I’ve recently had the opportunity to tag along for a wedding and a bridal session. I’ve been given the courage to finally put up some ads for weddings, which you can see below.
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By now you know about the freak snowstorm that blanketed Austin and other parts of Texas in a nice cushy thick (we had 3 inches in the front yard) blanket of snow. For the better part of the morning, this was happening outside our windows. It was beautiful.
I wasn’t going to let them outside since we’ve been rather sick lately and three-to-one is not the kind of ratio I like to have stacked against me. I caved in, though, when the oldest begged for a snowball fight. How many more years will it be before I can give him a snowball fight, afterall? It was definitely not a day to get portraits of the boys, though I tried! My oldest two boys (4 years old and 3 years old) were all over the place and would not hold still.
We built two snowmen and enjoyed an afternoon with their daddy home. The school district let the middle schools out at 12:30, so my husband was able to come home shortly after the students were released. He likely won’t be featured on the blog much in the future so I’ll share a photo of him below. I love this man so much.
Despite what it feels like today, spring IS right around the corner. Hard to believe that a month from now it will be time to get bluebonnet portraits taken! I’m still thinking it’s going to be a big year for bluebonnets. How about you? Do you think we’ll see many?
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Ooooh I am oh-so-jealous of that snow!! :) We are here in California with semi-chilly weather that won’t decide on winter or spring haha! Enjoy the snow!! xoxox Holly
My middle son is three years old come Monday. Three. Three long and trying years. Three years full of the most hard-earned joy! Three years of the most divine eyelashes a human could possibly possess. I love this photo because his big brother truly overshadows everything he tries to do, yet he shines through in the way that so many middle children do. He is uniquely sweet.
And, oh, those eyelashes!
I’ll probably post another little ode to my Lowell here tomorrow, on his actual birthday.
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What a beautiful and elegant logo! Wow Jen! You are a natural photographer—-your pictures are fantastic!
I’m going to regularly post some simple, effective, and easy to implement ideas to help improve your kid or pet photography, your casual family moments, and even your self portraits. These are things that may have taken me awhile to learn but that have made the biggest difference. We all know the “get down on their level,” so I’m skipping over that for now.
TIP #1
Know how to disable your flash and learn the different flash modes of your particular camera.
No matter what kind of digital camera you have, there is probably a way to disable the flash. It’s usually a button with a little zig-zag arrow, though each camera is different so it might be best to look up your camera online or find your owner’s manual.
On camera flash (usually a few inches away from the lens) eliminates the shadows that create dimension in faces and creates harsh shadows against walls. It also results in red-eye. Sometimes it’s too bright and other times not nearly bright enough. The biggest thing I cringe at is people in a stadium taking pictures with their flash because they’re probably going to get an awesome exposure of the bald guy in front of them while capturing a too-dark stadium/stage/performance. Oops!
On the other hand, sometimes a flash is completely a life-saver. Daylight is sometimes complimented by a little fill flash when you notice the sun casting some harsh shadows. Of course, it all depends on the result you’d like to achieve. Don’t mistake knowing how to disable your flash for me recommending to never using your on-camera flash. It’s something you’ve got to learn to judge for yourself and experiment to get the result you’re picturing.
My DSLR has only one flash mode built-in: up (on) or down (off). Point-n-shoots often have several built-in flash modes. My little powershot S230 has auto, fill-in, red-eye reduction, off. Some of those point-n-shoot flash modes will actually make the camera choose a slower shutter speed despite the flash going off. I took this of my youngest son just now with the point and shoot. Here’s a quick example of a bad use of flash.
If you’re getting orangey blurry photos with the flash (that look like someone totally smeared blurry motion all over it) it’s probably your flash mode! What’s happening is that the camera fires the flash to expose the subject then keeps the shutter open a split second longer to let in the ambient light. If there’s any motion, it usually (though not always) appears orangey and blurry because in most cases, the light from the flash is a cooler temperature of light than the ambient light (usually tungsten light bulbs).
This brings me to my second tip.
TIP #2
Don’t be afraid to experiment!
Self explanatory? I think so… Figure out what flash settings your camera has and take a series of photos with all of them. What do you like? What do you not like? Get to know that camera of yours and take lots of experimental photos. Sometimes images that you think aren’t going to work become your favorites.
I hope these give you a starting point to learning more about your camera and getting better results. It doesn’t take a fancy camera to get great pictures. I just takes some knowledge and experimentation. Now…
GO
TAKE
PICTURES
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