10 Pictures to Take on Baby’s First Day.
Jan 12, 2012 Photography, Tips & Techniques
1. Meeting an Older Sibling
2. Photo With Mom and Dad
3. Meeting the Grandparents
4. Leaving a Footprint
5. Baby’s Feet
6. First Funny Face
7. Baby’s Deep Sleep
8. First Time Held by Mom
9. Baby’s ID Tag
10. Grasping a Finger
{Read more: http://www.lilsugar.com/Must-Take-Pictures-Babys-First-Day-18610522}
What Every Aspiring Photographer Should Know.
Jun 23, 2011 Tips & Techniques
I chanced upon these tips on my earlier blogs while cleaning up my online clutter. I tell you, I have quite a number of posts and photos that I need to remove online. I better start cleaning up my shopping list from my favorite online stores as well. I have plans of shopping before Christmas, thus the need to filter them, leaving only a few cooking and baking gadgets. I also need something big to fill up the box and this is a good excuse to get Sferra linens.
Anyway, here are the tips I came across here.
- Style is a voice, not a prop or an action. If you can buy it, borrow it, download it, or steal it, it is not a style. Don’t look outward for your style; look inward.
- Know your stuff. Luck is a nice thing, but a terrifying thing to rely on. It’s like money; you only have it when you don’t need it. {This is me, most of the time. Badly to study and practice, practice, practice.}
- Never apologize for your own sense of beauty. Nobody can tell you what you should love. Do what you do brazenly and unapologetically. You cannot build your sense of aesthetics on a concensus. {I like this one. I’m not sure about my style yet, but I do take pictures to please myself, more than anything.}
- Say no. Say it often. It may be difficult, but you owe it to yourself and your clients. Turn down jobs that don’t fit you, say no to overbooking yourself. You are no good to anyone when you’re stressed and anxious.
- Learn to say “I’m a photographer” out loud with a straight face. If you can’t say it and believe it, you can’t expect anyone else to, either. {Oh, still far from this.}
- You cannot specialize in everything. {I want people, kids especially. Not the posed ones. Just people doing their own things.}
- You don’t have to go into business just because people tell you you should! And you don’t have to be full time and making an executive income to be successful. If you decide you want to be in business, set your limits before you begin.
- Know your style before you hang out your shingle. If you don’t, your clients will dictate your style to you. That makes you nothing more than a picture taker. Changing your style later will force you to start all over again, and that’s tough. {I agree. I also read somewhere though that a photographer should be consistently inconsistent, meaning one should always bring something new to the table. I have to agree on this one, as I tend to get bored looking at the same set of pictures.}
- Accept critique, but don’t apply it blindly. Just because someone said it does not make it so. Critiques are opinions, nothing more. Consider the advice, consider the perspective of the advice giver, consider your style and what you want to convey in your work. Implement only what makes sense to implement. That doesn’t not make you ungrateful, it makes you independent. {As long as I am happy with my output, I really don’t put so much thought on the comments. The constructive one, I keep in mind. Sometimes! Hahaha! Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Art is an expression.}
- Leave room for yourself to grow and evolve. It may seem like a good idea to call your business “Precious Chubby Tootsies”….but what happens when you decide you love to photograph seniors? Or boudoir?
- Remember that if your work looks like everyone else’s, there’s no reason for a client to book you instead of someone else. Unless you’re cheaper. And nobody wants to be known as “the cheaper photographer”. {We’re cheap. But we’re not the cheaper photographer. We love what we do. And based on “our standards”, we are still on practicing mode, thus we charge low. DH would have earned more from his regular job than from the time he spends covering events. But he still makes time for the latter.}
- Gimmicks and merchandise will come and go, but honest photography is never outdated. {Good product is always the bottomline. Your product is your best advertisement.}
- It’s easier to focus on buying that next piece of equipment than it is to accept that you should be able to create great work with what you’ve got. Buying stuff is a convenient and expensive distraction. You need a decent camera, a decent lens, and a light meter. Until you can use those tools consistently and masterfully, don’t spend another dime. Spend money on equipment ONLY when you’ve outgrown your current equipment and you’re being limited by it. There are no magic bullets. {I agree with this. Just the same, I am oh-so-guilty of this, as well. Good thing we don’t have the money, or else I would have bought all of the gears I am wishing for.}
- Learn that people photography is about people, not about photography. Great portraits are a side effect of a strong human connection.
- Never forget why you started taking pictures in the first place. Excellent technique is a great tool, but a terrible end product. The best thing your technique can do is not call attention to itself. Never let your technique upstage your subject.
- Never compare your journey with someone else’s. It’s a marathon with no finish line. Someone else may start out faster than you, may seem to progress more quickly than you, but every runner has his own pace. Your journey is your journey, not a competition. You will never “arrive”. No one ever does.
- Embrace frustration. It pushes you to learn and grow, broadens your horizons, and lights a fire under you when your work has gone cold. Nothing is more dangerous to an artist than complacence.
3 Reasons To Take Photos.
Mar 6, 2011 Tips & Techniques
1. To Share.
We can show our friends and family who are near and far exactly what’s going on in our lives as it happens.
2. To Remember.
We take those photos because we wanted to remember a moment in time, presumably farther into the future than next week.
3. To Reminisce.
Reminiscence can bring peace, comfort, and joy.
Read more: http://motherhood.yourway.net/3-reasons-to-take-photos/.
Ways To Enhance Your Creativity.
Feb 20, 2011 Tips & Techniques
I am feeling creative lately, as I have been scrapping most of my free time. There are still occasions when I stumble, especially when I feel overwhelmed with all my photos that I just want to scrap them the fastest I can. Because you know I just scrap slow and I get impatient. But then my OC-ness would take over, and I would realize that I don’t want to scrap just for the sake of scrapping. It is my creative outlet, and I want to enjoy the process. If not for the fat burners that I need to order for my bro, I will surely be scrapping the day away.
And speaking of being creative, here are ways for us to enhance our creativity when it comes to taking pictures. This is another interest of mine that I need to make time for, real soon.
1. Never Stop Thinking About Photos
2. Embrace Your Mistakes & Chance
3. Find inspiration
4. Break the Rules
5. Have No Fear
6. Extract Yourself
Read more: http://www.digital-photography-school.com/6-ways-to-enhance-your-creativity.
Photo Items To Pack and Leave Home on Your Next Vacation.
Feb 20, 2011 Tips & Techniques
Items To Pack
Lenses
Polarizing Filter
UV/Haze Filter
Shot List
Extra Cards
Items To Leave At Home
Full Tripod
Every Strobe You Own
Every Battery You Own
Every Battery You Own
Read more: http://www.digital-photography-school.com/5-photo-items-to-pack-and-4-to-leave-at-home-for-your-next-family-vacation.
Tips For Great Low Angle Shots.
Jan 20, 2011 Tips & Techniques
Ignore Your Viewfinder
Learn Your Angle
Understand Aperture and Depth Of Field
Keep It All Level
Preventing Blown Out Skies
Positioning Objects In The Frame
Shoot, Review, Repeat
Read more: http://www.digital-photography-school.com/7-tips-for-great-low-angle-shots.
Family Portaits Tips.
Dec 11, 2010 Tips & Techniques
Think in “mini-groups”. A family portrait is simply multiple “mini groups” within one large group. Use groups of two’s and three’s to compose your family shot.
Remember “levels”. One of the most important elements of a group shot is to vary the levels of your subjects. Placing some faces higher than others will allow you to make the shot more intimate in spacing.
Consider “color”. While color coordination is by no means necessary for group shots, it can help the overall flow. Have your subjects go by types of color, such as “vibrant”, “bold”, “pastels”, etc.
Watching even lighting, but don’t stress about it. So long as all the eyes are visible, and faces are lit relatively the same, your good to go.
Pick shade. As the sun doesn’t set until late in the evening, you’ll have to wait for good sidelight until about 5 pm. If your stuck shooting before this time, find awnings, the shaded back side of buildings, or tree cover to diffuse the harsh sunlight.
Move quickly. It’s very helpful to try story-boarding your group shots ahead of time according to the number of people you have. The more people you have in a shot, the less time you have to create it. Story-boarding is more about knowing what you want, than it is about formal posing.
Be fun and spontaneous! Plan to take shots of the families walking, striking a dance pose, linking arms, or jumping in the air. These shots capture genuine expressions among the entire group and help to keep your subjects happy and interested.
Background work. The larger the party, the less control you have with eliminating your background. Simplify as much as you can by changing the angle you take your shot. Taking the shot from the ground or directly down on your subjects may eliminate enough background to feature the group without distraction.
Source: http://www.digital-photography-school.com/8-family-portaits-tips.
How to Take Great Group Photos.
Dec 2, 2010 Tips & Techniques
1. Prepare
2. Location
3. Take Multiple Shots
4. Get in Close
5. Pose the group
6. Timing Your Shoot Well
7. Think about Light
8. Take Control
9. For large groups
One solution to this is to find a way to elevate yourself as the photographer.
10. Use a Tripod
11. Use an Assistant
12. Smile
Read more: http://www.digital-photography-school.com/how-to-take-great-group-photos.
Tips for Mouth Watering Food Photography.
Dec 2, 2010 Tips & Techniques
I am getting some inspiration and motivation from all the photography tips I am coming across in the internet. I totally forgot about the barcode scanner and other supplies my brother is asking me to look into. Anyway, I think I better start working on my homemade light box so I can try taking pictures of food and other objects with better lighting. Anyway, here’s another set of tips, this time about food photography.
1. Choose fresh and locally grown ingredients, don’t over manipulate the food and keep it simple.
2. Let the food tell you how it wants to be photographed
3. Keep observing your subject.
4. Get the shot you had in mind, then switch camera angle.
5. Use a Tripod
6. White balance control can be used as a creative tool; just explore the different options.
7. Coming back to our subject, and how we are going to capture it – which type of lens is more suitable? If I had to recommend just one lens for food photography, it would be a 50 mm f 1.8: it’s small and light, it’s not expensive. It’s a fast lens and can be used for any other type of photography too.
8. Go for the details and feel the frame with your subject
Sometimes less is more, especially when food is the hero.
9. Try to get the picture right in the camera
10. Take lots of reference shots
Read more: http://www.digital-photography-school.com/10-tips-for-mouth-watering-food-photography.
Tips for Better Candid Photography.
Nov 28, 2010 Tips & Techniques
1. Take your Camera Everywhere
2. Use a Long Zoom
3. Kill the Flash
4. Shoot lots
5. Position Yourself strategically
6. Photograph People Doing things
7. Photograph People with People
8. Shoot from the Hip
9. Mix up your Perspective
10. Frame Images with Foreground Elements
11. Take Posed Shots into Candid Territory
Read more: http://www.digital-photography-school.com/11-tips-for-better-candid-photography.
