Here is a cute Valentine’s Card idea from Stefani Greene of Wilmington, NC. This project will take a little bit of camera know-how – or at least the willingness to take the camera off of auto! You will need a camera that has manual settings, but you don’t necessarily need a dSLR. Many point-and-shoot cameras have manual settings, too (read your manual!).To get the shot, set your camera to aperture priority and use a large aperture to create a shallow depth of field (DOF). Different lenses will have a different maximum apertures, so this will vary. Somewhere around f2.8 or f3.2 will work great. If your lens won’t open that wide, try using your largest aperture and getting in close to take the photo. I have seen this done with the focus on the candy and the child’s face in the DOF, or as shown here with the focus on the child.

Print the photo, cut slits at the top and bottom of the hand, and slide a lollipop through the slits. Attach the lollipopped photo to card stock to give it a little extra support. Try a flower for grandma or even a pencil for classmates. The end result is a very cute personalized Valentine that is sure to delight your sweetie!

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My name is Season Moore, and I’m a contemporary children’s photographer in Raleigh, NC. I am also a wife and the mom of two young kids. I love what I do, and I’m glad to have the chance to share a little bit of that with you as a new contributor to Photojojo Uncut.

But I’m not here to get into the nitty-gritty basics of photography — I’ll be focusing on topics of interest to the moms and dads out there in PhotojojoLand. I’ll give you some behind-the-scenes info on my own work (OK, so there might be a little nitty-gritty talk) and share my tips for working with babies and kids, and I’ll also introduce you to some of my favorite photographers.

The photo above, taken with a Nikon D200, was the final shot from my latest session. I’m a natural-light photographer, so every indoor image is taken using light from a nearby window. In this case we were directly facing a set of windows about five feet away. At nearly two weeks old, this little guy was one of my older newborns. The younger infants – most of my newborn subjects are less than a week old – are sleepier, and you can move into position without disturbing them. As they days go by they get more alert, and it’s harder to get that precious scrunched-up newborn look.

Now, as much as I like to talk – just ask my husband! – I may run out of things to say. So I need to hear from you! Drop in to the Photojojo Forums with specific questions you might have, products you’d like to share or topics you’d like to discuss. If you see a particular photo on my site that you’d like more information on, please let me know. I’d also love to see your photos and the fun things you’ve done with them. So please share!

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