I never used to be such a fan of black and white. I have a wonderful photographer friend, who would give me discs or folders of images, often with both black and white photos and color. I always preferred the color. I really didn’t understand the appeal of black and white. Why have just the grayscale with ALL the beautiful colors out there?

But, I’ve developed an appreciation for black and white photos. And, I’ve even started converting some photos TO black and white. I thought I’d share a few I’ve done recently and why I converted them, as well as a color edit of the same photo.

Reed

This is not the same photo I shared six ways last week, although it was taken just before that one. In the one I shared last week, he has more of a smirk on his face. Here, he has a more intense look. I think a black and white edit really draws out that intensity. It makes the image more piercing and more timeless. I love this photo of him because it says so much.

Here’s a quick color edit. It’s okay, but I think it lacks the intensity of the black and white.

Lena

Lena loves to blow dandelions. She was in the moment and I loved it. But, I wasn’t so crazy about what she was wearing. And, on top of that, doing something like blowing dandelions is such a timeless moment that it translates well to black and white.

Here’s the color photo. Do you see what i mean about the red sweater, navy bandana, pink hair tie and green background? It’s a lot of color for one image and I find it a bit distracting.

Gus

My reasoning here was pretty similar to the others. I love the intensity and contrast in his eyes. I love smiling photos of him, but someday, I will look back, see photos like this and remember the agony of being 3. Those big, big feelings that come along with all of the growing up. The color photo also had some bright colors, which were not working. The brightness of the colors really doesn’t go along with his emotion.

So, what do YOU think? Do you agree with me about the black and whites? Or do you prefer the color images? Either way, I’d love to know!

“Hope deferred makes the heart sick. . .”

We got that call today. The bad one.

“Molly? …this is (coordinator) at New Horizons for Children. We got some bad news today. [Host child] will not be able to come this summer.”

They were unable to get her documents together. I do not know all of the details, but this is specific to her and (obviously) not anticipated. New Horizons was really wonderful and after 2 failed adoptions and getting notified via email both times, I thought it was so wonderful of them to call and talk to me on the phone. They asked if we’d like to pick a different child. Unfortunately, most children have either been chosen (yay!) or it’s already too late (boo!). There are only a handful left and both we and New Horizons agreed that none of them would be a good fit for us.

However, they will hang on to all donations so far and allow us to use them towards winter hosting.

For the auction, because the money was not yet in, we decided to have all of the donations go to the Smith family. They are hoping to host a boy named Valera and have a long ways to go with fundraising. We hope that this auction will give them a good push.

A few wonderful friends have asked me to keep Moose Prints up. I really have no interest in starting a business for profit– it just seems like a lot of work. But, I’ve contacted the hosting agency to see if we can raise the money proactively throughout the summer and fall and keep accepting donations for winter hosting. They are looking into it for me.

As for our sweet host girl. I do not know if she was aware that she had been chosen. Either way, it is difficult. Either to know of hosting, but not be chosen or to know you were chosen but not get to go. At the suggestion of a friend, we’ve offered to send her a care package if possible. We’d love for her to know just how loved she is, even if she can’t be here with us. We would love to fill it up with goodies– some necessities and some fun things to send it back to her. New Horizons is also looking into this for us.

And, I ask that you keep praying for her. We “lost” both “Quinn” and “Helen”, but yet, they both have families of their own and miraculously, we’ve even been able to see updates on how they are doing. And, if we hadn’t “lost” them, we wouldn’t have Reed or Gus. We are praying that our host girl’s story will be as beautiful. So, keep praying.

“. . .but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” -Proverb 13:12

I am really shy to give photography advice, because I still feel like I have a ton to learn myself.

That being said, I’ve had a few people ask from time to time. While I’m still just learning, I want to help how I can.  I was flipping through my photos from playing in the sprinkler, and I knew I needed to share this. It’s one tip that anyone can use.

The other day, I shared photos of my kids playing in the sprinkler. They were taken about 4 hours before sunset. The sun was still high in the sky and they were not in the shade. This is a challenging time to take photos, because of the harsh shadows that the high sun causes.

Case in point:

Um, no. Sorry. I would have just deleted that photo if I wasn’t using it for this post. Not just because Gus looks unhappy, but also because those shadows on his face– around his eyes and below his cheeks are intense. Even if he was smiling, it would look awful.

I used to think that there was really no point in pulling out my camera in the middle of the day at all. All of my photos looked like that one.

But. Silly, because all I needed to do was move 180 degrees around my subject. So, instead of shooting from where I was, I went to the other side of the action.

Voila. Do you see how the shadows on his face are totally gone?

I simply moved across from where I was. Do you see the white, green and orange cups? That’s where I had been sitting. Now the sun is behind my kids and they won’t have the harsh shadows on their faces. Super easy. Because the lightening is behind them, they are “backlit”.

The only issue that you may have with this is that your subject may be underexposed, especially if you have a very bright background. For example, someone standing in front of a bright window.

(I shot this in manual, but I asked my computer to tell me what proper exposure was. The left photo is what it thinks is proper exposure for the overall image. The right is the exposure that I set, wanting it to be exposed for Lena’s face, not even overall.)

This is one of the troubles of shooting in auto mode. However, many cameras offer something called “exposure compensation” which allows you to tell the camera that you actually want the photo brighter (or darker) than it thinks that the photo should be. The icon for it is a little plus and minus box. Play around with it, but if you want more detailed information, google “exposure compensation”. Of course, you can also always lighten your photo up with photo editing software, but there are some limitations there.

Thoughts? Do you hate that mid-day sun, too?

I was super excited to be contacted by some old friends for a Moose Prints session. It had been way too long since we had seen each other– so long, in fact, that I hadn’t even met their son, Oliver!

This kid is just adorable. Spunky, all over the place and adorable.

The outfit. That nearly-white hair.

How can you stand the cuteness?

And of course, I can’t leave out Buford. Oliver’s parents kept mentioning “the bison” and then, he made his appearance.

Buford the Bison.

Seriously, those eyes?

This kid is one handsome dude.

Thanks for letting me photograph him, Jacob and Becca!

Summer is here. We skipped spring and jumped straight into the heat of summer.

We had a couple of incredibly hot days, and while we had plans to go to the playground on one of them, we decided that the sprinkler would be a better option. My kids were SO excited.

Don’t let Gus’s face fool you.

This is how he really feels.

And Reed?

And Lena?

Much fun was had! We also had some friends come over for a bit.

It was her first time in the sprinkler.

Here’s my big boy looking moody. He was really just trying to make a body print on the concrete.

And Gus decided he wanted a nap. (His words, not mine!)

Telling me about what’s going on in the sky. The clouds and a plane overhead.

That’s what’s going on here. Anyone else getting in some early summer action?