On Saturday the October Photo Challenge assignment is to use a long exposure. To understand what this means, you’ll need to know how shutter speed works, which I’ve covered here. Long exposure means you keep your shutter open for a longer period of time (this amount of time is determined by you) and (generally) doing this will capture a blur of motion (as long as you have a moving subject in the frame).

At one of my very first Jenna Cole sessions I gave this a try. I had the girl stand still, turned my shutter speed down to something like 1/30 (I can’t remember) and had the boy run toward her while I snapped the picture (locking my elbows to my side and holding very still so only he would be blurry). You can do this with cars, bicycles, runners, your kid, anything. Just remember that you need to keep very still or use a tripod, or everything will be blurry.

If you happen to be near some fireworks on Sunday, use a long exposure to capture them looking pretty with nice long trails. Again, keeping absolutely still or using a tripod is essential.

ISO 4000

50mm

Freelensing

1/50 sec

Another method you could try is using a long exposure to make the background blurry, and keep the subject in focus. I saw a guy doing this in Florence next to the Duomo at twilight and I realized I wanted to try doing the same thing! It’s actually quite difficult and I took like 30 pictures before I got this one okay one. I figured out what settings I wanted via trial and error, and then when a bicyclist was zooming by I would lock in my focus, hold down the shutter, and swing my body in the direction s/he was moving. Tracking the subject in this way freezes them and blurs everyone around them.

ISO 250

50mm

f/3.2

1/30 sec

I’m sad because as we were walking away the cutest couple ever rode by us. He was riding the bike and she was sitting on the handlebars laughing hysterically, with horse drawn carriages behind them, right in front of the world-famous Florence Duomo… basically it would have been a light-hearted, romantic, once-in-a-lifetime shot if I had captured it well. But I was anxious and moved my body in a shaky way as I took the picture and this is what I have as a result. You can still kind of see it though, right?

I took a long exposure picture last week at sunset, out of my living room window. Look down at Lake Shore Drive in the middle of the frame and you can see the blurry lights of the cars driving past. I didn’t use a tripod (normally I would have to) because I pressed my camera firmly up against the window pane and exhaled very slowly to keep the camera steady as I took the picture.

ISO 200

16-35mm

f/10

.5 sec

Another option that I don’t have a picture of, is using a tripod to take a picture of a city skyline at night. Opening up your shutter for a few seconds without moving the camera at all will make the city light up in a really magical way. Or you could get really ambitious and paint with light like Jeff Newsom does! (The third picture down is one example, do some googling to find tutorials if you want to try it.). This is what I think I’m going to try.

Using a long exposure doesn’t mean you have to have blurry things in your picture, you could take a picture in a dark room using the timer to try out taking a picture in low light without using the flash. Or you could experiment with your off-camera flash “freezing” the motion of your subject. The challenge on this day offers you a lot of options when it comes to what kind of picture you want to take. If you want to create motion blur in your pictures remember it will be best to take the picture in a lower light setting.

For those who are using an iphone… I’m not sure how you can do this. Maybe there is an app you can download? If you’re participating with a point-and-shoot, you need to figure out how to get your camera in shutter-speed priority mode, as that will be essential on telling the camera you want it to use a slow speed. Those with a dSLR will have no problems making this work, either manual or shutter-speed priority will give you the flexibility you need to create what you want. For any type of camera, if you want to create motion blur in your photo, make sure you turn your on-camera flash off.

This one is a bit trickier, but I’m looking forward to seeing what people come up with!

You might remember I switched up the format of my Non-fiction Book Club a bit, abandoning the timeline and just reading the book when I could. I actually really enjoyed this, as it felt less stressful and I was still able to leave my thoughts in the comment section and interact with others a little bit, even if it was drawn out over a long period of time. See my comments, and those of the others who read the book with me, here. (And feel free to read the book and add your thoughts at any time!)

We recently started listening to audiobooks, which has completely revolutionized the number of books I’m able to consume. Hello, why didn’t I think of this earlier? I’m just about done with the Hunger Games trilogy (I loved it, if you’re wondering.)

I’m trying to decide between three different titles for my next listen. Would you like to join me in reading one of them?

Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health

We all witness, in advertising and on supermarket shelves, the fierce competition for our food dollars. In this engrossing expose, Marion Nestle goes behind the scenes to reveal how the competition really works and how it affects our health. The abundance of food in the United States-enough calories to meet the needs of every man, woman, and child twice over-has a downside. Our overefficient food industry must do everything possible to persuade people to eat more-more food, more often, and in larger portions-no matter what it does to waistlines or well-being.

Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions

Why do our headaches persist after we take a one-cent aspirin but disappear when we take a fifty-cent aspirin?

Why do we splurge on a lavish meal but cut coupons to save twenty-five cents on a can of soup?

When it comes to making decisions in our lives, we think we’re making smart, rational choices. But are we?

In this newly revised and expanded edition of the groundbreaking New York Times bestseller, Dan Ariely refutes the common assumption that we behave in fundamentally rational ways. From drinking coffee to losing weight, from buying a car to choosing a romantic partner, we consistently overpay, underestimate, and procrastinate. Yet these misguided behaviors are neither random nor senseless. They’re systematic and predictable—making us predictably irrational.

Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void

Space is a world devoid of the things we need to live and thrive: air, gravity, hot showers, fresh produce, privacy, beer. Space exploration is in some ways an exploration of what it means to be human. How much can a person give up? How much weirdness can they take? What happens to you when you can’t walk for a year? have sex? smell flowers? What happens if you vomit in your helmet during a space walk? Is it possible for the human body to survive a bailout at 17,000 miles per hour? To answer these questions, space agencies set up all manner of quizzical and startlingly bizarre space simulations. As Mary Roach discovers, it’s possible to preview space without ever leaving Earth. From the space shuttle training toilet to a crash test of NASA’s new space capsule (cadaver filling in for astronaut), Roach takes us on a surreally entertaining trip into the science of life in space and space on Earth. [Mary Roach happens to be my favorite author ]

On Saturday those who are participating in the October Photo Challenge are going to be creating silhouette pictures, and I thought some of you who are newer to photography might be wondering how you can do this.

It’s actually incredibly easy. Just make sure that all of the light is coming from behind your subject. Meaning all of the light should be coming right into your lens, not from the right of you, not from the left of you, not behind. If you expose for the background, instead of the people, the subject will be black and the background will be pretty and colorful (if it’s sunset/sunrise).

That’s why most silhouette pictures are done at sunset/sunrise, because the light is coming from one direction. This picture looked almost exactly like this straight out of the camera.

You can also use Photoshop or other editing programs to really enhance the colors in a sunset silhouette picture, like I did with this one.

I did a Day In The Life day last week, and I actually created a silhouette picture of T1 looking out the window. As you can see, it’s sunset, and I have no lights on in the apartment behind him so the outside is light and the inside is dark. This is a way you could create one even if it isn’t sunset/sunrise. Position your subject in a room with one window, with their back to the window (or their side if you want to do a profile shot). Make sure all of the lights are off in the room and expose for the light outside instead of inside.

You could also use artificial light like I did for this one. This is from one of my first weddings and I had the couple stand and kiss right in front of the flash. I positioned myself so the flash was coming through their lips/necks/face and captured a silhouette of them kissing.

I suggest sunrise/sunset because it’s both pretty and fairly easy. But if you can’t make that work, think about trying things out with a lamp in your living room or even a flashlight! And your picture doesn’t have to be of people, those just happen to be my favorite subjects.

T1 is very aggressive. Here he is pushing his friend off of a pumpkin. Apparently he wanted all the pumpkins to himself?

This is a common thing for him. Last week we met up with another little boy and he was grabbing him by the front of the shirt and shoving him up against the wall. Sometimes I think he is aggressive because he is excited, so excited that he just doesn’t know how to contain himself. Other times I think he does it because he is angry, and he doesn’t know how to control his emotions. He has bit a boy we play with regularly several times now.

We’re worried about this, and we’re not sure how to tame it. At first we just apologized a lot, and I would run over and scold him, but I don’t think I was getting there fast enough so he was confused. And the biting has been getting better lately, now he just acts like he wants to kiss me (or the person/thing he is forming his teeth around).

I want to teach him that pushing other kids down is not appropriate, and I’m not sure how to do it. I tried slapping his hand twice, but I just don’t feel good about physical punishment (particularly for a kid that young). I am worried about indulging my temper and eventually using violence as an outlet for my own emotions (you know, like when your kids turns a page in the book you’re reading to him before you are ready). I also think that slapping his hand after he pushes down his friend just confuses him, he doesn’t connect the punishment with the crime. And how confusing will it be for me to tell him not to hit others when I hit him?

My latest idea was to discipline him by lavishing attention on the child he has just been aggressive with. Ignoring him. Does this even work? It doesn’t seem like it would, but I don’t think like a toddler.

If you have resources to help me through this, I would love some help here!

Grunty, little baby, P, Boo boo,

I stopped writing monthly updates 6 months ago. You turned 18 months today though, and I felt it was time. Did you know this is the only time in your life when people will notice your half birthday? Growing up I always felt like October 15th was pretty special, but no one else agreed. Maybe I can give you a little bit of the magic I craved as a kid, because turning half a year older is pretty darn cool. Especially at this age, when you change so quickly and have so many milestones to celebrate. You walk with no problems now, have entered nursery at church, and get excited when you see us walk in the door. Is there anything sweeter, more beautiful than your smiling face than the times when I come home from an early morning farmer’s market run? I don’t think so. You unconditionally love every single thing about me, and that is a lot to live up to. One day you will realize how incredibly imperfect I am, and that will be hard to navigate. For now, I’m happy to be your mama, whatever it is you understand that to be.

I thought I could describe you best at this age with some of my favorite pictures from the past six months. Meal time is mess, but fun because you eat almost everything I put in front of you, and that brings me so much joy. I lavish so much attention and praise on you, trying to make sure you understand that eating vegetables and trying new flavors and textures is a wonderful thing. I want you to love and enjoy food the same way I do, and I think this begins when you are very young.

Your hair still hasn’t grown in evenly, and we’ve cut it several times so far. It grows fast, and you look cute both when it’s long, and when it’s short, so it works no matter what I think.

We visited your aunt in Utah, and then spent over a month living with grandma and grandpa in Washington. You were the center of attention everywhere we went, and I now understand why girls move back home to live near family. I want you to grow up the way I did, surrounded by grandmas and grandpas, and aunts and uncles, and cousins.

You haven’t shown a love for swimming yet, but you do love taking a bath. You run over to the bathroom door and point, letting me know you want me to open it so you can rush inside and start trying to climb into the tub.

You make this face for one very specific reason. Your dad and I find it hilarious.

You’re a rather adventurous little boy. At our family reunion there was a huge hill in the backyard, and it didn’t take you long to figure out you could move down it by tumbling around on your side. If we leave a chair pushed away from the dining room table, you love to climb up on the table to see what’s been hiding up there. Lately you started going into the bathroom, climbing up on the toilet, and then sitting down in the sink to play.

You still like to put things in your mouth, and when we were in Poland you couldn’t get enough of your grandpa’s backyard, filled with fruit trees. Last week I came home from the farmer’s market and you dug right through my bags until you found a pear, and took a huge bite.

In Poland you learned what the TV does, and how it can play Teletubbies. Oh no! I’m not sure I understand the appeal of that show, but you love ot run over to the TV and point to it until daddy turns it on for you. Mommy still shakes her head no and declares it unnecessary. In Poland you were extra spoiled, you even had your own little chair to watch in!

Sometimes I stroke your face and feel amazed that such a big personality can fit inside such a little body. I go back and forth between telling you that you’re a little baby, and letting you know that big boys don’t do naughty things like whatever you’ve just done. I suspect this is an enduring part of motherhood, thinking you’re so big one minute, and then finding you to be so young and small the next.

You know a few signs, though milk is the only one you use. So far the only word we’ve ever heard you use unprompted is shoes.

You LOVE to go outside, more than anything in the world. If I open the apartment door, you run out and try to convince me to take you to the elevators, because you know that’s how you get to the wonderful place with the grass and the trees.

You love to have me sing “itsy bitsy spider” (I admit you seem to like it best when I do it, which I love) and when I turn on the song Little Sack of Sugar you turn around to sit in my lap so we can jiggle jiggle jiggle tickle tickle tickle together.

Pushing things is another passion of yours. The shopping cart, the stroller, a little bird toy we brought back from Poland.

And there are plenty of tantrums. This day it was because I wouldn’t let you eat raw green onions (you were just taking a bite and then spitting them out, too wasteful!) and most of the time I just let you put yourself back together. As I write this, you are currently sleeping, down for an early nap because the tantrum that you started up just wouldn’t stop. Those are hard days.

This face? This look? I can’t get enough of it. If you can replicate this through your teen years the girls are going to be swooning.

Those blue eyes I wanted so badly? They’re still here, though I have no idea if that will last. If they turn brown I’ll love them just as much, as you’ll remind me of your father even more.

You have two favorite things. The iPhone (and device where you can swipe and use your iFinger), and your bottle. On the recommendation of the speech therapist we are currently in the process of eliminating your bottle and it’s pretty miserable. We’re going to get through this though, right?

Unfortunately you can be really aggressive with other kids around. So far all the other moms have been nice about it, and I think it’s really about how excited you are to spend time with them. Sometimes you grab at me or push me the same way you do with them, and because I don’t fall over or cry you get confused and think you can treat everyone that way.

Every night your dad and I climb into bed and recap the funny things you did that day. I can’t think of a single sunrise that has passed where I couldn’t recall something that made me smile, often doubling over with laughter as I tell your father the new hilarious thing you came up with. Wherever you go, you bring joy. I love that about you.

Thanks for being my little baby, my reminder of what’s important in life. I love watching your personality develop and the little ways you demonstrate how much you love us.

We love you, you tiny tempter-tantrum-throwing wiggly-worm.