Hello Laundry Room, Goodbye Economic Stimulus Check

(This post has also been entered into the Basket Carnival at Orgjunkie.com -- be sure to check out the "after" pictures to see what we did with baskets to help organize our new space.)

It might have been nice to have spent the long weekend lounging around the house, but it just didn't happen. We did spend most of our weekend at home, although we also went dinner at my parents house one night and at a friend's house for Memorial Day lunch. Oh, and we also had several trips to the big hardware/home store not far from our house.

We had decided that it would be best to spend our economic stimulus check on something responsible, but instead, we decided to totally redo our laundry room. Yes, we spent over $2000 taking care of our laundry room. Yikes! But, that *did* include a brand new washer and dryer! WooHoo! (And, really -- that was almost all of the money, truth be told.)

As long as we had to take everything out of the room (and we FreeCycled our old washer and dryer), we decided to paint, redo the flooring, put up a new border, and totally reorganize.

Here is our big tackle, complete with before and after pictures (all very little areas of the room at a time -- it's hard to get good pictures of a 30 sq ft room!):

Before...(There doesn't appear to be a picture of the floor before hand -- it was a blue tile floor with tiles that were starting to slip away from one another. Augh!)

During...

Eric hard at work putting in the new flooring -- oh, you can kind of see the old flooring right next to the new flooring

Not quite done remodeling yet, but we just had to stop everything to try out our new washer and dryer that were delivered on Sunday morning -- the kids loved seeing their clothes spin around and around

After...

Say Cheese (or Not!) -- Some More Tips for Photographing Your Kids

So, I posted some home photo shoot tips yesterday, but thought I would post a few more tips for photographing your children today.

I am certainly not an expert and may say things you have tried/seen/read about before. I am just using my knowledge that I gained during my 2 1/2 years of having a portrait photography business, and just about a lifetime of being a shutter bug.

So...on to a few more ideas/tips:

1. If you notice that many of your pictures start looking the same, try working from different heights. You will not see a good portrait photographer just standing in one spot, and always staying at the same height. Lay down on your belly to get to a lower level. Maybe grab a step ladder in order to have someone seated by able to look up at your just slightly.

2. Don't be afraid to sometimes pose your kids. But, likewise, don't be afraid to let them do their own thing. One of my favorite portraits of my middle son is with him with a smile so big that his eyes are almost closed and he has his tongue sticking out to one side of his mouth. Now, this is not usually my style of photograph that I enjoy. But, when I look at it, I see that it is him.

However, on that same day, I took another favorite picture of him looking deeply in thought with his gaze downward. This was very much *not* him, but I loved that I captured that moment, since he is always in motion. And -- can you believe that day produced another of my favorite pictures of him? It started to rain and, just like any child might do, he ran into the rain and stretched his arms out to feel it, but with a little bit of obvious hesitation. These were all taken on a day when I let him do a little bit of his own thing, but also sometimes said, "Hey Jack -- come sit here and now look over this way."

3. If you are using digital, find different ways to make your pictures black and white. If you have photo editing software, this will be easier. I have found that just desaturating an image often doesn't get the effect that someone is looking for. And, nobody's method for black and white may be what you like best. Read up on it, and see what you like! (Personally -- I like high contrast black and white, as well as dark and moody black and white.)

4. Take close up portraits! Get right up close -- fill the frame with just someone's face. But...while you're at it, make sure to take some full body shots. And, then do some things in between. I know there is a real movement toward portraits that are uber close up. And, they're great. But...it's nice to have some that aren't so close up as well.

And, while cropping in the camera is great, don't be afraid to get things in the background for your family snapshots! Just think of the fun of seeing Grandpa's first car in an old photograph of him and his high school sweetheart together. Consider that if people were so worried then about "cropping in the camera," you might not have seen that car because the focus would have been tightly on your future Grandma and Grandpa.

Okay...I got wordier than I meant to, so I'll end here. But, perhaps I will add more tips at another time!

Tips for a DIY Home Photo Shoot with Your Kids

I'm all for going to an actual portrait photographer for portraits -- let me say that up front. Even though I have officially closed the portrait part of my business last year, I feel like I would be remiss if I don't say that upfront.

Anyway -- if you would like to, however, try to do some portraits at home, let me give some backdrop ideas. Because, darn it -- you know what it's like, don't you? You get the most adorable picture of little Sarah. Her eyes are twinkling, her smile is shining -- but her lunch plate with a smattering of hot dog pieces can be seen in the background. Augh! It's things like that that can really take away from a picture.

And, it doesn't even have to be something so extreme. It can be a cluttered counter (like at my house!), a chair that clashes with her outfit...whatever. There are a lot of things going on in our houses, and they are not condusive to picture taking.

I started out trying to just use a cream colored flannel king size bed sheet. I will tell you that all though it wasn't the best, it did work okay. But, even better was when I picked up a king size black vellux blanket from JC Penney's (on sale, I was able to get it for $30) and a several yard piece of pink fleece from Walmart. These both made wonderful backdrops before I started buying backdrops that were actually made for photographers. (And, even then, I still sometimes used those!) You don't even need fancy equipment to hold them up -- when I first started practicing on my kids several years ago, I would tape backdrops to door frames, ledges, etc.

Now -- here's the next part of this tip -- try to get your little one to sit/stand at least a few FEET away from the backdrop. Trust me on this -- it *will* look better. Now, I will admit, I have done as little as a foot in front of it before, but I really would not do any closer. The farther away, the better.

Okay, so those are the home photo shoot tips for now. Oh, but here is a quickie that was fun for us. If home doesn't work -- go outside! But, here's the kicker -- if you have more than one child, only take one of them at a time. One summer I took one of my boys out for a few hours of pictures on a local college campus. It was just me and him. Those are still some of my favorite pictures of him, and he still remembers it too!

I made the bed today! I ROCK! (aka Remember to Praise Yourself)

First, I feel the need to preface this by saying, I think I am generally pretty modest about the things I do. When people say things like, "I can't believe you find time to do all those things," I will answer with something like, "Oh -- it's nothing" or "I guess I like to stay busy." Or, if someone compliments me on something that I made, I thank them, but it's hard for me to take a compliment.

That being said...I will admit something. I praise myself often. And, darn it -- you should too. We need it. I think most of us spend so much time poorly taking compliments that we don't really take them to heart.

And so, like yesterday when I finished getting the roast, potatoes, and carrots all into the crockpot in record time, I said outloud, "I rock!" I will admit -- that's my favorite. But, I also say things like, "I'm awesome!" or "Rock star!" or anything else that pops into my head.

I praise myself for the small things in life, I notice. For things like the roast or making the bed. I don't do it for every little thing, and not for the same thing each time I do it. I don't even think about it when I do it. I just do it. And it makes me smile.

So, maybe the next time that you dust the living room or unload the dishwasher -- remind yourself how awesome you are!