As your breasts get bigger, your nipples naturally get bigger as well. The darkening of the nipples is caused by a temporary increase of melanin, the natural pigment that your body produces that gives your hair, skin and eyes their color. For most women, within a few months of having their baby, the nipples will return to their normal color and size. If a woman is breastfeeding, the nipples may not return to their normal size until after she weans her baby.

Another change in the nipples that a woman may discover once she gets pregnant are the Montgomery’s tubercles (glands or little bumps surrounding the nipples) getting bigger, elevating and becoming more prominent. Not all women experience this, and some may not experience it till the second or third trimester.

If you do not believe you are pregnant, there are other things that can cause these changes in your nipples. Weight gain can cause your breasts to enlarge, therefore causing your nipples to enlarge. If you like to tan, your nipples may become darker. A hormone imbalance may cause your nipples to get darker, or left over melanin from a previous pregnancy may cause this darkening. If you are not sure what is going on with your body, be sure to ask your doctor.

Basic Composition
Now that you are beginning to understand how your camera works you can begin to understand basic composition. I know that many people that I’ve talked to think that photography is just pointing your camera and taking a photo but it’s more than that. After you understand how your equipment works you can begin to get into the real art of photography and that art is called composition.

Basic principles:

1. Use all of your available space. Fill the image with the image. If the reason that your taking the photo is your daughter’s beautiful face then get closer. If you’re taking an image of the breathtaking valley before you. Fill the frame with the valley. Keep distractions out of the frame. They’re called distractions for a reason.
2. Look at the forms in your image. You almost have to look at the people or the landscape before you in their simplistic geographic forms. A good way to learn form is to practice taking photos of still life objects, that you can arrange into pleasing forms. A good photo is always a beautiful arrangement of form. Whether it’s the beauty of a woman’s face, her features being forms, or a wonderful landscape, trees, rocks, and hills being forms.
3. Line or direction, motion. The direction of the forms in your photos is very important. Never have action or motion moving outside of your image. It will direct the eye away from your image. Diagonal motion lines are good, curves and “s” curves are better. The last two is probably way landscape photography is so popular nature is full of curves. Also never put a horizon line in the center of your frame.
4. Contrast, the difference between black and white. Now it is possible to have a beautiful photo with little contrast if that is your intention, this works best with color. But a lot of shots, some really beautiful shots have a nice balance of black, white, and grays. This can be manipulated for artistic purpose of course, but in the beginning you want to focus on trying to take shots with equal amounts of black, white, and shades of gray. (Shoot a roll of B&W film to really learn this principle.)
5. Color, you may have to familiarize yourself with the color wheel. (See my article Graphic Design Using Color for more information it’s for graphic design but the first couple of paragraphs talk about basic color theory) Whether you’re shooting nature or setting up your own shots in a studio you need to know what colors go together and why. Many of us have an instinct as to what looks good. When in doubt follow your instincts. Start out by taking shots of things that you think have pretty or beautiful colors. Show the photos to others and see if they agree. Photographers learn not only what they think is beautiful but what is universally beautiful as well.

Now the hard part practice all these principles at the same time. It’s not easy! Now you really know why photographers take years to really learn their craft.

This week’s assignment:
Let’s break this down into four assignments. You’ll need four rolls of film. Roll one, fill your available space. Shoot pictures of whatever you like, but get closer. Eliminate distractions from your image. Keep the focus of your image on whatever it was that made you want to take that photo. Roll two, forms. Here’s an old stand by that I did in college. Get out an assortment of vegtables and fruit from your kitchen. Put a sheet down on your table, no distractions, shoot an entire roll of the veggies and fruit making sure that your rearrange with each shot. Make sure you study your results and see which forms looked best. Roll three, Contrast, you can do this in B&W film if you want to. Take a shot of the flower in your garden in the early morning, afternoon, and sunset. Shoot some portraits at the same times, by candlelight too. When you see the results you will be surprised. Roll four, color. Use the vegtables again, this time paying attention to the colors. If you can tell me why a red tomato looks best on a green bed of lettuce or the orange sunset with the purple clouds is so captivating then you’ve figured out some of color theory.

If you have some specific questions please visit my Photography Forum.
© 2004 Kelly Paal

About The Author
Kelly Paal is a Freelance Nature and Landscape Photographer, exhibiting nationally and internationally. Recently she started her own business Kelly Paal Photography. She has an educational background in photography, business, and commercial art. She enjoys applying graphic design and photography principles to her web design.

What It Means The APGAR score is a measurement of a newborn’s response to birth and life outside the womb. It was named for its creator, pediatrician Virginia Apgar (1909-1974), who introduced the system in 1952. Ratings are based on the following factors:

Appearance (color)
0 for blue or pale
1 for pink with blue extremities
2 for pink overall 

Pulse (heartbeat)
0 for absent (no pulse)
1 for under 100 bpm
2 for over 100 bpm

Grimace (reflex)
0 for non-responsive
1 for grimace
2 for cough or sneeze

Activity (muscle tone)
0 for limp
1 for some reflex
2 for active movement

Respiration (breathing)
0 for absent
1 for slow, irregular
2 for good crying

As you can see, for each factor, there is a score of 0 (poorest), 1 or 2 (best) which may be given. The score is taken at one and five minutes (sometimes also 10 minutes) after birth, the total high score being 10 and the lowest score being 0. The American Academy of Pediatrics made a statement in 1996 regarding the use, and abuse, of the scoring system as anything other than a newborn assessment tool: “APGAR scores are useful in assessing the condition of the infant at birth. Their use in other settings, such as collection of a child’s Apgar score at entry to school, is inappropriate.”

Solid vs. Runny
Breastfed baby stool can be all different consistencies, but it is very rarely solid and hard. Normally it is thin and runny, runny enough that many will wonder if their baby has diarrhea. Most of the time the answer is no, however if seems runnier than normal or gets a very distinct smell to it, you should call your pediatrician to make sure it is normal.

Coloring
The normal color of breastfed baby poop is a mustardy yellow color. However early on when mixed with meconium it can be dark black to any shade of green. Once the meconium is gone it is likely that your baby’s stool will change shades if you eat a large amount of a food or a food that is heavily colored. Some say that if mom eats a lot of salad, and then nurses her baby her baby’s poop may end up green. Also, once your baby starts eating baby food his poop will probably change to reflect the food he is eating. When he eats carrots, his poop may look orange; if he ate peas it could be green. The coloring of your baby’s poop will change constantly as your baby’s diet changes and as he gets older.

Timing
Some breastfed babies will have a bowel movement with almost every diaper change. Others will have one only once or twice a day. Either one is normal for a breastfed baby. It is also common for a breastfed baby to go a couple of days without having a bowel movement. If your baby has not had a bowel movement for a long period of time and you are concerned about it be sure to call and ask your baby’s doctor.

Constipation
Newborns in general will make a lot of noise when trying to have a bowel movement. This is because they are learning how to use the muscles that control pushing and holding in the poo. Until they are proficient at controlling these muscles they may grunt and groan a lot sounding like they are constipated. As long as your baby is going on their own and it is not hard, then they are probably not constipated. If you are unsure however or worried about it be sure to ask your pediatrician at your next well-check.