One of my very favorite websites to visit these days, Planet Awesome Kid, teamed up with Global Action For Children, a children's charity to throw a truly FABULOUS fundraiser! All I can say is I am glad I wasn't working! From a children's beauty bar, to world class face painters, my girls seriously didn't know where to go first! This party was jam packed with fashion world heavy hitters, hipster parents from every corner of NYC, and even a little bit of hollywood showed up (you didn't hear it from be, but BROOK SHIELDS was even there with her adorable kiddos!).

This blog is a BIG FAT THANK YOU, to the team over there. They are doing amazing things, and taking to the streets (both cyber and paved) to make the world, a better, cooler, funner (is that even a word), and definitely more stylish place! Here's a peek at just how much fun we had. Being a city kid definitely has it's upsides!

Face Painting...

Have you ever wondered why professional photoraphers need assistants? It's not so that the photographer doesn't have to carry their own bags (though I'm sure there are some photogs who see it that way!). It's because the photographer needs to be able to focus on the moment that tells the story - even if the backdrop and lighting surrounding the story isn't the best shooting scenario. By taking care of small details that would otherwise make a scene unusable, an assistant frees up a photographer to work their creative and technical magic.  Maybe it's holding a reflector to bounce more light into an area - or maybe it's using a diffuser to diffuse harsh lighting - there are so many things that an extra set of hands just out of the frame can do to help make magic within the frame!

Today I got in a little practice being the mommy of two - though I'm sure a real mom of two would tell me that I was cheating - I had two three-year-olds! We did all of the fun things that three girls could possibly do without a sleepover and nailpolish.  We got smoothies ("Hey Sydney's mommy - are we going to the movies?"). We went to a jewelry store where they ran to the engagment rings like tiny moths to a flame... proof that diamonds are in our DNA! We even went to the toy store!

I had a return to make to the local 'R' Us, so I obliged them to a walk through the store, store-credit in hand. We ran through the bouncy balls and tinkered with the toy trains, but when we got to the end of the play kitchen aisle, both girls stopped in their tracks, mouths gapped in awe. There, behind a wall of cardboard and cellophane was a shiny red cash register - complete with a headset, walkie talkie, hamburgers, frieds, chicken mcnuggets, a happy meal box and CREDIT CARDS! I didn't even pretend we were going to fight it.

When we got home, I tried to direct the girls to set up shop in the open shade of the back porch. No.such.luck. "Old McDonalds" was destined to go into business in one of the least ideal places in the yard - under the playhouse. As the bright full sun was lowering in the sky, the girls weren't safe from it's glare - but they didn't care - they had a drive-thru window! Meanwhile, mommy was stuck with the worst contrast imagineable, peppered with the shadow of the monkey bars overhead.

So I pulled out my pop-up diffuser - a round, white disk that photographers use to soften harsh lighting situation. But professionals usually have someone or something holding it into place - I needed it just over their heads at a 45 degree angle. Clearly I wasn't going to be able to hold it and shoot.  ASSISTANT!!!! (crickets.)

Enter the bed sheet. I grabbed an old sheet that we use to cover plants on the coldest of nights and tied it to the monkey bars. VOILA! It wasn't edge to edge coverage of the drive-thru, but it bought me some even open shade!  Next time I'll actually take the time to march indoors and find a white sheet because the redish plaid did give off a color cast that I'll have to work on in my photo editing software, but hey - it did the job!  And bed sheets can be tied almost anywhere - to tree limbs, fence posts - anywhere you need the harsh lighting of the sun diffused.

"Welcome to Old McDonalds, may I take your order please?"

"Okay, one french fry, one chicken nugget, one diet coke - would you like an ice cream?"

"Thank you - have a nice day ma'am."

This month, our favorite resident pop-tographer, San Francisco photographer and designer Marc Javier, re-launched a great new webiste at MarcJavier.com. We were smitten by his artistry and, shall we say, the sense of urban wonder in his images for both his clients and his family.  So, what else could we do but put Marc in the hot seat - and he delivered!  For the record... this Poptographer rocks!

In my journey with my camera and my family one thing I have come to understand is that with any frame worthy moment there is usually more then one story going on at any given time. Take for instance, a simple Saturday morning snuggle session with my biggest girl and her daddy. I looked over from my computer to the scene of my Chloë Yoshe cuddled up with her daddy looking so small and sweet and knew immediately it was picture worthy! But once I grabbed my camera I realized that there were many stories here to tell.

The story of my dear husband taking a break from his busy morning to just be a daddy while sneaking a glimpse of his wife. 

The story of my biggest girl taking advantage of the rare quiet moment while her sister napped to watch a cartoon. 

The story of a daddy's big strong hand holding his tiny daughter close. 

Or The story of the cuddle itself and my daughter's sweet expression. 

You always have options, so when you pick up your camera with each snap of the shutter think about what story you are going to tell!

Snap to it!

In the spirit of showing progress and documenting how - with just a little practice - you can really kick your family photo's up a notch, allow me to showcase one of our awesome members, Leslie. Leslie recently jumped at the chance to have some one-on-one feedback and mentoring on our "M&M Momtographers & Mentoring" thread. You can read more about it here if you missed it.

Being the eager momtographer that she is Leslie was our first mom to post a picture and ask for help. Below is the picture that she posted.

With a little discussion, some critique and a few clear pointers on what she should do differently, we sent Leslie on her way to give it another go! And WOW did she improve! Not only was her straight out of the camera shot pretty impressive but with just a little effort... look at that edit!

(Straight out of the camera - putting her new skills into action!)

TA DAHHHH... The Final Product!

We are incredibly proud of Leslie, and equally proud to see the Momtographer's methodology at work helping moms take better pictures of their families.

You can see the entire discussion that brought Leslie to this point here, and also begin your own journey and start posting!

Snap To It!

Challenge Yourself!

When we created this site - we had two main goals.  The first was to create a fun, warm, safe place for moms to show off pictures of their kids.  Done - check!  The second was to create a place where moms are continually challenged to learn how to take better pictures.  Almost done- half check! :)

I (all bias aside!) think we are off to a GREAT start! The information is here and available to you, but I really want to to challenge you to take it a step further and start the process of taking better pictures! Don't worry, we are going to help! :)

So here's what I want you to do:

1) Participate in the monthly challenges! It's fun and there are cool prizes!

2) We are starting a thread called M&M (Momtographers Mentoring)- On this thread you post a picture with your settings and as MUCH information as you can about

your set up. Myself and/or Adrienne will critique and give suggestions for improvement for every picture posted, from composition, to post processing, to focus, we will get down and dirty with SPECIFIC suggestions. We ask that you follow up our suggestions with another picture attempting to put them into action! It's going to be a conversation, give AND take to help you improve.

This thread will be in the same vein as "Critique Me", but will be much more in-depth and focused. Other members are welcome to jump in if they have something to add or a question about anything posted, but we promise to do the heavy lifting here. The goal is to have at least one thread strictly dedicated to helping you take better pictures! :)

SNAP TO IT!

When we think of Rockin' Momtographers, few rise to the top of our coffee cup as quickly as Allison of Snippets From Suburbia. Krista first stumbled across her work a couple of years ago and started following her 365 project on Flickr. All she could say was "WHOA!" This mother of two had some serious skill behind the camera!  And Adrienne appreciates anyone who's not afraid to take themseles a little less than seriously - the humor in some of her work is just plain refreshing.

We were tickled when she agreed to be our February feature for "This Momtographer Rocks!" And we promise... if you don't giggle, smile and gasp once or twice while surfing her portfolio, we'll return your money, no questions asked (after you tell us where you put the money). Enjoy, and we'll just go ahead and say "Told ya so!" now!

This time last year, I was stuck in a discount store, staring in disbelief. It was my daughter's first school Valentines exchange, and, of course, I wanted to do something special. Low on time (and funds) I bought a bunch of plain cards to decorate by hand sure that I would follow through.  And then, with best intentions thrwarted, I was back in the early morning hours of Valentines day, grabbing whatever was on the shelf.  Sigh - nothing says "I love you" or "Be mine" like a perforated cartoon character in a cape.

TO MY CHILDREN

The tweet read, "RT @kirtsy: I've watched this 100 times. And I want to send it to every mom I know. http://bit.ly/cgZCwZ Thank you, @katherinecenter" I had a few spare minutes (ever looking for a diversion from what I SHOULD be doing) and after all, I am a mom... My heart stopped inside my chest and after several moments I realized that I wasn't breathing. I hadn't connected with anything this way in a very long time. It was the best spent 2 minutes and 41 seconds online ever. Thank you twitter!

I've watched this video now more times then I care to admit and shed a number of tears that only another mom could understand or guess. And you know what, I'm ok with that. It made me think of all the things I have wanted to say, If only I knew how. This is something that I have struggled with in my own journey as a mother. I have journals that were started with all the best intentions, that are still waiting for their pages to be filled. And there in lies my problem so many things I want to say, but am never quite sure how to say them. Whenever I write them down I feel like it's only part of the story, but doesn't paint the whole picture. I want them to know the whole picture, I want them to see themselves the way I did. Then I realized, It's through my images that I can tell the rest of the story. My camera is an extension of my heart, my mind, my hand, and my mouth. It tells my story in way that I never could before. I am so grateful to have found my voice through my lens, because now I can tell them the whole story, I can show them, and they can know.

Momtographers, this community is in it's infancy, but I hope that now as we lay the framework, it's built with the spirit of empowering every mom to find a voice to tell her story. To show her children all the things she want's them to know. We want to empower you so that you can use your camera in a way that brings you joy and satisfaction. If you are like me and find that sometimes words escape you, I hope that you feel powerful now knowing there is another way.

To my children:

Since the moment I felt you flutter in my belly I've loved you with a love that I never could have imagined. From your funny faces, to your sad ones, tears and giggles, first steps and first bites, you are beautiful, and sensitive, funny, clever, and a little naughty. The way you love each other amazes me more and more every day! I love you my sweet girls. And when words aren't enough or don't flow the way they should, there are the images...

Yesterday was my daughter's first-ever gymnastics lesson.  Gush.  I can't tell you that this post isn't a great excuse to tell you how proud I am that we may have found an outlet for our super-active chatterbox (after our *ahem* interesting experience with ballet), or how entertained I am by her fearlessness. But if I'm going down the emotional rabbit trail of my parenting experience, I need to disclose that it was a real nail-biter.

Ah, the push and pull of parenting. Let go. Stay close. Hide in the bleachers so you're there for the inevitable potty break, but