the

unexpected
ev ery day
IMPROVE YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY
DOCUMENT YOUR KIDS

BY COURTNEY SLAZINIK
the unexpected everyday
Improve your photography Document your kids

introduction 3
gear 6
manual mode 13
tips 25
conclusion 90

Copyright © 2013 - Courtney Slazinik, Click It Up

a Notch. All rights reserved. Do not copy, dupli-
cate, share or sell, in part or whole, any part of this
ebook without written consent. All written material
and photographs belong to Courtney Slazinik.
INTRODUCTION

My husband and I had just checked into the hospital for the birth of our second child. As we waited
for the doctors to tell us it was time for baby to arrive, a nurse asked my husband, who was a nervous
wreck, to move a chair. He too-quickly grabbed the chair, handed it to the nurse, and then we heard
something crash to the floor. Concerned, I looked at him from the hospital bed and asked, “Was that
the camera?” Unfortunately, it was. My wonderful, but overanxious husband, accidentally broke our
camera ten minutes before the birth of our second child. Luckily, my mom and sister were in the waiting
room, both had cameras, and we were still able to capture the birth of our sweet little one.

I knew this was my opportunity to

finally get my hands on a DSLR. I
asked my husband, who was feeling
a bit guilty about breaking the
camera, to go out the next day and
buy a new camera since we couldn’t
miss a moment of this little one’s life.

That’s when it all started.

Like many of you, I so badly wanted

to capture those fleeting moments
of my childrens’ lives and unfortu-
nately didn’t have the money to hire
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a professional photographer. After begging a friend to teach me everything she knew, I started using
manual mode and my photography journey took off from there.

Our children grow up so quickly and nothing we do will slow that down. All we can do is be present,
enjoy our time with them, and capture those moments we don’t want to forget. The big ones, like birth-
days and holidays, are easy since everyone has their cameras out, but it’s the in-between moments that
really capture who our children are. A quiet moment of them reading in a corner, their favorite stuffed
animal, or the way they light up when they giggle. These are the moments you want to capture.

Whether you have a DSLR, a point and shoot, or an iPhone, you can use the information from this book
to help you understand how to capture the innocence of their childhood. You will find a tip for each
day of the month to help you improve your photography. Some are related to composition or lighting,
and some cover techniques. Use these tips to help you create your own style of documenting your little
one’s life. With each tip, you will find a prompt to help you capture something different everyday that
reflects your child at this special stage in their life.

I’m a believer in using your camera everyday. I noticed a huge difference in my own photography when
I started a Project 365. Even if you only pick up your camera for 30 days, you’ll see growth.

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how to use this book:

There are several ways you can use this book.

1 A PHOTO A DAY FOR A MONTH

Pick up your camera every single day. There are 30 tips and tasks so you have one for each
day of the month. Read the tip on how to improve your photo and then tackle the task.

2 MIX-AND-MATCH TIPS
You can mix and match the tips with different prompts–don’t feel tied down to my sugges-
tions. You want to capture your child as they are, and if that means leading lines while they
sleep, then that’s how you should photograph them. This is your photography journey and
your story.

3 ONCE A WEEK
If shooting everyday is too much, take a tip and a prompt and focus on that for the week. In
seven-and-a-half months, you’ll have captured your child weekly, during the year, and have a
collection of beautiful images, as well as having grown in your own photography.
Please remember the images in this book are meant to be inspirational.

Don’t feel you need to recreate the same image. In fact, I challenge you to come up with your own inter-
pretation of the prompt.
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TIP 07: Focus on the Eyes

50mm 1.4 | SS 1/160 | f/3.2 | ISO 800

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TIP 07: Focus on the Eyes
When determining what part of your image to set
your focal point on, always start with the eyes.
Why? If you’re taking a picture of someone, one of
the first things you look at are their eyes and you
need to make sure those are in focus. It doesn’t
matter which eye you focus on if the eyes are on
the same plane (they’re parallel to the camera).
However, if the head is tilted, as it often is when
someone laughs, be sure to focus on the eye closest
to you. Something to keep in mind is making sure
your aperture is set where both eyes are in focus
even if they’re on different planes. If more than one
person is in the image, focus on the eye closest to
the other person.
PROMPT
Children spend so much of their childhood
laughing. It seems they find everything amusing.
Capture that moment.
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TIP 15: Dramatic Light

35mm 1.4 | SS 1/250 | f/2.8 | ISO 1600

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TIP 15: Dramatic Light
Learning about different ways to use light in your
images is a great way to push yourself and your
photography. Dramatic light is when you use
both light and dark shadows in your image and
they work together beautifully. I tend to favor
dramatic lighting images that feature plenty of
dark shadows. You can achieve this look by meter-
ing on your subject where the light hits them. By
using a window that isn’t getting direct sunlight,
you’ll find the light is a little softer and lends itself
a little more to a dramatic lighting image.
If you shoot in the evening, using dramatic light
can be fun as well. You can use one light source
like a street light to illuminate your subject while
everything else is blacked out by the evening sky.
It’s particularly fun to convert an image with
dramatic light to a black-and-white photograph.
There’s something about how the light plays off
the shadows that makes these types of images
prime candidates for a black-and-white conver-
sion.
PROMPT
Use the light from an iPad, open refrigerator,
candles, a single lamp, or window to illuminate
your subject to help you create an image with
dramatic light.
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TIP 30: Negative Space

35mm 1.4 | ss 1/80 | f/2.8 | ISO 6400

88
TIP 30: Negative Space
Negative space is the area around your subject
that remains empty. By utilizing negative space,
you help draw the viewer into exactly what you
want them to see. You’re showcasing your subject
and removing all distractions around them.
A blank wall is a quick-and-easy way to create
negative space. Place your subject against the
wall but make sure that you’re near a window to
allow for good lighting in your image. Don’t be
scared of negative space. You don’t need to feel
like you always need to fill every image of your
subject with something to look at. Negative space
is a great way to add variety to your images.
PROMPT
A person’s hands tell their true age. Seeing the
youthful soft hands of a child next to hands of
a parent or grandparent is a great way to show
the generational differences. Capture the hands
of your child with one of their parents or grand-
parents.
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THE UNEXPECTED EVERYDAY

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