Here are some great tips and tricks to getting great photos of your toddler.

Today’s guest post comes to us from George Minton from Cameraseals, and he writes on the topic of Getting great photos of your toddler.

As a father of 3 children, now 9 years-old, 7 years-old and 4 years-old respectively, these photography tips are true to form and will work well in capturing the great photos of your toddler. As parents, we tend to want to, or should I say, need to document everything when our first child is born and to a lesser degree when our other children are born, but we still do want to do our best in getting the best moments and memories caught on film (well digital film these days). I have found personally, that they just grow up too darn fast. It still feels like yesterday that my youngest was born.

As an owner of a Nikon D5200 with a wireless adapter to connect it with my iPhone X via a Nikon app which is now replaced by the newer model, the Nikon D5300, I am one of those people who want to get pictures with depth of field using a DSLR camera. The D5200 also captures video. These days, however, with my iPhone X, it also has great depth of field with its dual cameras on the front and back of the phone. I almost use it more than my Nikon D5200 to capture pics of the kids. Well, anyway, I am getting off on a tangent, but the point is that I truly do love great pictures of my kids and pets and love looking back at the moments often and fondly remembering them when they were their youngest.

Here’s a pic I took with my Nikon D60 back in 2010 at Burke Lake Park in Fairfax, Virginia when we lived there back then with my wife and oldest daughter staring out over the water while we were close to the due date for my middle child in the fall of 2010. It still holds up today and it still hangs on the walls of our home. It is absolutely one of my favorite pictures. I hope you think so too.

Here is how good an iPhone X can be these days in comparison to a Nikon DSLR. As you can see the portrait mode is fantastic in that the dual lenses are able to isolate the subject of the image while darkening everything else. The cameras in this phone are fantastic. Here is a picture of my Chesapeake Bay Retriever, Sadie Magnolia on a casual Saturday morning. So, these days, you can take great photos of your toddler even without a DSLR camera like those I mentioned above.

It’s true the moment itself can often be frustrating getting your little one to sit still, to look at the camera and to smile for goodness sake, but it is our hope here at Windy Pinwheel that you find these tips worth their weight in gold in getting these very things to happen with your toddler.

Thank you for the great guest post article, George.

Enjoy.
– Will

Toddlers are the most active, and fun, subjects in photography. But because of their hyperactive energy, photographing them can be challenging.

Thankfully, there are tricks available that you can use to get great photos of your toddler. If you don’t know it, here are some tricks to start with.

6 Tricks on how to get great photos of your toddler:

1. Go for the action shots

Children usually learn how to run at the age of 18 to 24 months. So, if you’re photographing children with that age, keeping them stand still will be a challenge.

The best way to deal with this is to let them play while you do actions shots. Action shooting is a good technique because it captures the current stage of your child’s life – their emotions and the movements they can do.

It may be exhausting because you have to keep up with your child’s energy level. But the result is undeniable good.

2. Give them something to look at

Did you know that there are toddlers who don’t want to look at the camera?

The common tricks parents do is either beg or bribe them. Begging doesn’t work all the time compared to bribing. But if both don’t work, you can still get their attention by giving them something to look at.

A toy like a PEZ dispenser is always the best option because they simply love it. You can place it on top of your camera, and tell them that they can have it or it will produce candy if they look at it.

3. Let them see themselves inside the camera

If a toddler doesn’t want to participate in picture-taking, one of the best ways to deal with it is by involving them in the process.

First, take a picture of your child while playing. Once you took a couple of pictures, sit beside your child and showed the result. The key in here is to intrigue your child on how you did it.

Show your child how it’s done, and once you see that she/he’s amazed and excited, that’s the time you ask if you could take a picture of her/him. If your child says yes, grab your chance! But if not, just take a little more convincing and you’ll surely get your child to pose or even look at the camera.

4. Get them distracted

Not all tricks in getting your child to pose in front of the camera involve begging or bribing. There are some ways that you can take it without them knowing. But still, get the result you wanted. This is by distracting them.

One of the effective ways to distract them is by keeping them talking. Some said that if a child is talking, their mind will focus on that and will never notice if you took out a camera.

But be fast because they can snap out of that distraction easy.

5. Focus on the eyes

Another technique used to get great photos of your toddler is focusing on their eyes. This is because the eyes of a child are charming and give a lot of emotion.

To make it sharp all the time, you should learn how to use the focus point of your camera manually. With this, you’ll have the full control in deciding where and when to focus.

6. Find good light

If you’re doing photography, you probably heard this all the time – find good light. Since children can’t be exposed to artificial light for too long, it’s better to learn how to use natural light.

If you’re doing the photo shoot at home, you can always do it in the middle of the day where plenty of lights are available. But if you have certain effects that you wanted to achieve, you can place your child on different part of the house where light can pass through freely, like windows or doors.

Knowing the techniques is one thing and using the appropriate equipment is another story. If you want to know more about how to choose a good point and shoot camera (under $500), you should read this review on Cameraseals from David.

So, have you used any of these tricks and tips before? How did they work out for you? We’d love to know. Please share with a comment below. We hope you enjoyed readhing these 6 tips and tricks on how to get great photos of your toddler.

About the Guest Post Author

Hi, I’m George. I have been a camera enthusiast since 2008. Cameraseals is my personal blog where I share most of my interests and experiences from using cameras. You will find helpful topics even if you’re a beginner or long-time user.

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When traveling with family on the open road, these hacks just might save the day.

Today’s guest post comes to us from Rachael Everly, and she writes on the topic of 7 hacks for turning your SUV road trip into a fun adventure and brings some really cool ideas to the table when it comes to traveling on the open road. From using an pool inflatable to a binder and rubber band, she explores some of the ways to make the long trip ahead both relaxing and enjoyable.

Thank you for the great guest post article, Rachel.

Enjoy.
– Will

7 hacks for turning your SUV road trip into a fun adventure

In possibly every road trip, regardless of the amount of fun you’re having, there comes that harrowing moment where you ask yourself (or you just say it out loud): “Are we there yet?!”. These SUV hacks, however, will help you avoid entering that zone.

If you’re someone who has driven for more than 2-3 hours per stretch, then you absolutely know that road trips aren’t all sunshine and rainbows. Once the charm starts to dissipate, there is no going back until you’ve restocked on food and your kids have stopped kicking the back of your seat and fallen asleep.

Here are 7 hacks that are guaranteed to make even the most extended, most challenging SUV road trips not seem like a burden.

1. DIY TV monitor

I’m starting with my personal favorite which I’m sure will definitely switch that hypothetical light bulb on: a DIY TV monitor.

It goes without saying that a certain degree of precaution will need to be exercised, but this is nothing short of the best way to give your kids a chance to enjoy the ride. Plus, you won’t have to miss out on your favorite show, and it’s a much better resort as compared to music which starts to play with your mood after the first hour and a half.

2. Invest in a car cooler

You might be pushing your pocket’s boundaries a bit, but this is the kind of contraption that becomes a blessing when you really need that cold beverage sting to keep yourself wide awake. Keep your snacks and beverages preserved with a mini cooler, so that warm drinks will not be gnawing your weary mind during a long drive.

3. DIY Phone Holder

This is definitely going to make even the most inexperienced of road trip drivers look like absolute pros that thought out their journey. What we’re basically showing you here is a DIY smartphone/GPS holder made with the help of a rubber band and binder clip. Stay on track with the help of Maps and never miss out on a notification.

4. Download the Best Travel Apps

Keep yourself updated and economical throughout the road trip with an app like Gas Buddy. This essentially guides you throughout the route as to where you can get the lowest gas prices, how far the nearest gas station is and even report gas prices so that everyone else can save money too.

5. Inflatable Pool Raft can be a Life Saver

Get an inflatable pool raft so that you get the sleep you deserve after a long drive. This is also a pretty nifty option for couples as well as kids that want to sleep comfortably in the back without compromising on space. It just makes you want to look forward to sleeping, doesn’t it?

6. Invest in Secure Containers

Security is a primary concern, and this is nothing but a measure towards making your adventure memorable. Stash your cash and cards in cases that don’t attract any attention whatsoever like a pill container or get one of those deceptive containers that look like something ordinary on the outside but are ‘safe’ on the inside to keep your belongings secure.

7. A Handy Trash Can

Turn that plastic cereal container into a no-spill trash can. It’s definitely worth it.

What do you think of this list of 7 hacks for turning your SUV road trip into a fun adventure? Let us know in the comments below!

About the Guest Post Author

Rachael Everly is an undergraduate student who loves to write on the topics related to business leadership, finance, technology and education. Her passion and flare for writing got her to write for topics that interest her such as recent technological trends and how it shapes the business world. Her thought-provoking and well-researched writing style has made her work to be recognized on well-known websites. She has been featured on some of the top blogs such as Inman, Forbes, Escape Artist and many others currently associated with Equip Sells It, a heavy machinery and equipment dealer in Sanford, Florida for their blogging operations. Follow her on Twitter @RachaelEverly, become friends on Facebook and connect with her on Linkedin for further updates.

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By sponsoring this article, your sponsorship will display for a period of 180 days (6 months). If, for any reason, and it is up to the discretion of the authors of Windy Pinwheel, we feel content linked to or the name provided does not coincide with the objectives of this site for our audience we will issue a refund and pull the sponsorship of the article. This action does not limit you from sponsoring an article on our site again. However, by sponsoring again, we will issue the same review criteria as the prior sponsorship and if it fails, we will follow the same process as before and issue a refund and pull down the sponsorship. We truly appreciate the support of our audience and hope you can help offset our costs of operating this site by sponsoring our site articles.

For all reviews, please exercise discretion. If the sponsor of the article is in conflict of the topic of the article, we will pull down the sponsorship to remove any conflict of interest with the article at-hand. For instance, there is an article about a hamburger restaurant and a competing hamburger restaurant sponsors the article; we will pull the sponsorship and issue a refund.

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Encourage your kids to be physically active today!

Today’s guest post comes to us from Lisa Griffin from SameDayPapers.com, and she writes on the topic of 8 ways to encourage your child to be physically active. With today’s ease of access to technology, iPads, Kindles and other tablets, it is easy for us as parents to hand them to our child and let them entertain themselves while we prepare dinner or just while we are relaxing and winding down from the day. However, too much time on those sorts of devices or too much time indoors, for that matter, are not a good thing. In this article, Lisa offers up some great ways to introduce your child to physical activities that they will come to enjoy throughout their lifetimes. In fact, my kids are often on their devices too much right now and this article couldn’t have come at a better time for me and my family.

Thank you for the great guest post article, Lisa.

Enjoy.
– Will

8 ways to encourage your child to be physically active

If you want your child to develop healthily, physical activity is necessary. Like other useful habits, the habit of working out is best formed from early childhood. We offer you eight ideas on how to motivate kids to exercise and spend more time outdoors. These recommendations are suitable for kids from three years-old to adulthood.

1. Limit the use of devices

First in our list of 8 ways to encourage your child to be physically active is limiting time on devices. Even if your kid really likes to spend time watching the cartoons, playing phone or video games, this pastime should be limited. For example, you can set the time that they are allowed to spend in front of the screen, and the time when they should do something else, for example, take a walk in the fresh air.

2. Take time for active rest

Today, many children are overwhelmed with various tasks: homework, extracurricular activities, English lessons. Because of all these extra-duties, it’s easy to forget how important physical activity is. Therefore, allocate at least one hour a day and devote this time for the child’s stroll, run or play in the fresh air. On weekends, you can spend more time on physical training.

3. Buy toys for outdoor activities

Next in our list of 8 ways to encourage your child to be physically active is when buying toys, think of outdoor play when selecting your toys to purchase. If your mind is occupied with how to encourage children to exercise, try to buy your child not only toys that can be played at home, but also those that are designed for activity in the fresh air. On the one hand, the child would be interested in trying a new toy, and on the other, it would be an extra reason to spend more time outside. It is important for the kid that the parents spend time with him or her. Walk in the evenings. In the warmer seasons and on weekends, spend more time in the fresh air. Play football or volleyball together. You will show the child a good personal example, and secondly, you’ll spend more time with him or her. By the way, if your kid does not succeed, your support will be useful and encouraging for him or her.

4. Domestic help is also physical exercise

If the kid wants to help you clean the house, let him or her do it. Of course, not all tasks can be assigned to a small assistant. At the same time, cleaning is also one of many physical activities for kids at home. Cleaning the house or helping out in the garden, or even washing dishes is something that little assistants do well. In addition, in this way, from an early age, you can introduce your child to domestic duties that are essential to daily life and is one of our 8 ways to encourage your child to be physically active. Not all activities need to have play at the center of the activity, but cleaning the house can have playful elements as a part of it. For instance, a race to see who can sweep or dust the fastest can always be fun.

5. Praise the child

And, do it not only for the result but for trying. Even if your kid does not do everything how it should be done, praise him or her. Even if, helping around the house, the helper has littered more, than cleaned – praise him or her. If you are willing to get any proactive behavior from the kid (in sports or help in the garden), praise him for any action and their initiative to help as one of our 8 ways to encourage your child to be physically active.

6. Plan an active vacation or weekend

Next among our 8 ways to encourage your child to be physically active is getting outdoors as a family on weekends or during personal time off (PTO) for a family vacation. In Summer and other warm seasons, arrange excursions into nature. And if hiking with an overnight stay in the tent is not suitable for everyone, then travel by the whole family to the river or the forest is not difficult at all. Your child will rejuvenate to a greater degree outdoors than at home in front of the computer or iPad, and he will have more energy to play sports. Further, he or she will come to appreciate the outdoors and find a love for outdoor activities when the entire family takes part in these kinds of activities.

7. Find a fun activity

Next and an important part of our 8 ways to encourage your child to be physically active list is to choose a sport that suits your youngster by age. Such that the kid can enjoy the activity. It can be swimming, team sports,gymnastics or even riding a bike. If necessary, consult a pediatrician – he or shee will help you choose what the child needs at their given age at that time as an age-appropriate activity. Although, it’s important in physical activity that is not be too much and overwhelming or too exerting and demanding on your child’s physical abilities. If your kid is tired and has absolutely no desire to take a walk, let him or her stay at home. If your kid does not participate in a team sport, it may be worthwhile to take a break for a while or choose another type of physical activity. After all, the health and well-being of your child are the most important.

8. Be a role model

Most of all, children take cues and learn from their parents and when developing healthy habits, it is no different. Therefore, if you are willing to motivate your kids to exercise and be physically active, be a personal example. If you do exercises every day, do not doubt that your child will do the same. If you walk a lot in the fresh air and get pleasure from it, keep staying healthy and do not doubt that your child will also love walks.

We hope you find this this list of 8 ways to encourage your child to be physically active inspiring and adopt some of them for your own family. If you could add anything to this list, what would you add to our list of 8 ways to encourage your child to be physically active? Leave us a comment below.

About the Guest Post Author

Lisa Griffin is a physical therapist and a freelance writer at SameDayPapers.com. She is entrepreneurial, energetic and enthusiastic, loves and knows the business of physical therapy, and is an avid runner and exerciser.

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By sponsoring this article, your sponsorship will display for a period of 180 days (6 months). If, for any reason, and it is up to the discretion of the authors of Windy Pinwheel, we feel content linked to or the name provided does not coincide with the objectives of this site for our audience we will issue a refund and pull the sponsorship of the article. This action does not limit you from sponsoring an article on our site again. However, by sponsoring again, we will issue the same review criteria as the prior sponsorship and if it fails, we will follow the same process as before and issue a refund and pull down the sponsorship. We truly appreciate the support of our audience and hope you can help offset our costs of operating this site by sponsoring our site articles.

For all reviews, please exercise discretion. If the sponsor of the article is in conflict of the topic of the article, we will pull down the sponsorship to remove any conflict of interest with the article at-hand. For instance, there is an article about a hamburger restaurant and a competing hamburger restaurant sponsors the article; we will pull the sponsorship and issue a refund.

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Thinking about building a custom home? Looking for inspiration? We have you covered.

Today’s guest post comes to us from Luda Artemieva from LVA Concepts, and she writes on the topic of home design and some great architectural features to consonder when building a custom home. Here, in Northern Nevada, there are several locations where you can build a custom built home like Arrowcreek, Incline Village, unincorporated areas of Washoe County or any county in Nevada, for that matter and even some locations near Holcomb Ranch. Some of these great architectural features might work for you and some might not, but the key is finding inspiration and incorporating that into your design to truly make your home unique and a great contribution to the housing in the area.

Thank you for the great guest post article, Luda.

Enjoy.
– Will

5 Home Design Ideas for Build Inspiration

Whether you’ve built a home before or it’s your first time, getting inspiration for the home design build is usually the hardest part. Whether it’s deciding what style to go for or what kind of entryways you need, home builders of all types sometimes just need a little kick in the right direction when it comes to home design.

Here are some home design ideas to inspire your next build:

Arches Galore

Whether it’s a beach house in California or the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, arched doorways and vaulted ceilings are a great way not only to give your house design space, but a unique touch.

Arches have been a staple in many cultures for centuries, as the design itself promises stability and elegance in its simplicity.

It’s important to note that there are several different styles and shapes of arches.

• First, you have the Roman style, which is your most classic and commonly used in home building. Similar to the arches that you’ll find in the Colosseum, these are semi-circles over doors or windows.
• You also have Segmental (sometimes called a scheme arch), which as the name suggests is only a semi-curve, stopping before it completes at less than 180 degrees. Think of the kind of arch found with bricks for this kind of arch over doorways, fireplaces, and windows in 20th century architecture.
• You have Gothic, which most people will remember from Gothic churches, with their very noticeable point at the top.
• Tudor arches (also known as a four-centred arch) are much wider than Gothic, but still have a point on the top.
• And lastly, the Moorish arch (or Horseshoe), is a bit more unique but curves longer than the typical Roman arch to create a horseshoe effect.

Go Modern

Modern architecture is on the rise and its clean lines and re-purposed materials are a huge hit in North America when it comes to home design.

Some qualities you should try incorporating in your home design to give your build a modern touch are large open spaces, use of natural light, using green or re-purposed materials, and mixing both horizontal and vertical lines.

When looking at the exterior of your home, go for large windows on the unobstructed side of your house to let the most natural light in throughout the day. Go minimal on window treatments like curtains or blinds, to ensure nothing is keeping out the light.

Small touches that make a huge difference in your home design are the angle of your roof or materials used on the siding. Make sure you take inspiration from more industrial buildings to get that super unique look.

Using Lightwells

Speaking of natural light, something that can really enhance your home design living space is using lightwells to your advantage. A lightwell is an unroofed area in your house, used in architectural design to bring in natural light and fresh air.

The lightwell design isn’t a new idea by any means in home design, but just like the arch, has been around for centuries. In Ancient Greece, Greek people naturally used these types of spaces to open up their homes and bring in as much light as possible.

The effect of a few simple lightwells can transform a home design and bring in a feature that is fun and interesting.

Leverage Nature

Though we may have thought moss covered homes and trees in the living room are more a thing for movies, several cutting-edge architects from around the world are looking at how to use foliage in their home designs.

A home in Buenos Aires, designed by Bam! Arquitectura incorporates a whole garden on the roof and walkways.

Not only does this bring an occupant closer to nature, but it also brings a very interesting and ground-breaking style to the home design.

These kinds of unique touches bring your home into the future too, with more and more people looking to limit the amount of loss of green life around them when building a home.

A New Take on an Old Idea in Home Design

The most unique designs today are not necessarily new ideas, but simply a new take on an old idea for home design.

Take the new trend of treehouse style homes, like this inverted roof example in China that brings a childish idea and makes it new and stylish instead. Or, for the seaworthy, people are even designing lighthouse style homes to replicate their favourite beach fronts and keep their home design fresh and unique.

The trick is to find a home design that means something to you and put a spin on it.

Take your favorite castle from England and grab small elements from it to incorporate in your new home design. Like industrial buildings? Incorporate a garage door as a focal point of your living room to give it a unique spin.

Overall, if you’re looking for inspiration for your new build project, get out there and look around! There are so many people doing cool things nowadays, that sometimes you just need a little bit of an idea before you’ll get the lightbulb moment you need for your custom home design.

What kind of architectural design inspires you when considering your custom home design build or home renovation? Let us know in the comments below!

About the Guest Post Author

Luda Artemieva is an imaginative artist and experienced architectural and interior designer. Having travelled around the world, she now resides in Vancouver, BC. Luda gathers inspiration through her affection to nature, art, culture and architecture. The miraculous ideas that she creates start from client’s dreams and aim to help people in changing the quality of their lives. You can learn more about Luda on her website LVA Concepts.

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By sponsoring this article, your sponsorship will display for a period of 180 days (6 months). If, for any reason, and it is up to the discretion of the authors of Windy Pinwheel, we feel content linked to or the name provided does not coincide with the objectives of this site for our audience we will issue a refund and pull the sponsorship of the article. This action does not limit you from sponsoring an article on our site again. However, by sponsoring again, we will issue the same review criteria as the prior sponsorship and if it fails, we will follow the same process as before and issue a refund and pull down the sponsorship. We truly appreciate the support of our audience and hope you can help offset our costs of operating this site by sponsoring our site articles.

For all reviews, please exercise discretion. If the sponsor of the article is in conflict of the topic of the article, we will pull down the sponsorship to remove any conflict of interest with the article at-hand. For instance, there is an article about a hamburger restaurant and a competing hamburger restaurant sponsors the article; we will pull the sponsorship and issue a refund.

By clicking the button below, I agree with the Terms & Conditions.