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Last week in my Forum, Christina asked this photography question:

Can you explain Macro? My camera has a Macro function and I have no idea what to do with it. I've tried playing with it, but the images are terrible. When, why, and how should I use Macro.

So, here you go, Christina! Basic info about Macro.

What is Macro photography?
Macro photography is a term used for close up photos. Technically, true macro photography is defined as photos which are made between 1/10 life size and life size (ie--really, really close up). Many "macro" settings on point and shoot cameras (which can be seen as the flower symbol on your camera's dial) are not true macro, but simply assist you in getting a better close up shot. Make sense?

On point and shoot cameras, you will typically be able to select macro (the flower symbol) to take close up shots. On an SLR (single lens reflex) camera, you will need to purchase a lens with macro capabilities. I currently own a 70-200mm lens, which can zoom in a lot...however, the lens will literally not allow me to get close to anything (seriously, it yells at me whenever I try). No, really, I often try to get macro-type shots, and the lens refuses to focus until I back up far enough. Not conducive to good macro shots.

by Hypergurl - Tanya Ann on Flickr

When to use the Macro setting:
I typically use Macro when photographing plants, flowers, and insects. This is not the only reason to use the Macro setting, but possibly the most common use.

Why use Macro?
Use the Macro setting to capture the smallest details of objects. Often macro images show just a part of an object (such as the petals of a flower) and are more abstract than realistic. Using the macro setting to take a portrait could turn out beautiful, but the likelihood of your subject being blurry is great (see below).

Why aren't my Macro shots turning out?
One of the main reasons that macro shots fail is that they require a large aperture (ie--your lens opening will be/should be very large, letting in a lot of light), making your depth of field very shallow (ie--only a small portion of your image will be in clear focus. The rest of the image will be blurred.) Because of this, you must chose your focus carefully and stay very still. Tripods are especially handy when doing macro photography.

Hopefully that answers some of your questions, Christina! Everyone, please visit my Blog Frog forum to ask more questions! I love having prompts. :)

PS--I am not a macro expert, and currently I do not own a good macro lens. But I LOVE macro photography and the stunning images that can be captured with this style of photography.

Lolli is a lifelong member of the Church, married to a convert. She has five kids--3 girls and 2 boys (and a camera that goes everywhere she goes!). Read more on her personal blog, Better in Bulk.

Portion sizes these days have grown by 200%! It's crazy the amount of food we allow on our plates. I've got some visual tips to help you learn to cut down on portion sizes and really give your body the amount of food it needs.

I mean let's face it, those waistlines will grow the more food you put on our plate and eat past satiety(feeling satisfied, but not full, which tends to pack on the calories).

This week is all about grain portions: we need 6-11 servings a day.

Breads: 1 ounce (1 slice, 1/2 bagel, 1/2 bun) = an index card
Cooked grains: 1/2 c. (rice, pasta, oatmeal, grits, 7-grain cereal) = billiard ball
Dry cereal: 1/2 c. (shredded wheat, flakes--Honey Bunches of Oats, Cheerios) = billiard ball

When you think about eating that next bowl of cereal, try following the portion sizes. I find when I eat my bowl of oatmeal in the mornings, I'm full longer and can make it to my morning snack time. Sometimes I even add some sliced fruit on top of my cereal.

We will be making a brief stop on the tropical island of Hawaii today. My family LOVES pineapple and they are sure to love this wonderful refreshing birthday treat.

I don't know what they are called . . . WAIT . . . Let's make up some exotic tropically delicious name . . .

How about . . . Pineapple Volcanos? . . . hmmmm . . . . Hawaiian Hula Heaven? . . . I'm open to suggestion!

This Latter Day Mom, just trying to "Endure to the End" one day at a time. You can follow these antics and more at Alpine Klein Bunch.

Catch up with Miss Liss at A Year of Wisdom or The Fascinating Woman, based on Fascinating Womanhood.

I went to the Temple with my husband the other day and we did initiatory work for our family members. While sitting there waiting for my turn, I got to thinking about how we are to treat our bodies as a Temple.

When I go to the Temple, I like to take my time and look around at everything.. soak it in per say. A few things I noticed this last time… and have noticed before but are pertinent to this post are:

* There are things there that are not 100% perfect… some things have slight
discolorations, or surface marks from years of loving care/use
* Everything is clean
* Everything is in order
* Everything is done a certain way

These are things that we can use as guidelines for maintaining our own “Temples”. Many times we are hardest on ourselves when it comes to appearances and our health. We are our own worst critics.

As I was thinking of these things I thought to myself about how I CAN make sure that things in my life are clean… how things in my life CAN be in order… and how all of those things in my life do NOT have to be 100% PERFECT.

It is a hard thing to learn to love oneself. To be comfortable in our own skin, to be ok with that extra ten pounds we cant get rid of. To be understanding and accepting with our limitations and remember that despite it all… we are “the offspring of God clothed in mortal bodies.” By working hard to remember this and be this way... we can ensure that we are spiritually and physically prepared for whatever may come our way.

“It is a great privilege to have a body. We are the offspring of God clothed in mortal bodies. These bodies are not wholly our own to do with as we please. We have a responsibility to our temporal bodies” (Oscar W. McConkie Jr., The Priest in the Aaronic Priesthood [Salt Lake City: Corporation of the Presiding Bishop, 1964], p. 285).



As in my last post…I hope I got the point across that Physical Health can mean many different things, to many different people. Everything is based on the individuals beliefs, raising, and circumstances.

However… despite all the many differences, one thing remains solid, true and eternal. Our body is a Temple and should be treated as such to the best of our abilities. We honor our Father in Heaven when we do so.

1Cor. 3:16-17
16 Know ye not that ye are the Temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

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I just experienced my 10th anniversary from entering the Missionary Training Center. I have known this was coming... I just turned 31 a few weeks ago... so I knew this anniversary was just around the corner.

I have had time to reflect and wanted to share a few of those reflections here with my sisters on Modern Molly Mormon.

Sincere Prayer~ Prayer has always been an important part of my life; however, I have found lately myself checking prayer off my imaginary "To-Do list" by doing so with my toddler. Not the way it works.

I have seen miracles in my life and in the lives of so many others just by the fact that we have chosen to participate in the communication line with our Heavenly Father. Why would I ever cut-off this line of communication and needed guidance willingly? Why would I do so in some of the most trying parts of my life?

I know better. We know better.

Here are some key elements from Elder M. Russell Ballard says that our prayers should have:
1. Earnestness
2. Sincerity
3. Consistency

I challenge each of us to evaluate where we are with our personal, couple, family prayers and find ways to improve them. Reflect on the personal miracles and answers you have seen because of this divine gift of communication.

Don't stop with praying. Remember to act.

One Book of Mormon story that constantly stays in my mind is from the brother of Jared. He needed light for the ship. How was he supposed to get light? He prayed about it--- then he acted. He acted by going to get stones and asking Heavenly Father to bless them, which happend. The Lord touched the stones and then there was light. He decided to act after prayer-- an element we can forget.

It is my sincere prayer that we will see miracles in our lives as we focus more on prayer and really communicating with our Heavenly Father.

I have preached about the need for sleep here before, and I have become a fervent convert to getting my 7-8 hours whenever I can. But all sleep is not created equal.

In D&C 121:124 we read: cease to sleep longer than is needful; retire to thy bed early, that ye may not be weary; arise early, that your bodies and your minds may be invigorated.


Like many women, I have trained myself to be a night owl since having kids. After my kids were asleep (which was often quite late) was when I had my "me" time and I was willing to sacrifice just about anything to have it. Or at least I thought so. When I really analyzed the situation I discovered that the"me" time I spent not sleeping at night was generally unproductive and unsatisfying. Often I would be in too much of a daze to do more then mindlessly surf the net or stare unseeingly at the TV. I also noticed a phenomenon where I'd let myself get so tired that I did not have the energy to prepare for bed. Let's face it, bedtime can be a rigamorale. There's the washing of the face and the brushing and the flossing and the lotion and the last load of laundry. It's not often that any woman I know says, "well I'm tired, I think I will go to bed" and goes directly there. That decision is generally followed by at least 20 minutes of activity. So there I would sit, too tired to embark upon my bedtime mission, not enjoying my coveted "me time" at all, getting more and more tired and listless until I finally gathered together the motivation I needed to get to bed. It created a horrible cycle.

I decided recently that this had to stop and that I needed to put this commandment into practise in my life. I had noticed that during the Summer I was making up for my bad nights by waking up late and never feeling really refreshed even if I'd slept 7, 8 or even 9 hours. My husband has always claimed that going to bed really late and waking up really late is not as restful as doing both early. This may be why teenagers are chronically tired (even though they sleep til noon).

Scientists agree. Generally the quality of sleep one gets during the morning hours is not as good as at night. Bodies were made to function during daylight hours and rest when it is dark. Some people work swing shifts of course and that can't be helped but whenever possible, treat your body to as many night-time zzz hours as you can. "Sleeping in" just isn't the same.

Spiritual blessings are promised to early risers too. In a talk given to BYU Students, Elder J. Joe Christensen recounts the following:

Elder Lee spoke about the necessity of receiving personal revelation in order to be effective and said: “If you are to be successful as a General Authority, you will need to be inspired. You will need to receive revelation. I will give you one piece of advice: Go to bed early and get up early. If you do, your body and mind will become rested, and then in the quiet of those early-morning hours, you will receive more flashes of insight and inspiration than at any other time of the day.”


President Romney said: “From that day on, I put that counsel into practice, and I know it works. Whenever I have a serious problem, or some assignment of a creative nature with which I hope to receive the influence of the Spirit, I always receive more assistance in the early-morning hours than at any other time of the day. Following that counsel has helped me a great deal through the years.”

It was amazing how quickly my body adjusted after I had committed to a new pattern of living. By disciplining myself to go to bed earlier, I woke up earlier naturally. Even if I was still somewhat sleepy, I would get up and get going. I was amazed by the immediate change in my energy level. I was also amazed at the increase in my productivity and patience.

As an aside I am so grateful that I felt the prompting to change my ways when I did. A week or so into the experiment I unexpectedly attended Girls Camp. My new-found tolerance for early mornings was indeed a tender mercy for all concerned. Going cold turkey under those conditions may have done me (and possibly everyone else in my path) in, but since my body had quickly become used to the earlier hours, I managed to get up and even pretend to be cheerful.


I have also enjoyed the benefits of running when the air is still cool and fresh and the day is still dewy and new. It truly is much more invigorating in body and in mind then running in the noon-day heat. Whodathunkit? It is amazing how much more beautiful morning is when you are rested.


Kirsty is South African, born into the Church, and currently lives in Ohio with her husband and four kids. She is a sometimes birth doula, fitness instructor, and writer with featured article in LDSliving magazine. She constantly plots against her laundry, and loves new visitors to her personal blog, Momedy.
Image here

When was the last time you ran through the sprinklers, found shapes in the clouds, or laid in the grass under a shady tree with a Popsicle? Do you remember when summer was three months of fun- when you didn't have to worry about things like getting ready for girls camp, or weeding the garden or constantly running your kids to practice and games?

We've often heard the phrase "Take time to stop and smell the roses" similarly we might consider taking an afternoon to stop and splash in the backyard pool with our kids- to relax and soak in a beautiful summer afternoon. The pile of dirty laundry can wait until tomorrow and that dirty floor isn't going anywhere (trust me!)

Audra, her prince charming and their toddler son live in a rural LDS community. You can find more of her ramblings at her blog Latter Day Lady or check out her digital scrapbook designs at Audra's Little Scraps.

Catch up with Miss Liss at A Year of Wisdom or The Fascinating Woman, based on Fascinating Womanhood.

Catch up with Miss Liss at A Year of Wisdom or The Fascinating Woman, based on Fascinating Womanhood.