A Year of Instagrams

I do not know what possessed me, but I spent the evening of December 31, 2013 putting together a book of all my Instagram photos from 2013. I guess I just realized I'd like a hard copy of those photos. They are certainly not the best quality, but I really do love them.

I used  Blurb to make by book. They offer an option to put together an "instant" Instagram book using their online book software. It's really cool, actually...it automatically pulls all your photos from Instagram and puts them in the book for you. Very quick and easy. For me, there was only one (ok, two) problems. 1) That kind of book only allows you to have 240 pages and I wanted one page for every photo - I had more than 240 photos for the year. And 2) there are not a lot of customization options with this type of "insta-book." 

So, I opted to use the tried and true Book Smart software that Blurb offers. You download it onto your computer and put your book together and then upload it to Blurb to purchase. Lots of customization options for control freaks like me.

I chose the 7x7 square because I just wanted something small. It's really a perfect size for Instagram photos since it's small and square. There's also a 12x12 square available. 

I also used a nifty program online called Instaport to download all of my Instagram photos to a zipped folder on my computer. It's a great way to backup your Instagram photos too. You can select which photos to include in the download by selecting a date range, hashtag, or a couple of other options. 

Once the folder of photos was on my computer (and unzipped), I just uploaded them to the Book Smart software and had it "autofill" my book with one photo per page. I made a template for my book that I used for every single page. That's it below, and it's super easy to make.



Just take one of the one-photo layouts and tweak it a little bit to be formatted how you would like. I made mine with a square photo taking up the majority of each page. I made a right and left version of this template to account for the binding that takes up part of each page.

On the top of the page, I made a text box for the date and location (if applicable) of the photo. On the bottom of the page, I made another text box for the caption I originally posted on Instagram along with my photo. Including those two text fields were important to me since they provide a timeline and reference point for each photo (and they were a big reason why I chose to use Book Smart for this book).

So in a matter of minutes, I had my book populated with all of my photos. But adding the dates, locations and captions/hashtags took a little bit more time. There is no way to pull that from Instagram into Book Smart automatically. But, I just brought up my Instagram profile online and used it to put in all that info. I was able to copy and paste my comment at the bottom, which made it go much faster. 

Even though adding the text took some time, I really love how my pages turned out. Now there's context for the photos, yet the layout is still really clean and simple.

For the cover, I just made a simple template in Photoshop and included some of my favorite Instagrams from the year. All it took was a few hours and my book was ready to order. Hooray for (almost) instant gratification...just like Instagram! I'm excited to have this little book along with our big family year books (that I will one day get caught up on). 

Underwater at the Lake House

Just a few days after Casey and I got back from Paris, my mom asked me and the boys to join her and my dad at their lake house. At first, I was thinking that was crazy because I'd just gotten my clock turned around and my laundry done. And then, I realized that summer was upon us and the lake sounded like a great idea. So we went.

And I had just gotten a new underwater camera that I've had my eye on for a while. So, I got to play with it and it was so much fun! I really just took photos at the pool...actually, in the pool! And the first thing I learned was that I need some more practice at taking underwater photos. (A lot more practice). But even though they are not perfect, I still love some of the photos I got.

I wasn't sure if Logan would go underwater for me or not. He does about 50% of the time we go swimming. But, he wanted to see his photo, so he did it!

Ethan was actually harder to pin down...not because he wouldn't go underwater, but because he was busy swimming. But, he got excited about seeing himself underwater too, so I was able to get him to cooperate for the most part. I love his face in this next one...

Since Logan was wearing his puddle jumper I had about .2 seconds to catch him underwater before he floated to the top.

Itty bitty head and giant arms...

I was not trying to be artsy with this next one...it was just out of focus. But, I kind of like it.

His smile has looked like this since he got those two front teeth. I love it.

This summer Ethan learned how to swim down to get his dive sticks. He worked hard and figured it out (with some instruction from daddy). And he was so proud of himself. Before that, we were having to give him a little push to get him down there.

Logan plays with the dive sticks too...just above water, usually.

This photo was taken as Ethan plunged into the water after jumping off the waterfall...something he does countless times at this pool.

Logan rarely wears his goggles, but he always gets more adventurous with going under water when he does.

Logan wanted to take a photo with me underwater. And he actually smiled...

I'm so glad I decided to take a couple of days and get away with the boys. It was so fun and relaxing and just what we needed. Of course, we wish that daddy could have come with us too, but he enjoyed some quiet evenings to himself while we were away, which are pretty rare.

NYC Photo Book

My Blurb photo book of our New York trip arrived yesterday. It came at 6:45pm. And I had been anticipating its arrival all day. Even Ethan knew to be on the lookout for the UPS truck. It was something like Christmas morning for me. And the fact that I finished this one just a little over 4 months since the trip is a new record for me.

I made the front cover image in photoshop and then used it with the image wrap option for the cover of the book. The photo "in" the NYC letters is one that I took of Manhattan from the Staten Island Ferry.

It's a standard landscape book (10 x 8 in) with 136 pages.

Because we had a few paper items from the trip, I decided to include them in the book by scanning them. Then I created jpg images of them with drop shadows using photoshop. I was not overly concerned with making them true to size, so I just eyeballed it. But, they actually came out pretty close. Below are our tickets on the way to NY.

I added some journaling so we could remember what we did and some of the details of the trip. I actually just used a lot of the wording from my blog posts of our trip (day 1, 2, 3, 4).

Sometimes (during the trip) I would take a photo of our tickets like I did below with the Metro card. I could have scanned them (because I still saved them), but I favored this photo of the ticket when we were actually on the subway.

One thing (of many) that I love about Blurb books is that you can use your own fonts. Most fonts that are installed on your computer automatically load in Book Smart when you open it. I loved using some handwriting fonts to make this book a little more personal.

Our (scanned) tickets to the American Museum of Natural History.

Another feature of Blurb books created with their free Book Smart software that I love and utilize a lot is their "custom layouts" feature. It allows you to create from scratch or tweak one of their many layouts to suit your taste or needs. I do this for every single page in my books. I am kind of a control freak and I want everything in a specific size and location. Then, you can save these layouts to use in other books that you create of the same size. Brilliant. 

It feels really good to have our photos from the trip printed and not just on the computer. Today, Ethan and I (and sometimes Logan) sat on the couch and looked through the book together. And that's what you're meant to do with photos (and why I believe they should be printed). I'm preaching to myself here as I try to finish up my goal of finally printing our family photo albums this year. It's looking really promising!

(Ok, so after reading my entire post, I realized it sounds like an advertisement for Blurb. I promise they're not compensating me...I just really love their books! For many other reasons not even mentioned here. Just wanted to clear that up. I've made other Blurb books in the past too...my Africa trip book and my emails that I sent my family and Casey during my study abroad semester in Oxford.)

Macro: Succulent

I have had the opportunity to play around with my dad's new 100mm f/2.8L macro lens for a couple of months now. I love it. It was a lens I was going to rent just for fun this summer and then my dad got one and let me borrow it. I still haven't given it back! (But I will!) 

I have taken many, many photos with this lens now. But these were the very first set. I took a $4 succulent from my grocery store outside in my front yard one evening after the boys were in bed and just shot away. 

I just love the look of succulents. The colors are soothing, yet their structures are very architectural. And to me, the modern and graceful shape of the plant is just accentuated by the loveliness of this lens. Seriously, the bokeh is amazing.

There are more where these came from. And I'm not done with this lens yet...I have a couple more fun things to do with it. I have loved broadening my horizons in shooting with a macro lens. It has forced me to see things in different ways as I've composed my shots and played with the light. It has actually been really fun.

Logan: 2 Years Old

After a busy day of not being home much, Logan an I scurried out the door in the evening to take these photos. I'm only one month late. Considering he's two for an entire year, I call that a victory.

And lately, this little boy has had his sweet side shining brightly. And it was out again when we took these photos. He was so cute and fun. We had a great time. No tears, except when he fell flat on his face once (I would have cried too...he was spitting out grass. It was one of those moments I was comforting him and trying to stifle my laugh at the same time.)

Anyway, here he is in all his two-year-old wonderfulness:

Every once in a while a photo just speaks to me as a mom. This next one does that. Because it just captures Logan as I see him. His sweet, toothy smile. The glints of red in his hair. And the sparkle in his big brown eyes (not just the catchlights!).

Logan is so loving right now. He freely gives out hugs and kisses multiple times a day. And when he wants me to hold him, he says, "hug" while lifting his arms up. He must know that I could never refuse that! And he still loves to be held. He's independent and wants "down" too, but he likes to sit on the counter when I make breakfast or lunch. He will do the same when I'm brushing my teeth (or daddy.) And while on the subject, he loves to brush his teeth. He'll come running saying, "teeth, teeth!" when I say it's time to brush his teeth.

And he is saying new things every day and putting words together. In the car Ethan will teach him words. It is one of the cutest things to listen to because Ethan gets so excited when Logan says something and then Logan gets so excited because Ethan's excited. I love listening in on their conversations. And while they still do their share of toy-stealing, and fighting...they hug and kiss each other a lot too. Every time they leave each other they will do it. The cuteness of that pretty much kills me every time.

Logan is in love with trains, cars, trucks...and Buzz Lightyear. The train in the photo below was a gift from Nonnie and I brought it along because it is a vintage-style train engine. I initially brought it because it is a sweet toy that I don't mind being in photos and I know that sometimes holding a toy will help Logan stay on track (no pun intended) during our mini-session. But, actually, I love that it's in these photos because it is really indicative of his interests right now.

This little child loves songs and dancing. He has been a dancer since he was a little baby...he just naturally moves to music! He is beginning to memorize and sing some songs now too. 

Logan is still a pretty picky eater. He just won't try new foods. I think he might like some of them, but getting him to try them is near impossible. Such a stinker. His favorite food right now? Cookies. Which is what he calls anything sweet...he hardly ever gets an actual cookie. However, he does like greek yogurt, so he eats that with fruit in it quite a bit. His lunches at school look a bit more boring than Ethan's (who still eats almost anything).

Logan went to the doctor on his birthday, but didn't get his shot until a couple weeks later when he had recovered from his cold. He was such a trooper because he got his flu shot at the same time. One in each leg. But the pain from shots vanishes instantly when a lollipop appears. Seriously, this works with both of my kids...have a lollipop on hand and ready in the exam room (I bring my own because our office hands them out at the exit) and give it to your kid immediately after getting the shot. It works wonders to help them forget that little 2 second prick of pain they just experienced. 

Here's Logan's 2-year-old stats:

Weight: 27 lb, 5 oz (40-50%)

Height: 35 inches (75%)

PS - Here's another little photo tip for little ones (especially at this age): Take something for them to sit or stand on/in. It helps keep them in one place so that you are not chasing them all over the place. Those props are not just for looks...they are way more practical than that!

4th of July 2012: Fireworks

This was my first time taking photos of fireworks. It was a lot of fun! And it was my boys' first time to see them in person! (The past couple of years we had been traveling and missed a fireworks show for one reason or another). But this year, they got to see them and they were both in awe.

We are fortunate enough to get to watch fireworks on the 4th of July from my parents front yard. We put fold-out chairs in the middle of the street and wait for the show to begin. There are no crowds, no parking hassles, and the show is great. It's put on by the country club across the street so we are actually really close to the fireworks.

My dad and I both took photos during the show and were stationed with our tripods standing behind everyone else seated in the chairs. One thing that made it really enjoyable for me was my remote shutter release. I had all my settings ready to go on my camera and because of the remote shutter release, I was able to just snap away (without looking through the camera) as I was watching the show. I checked the first few photos and made a few adjustments (including the position of my camera for composition) and then I pretty much just watched the show. 

And actually, remote shutter releases will reduce your camera shake as opposed to pressing the shutter yourself (because your shutter speed should be quite slow for fireworks). My settings were around ISO 200, f-stop 8, and shutter speed about 1 second. In hind sight, I wish I had slowed my shutter just a little more, but there's always next year for experimenting with that. I still loved how these turned out.

In the bottom third of the photo below, you can sort of see the faint outline of a house and trees. That shows you just how close we were to the show. Most of the fireworks were above the house/tree line so the sky just looks black.

When we got to the finale, I didn't have time to change my settings so the fireworks were a little overexposed straight out of the camera. I worked with it a little in ACR, but I will try to be more ready for that next year. Although, the finale comes without warning and I don't want to miss seeing it just to fiddle with my camera settings!

I have yet to see my dad's photos from that evening, but I know he got a couple of shots of everyone watching the fireworks (by bouncing his flash off of them), which I did not get. I may share some of those when I get to see them. This was such a spectacular way to end the evening.