Jazzy Sun Birthdays aims to put smiles on the faces of homeless children by making them feel like kings and queens for a day. Many of the children they serve know first-hand what it is like not to have a place of their own and possibly have had their parents struggle to find the source of their next meal. Saleem-Ismail firmly believed that helping children who have been exposed to a great deal of hardship experience some of the simple joys of childhood is critically important, and thus established an organization which hosts monthly birthday parties for children whose birthday may otherwise go uncelebrated, including cake, candles, rousing “happy birthdays,” decorations, and presents.

The joy on the faces of the Jazzy Sun Birthday children is what keeps the organization and its volunteers going as well as the many monetary and gift-in-kind donations that are provided by generous individuals and businesses throughout the Capital Region. It was a recent party that reminded all involved that what they are doing is making a difference in the lives of many children.

“As we were cleaning up the party room, my friend told me to look outside at the playground,” said Saleem-Ismail. “EVERY SINGLE CHILD who was playing outside was happily blowing bubbles, one of the items contained in the goody bags that each had received. The happiness evident in their smiles and the fact that they were being carefree meant the world to me and told me that the project was succeeding in its primary goal.”

We are proud to have Jazzy Sun Birthdays helping children and families in our region, and are thrilled to contribute a portion of our January proceeds to Jazzy Sun Birthdays. To learn more about their organization, visit them on Facebook.

Note: ABP’s monthly charitable contributions are based on the proceeds from prints, products, and sessions. Any session booked with a deposit received will be applicable to that month’s charitable organization, though the session may be held in the proceeding month.

January – Saint Catherines Center for Children, directed to Jazzy Sun Birthdays
February – YWCA of the Greater Capital Region
March – Best Buddies
April – Cailin’s Memories
May – United Way
June – Jakes Help from Heaven
July – Brave Will Foundation
August – Thomas Patrick Morrison Foundation
September – Franklin Community Center
October – The Children’s Hospital at Albany Med
November – Double H Ranch
December – Angel Names Association

We encourage you to learn more about the work that these organizations do, as they are indefinitely making our region a better place to live. Check back tomorrow for more information about our first recipient–Jazzy Sun Birthdays!

What happens if it doesn’t snow?

If a client is desiring snowy shots for their family, we schedule these a bit differently than normal sessions. Since there’s no way to guarantee we’ll have snow on a certain date (and a fairly fresh coating, even if minimal, is preferable) we’ll schedule on a tentative basis and get in touch when snow is in the forecast. February is historically the snowiest month, so we are feeling optimistic that we’ll get lots of the white stuff!

What about the cold?

This is always a concern clients have… will the kids be ok out in the cold? What about the runny noses and red, ruddy faces that invariably occur? First off, most parents know that kids are pretty immune to the cold, and will jump at the chance to be outdoors and playing in the snow. The good thing is, we keep it short. short&sweet sessions are a popular option for snow sessions, or with signature sessions, starting indoors (i.e. at the home) and then finishing up outside. We really only need a good 15-20 minutes outside. If it is exceptionally cold/windy/icy, we won’t shoot that day. And those red, runny noses are easily remedied in post processing.

Here’s a couple of images from a recent snow session with my own family, photographed, of course, by Kristen. And yes… this perfect wooden sled is available to use!

Oh, and have I mentioned how much I love returning to a client’s home and seeing their gorgeous pieces from their session on their walls? Now, we just have to add Chloe to the mix!

M. family, thank you so much for inviting me back to photograph your growing family. It was such an honor!

• Don’t forget that our huge fifth anniversary promotion is valid through the end of the day today! We are excited for our studio sessions, as well as some fun winter signature sessions as well. Send us an email if you’d like more information or to take advantage.
• Thank you for all of the great questions you sent over yesterday! We’ve composed a Q&A that we think contains some helpful tips and tricks, so click here to check it out.

And now, onto the giveaway! Today, one family will receive a custom signature session, complete with two of our most popular offerings… a framed fine art print and a modern storybook. We’ve spent (and continue to spend) countless hours seeking out the best quality prints and products for our clients. Our albums and framed prints (by Morningside Gallery in Newtonville) help turn images into art. Digital images are a valuable thing to have, but nothing showcases your family more than gorgeous, heirloom pieces. Here’s a sampling of some of the beautiful items that we offer.

We’d love to know which image of ours is your favorite. Take a peek on our website/blog and let us know what you love and why. You can scroll back through the blog to check out our past sessions, or click the sidebar (at left) to narrow them down. Then, send us an email any time between now and 7:59 PM, and you’ll be entered to win! Anyone can enter, but do keep in mind that our signature sessions are valid for children and their immediate families (i.e. no extended families). The family must live within 60 miles of Albany, NY.

Good luck, and thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for an incredible first five years!

I have a nice Digital SLR that I got about a year ago (to help me capture the speed of my little one!).  It came with a general lens (18 – 105).  What one lens would you say you use the most with your pictures? I’d like to save up for one but don’t know what to get right now.  I love to shoot nature so I’ve thought a macro lens would be nice but don’t know if my money would be better spent somewhere else.’

If you have a DSLR, lenses are definitely the best place to invest your money. They’ll allow you to get versatility (i.e. every day shots, kids’ sports games, nature/landscapes) and therefore get the most out of your camera. Good quality (glass) lenses can be very expensive… many well exceed the cost of even professional camera bodies. However, for every day use, there are a lot of options that work just fine. For portraits, we use wide angle lenses as well as prime (fixed focal length) lenses. For every day purposes, one lens that is well known for being extremely economical and often recommended, is the 50 mm 1.8. The focal length allows you to work both indoors and out, and it is a good option for working in low light situations. Macro lenses are great for specific purposes (like close up nature shots, as you mentioned), but if you are on a budget, I’d recommend seeking out something more all-purpose. Online reviews are a great way to figure out what would work best for your most common usage.

We recently purchased a Canon PowerShot SX40 so that we could capture higher quality (and quantity) pictures without committing to an SLR-level camera. So far we love what it can do, but of course we’d love to hear any advice you have regarding cameras.

Here are some of our burning questions:

• What software do you use/recommend for editing pictures, storing or backing them up, sharing them with friends/family?
•  How can we best organize our pictures once they are downloaded?
• How can we best protect our photos (and videos) with backup procedures?
• Is it worth printing pictures out like old days and creating photo albums, or are digital archives sufficient? How do you choose and commit to printing out those “special” moments and displaying them artfully in your home?
• Is there an at-home printer that you recommend for photos, or do you prefer using other sources such as Mpix?

Excellent questions! The “after” part… figuring out what to do with all of your digital snapshots… can be daunting.

• The best type of software really depends on how much you are looking to do with your images. We use Adobe programs, such as Photoshop, Bridge, and Lightroom. These are large and rather expensive programs, so I wouldn’t recommend them for every day use. Adobe does have a smaller program called Photoshop Elements, which I’ve heard great things about for basic photo editing. If you have a Mac, Apple has programs such as Aperture and iPhoto which are very popular. I recommend keeping your images online, in addition to storing them on your hard drive. Flickr is a popular photo sharing website, and Google has a similar site as well.
• Different methods work for different people, but my personal method for my daughter’s snapshots is pretty simple. I make a folder for each year, and then a subfolder for each month. Then, I create a further subfolder for the original images, one for any images that I’ve edited, and one for our cell phone snapshots.
• Backing up your images is SO, SO important. Think about how devastated you would be if you you lost all of your images. Hard drives crash… its not a matter of if, its a matter of when. Don’t make the mistake of getting complacent and in turn, losing all of those precious memories. I highly recommend storing your images in three places. (1) On your computer’s hard drive. (2) In an offline medium that you can keep in a safe place, such as burning them onto CD’s or keeping them on external hard drives. I recommend purchasing an external hard drive for this purpose. They are very inexpensive and come with tons of storage space. (3) With an online back up program. This is a critical part of the equation. God forbid your house burned down, was flooded, etc., your images will be safe off site. Back up companies such as Mozy and Carbonite have very inexpensive back up options and continuously run on your computer. That means you don’t have to remember to back up your images… it happens automatically.
• Yes! With the digital age, so many snapshots sit dormant on computers, never to be seen or enjoyed. That’s not to say you have to print every image you take, but try to make the effort to get those day to day memories offline. Prints for around the house are great, but one of the best ways to showcase your images is with books. Websites such as Mpix, Snapfish and Shutterfly are great options, as they offer economical press-printed books that you can make as fun or as simple as you’d like. For my daughter’s snapshots, I also use Exposures albums and fill them with 4×6 prints. That is a nice option if you prefer more of a traditional album.
• I don’t know too much about home printers, other than the fact that good quality ones are expensive (as is buying photo paper and the collossal amount of ink required!). With so many online labs nowadays, I recommend printing online. For your daily snapshots, again, websites such as Snapfish or Shutterfly are just fine. When clients purchase digital images through us, we recommend Mpix.

I love taking pictures and we have a pretty good camera and lense (Canon Rebel). I love how natural and vibrant your photos are. Do you edit your photos and if so what program do you use? Any tips on good photo editing? Perhaps you know of a workshop on photo editing?

See above for my photo editing program recommendations. As far as tips go… less is more! It’s easy to fall into the trap of way over processing your images. All of of our images are post processed, but the key is to getting a perfect image straight out of the camera… you can’t salvage a bad image after the fact. Good light and exposure are paramount. I’m not aware of any particular online workshops, although I’m sure there are many! Many of the local towns continuing ed programs, as well as community colleges, have Photoshop classes if you’d like to further delve into that area. For Mac users, the Apple store also offers free classes on using their photo programs.

I keep telling my husband that I need to buy a new camera!!  But I have no clue what to buy.  I obviously don’t want to spend a ton of money, but I was hoping for something that could help me get some good images, since I obviously am not a professional!  I know that the camera can’t work wonders and that there is a lot that goes into professional images, but if you have any thoughts on some cameras that could help, that would be WONDERFUL!

Both Canon and Nikon have great lines of entry level DSLR cameras. For every day purposes, there is no need to go into debt to get a nice, versatile camera. These entry levels bodies (for example, the Canon EOS Rebel series, one of the most popular options) are really great every day cameras. You can use them as a nicer point and shoot camera on the automatic settings, but have the option to learn and use the more manual settings as well.

Just got my first DSLR camera and already love those everyday photos you described that I’ve been able to capture way more than my point and shoot.  However, struggling with all the settings.  Which should I be using most often?  Seems like the flash often pops up on most settings but I find my eye liking the shots where there is not a flash.  Another question….how do I avoid getting shadows behind my kids’ heads when taking their pics?  Cannot seem to figure out an easy lighting trick.

Congrats on your first DSLR! Learning how to use it to your full advantage can certainly be overwhelming, and its more than I can explain in a quick answer. After you’ve devoured your camera’s manual, I recommend that you check out some books on digital photography, as well as the wealth of information that is online (from tutorials, to workshops, and more). Again, local options such as continuing ed courses are great as well. I know this advice seems pretty simple, but honestly, most people who purchase DSLRs never take the time to learn and end up using them as glorified point and shoot cameras… which is fine, but there is so much out there to learn if you want to take your snapshots up a notch! Practice really makes perfect. My biggest recommendation is to read and familiarize yourself as much as possible with using natural light, so that you can avoid using your flash. On camera flashes make images look, well, flashy (i.e. harsh shadows), so using natural light whenever possible is really ideal.

I would love advice on taking pictures of kids playing indoors in the dead of winter, when it’s always dark outside and you don’t have any natural light to work with… I feel like those shots always come out yellow and fuzzy if I don’t use flash, or really overexposed and flat looking if I do.

Winter is tricky, as we have so few hours of natural light! During the day time, really milk the natural light for all its worth. Place your child in a chair and turn it toward a window, open all of the blinds/curtains, etc. Keep overhead lights off as much as possible. There are times, like when its dark out, when you can’t avoid using your flash. Are you using your camera’s on board flash? Consider purchasing an off camera flash. Unlike the flash that comes on your camera, you can turn it so that it isn’t flashing right in the direction of your subject, and reduce the power so it isn’t full blast. When using a flash, make sure to keep your child or the subject as far away from the wall as possible to eliminate shadows.

I would love to have a picture of my huge family– my parents, their 8 children, 16 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren… how would you tackle that challenge?

Challenge is definitely the correct word! The important thing to remember with large group shots like this is that it doesn’t need to be perfect. The important thing is that you have all of your loved ones together in one image! I recommend outdoors during the nicer time of the year, and using a ladder!

Any tips on getting 2 kids (3 & 1) to sit together – nicely?

Like I mentioned in yesterday’s post, photographing your own children is a challenge, one that even photographer’s face. They are obviously comfortable with you, and therefore it is harder to keep their attention and encourage them to sit still. The best option is capturing them while going about their daily lives, whether it be sitting together doing a puzzle, or running around in the backyard. For those times that you’d like to get them sitting and smiling in the same shot… bribery! Really… I am never above a good bribe. Aside from that, I find it is very helpful to use a “containment device”… whether is be a bench, wagon, or any other place where they can sit and not get out of or off of quickly. Giving them something to hold, especially for kids under 2, is very helpful. Enlist a helper (like dad) to be silly behind you. Funny faces and dances are a great way to keep kids still and guarantee big, genuine smiles. Other things like hand puppets and balancing toys on your head are great tricks as well.

As with anything, learning how to best use your camera and photograph your family is a “practice makes perfect” endeavor. From the technical aspect, read and research as much as you can. And when it comes to the actual documentation, remember that your images don’t need to be perfect, and snap away as much as you can. All of those trivial every day moments will amount to beautiful memories for your children, years down the road. Be patient and don’t expect your children to sit and smile at every turn. Capturing them doing what they do best… being kids… is not only the easiest method, but it will create images that reflect your lives at any given point. And those are the moments you’ll want to remember.

Now onto today! Of course, we are firm believers in hiring a professional photographer, whether it be twice a year, once a year, or once every few years, to create custom portraits for your family. But what about those other 364-ish days a year, when there are countless milestones… missing teeth, holidays, birthdays, first days of school, vacations, and all of those in between moments… that deserve to be captured? We know how much of a challenge it can be to photograph your own children (yes… even photographers have trouble in this arena!) so today, send us an email with questions you may have about how to best document your daily life.

We also know that, when it comes time to hire a photographer, it can be an equally sizable challenge. Here are some “resources” of ours that you may find helpful when finding the perfect photographer for your family:

Choosing a Photographer

A Word About Digital Images

Evaluating a Photographer’s Portfolio

And here are some other resources on the web:

The Consumer Guide for Custom Photography

Take Off Your Mommy Goggles

We can’t wait to hear your questions, so shoot us an email… and check back tomorrow!

Today, we are asking a favor of you. It is so important to us to give back, so we hope you’ll help us in selecting some deserving organizations that we can help support in 2012.

Keep checking in, as we have some exciting things planned for the next two days… including the biggest giveaway ever on Friday!