I encourage everyone to take the time to enhance their photos, especially the ones you admire the most or consider precious. Even pictures taken with the cheapest of point-and-shoot cameras can benefit from a little digital improvement here and there. You’d be surprised at the difference it can make.

I liken this process to preparing raw meats for a meal. Rarely do you simply cook and consume a piece of meat as is from the store, without flavoring or marinading it at least a little. You almost always have to resize the meat somehow and then marinade it for taste, even if that only means a dash of salt or pepper to enhance its flavor. Well, rarely do images captured with any camera (high-end ones included) come out prepared perfectly, the best it can look. Once in awhile you’ll get lucky with that great money shot, but even then I bet it still can benefit from a little bump in contrast or recovery in the highlights (a little salt and pepper).

This becomes even more true if you’re shooting in RAW format these days (which most of my photos are taken). Your camera is outputting the best possible image quality that it’s mechanically capable of shooting (100% color/levels/white balance etc information). But it then becomes your job to tweak all that information so that it comes to life. It’s like the butcher giving you the best quality meat he has. Its up to you to season and prepare it so that you bring out the best flavors of that meat. Ever see pieces of raw footage from a hollywood movie or commercial before it’s been sent to the highly paid Colorist for grading? It’s almost unrecognizable in a lot of cases. The difference in before and after are stunning. And we’re talking about ridiculously high quality cameras shooting this raw material.

Which brings me next to my software of choice, Adobe Lightroom. Unlike Photoshop, which to me is more of an image manipulation software, Lightroom is a photograph enhancing tool. This is different than manipulating a picture…nothing is physically altered in the image. It’s simply enhanced… toning this detail down, bringing that one up.. until its digital information is balanced the way you like it.

Lightroom is built for the photographer and purist. Getting familiar with its specific sequence of Developing tools alone can be an education in the fundamentals of photographic principles. Starts with white balance to tonal balance to color ranges, and finishes with vignette correction… exactly the natural sequence of logic that a seasoned photographer would follow. Its quite easy to learn the software by experimenting, and you can start slow. It doesn’t take much time before you figure out the necessary tweaks and what they accomplish. Can’t say enough positive things about this tool. Give it a shot if you haven’t already. There isn’t a photograph of mine that i care about that doesn’t pass through Lightroom at some point.

As a side note, I might consider making some of my own video tutorials on topics such as this (showing my photo touchup workflow, etc). I’m trying to gauge interest, so if there’s anyone actually still reading this blog who would be interested in that, do let me know.

1. BBQ with Family and Friends
2. Visit Family and Friends
3. Trip to the Zoo
4. Trip to Shedd Aquarium
5. Trip to downtown Chicago
6. Day at the beach for 4th of July
7. Trip to NYC

Samantha has generally been making good progress. Having been a “textbook baby” all this time (according to the author of one baby book I’ve read) she’s been mostly predictable in her ways.  Peak fussiness did take over around 6-8 weeks then started to decline, and becoming more socially aware and smiling around this time as well.  We keep her on a strict schedule for the most part, feeding every 3 hours, not letting her stay awake for more than 1-2 hours at a time (feeding the brain), and giving her daily activities like tummy time/massage/music.  She hasn’t fed from a bottle since around 5 weeks and in fact, outright rejects it when I try to give it to her (tip for soon-to-be parents: try not to skip any days of giving a relief bottle while breastfeeding.. some babies do not take change very well at all and will become too comfortable on mom’s breast).  So it’ll be interesting how I handle the days when Joanne is out for more than a few hours. Its quite a vulnerable feeling for a baby to stare at you and know that you have no food options that they’ll accept. She currently seems to have transitioned from a “textbook baby” to somewhat what of a “touchy baby” hybrid, as she is quite sensitive noises while sleeping and the slightest changes in routine sometimes. Maybe we need to get her out more, which we plan.

Coming up on 3 months soon, and I’m looking forward to playing with her as she’ll be much more socially active during her wakeful periods.  Learning toys, reading, massage and music come to mind initially.  Looking forward to spring time too when we’ll be able to spend more stimulation time outside. I can start wearing her backpack style too with my Ergo carrier (as opposed to on my chest) while she checks out all the trees and birds. All in all, we’ve been very happy with her progress, and we’ll continue to wing it and pretend we know what we’re doing, as most new parents are I’m sure

By the way, apparently Joanne’s parents have settled on a chinese name for Sam. Its “Wong Yik Fay” in cantonese (sounds a little like saying “flying chicken wing”), and we have to clarify the exact meaning of it with them. We requested to stay away from any meanings based on superficial qualities like cuteness or being stunningly pretty or adorable.  Way too cliche and without substance in my opinion, this world already has enough of that. I was hoping more along the lines of “adaptability”. I’d like her to be creative and mold her way though any situations encountered. After all, wasn’t it the wisest philosopher of all time who said to be adaptable, like water, my friend..

I hope you all don’t let the economic blues get you down this season, and find the time to be productive and creative without the need to spend a lot of dough. Happy holidays everyone.

The C Battery!
You remember the C battery? That huge, clunky battery (looks like a AA battery on steriods). Yes, that one. The one that I discovered is needed to operate almost all the vibrating, bouncy, chiming, Fisher Price chairs and swings we got for Samantha. And not only that, some even need the D battery. Remember that one? Even bigger than the C. My first reaction was laughter because I hadn’t seen or used one in so long. Then my next thought was, “they still make these?”. Well they obviously do. Holding one in my hands conjures up all these old images and reminders of many tacky, not-so-well built toys and games from my childhood. I guess its come time to revisit this era. Man, the C battery… I’m definitely a dad now.

It’s all about the Wrap, baby!
Seeing your first child enter the world is a super special time for sure. But over the next few days, as I watched Samantha’s movements and expressions, I started to see this whole experience from her traumatizing point of view. She had spent 9 months inside a cozy womb, well fed, warm, secure and in amniotic bliss. All of the sudden she had been ripped out naked into this harsh unfamiliar world where sounds, food and temperature had changed drastically. No wonder she would get startled even at the movements of her own arms and legs. Poor thing.
It was then during our first trip to the Pediatrician’s office that Joanne busted out the new Didymos baby wrap to carry Sam. She was all scrunched up, skin to skin with Joanne inside this wrap, and I had never seen her so happy and comfortable. For that moment, she probably thought that we finally returned her back home to the womb. This Didymos was not merely a highly German engineered piece of (expensive) fabric that gets a lot of stares on the street, this was her sanctuary. If she couldn’t be returned to the womb, this wrap would have to do for now. Caring for a dependent, whether it be your child or even a dog, requires that you sometimes see things from their point of view in order to fulfill their needs. Wow, I guess I am a dad now.