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10 Travel Photography Tips

Lolli — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:08:57 +0000

It shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone that photography and traveling are two of my favorite things. Since I’ve had a chance to play tourist in my own area, as well as take several trips already this year, I have had plenty of chances to remind myself of my un-written rules about travel photography.

10 Tips for Capturing Great Travel Photos

Carry your camera with you whenever you go out. Remember – sometimes it’s ok to be a cellphonographer, too. Cell phone photos can be a great supplement to the rest of your vacation photos, and often provide a fun and unique view of the trip.
Include people in your photos. Landscapes, buildings, and monuments are wonderful, but don’t forget to add your fellow travellers in at least some of the shots. People shots will enhance your memories and add personality to the photos.

Carry plenty of extra (charged) batteries. Remember that you will probably be taking many more pictures on the road than you would at home, so be prepared with back up batteries. When you get back to the hotel (or home base) every night, make sure to fully charge them for the next day’s events.
Have extra memory cards on hand. This tip is especially important if you won’t be near a computer to upload photos each day. It’s worth it to buy an extra card or two so that you don’t run the risk of missing out on photos due to a full memory card.
Try different perspectives – include a variety of horizontal and vertical shots. Focus on the unexpected. Sometimes what seem like the most ordinary scenes will tell more about your trip than the standard tourist shots.
Turn off the flash. Many locations (especially museums) don’t allow flash, so it’s good to be prepared and know how to handle low light photography.
Be your own tripod. Whether you’re dealing with low light situations or shots utilizing a long zoom, be sure to brace your camera to avoid camera shake. (this is another case where those indoor photography tips can come in handy).
Hand your camera to someone else every once in a while. Have you ever returned from a trip only to discover that YOU were not in any of the photos? Yeah, that happens to me all the time…
If there’s ever a question about whether you should take a shot or not, always err on the “take it” side. Don’t hesitate. Digital photos are free, and it’s better to have a bunch of silly shots than to miss capturing an adventure altogether.
Take a ton of pictures. You can always go back later and delete the bad shots, but you can rarely go back and get a shot you missed because you hesitated.

Summer is on it’s way, and with the season comes many opportunities to go on vacation or take short day trips around town. Use these tips to make the most of your vacation photos. Once you’re home, how wonderful would it be to make a DVD of your travel photos and videos with YesVideo?

What are your favorite things to photograph when you are traveling?

Disclosure: I am a YesVideo ambassador and receive compensation for my time and involvement with them. All photo tips and opinions are my own.

Note: I am now selling a handful of my photos on Picha, and you can actually purchase each of these photos along with others (new photos added daily) for as little as a dollar. I’d love for you to check them out!

Magic Ketchup – Part Science Experiment, Part Magic Show

Lolli — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 03:15:22 +0000

I found a little science experiment on sciencebob.com and thought that it might be fun to try it out with my 7 year old. No, it’s not science fair time. Just time for some good, clean fun.

Pin It

Here is how you set up the experiment:

Supplies:

Plastic soda bottle (1 liter or 2 liter)

Ketchup pack from a fast food restaurant

Salt

Procedure:

Rinse out an empty soda bottle and fill it up to the VERY top with water.
Put an unopened ketchup packet into the bottle.
If your ketchup packet floats, move to the next step. If it sinks to the bottom of the bottle, add about 3 Tbsp of salt to the bottle and shake til it is dissolved.
With the cap tightened on the bottle, squeeze the bottle gently but firmly and watch the ketchup magically float down to the bottom of the bottle. Release your hold and the ketchup will float back up to the top.

How we made this a magic trick

I’ll be honest with you – when I showed this to my almost-7-year-old, he was not entertained past the first two dunks. So I got conspiratorial with him.

“Go get Reese. Let’s tell her that the ketchup falls when you blow on the cap. When you blow, Dad will squeeze the bottle and we’ll trick her!!”

Yes, I really said that.

Suddenly, it was a game. AJ had SO. MUCH. FUN. tricking Reese, and she was completely stumped, especially since none of her blows would move the ketchup at all. Dad sat calmly holding the soda bottle at the bottom, as if steadying it, and no one guessed that he was in on the trick.

We tried it on 11 year old Twizzler, as well, whose analytical brain was struggling to figure out the mystery. Nobody could determine how AJ and I could make the ketchup move up and down while they huffed and puffed with no results.

We did let them in on the secret eventually…

Here’s how it works:

It’s really quite simple. DENSITY. You know that bubbles float, right? Well, there’s a little bubble inside the ketchup packet which keeps the ketchup from sinking. When you squeeze the bottle, you put pressure on the packet, causing the bubble to get smaller and the packet to become MORE DENSE (or less buoyant). As the packet becomes more dense than the water around it, it will sink.

Release the pressure and the bubble again expands and the packet floats back up.

This is sometimes known as a CARTESIAN DIVER.

How to make this a science fair experiment

Ask some questions and try some variations: would a mustard packet work? What about soy sauce or mayo? Does water temperature make a difference? What happens with different sized bottles? Does it work with soda?

How To Make Bouncy Shoes – A 6-Year-Old’s Tutorial

Lolli — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 15:47:56 +0000

While I am away from my computer for most of the day, enjoying my kids on their day off, I thought I’d share the tutorial that AJ, my 6 year old, wrote up yesterday at church.

How to Make Bouncy Shoes with Springs and Duct Tape

I have to be honest….he set out to make a pair of bouncy shoes as soon as we got home. He found two springs in old flash lights and taped them to his shoes. Sadly, they did not bounce. And believe me….he tried pretty hard.

Regardless of the springy shoes’ success, I do think that AJ has a future in tutorials. Yes?

Phineas and Ferb – DIY Halloween Costumes

Lolli — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 04:55:35 +0000

My kids are last-minute costume-pickers. They tend to change their minds on what they want to dress up as all October long. Luckily, the characters that two of my kids decided to be at the very last minute this Halloween turned out to be very easy (and cheap) for us to put together.

Phineas and Ferb is one of our favorite shows. Even my husband raves about the humor and stops his work to sit down with the kids to watch an episode.

My 12 year old Necco is a huge Perry the Platypus fan, and so she decided to put together a Perry costume. Here’s how it turned out:

What you need for a DIY Perry the Platypus costume:

Turquoise or green sweat pants
Turquoise or green hooded sweat shirt
Hat
Orange gloves (or “hands” cut out of extra orange felt)
Two 8×10 pieces of orange felt
One 8×10 (or smaller) sheet of orange craft foam
scissors
safety pins

Instructions for making a Perry the Platypus costume:

Cut one 8×10 piece of orange felt in half so that you have two 4×5 pieces. Cut a simple “foot” shape (each side will be the same). Safety pin or tape one foot to each shoe.

Cut a platypus tail from the second sheet of orange felt. Safety pin the tail to the back of child’s shirt or pants.

Cut a beak from the sheet of orange craft foam (ours was approximately 3 inches long by 4 inches wide, rounded). Safety pin the beak to the sides of the hood or tie a string to each side of the beak and tie around the child’s face like a mask.

Dress child in sweat shirt and sweat pants. Be sure to put the hood up and place the hat on top of the hood. That’s it!

What you need for a DIY Ferb costume:

My 6 year old son is a big Ferb fan. As soon as he saw us working on a Perry costume, he asked if we could make a Ferb costume for him. Here are the supplies you’ll need:

yellow t-shirt
blue pants
2 8×10 sheets of tan craft foam (or 3 sheets of 4×5 foam)
1 sheet of white craft foam
1 8×10 piece of green felt
glue, staples, clear packing tape
scissors
black sharpie marker

Instructions for making a Ferb costume:

Measure child’s head and make a “hat” with the sheets of tan craft foam. We used 2 and a half 5-inch-long pieces of foam and put them together to make one strip that was approximately 4 inches tall and 12 inches wide. We secured the pieces with staples and tape (to cover up the staples).

Cut randomly zig-zaggy hair from the green felt. Tape the hair onto the top of the “hat.”

Cut two circles using the white craft foam and draw a black eyeball on each circle. Glue or tape the circles onto the front of your “hat.”

Dress child up in yellow shirt and blue pants and Ferb head “hat” – that’s it!

Note: Multi-color packs or single sheets of felt and craft foam can be purchased at Walmart or craft stores like Michaels. I payed about 5 dollars for both mutli-color packs that I used and have a ton left over. The t-shirt, sweat pants and sweat shirt were the most pricey parts of the costume, but those can all be used for every-day wear since they are not modified at all as part of the costume.

Halloween Craft Idea – Cheap and Easy “3D” Paper Pumpkins

Lolli — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 04:05:28 +0000

Years ago, I made a wooden pumpkin craft at a church event. I have kept that pumpkin and displayed it every October-November since then.

Last night, as I lay un-sleeping in my bed, I realized that I could re-create that craft for my kids with hardly any cost. I couldn’t wait to try it out today!

Halloween/Fall Standing Paper Pumpkin Craft

Supplies needed:

Paper (card stock or decorated seasonal paper from a craft store…..if you don’t have fancy Halloween paper, you can decorate plain paper with crayons, markers, or stickers)

Scissors

Glue

Pencil for tracing

Pumpkin template (upload it below)

Pumpkin templates to print at home

Download the pumpkin outline (one large pair and one small pair), print at home, and use as a template for making your pumpkins.

6 Easy Steps:

Trace your pumpkin on a piece of paper (if you are using patterned paper, trace the pumpkin on the back side) – trace on with a stem and one without.

Cut out your two pumpkins.

Glue your cut pumpkins on the BACK side of another sheet of paper (blank side facing blank side).

Cut out your pumpkins (they will now be two-sided).

Place your two pumpkins together with the stem UP and the non-stem facing down. Cut a straight line in the middle of the pumpkins about half way up.

Slide the pieces together so that your paper pumpkin can stand up.

5 supplies + 6 steps + 10 minutes (plus, each pumpkin is less than a dollar!) = a quick and FUN Fall craft that many ages can do together. You also get happy kids who are excited to display their creations. (My middle school daughter was so excited, she plans on bringing her pumpkin to school to hang in her locker for the rest of the month).

Linked up with Blissfully Domestic’s Halloween DIY Round-up and VolunteerSpot’s Fall Class Party Ideas post.

If you’re looking for fresh classroom party ideas for the upcoming Halloween or Fall Party, please view and share the VolunteerSpot Classroom Party Guide with contributions from your favorite craft and party bloggers!

How to Make a Diaper Cake in Less Than 30 Minutes

Lolli — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 10:00:58 +0000

Recently, KitKat and I attended a baby shower for a friend of mine having twins. This is her first pregnancy – what a way to jump into parenthood!

Because the mother-to-be was my oldest daughter, KitKat’s, teacher at church, I thought it would be fun to come up with a baby shower gift that the two of us could work on together.

We took two packages of diapers, some streamers, baby spoons, hand sanitizer, rubber bands, and a little cup and turned it all into a very reasonably priced diaper cake.

In less than 30 minutes, the two of us (but mostly me) put the supplies together to make a diaper cake. It might not be the most beautiful diaper cake, but it was fun, cheap, and functional (and homemade gifts always get some extra attention!).

Easy diaper cake instructions:

Step 1:
Roll any size diaper (for this example, I used size 1), starting at the open end. Secure each rolled diaper with a rubber band. I used a little more than one jumbo package. The more diapers you use, the bigger your cake will be in the end.

Step 2:
Start with a round base. I tried an odd shaped bottle of lotion at first, but found that the round Ovaltine jar worked perfectly. Secure one layer of rolled diapers around your base with a rubber band.

Step 3:
Build your foundation base until it is your desired size by adding additional rows of diapers around the initial layer around your base.

Step 4:
Now work on your second tier by building another layer of diapers around your base above the first layer. Repeat with additional rows until it is your desired size.

Step 5:
Wrap a thick ribbon around the outside of both cake tiers to cover the rubber bands. I used tape to hold the ribbon in place (actually, I used baby shower streamers, but it’s the same idea).

Step 5:
Decorate your cake! Add fun things, like binkies, flowers, toys, etc to liven up the cake. Baby spoons work perfectly as “candles.”

And that’s it! In less than 30 minutes, you’ve got a fun baby shower gift.

10 Tips for Taking the Perfect Profile Picture – #bloghopcon

Lolli — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 12:00:24 +0000

The perfect profile picture is tough to come by – it’s natural to want to put our best features out there, but not all pictures were created to be profile shots.

#BlogHopCon

This weekend I am joining with a couple dozen amazing bloggers to present the BlogHop Conference – a free conference that anyone can attend from the comfort of their own home. We’ve pulled together two days worth of incredible learning. To see the 2 dozen + conference sessions, check out the BlogHop Conference hub at Blog Conference Newbie.

Have you ever heard any of these phrases at a blog conference or meet-up?

“Wow! You look a lot older in person!”
“Oh! I didn’t recognize you at ALL! Did you color your hair?”
“You don’t look anything like your picture!”
“You were in the same room as me? I didn’t see anyone that looked like you! I can’t believe I missed you!”
or “You don’t have a profile picture anywhere on your site. I always pictured you totally different.”

If anyone has said anything like this to you, it may be time to update your profile picture.

Here are a few simple tips for taking and choosing the best profile picture:

Have one! The first rule of profile pictures is to have one. Readers want to know who they are listening to.

Keep it real – Avatars and cartoon drawings are fun but they are not ideal for profile pictures.

As fun as it is to see myself as a Simpson, I don't want my readers to think I actually look like this...

Glamor shots are out – you might look great when you’re all fancied up, but is anyone going to recognize you?

Crop! Focus on the face – profile pictures tend to be small anyway, but remember that the more of your body is in the shot, the smaller your face will be.

I like this picture, but 2 key things make this shot less than ideal - my face is very small and I'm wearing shades. And people get intimidated by that lens.

Keep it simple – a simple background helps the viewer focus their attention on the subject – you! It’s really easy for a person to become “lost” in a busy background.

Who’s who? Group shots may bring back great memories, but are your readers (especially new ones) going to be able to pick you out in the crowd?

This group shot brings back wonderful memories of Type-A Conference. Can you find me?

Ask for opinions – it’s ok to ask friends or family to help you chose. Sometimes it’s hard to pick what looks most like “You” yourself, so get help from someone who knows you well.

Don’t hide! Show your face and let us see your smile! Don’t hide behind your favorite sunglasses or your hair.

Although this picture does show me on a good hair day, it doesn't really let you know what I look like

Be consistent! If you use a branding “prop” in your profile picture, be aware that people will expect that prop when they meet you.

I like this picture, but I don't want to be known as the "rain bonnet lady"

Update! If you drastically change your look – lose weight, color or cut your hair, etc. you might want to consider updating your picture.

I love this picture of myself, but people always tell me that I don't look like this picture (my hair was too straight or something...)

What profile pictures stand out to you? What types of profile pictures do you like to see on blogs? And how does yours measure up?

This post is part of the BlogHop Blog Conference at Home.

To see the full agenda of learning sessions visit Blog Conference Newbie. I’m thrilled to be participating in this Conference from home with so many of my favorite bloggers!

Crochet Headband Tutorial

Lolli — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 14:24:04 +0000

I am so thrilled to be featured for the second year on Skip to My Lou’s Summer Craft Camp. Last year, my super easy Kite Tutorial was highlighted during the craft camp. Today, my very first crochet tutorial is featured on Skip to My Lou, and I thought I’d let you guys know. If you like it, I might just have to do more of these crochet tutorials right here!

The best thing about this headband is that even a beginner can do it. And it only take a few minutes to make. Check out the directions on Skip to My Lou. I’ll be back later some fun posts and giveaways for Father’s Day!

Photography Questions….Answered!

Lolli — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 15:07:47 +0000

Today at 11:00am Eastern Time in the BlogFrog Coffee Talk Community I’ll be leading a LIVE Discussion about photography, where I will be available for questions and ready to hand out lots of tips to get better results with your camera. I hope you will join me there! (PS – if you can’t join this morning, you can go back through the saved discussion any time!)

In preparation for the live chat, I’ve compiled a list of my photography tutorials:

Where I store my photos online:

People ask me all the time where I prefer to store my photos online. I have used both Flickr and Photobucket, and though they are popular, they didn’t do what I needed them to. I finally found the perfect solution for me in SmugMug. (Want to check out my albums?) I love the way that I can organize, view, and share my pictures there. If you’d like to see what it can do, you can try it free. And if you want to sign up, here’s a $5 off coupon. I highly recommend it!

I hope to see you shortly in the Live Chat!

Oh, and I almost forgot! The BlogFrog got a beautiful new MAKEOVER last night! Go check out the new look!

How to Avoid the Red-eye Effect

Lolli — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 17:02:38 +0000

Help me win the Amazing Avocado Big Hit Grand Prize ($5000!) for my yummy Avocado recipe by voting daily for me at http://www.theamazingavocado.com/bighit/vote.php?id=8

How many times have you taken a photo with the flash and come back with something like this?

Megan and Allison from Mom Central with me in Baltimore for the Aquafina party

Red eyes might be fashionable for Halloween, but I don’t know of anyone who wants to be remembered with blood-red eyes. So we’ve either got to avoid red eyes or correct them. Just the other night, after taking pictures at a night time wedding, CandyMan asked why a few of his dancing pictures had such hideous red eyes. He was curious why the red-eye effect happened, and I figured a few of you might be wondering as well.

It’s relatively easy to correct the red-eye effect in your post-processing routine, but it’s always better to start with something good. I typically only have problems with red eye when using my little point and shoot. Most photo processing programs have a handy red eye tool. If the red eye tool doesn’t do the job, another quick trick is to convert the photo to black and white.

Why do eyes turn red in pictures?

The red-eye effect occurs in photographs in low light when the flash is very close to the lens. Because the flash of light occurs too fast for the pupil to close, a lot of that light from the flash passes through the pupil and reflects off the fundus (at the back of the eye) and out again through the pupil. The main reason that the camera records this as red is because there is so much blood located behind the retina.

Kind of gross, isn’t it?

How can I avoid red-eye?

Use a bounce flash, ie: point your flash away from the subject so that it is bouncing off the ceiling or a wall. This ensures that only diffused flash light enters the eye.
The closer your flash is to the lens, the more likely you will be to catch some red eyes. That’s why point and shoot cameras are more likely to have the problem than SLRs, whose lenses pop up further away from the lens.
Shoot flash pictures from an angle, rather than looking straight into the subject’s eyes (have the subject look away from the camera lens).
Take your pictures without flash. You can increase the lighting in the room, open the lens aperture, increase your ISO, or reduce the shutter speed to accomodate.
You can still use the flash indoors by increasing the lighting in the room so that the subject’s pupils are more constricted.
Use the red-eye reduction function in your camera. Red-eye reduction lets off a series of short, low-power flashes, or a continuous piercing bright light triggering the iris to contract before the actual flash goes off and the picture is taken.
Having the subject look away from the camera lens.

What photo trick or technique would you like to learn about next?