Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Oh Pinterest, you make it look so easy....

Unless you have been living under a rock for the past year, then you have more than likely heard of a website called Pinterest.  And if not, here's a little intro.  It's a fabulous idea really.  A place where you can share recipes, fashion ideas, decorating ideas, how-to's, jokes, pictures, etc.  The list goes on and on and if you dare to explore you may just find yourself several hours later with a to-do list longer than imaginable.  As for me, I currently have 439 "pins".  Things that I saw online or from others on the site that I deemed worthy of saving.  Saving with the intention of trying.  I wouldn't necesarrily classify myself as a crafty person.  But my online profile certainly makes me appear that way.  So of these 439 pins I have probably tried a dozen or so.  Don't tell my husband this......he is under the impression that the mindless hours of web surfing are put in to use almost immediately.  :)  I'll get to most of them I'm sure, just not today.  lol 

So this week's challenge came from Pinterest.  If you've searched for anything holiday related chances are you have come across the "how-to photograph in front of your tree" pins.  There are several different versions and all claim to make your holidays photos POP!  So we've decided to put them to the test and see how these ideas work.  Here's how things turned out.....





 
Above Images by Erin
 
 
This is Happy Birthday season for my family so Christmas trees have not really been the focus of the majority of my attention. My husband and I decided when we got married that we would make sure to avoid December babies since both of us have December birthdays. Life has a sense of humor and two kids later, we all celebrate our birthdays during holiday season. My daughter was the only one who managed to swing a November birthday, but being the 29th it might as well be December! My son and I share a birthday and then my husband is just a few days before Christmas, whew!! Adding to that my niece was born a day before my son and I, and her father is a few days afterward (My head is spinning again just writing it all down :-). So we have been in full party mode around here and I realized on Saturday during my beautiful niece's birthday party that I had not taken the pictures for this post. Luckily for me, there happened to be a Christmas tree at the house so I took a couple of pictures that included the tree. Everyone just happened to put the gifts in the room with the tree so I grabbed the chance to photograph them. The other picture is of a precious little one at the party who kept climbing up and down these steps with the tree in the background...too cute!
 
Now, I know I was supposed to read up on how to photograph in front of the Christmas tree and I will be perfectly honest that I read nothing..epic fail on my part!! What I did for both of these pictures was simple put some space between my subject and the Christmas tree, set my camera on the lowest aperture (my lens was 2.8), back up on my subject and then use my lens to zoom in on my subject, then focus on my subject and click!
 
 
 
 
 
Above Images by Vicki 


So here is my take on this little experiment.  I tried it with and without flash.  My intentions were to get that glowing tree look.  No overhead lighting, just the warmth of the tree.  I knew this would be particularly tricky since that would require my subjects (a 4 yr old and a 2 yr old) to remain still.  Nearly impossible.  According to Pinterest I needed to have my ISO as high as possible, which for my camera is 3200.   Aperture at it's lowest, using my Tamron lens that is 2.8 and then shutter speed adjusted accordingly.  Keeping my camera set to Aperture priority, the shutter speed determined by my camera ended up at 1/5 a second.  Sounds fast, right?  Not nearly fast enough to stop a moving 2 year old.  So what resulted in my first 2 pictures is a little bit of grain and some slight blurring.  After about 50 shots, these first 2 are the only resulting usable images.  The last picture of the tiniest Hautop actually turned out quite sharp.  I asked him to pretend as if he were sleeping like Daddy.  Something he loves to imitate.  If this had been video imaging you would hear his funny impression of snoring.  But it kept him still long enough for me to snap one photo.  Looking at the pictures side-by-side you can tell what a difference a still subject makes. 

My final thoughts on this Pinterest project.  Sure, it can be done.  With the right equipment, and some understanding of the functions on your camera, you too can take amazing holiday photographs.  But don't be discouraged if it doesn't happen on the first try.  As with most things, it's not quite as easy as it looks!

Our assignment for next week is to photograph someone or something that we love this holiday season.  Should be fun! As always, let us know what you think!! We would love to hear your comments. Or send us you own holiday lights photos.   Email us at hautopblog@gmail.com

2 comments:

  1. I LOVE these pictures with the kids in front of the tree! I am going to try this at my house now. I have a great amature camera, but I only use it on auto-mode. I have a great eye, but no brain for the numbers non-sense :) This makes me wish to have you down to shoot some of the kids infront of the tree! By the way, happy birthday to everyone over there! That's a lot of birthdays! Great blog post!

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    1. Thanks Colleen! We just keep trying until something turns out! Give it a shot with your camera and let us know if it works. We would love to include a few pics from our readers! There is a whole new world waiting for you outside of auto-mode! lol

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