From the Haugen Heart

So you want to get better photographs of your own children? I would love to photograph every milestone in your child's life but realistically I can’t be there every moment and I want to make sure you have the best photographs you can. Here are some tips that can help: 1.       First of all, if you are going to some effort like driving to a special park with the idea of getting some great photographs, choose a time of day when they are going to be at their best. How about just after a nap rather than when they are starting to get tired and grumpy? Morning tends to be best for most kids but think about your child's schedule and temperament. 2.       Bribery is ok! This is not the time to be worrying about good parenting. If the promise of ice cream or a trip to McDonald’s is going to win cooperation in the moment, do it! Take into account the development and attention span of your child when choosing t...

If you read my last post , you know that I went to Cristy's home recently to hang 16 prints. I had worked out an arrangement in Photoshop and showed up at her house with hammer and level in hand. They all needed to be level and straight or it was going to look really bad. Now keeping things straight is not my strong suit, as Neil will tell you, so I knew I was in trouble! I usually hang prints with picture wire on a small nail and I know that if you use two nails a distance apart, the frame will stay in place much better than with one nail in the center. Then I looked at this project and thought about putting 32 nail holes in the wall. I knew that the 32 holes would quickly become 64 (or more!) as I found that the position of some of the images wasn't quite right. Yikes! I am just not that patient! My solution was to use one nail to hang each print. I double checked the spacing and look of the arrangement as I went along (I did have to move a couple of nails). Then I whipped ...