Looking for your Darling photos!

We are running low on our Darling of the Day photos and are reaching out to you to share your precious photos with us. We LOVE to see our reader’s amazingly beautiful, funny, and inspirational children. If you have a Darling (or two) in your life that you’d like to share with us, please send us their photo by emailing to editor@letop-usa.com. Be sure to include the name of the child(ren), age, and a little bit about them or the photo. There is no age limit and the children do not have to be wearing the Le Top clothing brand. We can’t wait to see them all! 🙂 We will inform you in advance of the Thursday that we will be sharing your cutie with our readers. Until then, click away!

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Dearest Darlings

Sweet Ella having a spa day!

For all you papparazzo mommies, daddies, and parentals out there, we will now post a Darling of the Day every Thursday (well, unless it’s Thanksgiving) on our blog roll instead of the separate tab that was formerly on our blog page.  We hated to see our cuties come and go each day, and want your snapshots to have a more permanent place in our heart (and blog archive).  Spring is in the air and summer is just around the corner.  We would love to see and feature your munchkins each week, whether they are a little one of your own, a friend’s or that cute kid you see on the street!

Here are a few pointers from the snap happy photographers of le·top:

1.  Be spontaneous!  Candids rock, there is nothing like taking an unannounced action shot – It’s a great way to capture a child’s personality.

2.  Looking for that million-dollar smile?  Telling jokes can be a good way to get the perfect unexpected smile.

3.  Get low!  If you find yourself always standing up and shooting downward, get on the floor at their level – experimenting with angles can be fun.

Now snap to it and send us your photos of your wee little babes.

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SMILE! Quick Tips on Photographing Children

Like any mom I’m always on the lookout for tricks to make the photos I take of my child truly reflect how cute and special she can be. Children just don’t always cooperate, do they? I thought I would share a few pointers I have gathered to improve those home photos.

Lighting:
The best light is natural light, especially the time just after sunrise or right before sunset. The midday sun causes harsh shadows, and a squinting child is not as cute!  For indoor shots try placing your child near a window, or setting up additional lights to reduce shadows.

Preparing the space:
When taking a ‘posed’ shot keep the area clear, so you and your baby can move around easily.  Keep it simple; using a solid color blanket is always a good backdrop.

Personality:
No matter what your child’s personality might be, you always want to capture a moment that truly reflects your child.  If you have a stubborn youngster (like mine) a smile may not be in the cards. Try for that perfect candid shot, when your baby is truly engaged with an activity.  You may not get a shot looking directly at the camera, but the lens might capture that peaceful little angel you know and love. When children are really excited you may catch the smile, but watch those quick movers you might get an image that is blurry.  Many point-and-click cameras have a setting for action – you get a better chance to truly ‘capture the moment!’ For little babies try catching them while sleeping, you can even pose them and really catch a sweet expression.  For older children pull out the camera when it is their ‘best time of day’ – don’t wait until they are tired.

Practice:
Great photographers take many photos to get the perfect shot. As an amateur you need to keep on clicking – including shots from all different angles, with different lighting and experimenting with setting you haven’t tried out on your camera. Zoom in on hands, feet and eyes or try coaxing a natural expression by asking them to show you a favorite toy.

Just remember…Have Fun!

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Oh, They Grow Up So Fast…

Hey batter, batter, batter...

Faith (of Klassy Kids in Waldorf, MD) really knows how to make my day. I just sat down to my computer to go through the lot of emails flooding my inbox this morning (combined with a sinus headache from our lovely allergy season), and hers was the first one I opened. She attached pictures of my favorite le•top and rabbit moon model, Trey, from Mother’s Day! “He loves to play ball”, she captioned, and it really shows. I started cracking up when I opened the second picture. Trey’s facial expression is priceless, he really looks like he is about to throw a tricky slider and strike out batter #1 “Daddy”. I reminisced about the first pictures I received from Faith when Trey was born (not too hard, since they are posted just to the right of my screen), and marveled at how amazing it is to watch a child grow up. Trey is not even two years old yet, and he is already getting “So BIG!”  They grow fast, don’t they…!?!

OK, now of course, I have to talk about the clothes! 🙂 Trey is wearing (and expertly modeling, I must say!) the striped Submarine collection shirt and terry short (shown below) from rabbit moon. Click on the image to see the entire Submarine collection and use the store locator to find a rabbit moon retailer near you (if you don’t live near Klassy Kids!).

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