Tag Archives: photography tips

Tips for Getting a Great Family Portrait

You can go and spend a fortune on a portrait sitting, get lots of different poses and then spend hours trying to agonize over which ones you want to order and which ones you want to include in your scrapbook. Or you can create your own portrait sitting and take the photos yourself and spend a lot less money. In addition, you can spend no time actually agonizing over the selection, because the negatives or original digital prints are yours to begin with. This allows you the freedom and flexibility to crop, resize, reprint and alter the photographs until your … Continue reading →

Photography Week In Review For October 1-6, 2007

Are you looking to get outdoors to capture the fall colors and need some tips on getting just the right shot? Or are you more interested in learning new ways you can display your prize-winning photos? Either way you’ve come to the right place. The Photography Week in Review is your one-stop shopping resource to get all the photo tips you missed over the past few days. October 1st—–Natural Framing. Take a look around before you snap a shot of your subject. The number of objects that serve as natural framing options may surprise you. Check out some great examples … Continue reading →

Snapping Frameworthy Shots Of Your Kids

We have been experiencing record high temperatures in our neck of the woods. Last week we were back in the 80s—-that’s 20 degrees warmer than normal for this time of year. Naturally, this led to all kinds of excitement around our home. My daughter and I spent the majority of the week outdoors. We grabbed our kites and headed to the park where I was able to capture more “summertime” magic on film. I love taking shot of my daughter at play, especially when she’s outdoors. Believe me; it’s much easier trying to get candid shots of 3-year-olds when they … Continue reading →

Bright Ideas—A List Of Indoor Lighting Techniques

In a previous blog I stated that taking pictures outdoors can be tricky. Well, as you may have already learned the hard way, the same can be said for indoor photography. Indoors your eye and your camera may not always read your subject the same way. To avoid this problem from ruining any more of your shots consider following these indoor lighting techniques: Eliminating The “Halo Effect.” Move your subjects away from the wall. By doing so you help eliminate the halo shadows that pop out of your subject and make them appear larger than they are. This annoying effect … Continue reading →

Outdoor Lighting Lessons

Many cultures believe that rain on your wedding day is a sign of good luck. (Yeah, try telling that to the bride who’s planning an outdoor wedding.) It drizzled on my wedding day and I have to admit I was concerned the weather would have a negative effect on my wedding pictures, which we planned to take at a local park. I was fortunate to have a very calm and astute wedding photographer who put my mind at ease by assuring me that cloudy days yield some of the nicest shots. Honestly, I thought he was just trying to make … Continue reading →

Camera Care Tips

My 3-year-old daughter is a self-described “big girl” now and consequently she doesn’t like me to push her on the swings at the park. Instead, she feels it is her job to push me. Frankly, I enjoy the ride, and the other day it gave me the opportunity to witness an unfortunate scene. To placate her screaming toddler one of the moms at the park handed her son what looked to be a very expensive camera. Within seconds of getting his hands on the device he tossed it into a nearby sandbox. (Surprise, surprise.) I winced and wondered what might … Continue reading →

Spicing Up Your Shots

Have you ever watched a professional photographer in action? I had the great fortune of working with some of the best videographers and still photographers during my tenure as a TV journalist and the one thing they all had in common is that you would rarely take a shot at eye-level. Typically, they were crouched under a bench or standing on a tree stump or on the bumper of the news vehicle. That’s because they realize that shooting from different angles greatly enhances the composition of an image. Even the most common items can appear interesting when they are snapped … Continue reading →

Tales Of A Lazy Photographer… And Tips To Break The Habit

Scan your photo albums or the frames decorating your home and you will get a general idea of your picture taking habits. For example, the other day I was sorting photos and I noticed that I have an inordinate amount of vertical shots of my 3-year-old daughter. When she was a baby most, if not all, of the images I took of her were horizontal tummy shots. Now that she is a walking, talking… well, now, she’s more like a running blur, I tend to shoot vertically. Which is not to say that I don’t think about picture composition prior … Continue reading →