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I’m attending a special mommy blogger event next week in Southern California put on by the kind folks at Sony. We’ll be trying out Sony Digital imaging products and services including trying out the Sony Cybershot DSCW170, Sony Alpha DSLRA350 Digital SLR Camera, and the Sony HDR-SR11 10MP 60GB High Definition Hard Drive Handycam Camcorder with 12x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom. Fancy! We’ll also be meeting with photography expert Me Ra Koh, and from shooting pictures on the beaches of La Jolla.

I’m excited but nervous. It’s been years since I took a photography course. Let’s just say it was before digital cameras were invented and I spent more time in the darkroom printing pictures than I did taking them. My experience with digital cameras is limited. Like most folks, I just point, shoot, download, crop and post/email. So I’m glad that I have a copy of Photographing Your Family: And All the Kids and Friends and Animals Who Wander Through Too to read on the plane thanks to the folks at National Geographic.

What I liked about Photographing Your Family is that Joel Sartore, a National Geographic magazine photographer and father of three, reviews the basics like composition, key elements and light. Then he shares his secrets for photographing your family by going through his own family albums and explaining what he did to get the shot. You will also learn the best ways to print, display, and store your work, and tips on choosing equipment. I was especially interested in the chapter on the digital darkroom where he explains how to use software programs like Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 to alter and improve your photographs.

A Family Photo Expedition

Photographing Your Family is also a great book to share with your family’s junior shutter bugs. My daughter Lucie is an excellent photographer and she’s only five, so don’t be scared to give your child an inexpensive or older digital camera to use. Plan a family outing, like a trip to the beach or the zoo. Or maybe you just want to go around the neighborhood and find interesting things to shoot, from close ups of bugs and flowers to people and cars.

After your expedition, download your photos on the computer, and have fun digitally enhancing your photos. You can use Paint.net, which is a free downloadable software package. Or Photoshop Express, Adobe’s new free online site for changing and storing your photographs.

Food for the Hungry Photographer

FamilyFun.com has a web page filled with family picnic ideas. I like the idea of bringing snacks, drinks and sandwiches or wraps in a small cooler. FamilyFun has several wrap recipes, but I think their turkey and vegetable wrap is the most practical and versatile. If you don’t like turkey you can substitute for another meat or leave it out for a veggie wrap.

Turkey and Vegetable Wrap
Makes 4 servings

1. 1 large large veggie tortilla wrap
2. 1 cup tomato sauce
3. 1 cup mild salsa (a pineapple mango salsa would be excellent)
4. 1/2 lb. fresh spinach leaves
5. 1/2 lb. roasted turkey breast, thinly sliced
6. 1 red pepper, thinly sliced
7. 1 red onion, thinly sliced
8. 1 small zucchini, thinly sliced
9. 2 cups grated mozzarella and Parmesan cheese, mixed

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the wrap on a sheet pan and brush with the tomato sauce. Spoon the salsa over the sauce. Layer on the spinach leaves, followed by the turkey breast, red pepper, onion and zucchini. Top with the grated cheese.
2. Heat in the oven just until the cheese melts, about 5 minutes. (In a pinch, you could also zap in the microwave.)
3. Fold in the sides of the wrap. Then roll the lahvosh tightly, starting with the long end.
4. Let cool for 5 minutes before cutting into 4 portions.
5. Wrap in aluminum foil or plastic wrap and chill. Can be make the night before your picnic.

If you want to avoid the whole cooking and melting cheese bit, use cream cheese or a mild goat cheese instead of the shredded cheeses. Mix it with the salsa and leave out the tomato sauce. You may want to cut back on the amount of salsa as well - after all, you want to be able to spread the mixture not paint with it.

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