In the midst of crazy traveling schedules, big DVD projects, speaking engagements and home life, I’ve found myself pulling within to a place of reflection. ‘How am I doing with all that is going on around me? Could I be doing it better? When I speak about the juggling act women do, is it an “act” for me or am I doing it well?’ These are just a few of the questions that swim around inside my heart.

I tend to see all that is in front of me and all that is behind me in finite detail. Not a strength. 🙂 This intense detail is to much, and I know I need to let some things blur around me so I can be connected with the present. If this makes any sense, hold on, this is depth of field. 🙂

When I got home from WPPI, I was so hungry for time with the kids. So we got out the eggs and started painting for Easter. I found myself working with depth of field as I took their pictures and in turn, processing all the above thoughts.

How much foreground or background did I want? How blurred should it be? Did the blurriness accentuate the story of them painting eggs, or did it take away from the story?

I love the shot above b/c you can see the intensity of Blaze focusing, but his face is purposely blurred so we feel the tension of a two year old trying to handle the egg without breaking it. In the foreground I chose to have Pascaline’s arm come in and out so we feel the “activity” of it all that much more.

Their hands in focus and their smiles blurred in the background is another fun way to experiment with depth of field.

What is depth of field? To me, it’s what I choose to blur in the front and back. And one step farther…it’s also the why behind choosing to blur those things.

The recipe? These photos were all shot at a 2.8 aperture for the intense use of blur, a 100 ISO for the best color saturation, and around 160th to 250th of a second.

Simple tricks that helped set the scene…I had us paint outside b/c the natural light was way better then inside the dining room. I purposely put white grocery bags underneath their paints so the white bags would act as a natural reflector of light on the kids. It was the end of the day, and a little more light coming up from the table would only help.

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Exercise for Depth of Field in Process!

1. When you paint Easter eggs this year, take it all outside in late afternoon when the sun has a nice glow to it.

2. Put white grocery bags underneath as their work space. The more light coming off the table is great for details shots too!

3. Set your ISO at 100, your aperture as low as possible (mine was 2.8) and work on taking photos that have foreground and background blurred around your kids.

4. Have them hold their painted hands up, focus on the hands and notice how their faces blurred. That’s you using Depth of Field to accentuate the story of their colorful hands!

5. Frame a different picture with stuff like egg cartons and paint bowls in front of your child and then focus on their hands so both their face and all the stuff in front is blurred. How did focusing on their hands accentuate the image?

6. After you’ve captured some fun images that focus on depth of field, don’t forget to grab your detail shots too!

She wrote her name. 😉 So sweet!

7. And don’t forget the silly faces that come from a fun activity! 🙂

8. And just the other stuff that is simply to cute not to shoot!

Just like momma, getting all those eggs photographed and documented! 🙂

Photography offers so many lessons for life. Depth of Field seems to be close to my heart these days–being intentional about what I blur before me and behind me, what I can and can’t control, and what I need to focus on for today.

Enjoy the exercise and remember, don’t stress if your shots are not turning out right. This is all about growing and practicing and having fun–and what could be more worth while when in the end you have captured your children?

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To learn more about me visit About Me Ra.

For information on Me Ra’s popular photography workshops and DVD series for parents, visit DVD series and “Documenting a Child’s Life.”

To see our day job, visit our website. 🙂