Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Picture Party!

It never fails. Anytime I get my camera out just to examine it or try to figure out a feature or play with it just by myself. The girls are all over me, wanting their pictures taken. Maybe I'll have ot use this tactic sometime when I actually want to do a real photoshoot with them :)

Yesterday, I was trying to figure out how to set the custom white balance so that colours will look more accurate. Depending on what kind of lighting you're in, the camera will interpret things differently. Ever take pictures in a hockey rink & have everything look wonky? These settings help avoid that by compensating for the fact that fluorescent lights can throw a blue cast on everything. BUT the automatic settings aren't always right so you can supposedly take a picture of a something pure white and then tell your camera that THAT is white and it will adjust itself to make subsequent pictures show white as white.


Since Lovey was wearing a white bodysuit, I thought I'd play around with this as I spend hours and hours after a session, trying to adjust things in Photoshop so whites are white & skin looks like skin etc. If I can figure this out "in camera" it will save loads of time later!



As I was sitting there minding my own business, they of course became fascinated! Take my picture, take my picture! (things I never hear when I actually want them to sit for me lol)

They get a kick out of seeing themselves on the screen afterwards so that's the appeal I think.


Lately though, they've been getting more interested in using the camera themselves and this is a bit nerve wracking. One slip could mean the death of the ol' Pentax! and the body & lens are pretty heavy for little hands.


They're always really good about holding onto it & letting me wrap the strap tightly around their neck so even if they lose that grip, it won't fall all the way to the floor. (ok the strap is just looped around the neck, I've so far been able to resist the urge to wrap it around two or three times for safety's sake... of the camera of course ;))).



Quite often the pictures turn out blurry as they jiggle while holding down the shutter but some turn out and this means I actually get to exist in the family archives now & then.



They all took a turn holding the camera & were content to snap off a few frames and let the next girl have a shot. They seem to know better than to squabble amongst themselves or argue with me for more time. I'm all for sharing but I do have my limits!!!







1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Anna got a really sturdy kid-designed digital camera for Christmas and she loves it! The picture quality is lacking, of course, but it serves the purpose. I think it's by VTech? Might be a good present (Easter? Birthday?)for the girls to practice taking their own pictures!
My mom got ours and I think it was $39.99, but I've seen them go on sale.
Teena