Twelve weeks to better photography: week one

Saturday while I was at work, I was on thenest photography board and ran across a girl talking about a 12 week challenge she found that she was apart of in order to enhance her knowledge of her camera and her photography skills in general. I thought it would be a great idea considering how much I love my camera and taking pictures and how I really desire to be good at it. I took a photography class in high school, but we obviously didn't have DSLR's so I don't know as much about my camera as I'd like to.
So... Imagine my excitement today when I stumbled across Meredith's post talking about how she (and a handful of other bloggers) will be doing the same 12 week course together! I am going to join in... and what perfect timing, starting today!

{Feel free to join in or if you'd rather just read the tutorials, here is week 1}

So here we go! Week 1's lesson is on aperture (f/stop). The lower your f/stop, the less of your photo will be in focus. The higher your f/stop, more of your photo will be in focus. So naturally you think you'd constantly want to use a higher f/stop, because who wants blurry pictures? But this all depends on the photo you're taking... if you're trying to really focus on one particular thing in the photo and want to blur out the background, you'd want to use a lower f/stop, where-as if you want everything to be in focus, you'd use the higher f/stop. Make sense?

The challenge this week was to take 3 pictures... one with the f/stop at the lowest setting it will go, mine is f/4. The second picture at f/8, and the third at the highest it will go, which for me is f/22.

Here are my shots:

{f/4 -- everything in background completely blurred}
{f/8 -- everything in background "mostly" blurred}
{f/22 -- almost everything in picture is in focus, making that ugly satellite really stand out and taking away from the tractor, which was the 'subject' of this photo}

Pretty cool, right? Loving this already!

Hair S.O.S

Okay my beautiful readers... I am in desperate need of some hair help. I have these little hairs growing in on the side of my forehead, you know those ones sticking straight up... (someone called them 'baby hairs'?)



These suckers are the worst thing and I have not figured out a way to tame them down. I have tried blow-drying my hair a different way, not blow-drying my hair at all, wetting these things down... NOTHING works! So I've been wearing headbands and trying to pin them back with my other bangs, which my husband has informed me is not my best look ever. (thanks hun!)

Anyone know of any product that would help?

12 month pictures.

Here's a few of my favorite pictures I took of Jaxon most recently. We went and had his pictures taken as a newborn, at 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, and then because of obvious budget cuts, I took his 12 month pictures. Hope you enjoy them.












I posted these on facebook and have had a handful of people ask me to take their/their kids' pictures. Hopefully this means my dream of photography is not too far away... everyone has to start somewhere, right? I know I am far from great, but I am trying.

And... a shameless plug... if you want someone who really wants to learn learn learn and grow as a photographer, feel free to contact me about taking some pictures for you. I can't promise they'll be perfect, but I promise to try! I would love to try and pause time, even if it's just for a brief second! I love to capture those precious moments.
email: meg.keith@gmail.com

Jaxon is ONE!

If you know me, I am not huge into themes, but when I do have a theme I try and incorporate a bunch of fun things around that 'theme' to make it work. For instance... his nursery. Decided on airplanes, but didn't run to Babies 'R Us to buy the airplane bed set that also includes a lamp, wallpaper, a diaper hanger thing (?), etc. Instead I searched at really random places and put it all together. So I did the same thing for his birthday party. Decided to do a jungle 'theme'... not sure where that came from, but I guess I thought it was cute! Most of his decorations came from etsy.com - my fav place ever!

We had 23 adults and 10 kids... so yeah, it was a full house! But the party ran smoothly and I had tons of help from my amazing mother in law and mom and other family members. I had a blast planning the party, I just wish Jaxon would be able to remember it, but I guess that's why we have pictures - so we he can see someday what Mommy & Daddy did for him. :)

On to the pictures...


I hung each month picture across the kitchen wall... everyone loved seeing how much he had changed each month. The banner in the middle was from etsy.com

No, I did not make this... again, from etsy.com







Then on his actual birthday, we went out for dinner with our good friends Brady & Karalie and then came home and opened a couple more gifts, and gave Jaxon another 'bite' of his birthday cake.


Oh no he didn't... oh yes, he did.

He then decided to grab mama's face and share the love!

We had a really fun day celebrating his birthday, and his party was a blast.


Last but not least... here's the letter I wrote to him on his birthday.

Jaxon Daniel,
Wow... an entire year has passed. It seems so cliche and repetitive to say "time goes too fast" or "I have loved every second". But, time really does go too fast, and I really have loved every second. I'll never forget the day you were born... how nervous, excited, scared, but sooo ready to meet you and become a Mom... all at the same time. You were born and we were in love. As the days went on I spent so much time just staring at you. Watching you breathe, watching you smile in your sleep, watching you just be you. I loved getting to know you - I loved figuring out your different cries, how you liked to sleep, how you liked to be held and be comforted, and just adored every moment that I could spend with you. As the months passed, every day it seemed I learned something new about you. What made you smile, what silly things you love to do to get a reaction out of me, how you like your food and bottles, how you liked to sleep (on the nights that you actually did!), and what things kept your attention. I loved watching you grow up, watching you figure things out and seeing how much you truly are like your Daddy in your mannerisms and your low-key personality. I'll never forget your first cry, your first bath, the first time you rolled over, the first time you crawled, the first time you said "momma" and waved bye-bye, and just recently the first time you walked. The first time you held your own bottle, and the last time you nursed. All of these things have unfolded right before my eyes, and I'll never forget them. These precious moments are forever engraved in my memory.

For 365 nights I rocked you to sleep. For 365 nights I sang to you worship songs and prayed for you before I laid you in your crib. 365+ times I prayed that you would always know how much I love you. 365 mornings I woke up to your beautiful blue eyes. 365 days were spent thinking about you, and on the days that I was at work, wishing I could be with you. For 365 days I talked about you, loved bragging about you, and was the proudest mommy around. And I truly have loved every second.

To say that you have stolen my heart is an understatement. Your Daddy and I will always be here to love you, support you, and pray for you. We will always be there to cheer you on, to encourage you, and to truly be your biggest fans. We can't wait to see you grow up and become the man that God has designed and created you to be. We can't wait to see your life unfold and see you follow Christ and accept him as your own Savior. We will love you through the good and bad, through the happy times and the hard times. We can't wait... but at the same time, we can, because we love this moment. This exact moment. And I pray that every moment we have we will forever cherish and never take for granted.

I love you Jaxon... always have, always will.
Mommy

Wordless Wednesday: 1-12 months