Family

Take Better Pictures with your Phone!

#1 Rule of Thirds
If you are going to be sharing your photos, take a second & easily learn to make them more appealing. Everything does not have to be centered & people don’t have to say ‘cheese’. The rule of thirds is a simple guide to help your picture become a bit more refined. Educate yourself on the Rule of Thirds – The basic nitty gritty of pretty shots here: http://digital-photography-school.com/rule-of-thirds

#2 There are no rules.
Center it. Have people say cheese. Take the pictures you like. Just take them!! Capture these moments…These are the Best Days!

#3 Getting Up in their Business!!
Get in There! Instead of using the zoom, use your feet & move in close. A tiny phone is not that intimidating for most people & you'll block out unnecessary background distractions by focusing in on the main subject of your photo.

#4 Filters are your Friends
I love Instagram…we are kinda like BFF’s. I run my favorite pics by her & she helps me tweak them to make them super pretty. I share my pics with her & she shares them with everyone I want her to. Instagram allows me to crop & enhance my camera phone pictures easily. Here are examples below. Same pic – one is before Instagram & the second is after. Simple! Also, people, use Hashtags. They get your work out to a much larger audience. I get so many more likes & exposures with the use of hashtags.
Follow me on Instagram: AMBERADVENTURES
Here’s a simple tutorial on using hashtags: http://blog.instagram.com/post/17674993957/instagram-tips-using-hashtags

#5 Control Yourself!
Blurry is not always beautiful in a photo! Suck in your breath just a teeny bit & hold it before you press the shutter. It helps to steady your floppy arms & shaky hands by freezing you for a split second. Think about yourself doing the freezing part of the freeze dance & then push the button!

All photographs taken with my iPhone

Celebrating Father

Don’t forget to create something special for the man who thinks you are the most special thing in this world. Father’s Day 2012 – June 17th

A quick trip to the beach…a mother & son…the perfect gift for Dad!!

Gorgeous Announcements

I’ve got to tell you…when I can make a Mama cry by seeing photographs of her daughter…It makes me happy!

Good photographs should create an emotional response in us. I want pictures that make me cry because they flood me with so many good emotions. I like to try to draw out beautiful emotions & expectations – joy, pride, inspiration, hope, playfulness, wonder.

I love putting together a story FOR YOU which is OF YOU. This announcement tell the story of a job well done and of a job just beginning. For both a Mama and her beautiful Daughter.

Senior Moment – 2012

Seniors from 2012

Contact me before the end of May to set up Your Creative Consult & Photo Session. There are only a limited number available.
Amber @ 949-212-9502 or amberlamotte@me.com

Having a Senior Moment (in front of the camera!)

My kids are only 7. But on the other hand; My kids are already 7! 7 years sounds like a long time but it went by like (imagine me snapping my fingers) that!!

As an artist, I have the privilege to capture a new moment in time for families. I’ve photographed big “new moments” such as babies joining a family and weddings joining 2 people. Those are such fun, exciting events and I absolutely love preserving those priceless memories! But there is something just as fun and priceless about photographing High School Seniors!!

These kids are almost grown ups. They are so close to independence and yet in so many ways still dependent on their parents. They are fun!! They are not afraid to ‘work it’ in front of the camera!! They are adventurous!! They relax and have a great time. It shows in their photos. I love being able to give their family these images of their grown up child. I know that they will look at them often over the next few years. I know they will bring to mind wonderful memories to give them comfort while their babies are figuring out their own way in life.

Tick, Tick, Tick. 11 more years until Frances and Ford have their own Senior Moment in front of the camera!! I’m cherishing each moment with my babies, that time is going to fly by too quickly!!

I’m running a Senior Special which I’ll detail more in the next post!! It’s good!!

Gluten Free Volcano Birthday Cake

Gluten Free Ideas

We recently realized that our family had an alarming number of symptoms of Gluten Intolerance. Gluten Intolerance Symptoms

We just went cold turkey. We were off the Gluten! A week before the twins 7th Birthday. YIKES!! How do you tell a seven year old who has had 6 years of Birthday Cakes, ‘Sorry, no more Birthday Cakes for you!’? Well, you don’t. You just get creative & figure out what they can have & work with that.

Being super new to the Gluten free world of baking, I didn’t want to risk anything too complicated. Have you ever seen Cake Boss? Cake Boss

The kids love it so we watch it on Netflix. They use a ton of Rice Crispy Treats to give the cakes shape. It gave me the idea to make a cake using JUST Rice Crispy Treats. Here is the classic recipe: Rice Crispy Treats Side note: Look for the cereal box labeled Gluten Free (others have Barley Malt). I didn’t say they were sugar free because after I shaped everything, I covered the cakes in buttercream frosting!! They turned out great & the kids loved them.

Happy 7th Birthday, Frances & Ford!!!

Class Valentines

My kids love to create. They love to pull out our art supplies and just make things. In fact for their birthday last year, they received a few gift cards to Michaels. Very smart gift!! They had a blast picking out their own fun things to add to the art supplies. They got modeling clay & clay molds, hot pink feathers, stickers, spray paint, paint brushes, colorful & fluffy pipe cleaners, popsicle sticks, and an assortment of googly eyes. That was just in one trip.

This year for Valentine’s Day, they wanted to make their own cards. We brainstormed & came up with a few clever ideas. These are not that complicated but we lost track of the days & I ended up doing a bit of the work on the computer (to save time) that they were going to do by hand. That’s the joy of creativity + a high tech life, it makes things easier sometimes. They came up with what to do and say. I helped with the computer & with the cutting.

My daughter made bookmarks. The bookmarks are from 2 different colored paint chips. We punched a butterfly out of each color on one of the paint chips & then glued a different colored paint chip -color side up- to show through. We printed a message on plain printer paper & then glued it to the back. Voila, sturdy Valentine’s Day bookmark & card in one.

My son made a word search. He helped me pick out a fun font & colors. He came up with this phrase, “I’m glad you are my friend” Then we made a super simple word search of out of that phrase. I was able to get 2 to a page & printed it out using cream colored printer paper. We cut the edges with fun scissors, rolled it & tied with yarn. Easy!! I think both projects turned out to be very fun & unique Valentines!!!

San Elijo Lagoon Conservancy

We drive by this lagoon all the time & have never stopped. So glad we finally did. There is a killer nature center to check out with free parking. They had a large 3-D topographical map showing the entire watershed of the Escondido Creek. I loved how clearly you can see exactly what areas were responsible for the water that flowed into the ocean just beyond the lagoon. It was really powerful. We explored along the nature center loop trail as well. We spotted sooooooo many fish coming to eat the bugs on the top of the water. It was exciting for the kids to try to figure out where they would be next. It’s a nice stop if you are ever in the area.

Homecoming Love

SuperMan Welcome Home Slideshow