Friday

My favorite photos.....and MORE tips!

At the request of my friend Candid Carrie- I have decided to post a few of my favorite photos. Not so much for content (although I did pull all photos of my boys!)...but more for photo technique. So read on- I will talk a little bit about what I did to achieve each. You know I am on the constant quest to help others take great photos! I am passionate about photography and want everyone to feel the success of the perfect shot!
FORCE the FLASH:

You push the button on your camera to focus, and it indicates you do not need a flash. Hey it is a sunny day out hiking, why on earth would I use a flash? If I had not forced my flash to fire, my boys would be dark in the shadow of this cave. And I would have gotten home and been disappointed with the shot. Instead I got this shot and it is one of my favorites.

Get down to their level:Hot over-cast day. Kids doing slip-n-slide (nakie I might add!).No flash needed. But I did bend down to make better eye contact and to able to capture the popsicles undistorted.

Tilt it!

Now this tip (or 'trick) is a real secret of commercial photographers. Take portraits at a slight angle. Now in this particular case...I didn't- I took a regular ol'boring straight up and down photo...but when I cropped it, I also turned it a little to give it this effect. So you can go play around with photos on your computer right now! It is obvious in this shot if you look that the palm tree in background. Something about angles makes the subject feel more engaged with the viewer. And this tip can turn a boring photo into a winner.

Get off Center:

Get out of the habit of having your subject dead center of each photograph. Move them to the right or left. Put them down at the bottom of an image and capture a beautiful sky behind them. Mix it up. Take the same photo as many ways as possible. This photo won me a little award on Photo.net years ago. And can you tell I had just said to my then 2 year old Tucker "Do NOT pick the poppies!".....and yes, I clicked...and he picked!

So those are a few photos I really love. And some tips I like to teach to others (some you have heard in my other posts- but I wanted to really nag you about them!) These photos are my favorites because they capture such happy memories of times with my boys. And that is the real purpose of great photography. It is not just about making something 'frameable' but it is about capturing what you FELT and not only what was SEEN. Now go on...get off this blog and go shoot something! Hey, let me know how it goes will ya?

10 comments:

Candid Carrie said...

Oh Marcy, this is more fantastic information. My kids are exhausted from being photographed this week, but I can't help myself. Tonight, I will capture their sleeping faces when they aren't expecting it.

Thanks so much for everything this week.

Anonymous said...

I'm a photographer wannabe. Got me a pretty nice digital SLR.

Know NOT how to use it, though. Will try some of these tips....

Suz Broughton said...

I love the Popsicle one! Thanks for the advice, too. It takes some thought behind taking a good picture.

Amy said...

Visiting from Carries field trip...love the photos and the tips.

Gina said...

Great pictures!!
I love the mischievous look on your son's face as he goes ahead and PICKS that POPPY!!!!
:-D

The Maid said...

If I wasn't so blasted tired, I would leave a comment on every post...it was good to catch up with you today! Thanks for sharing it all.

Great photos too...if you are ever in Phoenix Arizona...well, lets do a shoot.
:)

The Maid

Anonymous said...

Hi, I came over from Candid Carrie's. I'm not a real photographer, but I play one on tv...ok, only in my mind really. Great tips....I'll definitely keep them in mind. Thank you!

Anonymous said...

Great photos, I especially like theone with the flowers.I look forward to more

Mamahut said...

Yeah, I like the poppy one, reminds me of two ornery boys that I live with. I am going to ask Santa to bring me a new camera. I have gotten a few suggestions. So now I want to go look at all of them. Have a great day.

Ann Harrison said...

I need this, I need this, I NEED this!!!
Thank you for the lesson