, you might need to up your ISO (800, even 1600) to give you more light so that your shutter doesn’t stay open too long, trying to allow in light. Changing your ISO to a higher number will allow more light but will also cause more “noise” or a grainier looking picture.

When you have a nice, sunny day or will be using your flash, you can use lower ISO (100 or 200) and get a higher-quality picture. In fact, generally it’s best to use the lowest ISO you can for the light you have.

All 3 factors – aperture, shutter speed, and ISO – play off of each other, so when you adjust one, pay attention to the other two. In most cameras, there are priority modes for adjusting only one of the three (with your camera automatically adjusting the other two) and a full-out manual mode, where you adjust all three. I tend to stick with the priority modes where I adjust the main factor that I want to focus on.

NOTE: Using manual settings is NOT the same thing as MANUAL FOCUS. You can use manual settings and still use the automatic focus on your camera, which is very helpful when your subjects move around a lot. It’s like the best of both worlds!

Rookie mistake – he has the lens cap on!

#2. PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE

You have to. Just like anything else you learn in life, the best way to get better at taking pictures is to practice and experiment.

Not every picture you take is going to be a masterpiece. They can be poorly lit, blurry, have something distracting in the background, or just be off somehow.

That’s okay! Thankfully with digital photography, we have nearly unlimited shots. We can take pictures, delete them, and take new ones. Study your mistakes, practice some more, and keep learning.

#3. EDIT TWICE

Even the best photographers rarely use a picture straight out of the camera, and they don’t use every picture they take. So you, too, are allowed to edit.

Edit #1 – There are so many programs available today that are affordable and easy to use for photography editing. I’ve used several in the past, including Photoshop, the Windows Live Photo Gallery program that comes with Windows, and Lightroom. I LOVE Lightroom because it is easy to use, but you can do a lot.

And don’t worry. You really shouldn’t have to do a whole lot to your pictures. (Don’t neglect good lighting or adjusting your settings because you think you can fix it in editing.) Most of the time, pictures just need a boost to the brightness, maybe a tweak to up the blacks or contrast, and balancing out the colors to look more natural, and you’re done.

Don’t go CRAZY! Edit in moderation. Some editing fads are just that – FADS. Years from now, they will make your photos look dated. Go easy on the vignetting (that darkening of edges) and don’t make every picture of your baby one with selective color (besides, gray babies with intense green eyes can look kind of creepy).

: Straight out of the camera, no edits.

: Edited: Brightened, added more warmth, straightened, slight vignette

: Edited: I don’t do a lot of black and white, but sometimes it’s fun.

EDIT #2 -EDIT HOW MUCH YOU SHARE – You don’t have to post every single picture that you take. (Oh, she looked to the side. Oh, now she looked to the other side. Oh, she kind of smiled.) Pick your best (“But he’s so handsome in them all.” Sure, but PICK YOUR BEST), share those – and only those, and people will think that you always take great pictures (Sneaky, huh? But smart!) They’ll also thank you for not overloading the newsfeed with pictures of your cuties. (I wouldn’t share every version of the above picture of Elijah – just one.)

Is every picture that I take fabulous? Hahaha! NO. Some are bad, and others are downright awful. I don’t share those. I delete them! And learn from my mistakes (see #2).

#4. PRINT SOMETHING!

Please! How many pictures do you have that you’ve never had printed? There are some that you’ve never looked at again once they’ve been offloaded from your memory card.

What good is taking pictures that you never enjoy again? That adorable shot of baby with auntie would be better in a frame or even on your refrigerator instead than sitting, forgotten in the virtual files of your computer or phone.

And I KNOW that grandparents love getting printed copies of their grandbabies’ pictures.

So order prints or a photo book. Make a mouse pad or throw. Put your princess on a mug or keychain. Do something with your pictures!!!

I watch Shutterfly for coupons on prints and get 101 4×6’s at a time for the just the price of shipping. There are tons of other online options for prints, or you can usually take your memory card to Walmart or a local pharmacy and have prints done.

#5. DON’T START A BUSINESS

One last point. As you get better and better at taking pictures, you may be tempted to think, “Hey! I could do this for a living.” Might I say that just because you do well at capturing pictures doesn’t mean you should start a business? Seriously.

I have had people tell me that I could be a professional photographer, and I always tell them, “Nope, that’s not going to happen.”

For me, it’s not my passion. Sure, I’ve always enjoyed taking pictures, but it wasn’t until I had children that I really began researching and practicing to get better. That tells me that my children are my passion, not photography.

I’ve seen how hard professionals work, the time they have to invest, and the frustrations and pressure they face. If it’s not 100-percent your passion, you won’t enjoy all that. Even if it IS your passion, some of it isn’t fun.

Right now, I enjoy taking pictures. I get tremendous satisfaction in seeing a picture turn out even better than I thought it would. But I am not called to be a professional photographer.

I will say this, though: Since I have some skill in this area, I have used it to bless others, as a way to minister and use my talents. I have done pictures for family and a few friends as gifts to them when I feel God’s nudging.

So use your talents and gifts, but unless you are completely certain that God is calling you to begin a photography business (Or any venture, really), don’t do it.

Just enjoy capturing your family’s everyday memories well.

: At the bottom of the sledding hill

: Naptime is a precious memory.

: Got a little fancy with this fun shot at my nephew’s graduation. (Edited the screen to be a bit brighter.)

: Family adventures are always great photo ops!

Okay, that’s it! Hopefully I’ve shared some helpful things that will improve how you’re taking pictures. As you start practicing with this new advice, and you begin to get some great shots, please feel free to share them with me. I’d love to see that what I’ve shared is being helpful. 🙂

Some of the resources in my learning adventure come from the following: Picture Bliss Photography (my sister-in-law is my go-to gal for tips), Photo Shop by Allison (she introduced me to my first Canon, and she’s a great teacher), and Photosanity.com (this photographer has free video tips for parents).

You can also check out my Pinterest board, Picture Fun, for more great photography blogs, tips, and ideas that I have collected over the last few years. It has everything from posing ideas, how to set up DIY backgrounds, more detailed info on using manual settings, and more.

Find out how we capture a great family picture – every time!

Top feature picture (the “taking a picture” photo) courtesy of Picture Bliss Photography.

How to Take Better Pictures of Your Kids – Part 3

November 19, 2015

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This week, I’ve been sharing tips and advice that I’ve discovered or learned over my years of practicing photography to help you take better pictures of your children. I’m not a professional, but I do enjoy getting the best possible photos I can of my family, and I’m always practicing and studying to get better.

So far we’ve talked about being natural and getting everyone where they need to be to get a nice picture.

Today is all about FRAMING YOUR PICTURE.

We’re not talking about getting your prints up on the walls, although that’s important. This “framing” is all about composing your shot, thinking about what the focus of the picture is, where you place your child or other subject in the image, and what you include or don’t include along with your subject.

#1. Don’t Kill Your Story, But Sometimes FILL THE FRAME

Each picture that means something to us generally has a story behind it, and sometimes that story is visible in the picture.

The photo from your 4-year-old’s birthday party wouldn’t be quite the same without the cake in the frame when he’s blowing out the candles. Sometimes you need the extra details or space around your subject to really capture the feeling or moment.

However, sometimes zooming in and filling up the whole picture with your child can bring you “into” the story even better. You capture the details and expressions more clearly without any distractions.

Using your zoom, moving in closer physically, or even cropping the picture later, you can fill your picture with your subject and bring interest to the shot.

: Taking this picture from far above, I was able to include most of his puzzle in the picture.

: I wanted to see just Elijah with minimal distractions for this fun winter shot.

: Those lashes and a sandy cheek.

: A close up in this picture would have lost his surroundings, which help make the photo.

: A frame full of this smile always works.

Note: When photographing people, whether you are up close or far away, you want to FOCUS ON THEIR EYES. Most cameras have a grid or red squares in the view finder to show you exactly what’s in focus. So for most of your pictures, you want to make sure their eyes are in focus, or if they are farther away, at least their face is your focus. Their eyes will tell the story better than any other part of them.

#2. APPLY THE “RULE OF THIRDS”

This is probably the most basic composition technique that photographers use, and it is super simple to apply. However, the resulting images will be immediately more well-balanced and more interesting.

As the name implies, this rule has you mentally splitting your photo into thirds, both horizontally and vertically. This gives you nine sections on a grid, and four lines that intersect at four points in your picture.

: This isn’t a perfect example, since his eye is slightly off the intersecting lines, but you can see how the offset helps the picture.

: Another off-center shot.

: With swinging pictures, you catch what you can in focus! Not following the rules here.

: For this photo, I wanted the road to pull your eyes into the shot, so Josiah being in the center more helps.

By setting up your picture with your child or the important parts of your picture (such as your child’s eye, if you’re close up) on one of the intersecting points, you create a more pleasing and interesting picture (people have done studies and everything about this).

So rather than centering your child smack-dab in the middle of your picture, move them to the left or right a bit, and suddenly your picture looks better. Sounds crazy, maybe, but it’s true.

Now you don’t have to always do this, especially in taking portraits or group shots. It’s really more of a technique or “more what you’d call ‘guidelines’ than actual rules.” (Thank you, Captain Barbossa) 🙂

#3. KEEP SNAPPING, and know when to stop

I’ve watched people taking pictures of their kids go through all the fuss of setting up a nice shot – lighting is good, kids are smiling and interacting, their down low to get a better angle – and they take shots VERY, VERY SLOWLY, then pause to check each picture on the camera after taking each shot.

PLEASE don’t do this. You will miss great photo opportunities if you take too long and especially if you look away constantly. If you have a digital camera, and your kids are being cooperative, KEEP SHOOTING. Move around, talk to them to keep them focused, but KEEP SHOOTING. This is definitely important when you are trying to take pictures of tiny little ones that move constantly, or bigger little ones who will only sit still for so long.

Will you get some bad pictures doing this? Yes! I guarantee it. There will be half-blinks, complete blinks, ones where the child turns their head at JUST the last second (Josiah is good at that), and some where they aren’t all looking in the same direction.

That’s okay. There is a magic button on the camera or on your computer that will allow those to all go away – DELETE THEM. Because mixed in with some of those not-so-stellar shots will be great ones, beautiful ones, funny (but in a good way) ones.

: They were playing in a box, and I grabbed my camera.

: Notice how much they move. They were just playing.

: I also shot from varying angles.

: This is why I take a ton of pictures – this shot! So glad I pulled out my camera.

Kids move quickly. You need to keep up.

Plus your children will only be content to be photographed for so long, especially if they have to sit still, but even if you are just capturing candids while they play. So snap a ton, then know when to back off and stop.

You don’t want your children to hate the sight of you with a camera because they fear the torture of having to pose for you or because you aren’t interacting with them as they play – you’re just taking pictures the whole time.

Sometimes, you need to put the camera down for their sake and yours.

Get your pictures, then go play.

If you do that, you’ll have no trouble with #4.

#4 GET INTO THE PICTURES

I know from personal experience that the person who always takes the pictures is the one who is in the fewest pictures. We’re busy capturing the moments for everyone, but when you look back at the day, it looks as though you weren’t even there. I mean, we KNOW we were, but what did we look like when our baby started walking?

So many moms are okay with NOT being in the pictures because we’re worried about how tired we look or our messy hair or our smudgy make-up or our weight or whatever our insecurity is. But here’s the thing: We have to stop and remember that someday, our kids are going to want pictures of us, no matter what we looked like at the moment. They want to see us enjoying the memories we made together.

My Grandma Charlotte hated to have her picture taken, and she was good at avoiding the camera. So, stubborn girl that I am, I made it a point to capture her as often as I could. I got good at stealthy shots and worked toward making her more comfortable with the camera. I’m so glad that I was persistent because since her death a couple of years ago, those few good pictures of her are priceless and any – yes, ANY – picture of her is treasured.

Learn how to use your camera’s timer and set it up on a tripod. Hand your camera off to someone who’s at least decent at using one. If all else fails, sure – take a selfie with your crew. But get in a shot or two!

Even if they aren’t perfectly composed, wonderfully lit, or amazingly flattering, your family will love every picture with you in it!

BONUS: Make it a point to get good, professional pictures at least once a year (or as often as you can). People think that I take professional-quality pictures, but I still contact my sister-in-law (Picture Bliss Photography) every so often and make an appointment for family pictures.

I know my limits. Using a tripod and timer for family pictures works fine at family functions and Christmas, but when I want really, really nice pictures, I call her. I understand that it can feel expensive, but if you want truly fabulous photos, you need someone with experience, better equipment, and more skill, and it’s worth it. Plus, you can always watch for specials, such as seasonal mini-sessions, or go in with your siblings on a full family shoot.

To review today: know when to zoom out and when to move in close to fill the frame; keep snapping, focusing on the eyes; try out that “Rule of Thirds” thing; and don’t be missing from the pictures.

Tomorrow I’m finishing up this series with a few more bits of advice, including dipping my toe into explaining “manual” mode!

Top feature picture (the “taking a picture” picture) courtesy of Picture Bliss Photography.

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How to Take Better Pictures of Your Kids – Part 4

Here it is – the last of my tips and advice for getting better pictures of your family. Hopefully you’ve been trying some of them out and seeing a positive difference.

Just a FEW MORE POINTERS

#1. BE BRAVE & LEARN TO SHOOT IN MANUAL MODE

#2. PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE

#3. EDIT TWICE

#4. PRINT SOMETHING!

#5. DON’T START A BUSINESS

How to Take Better Pictures of Your Kids – Part 3

Today is all about FRAMING YOUR PICTURE.

#1. Don’t Kill Your Story, But Sometimes FILL THE FRAME

#2. APPLY THE “RULE OF THIRDS”

#3. KEEP SNAPPING, and know when to stop

#4 GET INTO THE PICTURES