Happy Friday all!!

So have you been shooting? I hope you’re taking time to practice, practice, and practice!!! Recently, I went to an all day workshop that was sponsored by our local PPA organization. For $35 they provided us with three seasoned photographer, gorgeous grounds, models AND delicious food! I actually swapped a work day so that I could attend. It was a GREAT experience and what I walked away with was definitely more than the fee I paid!

There were some GREAT tips that I learned, some that I knew and others that truly OPENED my eyes... so that is what I am going to share with you all today...

My favorite tips that I have picked up along my journey in photography!!

-GET DOWN LOW -If you are doing portraits of kids my number one suggestion is to GET DOWN LOW. If you go through my photos, I am pretty much always on my belly, or on the ground when taking photos of kids. You want to be eye level with them; direct eye contact helps you engage the viewer. Make sure the portrait has sharp eyes, the eyes don't have to be looking straight at you of the picture, but you need to make sure they are sharp. Blurred eyes can be disturbing to others viewing the portrait.

-Never, EVER say cheese. (I AM SSOOOOOO GUILTY OF THIS) If you are working with kids, say something silly like “oh look at the bug on top of my camera” or (and this is my favorite that I learned from Sandy Puc) Do you like candy? (she calls these bounce words) Or oh, my camera has a boo boo..(she calls those shut down words) Working with kids is difficult..Especially if you are trying to shoot your own children. Try and make taking pictures fun for them, almost like you are not taking pictures. Tell them “I bet you can spin around and stop right here” or “I don’t think you can jump that high, really? Show me” Telling the kid they can't do something is a sure way to make them do it. :)

Or say you are working with adults, telling them to cheese is just, well cheesy.. You want their natural expression or smile. Say something witty or corny. At the photo workshop one of the photographers told the model that he bet money that he couldn’t smile, and something as silly as that WORKED.. because you know what, the model smiled. What I took away from that part of the workshop was engage the subjects.. talk to them. Get them comfortable and to STOP. SAYING. CHEESE.

- WATCH OUT FOR THE TREE GROWING OUT OF YOUR HEAD – (yep I am guilty of this as well.. ) I never really paid attention to how distracting a background can be, especially if you have your mommy or daddy glasses on (every picture of your kids is perfect, even if it is out of focus, underexposed, etc). I like to shoot outdoors so a plain background is just not an option for me. I have to make sure when I am framing the shot that the person I am shooting (I still laugh every time I say that) does not have a tree growing from their head, or a pole, or garbage tied to a basketball hoop.
See my examples:


-RULE of 3^RD(s)- I am just putting this in here because, well, if you are going to try to shoot better you need to start to understand composing in the Rule of Thirds. Some cameras actually have the Tic-Tac-Toe grid when you look through your view finder (or on the back of the camera – like you have Frank!)
Follow this link for a great explanation of Rule of Thirds.

-The Cue Ball or Shiny white bulb/ball trick- This was possibly the BEST trick I have picked up in regards to helping me understand where light is coming from. I don’t own the expensive light meters. I would rather keep investing in good glass (or getting awesome presents from my hubby). I am sure there will be a time that I will need a light meter, BUT, for now this little trick really helps. The photographer that taught me this trick owns the fancy light meter, and he does not use it! He uses the ball on top to show him the light!

Have you ever taken a picture and the eyes are flat? No life to them? Or you got a really dark shadow on one side of the face and then the other side is overexposed?

Yeah, well I do too. This little trick can help you start to see why that is happening!!

Take the ball and hold it out in front of you and just start moving it around, you will start to see where the light is falling. How the light falls on the ball will can help you start to see how it will fall on your subjects face. I wish I had a little video of this trick, but trust me, it works. You will get fabulous catch lights in your subject’s eyes, or really moody lighting, all depending on where you put your subject.

The photographer from Camelot Studio’s was nice enough to share this awesome trick. I hope that it helps some of you start understanding where light comes from and how it is falling on your subject is very important with how a picture turns out.

Well that is it for this week.. next week I will be moving back into the technical stuff with the camera. I am going to try to explain White Balance and how very, very important it is for your photos.. But until then – HAPPY SHOOTING!!