The iheartfaces theme for this week is “Let’s Hear it for the Boys”. How can I pass that up? With three little boys and an occasional nephew underfoot I would be remiss if I didn’t submit one. Besides, it has been a really long time since I A.) posted anything here and B.) entered in my favorite photography contest. So today is the day!

It’s technically and artistically not the best shot in the world but it shows off his cute profile so well.
EXIF Data: Shutter speed 1/50, Aperture f/1.8, 35mm lens, ISO 100

Click here to find out all the deets.

Have you missed me? I’ve missed you but have been having a great time playing with my kids. Here are a few MomShots from the past month.

Oh! I forgot to tell you my lens news…

I splurged and went out and bought the 35mm f/1.8 AF-S. It’s great because I don’t hate my camera anymore! I have this love hate relationship with it because of the auto focus/lens capatability issues that the Nikon D40x has. It will only auto focus with lenses that have an internal auto focus motor. There aren’t as many of those lenses available and the ones that are available are more pricey then their counterparts. I have been struggling with this issue for a while and finally decided that it would be a better choice to buy a lens then to buy a new camera, for the time being.

So I have been playing with that lens and having a great time.

This is a little spontaneous afternoon drive that I took my boys and their cousin on. We drove up to Cascade Springs and then got out and ran around. We saw some fish, a whole bunch of cool birds, beautiful wild flowers and even a snake. We had a blast. By the time we got back to the Provo area we were FAMISHED! We stopped and got corn dogs and chocolate milk and everyone’s spirits were lifted and tummies were full. It was a beautiful afternoon.

These were all shot with the 35mm and the f/stop was probably around 1.8. I like to open it all the way up.

Ulysses is such a sweet boy. He tells about 400 times a day that he loves me and he loves to bring me flowers. He is going to make some nice girl very happy one day in the very far off future.

Shot with 60mm f/3.3 with a shutter speed of 1/2000.

I think this was the night before I broke down and bought the 35mm. I took the boys to a park to run off some energy before bedtime. The sun was setting behind these trees and mag was perfect in the light. It’s a miracle I got any shots from this evening that weren’t blurry as I had my old lens on. There were a few.

Shot with 42mm f/5.3 with a shutter speed of 1/20.

We have been going to the pool whenever we can. There are a lot of really great kid pools in the Utah Valley area. I’m really surprise by that for some reason. I guess it is because I grew up in an area where people went to the beach instead of the pool and so pools were pretty rare. Here they are very plentiful. And very cool too!

Shot with 34mm f/4.5 with a shutter speed of 1/100.

Well that’s about it for now. I hope you are still snapping away and playing with your camera. I have been experimenting with depth of field and with different aperture settings. I love to get some areas in focus and others not. I have also been playing with sun flares and their relation to my aperture settings. I’ll try to post again in a week or so.

Cioa, my friends!

Strange…

I think it has to do with the weather. Or the fact that these are the last few months before my oldest starts school and life changes forever. I may be subconsciously trying to soak up every single second I can with my children. I’m not sure.

Whatever the reason is, I don’t really think it is going to change any time soon. I just don’t see it happening. I’ll still think about posts frequently but I probably won’t actually sit down to write them up very often.

I’m just being honest here. I guess this is an apology of sorts. Sorry.

This is my blog birthday month too. I was hoping to do a big birthday celebration but I just can’t seem to log on for any serious amount of time.

Spring Fever has got me. Got me hard.

Here are a few of the things I have done lately. And by lately I mean the past three months.

A few senior portrait shots of my former neighbor. Isn’t she beautiful?

Here is my current favorite of my new niece. I showed you a little tryptech a few posts back. I can’t wait until I see her again and try to get some more shots.

Before we went to California, my sister and I drove up to Washington and saw my family.

That’s right, Cora is wearing a cape and a tutu. She’s awesome.

Here is Uly getting ready to fly.

More Cora.

Uly looking at the water on the ferry to Port Townsend, WA.

Mag is really sleepy here but he sure is cute! I love the light in his hair in this shot.

This is Mag enjoying all the candy he can eat on Easter morning (it’s really been a long time since I put together some good pictures, hasn’t it?!?).

This last one is one of my favorites. Olea might kill me but it’s worth it. We were at the Bellingham, WA farmers’ market and she was eating a super yummy gyro. She’s such a cute prego! It is really fun to live so close to my sister and watch her grow and get ready for a baby. It’s been great!

I think I’ll end with that.

Keep MomShots in your RSS feed and I promise once in a while I’ll update, but right now, it is just not going to be as often as I used to. Thanks for being so understanding, my friends!!!

So without ado let’s get on with the winning!!! Are you as excited as I am to know who won? I wish I could give one to each of you. I really do. I love camera strap covers. I really like the one I made (and one day will put up a tutorial for anyone who wants to make one the way I made mine). I love the comfort and visual versatility that camera strap covers offer. I also really love the ones that Jessie has at her Etsy site. She has some beautiful fabrics and how can you go wrong with a lens cap pocket?!? That feature is brilliant!!!

Now to the winning!

Drum roll please….
While the drum is rolling you can hear the announcer in a small fast voice saying, “Winner is randomly chosen through the use of Random.org.”

The winner of the camera strap cover with the ever so soft minky fabric upgrade is…

#67

The winner of the much coveted camera strap cover with the lens cap pocket is…

#13

Congratulations to both of you!

Everyone else, thanks so much for playing! MomShots will be hosting another giveaway in a few weeks so stay tuned and keep your finger on the shutter release button.

Happy Mother’s Day to you all!!!

And for the obligatory MomShot here is one of my oldest and youngest holding hands at the Torrey Pines Beach, my favorite beach in San Diego. If we were within driving distance of that location I would be headed there right now!

Don’t forget that if you purchase two slipcovers from her she’ll throw in a lens cap pocket upgrade for free. Tell her you came from MomShots in the comment on your purchase. I should add that if you are thinking about purchasing one from her but are on the fence, her prices are the most competitive prices that I have seen. She has great fabric designs and she has the unique feature of a lens cap pocket available.

And remember, it’s OK to buy yourself a mother’s day present! You deserve it!!!

I haven’t really discussed lens flare so some of you might be wondering what it is. I was going to type up the definition I found on wikipedia but it is long and confusing and I have a sore throat so I’m going to skip that part right now.

You can experiment with lens flare by shooting directly into the sun or off to the side a little bit. It can completely wash out your photo or you can get some really fun bright spots and rainbows on your shot.

This photo is a bit washed out but I still like it. I love it because of the hat. When my son puts on the Indiana Jones hat, he starts to sing the theme song from the movie and he grabs whatever is available and starts swinging it around making whip noises. It is super cute. Super cute!

Here’s my entry for this week’s iheartfaces competition.

This is not my entry but I liked it too. It’s just a cropped version of the above photo but I like it because it focuses on his face.

Here’s a shot my cousin Kristina took of her daughter Bella. This shot is so beautiful it looks like Bella has a sun crown and bracelet. Perfect for a little princess like her!

Princess Bella by Kristina McPherson

Do you have any shots with cool lens flare you would like to share with other MomShots readers? I would love to see them!!! Email them to me or send me a link to where they are online. MomShotsatYahoodotcom.

Check out her great fabrics at her Etsy store. She has some amazing colors and designs. She also has this really cool feature where she can add a little pocket for an extra memory card or a handy place to stow your lens cap. Pretty sweet!

Another feature she offers is to have one side of the slipcovers made with minky fabric. Those of us with young children will know how awesome this fabric is. Baby blankets are often made out of it and for good reason! The fabric is so soft and stays soft and beautiful wash after wash after wash. It’s is a great idea and will add so much comfort to your strap!

Pretty cool features, right? Oh, yeah! One lucky MomShots reader is going win a slip cover with Minky on one side and another lucky MomShots reader going to win a slip cover with a lens cap pocket! Sweet!!!

In addition to this awesome Giveaway, Jessica is offering a great deal to MomShots readers. If you order from her Etsy store, two camera strap slip covers she will throw in a lens cap pocket upgrade for free. When you place your order, just leave a comment telling her you came from MomShots.

So here are how you can earn chances to win:

On May 9th, I will announce the winners!

Ready.

Set.

Go!!!!

Thanks Tye!!!

Here’s my personal Neon Graffiti for the night. It was fun to play around with the settings and see how things interact. Photoshop is such a fun program!

So do you forgive me for being gone so long? Thanks for your concern and thoughts. I won’t go into it, but it was just a series of events tied packaged together with my wacky hormones. I’m back and ready for action! I’ve got a really fun new Tip of the Week to post (Thanks Tye!!!) and some new photos and thoughts to share. More to come next week!

For realz, yo!

Third place!

Thanks to Olea & Adam for being such great models.

I know I’m tooting my own horn but it’s such a nice way to start my weekend. I wanted to share it you, my friends.

Obligatory MomShot for the day. It reminds me of warmth and summer.

60mm, shutter speed: 1/2000, f/2.8
Processed with PW’s action Define & Sharpen and Totally Rad Action (TRA) Cinnamon Toast at 70%