Losing the Training Wheels and Try a New Photography Tip!
The Summer of 2007 will go down in history for Pascaline!
Check it out! She has kissed her training wheels goodbye!
Pascaline has been working off and on for the last 18 months. But we both decided the other day that it was time to get outside and focus until she got it down. I would count her pedal strokes “1, 2, 3–Yeah! You did three pedal strokes!” Then we’d start again, “1, 2″ fall over and start again “1, 2, 3 and a half!” We did this for over two hours, and then all of a sudden it was “1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6……up to 23!” She was RIDING HER BIKE!!!
Oh my goodness, it was one of the best parent moments ever! Pascaline jumped off her bike and ran over to me with the biggest hug! I told her I was super proud of her, and without skipping a beat she said “I’m proud of myself mama!”
When dad got home, we had to show him what exciting things had been happening. The lighting was to die for with sunset in progress. (in fact, the shots above are from sunset. I decided not to bring the camera out until she was feeling more confident and wanted her picture taken.)
Here she is…riding into the sunset! You’ve got to love that sun flare! To fun!
Since we’re talking about sun flare, do you want to know how I did it? Here’s a new summer photography exercise!
1. Get the sun in one of the upper corners of the frame, either the left or right side.
2. Woah! I need to back up! Make sure you have your lense hood on your lense. I know some of you threw it away because you didn’t know what it was for. Time to dig it out. 
If you don’t have a lense hood, cup your hand around the outside of your lense as a fill in hood type effect.
3. I make sure my ISO is at 100 for best color saturation.
4. My f stop or Aperture is not super low because these shots often have more detail. So maybe 5.6 or something around there.
5. I turn my camera to Manuel mode because if I don’t, the camera will think I have to much light for the picture. But I know I want a lot of direct sun light, so I have to tell the camera what to set the Shutter Speed at.
6. Then with the sun shining right above my lense hood in one of the upper corners, I tip my hood just enough to let the sun spill into the camera. I take the picture and adjust my Shutter Speed by what my preview looks like. If my image is to bright, I speed up my Shutter Speed. If my image is to dark, I slow my Shutter Speed down. I have fun finessing this until the sun flare is right where I want it.
7. I bring the image into Adobe Lightroom and up the contrast to add a little more drama to the sun flare.
Hope this makes sense! Watch Katie and Mike’s Wedding Slideshow (one of the most elegant weddings ever) to see my favorite wedding sun flare image. It’s like the rainbow is right over the top of them.
But what about Blaze! He has been tearing it up with his tricycle!
I’m finding that the tricycle is a lot more work than a normal bike. For every single pedal stroke that Pascaline makes, Blaze has to do four! He never misses a chance to let me know how he feels about this.
These are the days. Don’t you sometimes wish you could go back? Learning to ride your bike, singing spontaneous songs on a summer evening, running through sprinklers and then eating ice cold popsicles on a warm towel as you got brain freeze. I miss it.
But I wouldn’t trade it for smiles like this!
p.s. Brian wanted me to make sure you know the new Batman comes out tonight. I know you are so thankful he told you this.
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To enter our new Photo Contest for July, send your image as an attachement to contest@merakoh.com. The theme is Water. Any thing that has to do with water is welcome.
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For more fun photo exercises, check out our popular Instructional DVDs Refuse to Say Cheese , our 101 Kits for starting or expanding a business in photography, or for details on spots left in our upcoming Chicago Workshop , click on the words of your choice!
Way to go Pascaline!!!! That’s so exciting!!!
THANK YOU for posting the sunflare lesson! I am going to try that out! Now to get out my lens hood and find some sunbeams.
What a great feeling!! I remember when my daughter finally took of the training wheels
Now when it’s time for her to try something new and she’s a little afraid - I always refer back to the bike riding lesson for encouragement.
Thank you for sharing the sun flare - Can’t wait to go practice with it - I’ve been trying to capture it but have not been successful yet
Guess it’s time to get back on the bike.
beeeeeautiful shots!!! not only do they inspire me to better my photography … they make we want to get my 6-year old piper off her training wheels!! thanks for the great post …
mera!!! did you know that i was just about to email you to help me with this specific assignment? you READ MY MIND!! thank you SO MUCH!! i am going to try it this weekend… btw, i have your dvds, would you consider doing a “beyond the green box, part 2″?
Congrats, Pascaline! What a thrilling achievement! And how fortunate to have it documented so beautifully. I LOVE sun flare shots, although I’ve never fully understood how they work. So that’s what the lens hood is for, huh?
Here’s one I got Sunday night at a street festival. The sun just looked so lovely…above the line of port-a-potties!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sierraromeo/2665915663/
And a more subtle one of a Chicago cowboy:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sierraromeo/2665894009/
Congrats Pascaline! Awesome shots too! I love the vintage look. Well done!
Blaze might enjoy a balance bike. We got one for our son (now 2.5) this winter and he cruises on that thing. My husband even takes him on simple single track around here and they have a blast. He is learning how to balance and pick up his feet to coast along without having to worry about the pedaling right away. We picked up a strider, but there are a number of brands. There are a few pictures of the kids riding on our blog.
Figured I would share something our family is really enjoying!
Oh I can’t wait to try this! GO pascaline for learning to ride her bike so well!! They both look adorable on their bikes. Thank you Brian, The new Batman movie should NOT be ignored… I totally want to see it - Batman Begins was SO GOOD!
Hi Mera,
love love love your blog and all you do.. i’ve seen the trailor to destination maui and i was wondering if there’s gonna be a dvd on which we can see how you work. You are for me the greatest and what is greater to learn from you how this business works.
thanks so much
anne
cute shots!
that’s my downfall as a father….my 9 year old can’t ride a bike without training wheels yet. i had pushed these feelings away and moved on, but after reading this post, they all came rushing back.
thank you.
Awesome! Can’t wait to see that day myself! For now though, I’ll just have to make do with the new Batman movie tonight. Thanks for the reminder, Brian!
What a great day for Pascaline! I love your step by step prcoess for the sun flare. I’ve been trying to get the look, but hadn’t gotten it right yet. Thank you!
How fun for Pascaline..and you too. Love the photos, thanks so much for giving us the recipe for sun flare. Can’t wait to try it out.
Jeramy..your comments totally got me. I have been feeling like a failure as a mom since my six year old can’t swim or ride a bike without training wheels yet. My husband tells me it is because I hover too much!
YEAH PASCALINE!!!
I remember when I learned to ride a bike. I taught myself. We had a small ramp from the front door step to the driveway. So I would start up by the step and ride my bike down the ramp across the drive way and onto the grass where I would fall. I did that enough that finally I didn’t fall and so my bike riding began. (I think I was 10 years old by the way, if that makes anyone feel better).
So much fun. Photos are awesome.
WAY TO GO PASCALINE!!!! You have every reason to be proud of yourself!!!!
Sorry, Brian, no Batman for me - Mamma Mia opened today, too!!!
This Dancing Queen is headed out in an hour to watch it! 
LOL
Congrats to your big girl!
Thank you for sharing this sunflare tip…I adore flare and have been trying to capture it but failing. Now I know what I’ve been doing wrong - can’t wait for the sun to rise in the morning to try it out.
Hi! First of all, let me say that I have your DVD and read your blog all the time! One of these days I WILL be attending a workshop…I don’t know if that is a promise or a threat! LOL!
At any rate, I am a beginner and have a question. Do you reccommend a company/website to print my photos? I have been using the “normal” places such as snapfish, shutterfly, ect. but would like a higher quality option. I am not always happy with how they turn out. Do you have any advice? I would really appreciate it!!
Angie- I use http://www.SmugMug.com for their printing services.
Excellent prices and quality. Check ‘em out!
Angie, I use http://www.mpix.com for printing if someone’s actually buying a print from me. For personal stuff that I give to the grandmas or for family albums, I use either Ritz or Costco. Costco actually prints on Fuji Crystal archival paper and only charges $1.49 for an 8×10 or 8×12 with free lustre coating.
Great question Angie! Printing is literally the second half of a photo. If the photo is composed well but the print job stinks, the photo ends up stinking too!
Brian and I use Pictage (www.pictage.com) for all our printing needs. They are a pro lab and do wonderful work for us. But the other great thing about Pictage is their community of photographers. The community alone is worth joining. Hope that helps!
Hi~
My best friend is due in December and for her shower gift I want to buy her a baby’s first year package. I was hoping someone would have some suggestions on who to use. I’m looking for someone who will let me buy the negitives and is willing to do a package including before the baby, newborn, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, and a year. Also someone who has studio space but is willing to do location shots. Please let me know if you know anyone in the Tacoma, WA area.
Thanks!