You might have heard that the Star Tribune sold its building a while back to be demolished as part of the new Viking's Stadium deal. While I am super happy that my former coworkers will now be in a clean, modern (hopefully rodent-free) building, I am a touch nostalgic that the building I spent 10 years of my life in will be torn down.I loved some of the architectural details of this spot, and I have many, many fond memories from this place. And some not-so-fun memories (but I digress).Last Friday I had a shoot downtown that wrapped up at 5 pm. I knew that was the last day employees would be working in the building at 425 Portland Ave, so I headed on over and snapped some final shots of the exterior and the newsroom.While there, I saw many staffers celebrating the move with beer and champagne (so fun!) as well as sad things like awards left unclaimed on newsroom walls and a library full of reference books that look like they won't be moving. I guess with the internet, these are probably not as useful (hell, I never used a single one while I was there). Also, the staff had begun writing on the walls (and floor) of the newsroom, which you'll see below.I know this post is a bit self-indulgent, but I hope you can appreciate it.
What a week. I am pretty sure that Ezra is *just* about to start teething. As you look through these images, you'll notice a few things. 1) His hands are in his mouth a lot and there is a LOT of drool. 2) He has found his toes and wants to hold them constantly. 3) He also now likes to pull on our faces. It's hilarious.Thursday night, we got about 1.5 hours of sleep total. And then Friday and Sunday we got 7 hours straight. He is so unpredictable at this point, but through it all, he's still pretty adorable so I guess I'll keep him ;)New things for Ezra this week included yogurt and blueberries (he loves them!) and drinking water from a sippy cup. Merlin got to walk outside without a leash a bit this week, which he loved, and Magda is getting monster walks every day as I try to keep up my steps on my FitBit. And I think that's the news! Happy Monday, everyone!
Ezra had another playdate with Naomi this week. When I was taking this photo she was patting his butt. It was hilarious.
I snapped a few shots during bathtime this week because I love his soapy hair.
I love these new shoes.
Are you sure you can't fit more of your hands in your mouth there, buddy?
My guy is 12 today. I honestly didn't think he'd see this birthday, but he continues to surprise me day in and day out. He's doing much better this week -- up moving about, watching out the windows a bit and meeting me at the door when I come home. Lots more back stretching, and he wants to be outside watching the world wake up from winter.These photos I took of him today make me sad. When I think of my guy, I think of 
Dear, sweet Magda.This girl is trying *so hard* to be good. She just has such a hard time lately because we seem to have visitors almost every other day, and many of them bring children, and none of them are at all interested in this here pup. Oh, some of the kids are interested in her, but also a little afraid (understandably) because of her excitable nature. And let's be clear, the adults are all here to see Ezra, mainly.Anyway, it leaves this poor pup locked out of many rooms, singing for some attention, and trying so hard to be well behaved.Because of this, I've been walking Mags for about an hour each day (whew!) and trying to love her up even more.Anyway, she hasn't gotten much play in our Mondays at the Madhouse lately, and I wanted to show you all that she still is burrowed deep in my heart (and probably in my hamper at the moment).For your internet share of the day, I want you all to read about 
This morning I was working at my desk when I got a sweet note from my buddy Mere who wanted to stop by with her latest charge. OMG THIS CHILD IS ADORABLE.So while Mere and I caught up on life for 30 minutes or so, she played with some of Ezra's toys and snacked on blueberries. And then I asked her if I could take her picture. While doing this, it became obvious that this cutie really liked my camera. Like, she liked to hold my camera and play with it. Luckily, I have several small antique "toy" cameras she could play with, and that's how this image was born. Cutie.I have a few internet shares for you today. First, I would love, love, love to have 
So... confession time. I work on my Monday at the Madhouse posts on Sunday night.Why, you ask? Because Mondays are crazy enough as is, and I found that I wasn't getting them posted until Monday NIGHT, and that is no good for all you folks at your desk early Monday morning needing entertainment. So I do them on Sunday.And then I woke up Monday morning to the most beautiful snowfall! (As seen above.) Which means that photo is from Monday, not today (Tuesday). Whatever. I figure it's the prettiest snowfall we got all year, and it's likely our last. And I wanted it captured.So that right there was the view from Shuttersmack HQ yesterday morning. I loooove the tire swing.For your internet share of the day, I loved 
What a week! We had our six month checkup (and shots), new foods (the kid loves peas!), a visit from my college roommate (so much fun!) and lots of NCAA basketball (thank goodness the kid doesn't understand swear words yet).Look at that photo up there of Ezra and Jamie ready for Sunday's game. If only the team had been as ready as they were.
Pro tip: Whole peas are less messy than pureed peas.
This is Ezra while we wait for the doctor. Clearly, he is forgetting that these visits end with shots.
Wait. Did I just say shots?!
Poor kid.
Here is Ezra with my childhood buddy, Robin (from Colorado).
Yeah, this kid is definitely mine. He's marked as such.
Remember 
Poor Merlin. This week was tough on the boy.
All right (cracks knuckles) let's get down to business, shall we?Many of you are about to take some sort of Spring Break trip (super jealous over here), and you're all about to start flooding my facebook feed with your family vacation photos. This is my effort to make those photos better! It breaks my heart to see horrible back-lit images from your adventures!*So, we're going to start off our lighting segment talking about vacation photos instead of the basics. It's kinda backward, but I think this is much more time sensitive, and the next Real Talk will tell you about lighting for everyday photos of your kids/dogs/house etc. Got it? Let's get started.So the photo at the top there is of Jamie and I in Spain five years ago. Oooohhhh that was a good trip. Look how young we were! We were so well rested!Anyway, the reason the photo works is because 1) the sun is in front of us (sort of), not behind us, so we are lit along with the ocean and sky behind us. If this had been sunrise instead of sunset, this photo would have never worked as the ocean and sky would have looked glorious and we would have been black silhouettes. Also, this photo works because Jamie is holding my monster camera for the selfie, not me and my weak-ass arms.So! Let's talk about where most people fall down on their vacation photos. What happens is they see an amazing piece of scenery and they want to take a photo of themselves or their friends in front of it -- totally understandable! But if all the light is coming from the side of said scenery, trouble emerges.So here's how you fix that. I offer three solutions:1) Position your subject so if they are at noon and you are at 6 (we're talking clock positions here), the sun (or light source) needs to be between 7 and 9 or between 3 and 5. If the sun is directly behind you (at 6) your subject will be squinting (but well lit). No one likes squinty photos, so turn them just a little and shoot the scenery from an angle. This is what we did above -- you'll notice the sea is behind us at an angle -- and the shadows on our faces give away the sun location. Make sense?
2) If you're working with a camera or a phone or an iPad, simply move the focus point (usually a lit-up square) to the subject's face -- most devices will adjust to get the light right where you're focusing.The only problem with this approach is that while your buddy's face is now perfectly lit, the background gets blown out, and if it's a lighter background, you lose all the pretty details you were trying to get. So this works best when you have a darker background, or for example, the sun is coming through trees or from behind buildings etc (like above).
3) So say the scenery and the sun are on the same side and there is no forest or anything behind your subject. I took these *awesome* photos above of our family walk a few days ago to illustrate this point -- please do not judge these images for their artistic value. But say there was a lovely sunset and beach behind the family. In the photo on the left, you would get the sunset but not the family. In the photo on the right, you would get the family but not the sunset. See what I mean?Here's how you fix that. Use the flash (like I did in the image below).
Deep breaths.If you know me at all, you know I hate using flash -- I am all about the natural light -- but this is the one way to fix that horrible backlighting. By using the flash, you are getting the natural light behind your subject and you are manipulating the light of the people right in front of you. See how that works? I will have another lesson later titled Why The Flash Sucks, but this is one instance in which I give you permission to use it and gain good results.Ok! I think that's it! If you have questions about this, leave a comment and I'll respond there so others can learn as well! Now go take some rad pix of your family on vacation!*Sidenote, should anyone out there ever want to hire me as their very own personal vacation documentarian, I AM TOTALLY GAME.** Also! Please note that later this summer I will have a post on how to take great travel photos (the difference being you documenting your entire trip and not just your friends at the beach). So keep an eye out for that!Oh! And I almost forgot your internet share of the day! Check out