How to take great Holiday Photos

Well it’s that time of the year again, Christmas season. For some us that means trying to squeeze in some time to get out with the camera and shoot some of those special outdoor Christmas light displays or maybe it’s just getting photos of the family on Christmas day. A lot of you might be trying out that new camera with the hopes of getting some great photos. But either way, whether you are photographing the symbolic subjects of the holidays or your friends and family, getting creative with your composition certainly cannot hurt. This means that by paying special attention to how you organize the various elements in each photo, you too can create your own set of great holiday memories.  


For Better Family and Group Portraits

The most important thing to keep in mind when photographing groups and families is this: you absolutely must take a lot of photos. There is often a great deal of pressure when photographing groups. A lot of people complain about having their picture taken and want the experience to be over quickly. Plus, you need to work quickly in order to get the job done within the limits of their patience and to try keep the experience as fun and friendly as possible. Since there is always someone blinking or looking off to the side or facing another member of the group, having a large number of photos will give you the best chances of catching everyone looking their best.

Shoot First, Ask Questions Later

Especially if your subject is a child opening a gift - or playing with a gift for the first time - you know that within a split second, the scene can change. There are often just a few brief moments when that "magic spark" appears. Of course this means having your camera on hand and the batteries fully charged and its always a good idea to have back-up batteries ready also. After all, you can't capture the moment if you don't have your camera turned on and ready to go. Remember, you have to be ready to press that shutter button in a moment's notice, anticipating when the magic spark will surface. If you have a digital camera that suffers from a bit of a delay when taking the picture, then you will have to become even more intuitive and skilled at anticipating the moment. Another good tip; make sure you have enough space on your memory card and carry an extra card with you. Too often people will run out of space and either have to delete some photos or end their shooting for the day. Remember, these days’ memory cards are very inexpensive, so pick up an extra one and you’ll be glad you did.  

Fill Your Frame

One of the most common mistakes I see in Christmas photos (or any party or event) is that people often end up with shots of their subjects off in the distance on the other side of a room with lots of space all around them. Fill your frame with your subject either by using your zoom or just getting up and moving yourself in closer. While this is one of the simplest tips I ever give it is one that can have the most profound impact on your shots. Try it out, you’ll be amazed.
Don’t Forget Your White-Balance
Now if your totally new to photography, your probably shooting in JPEG format with your camera set to auto and most digital cameras do a pretty good job with auto-white balance, but if you want to get better photos, try setting to white-balance. If you are shooting in RAW mode, you know you can always go back and change it afterwards if you forget.

Photographing Christmas Lights

The best time to shoot is before it gets totally dark, plus arriving around sunset will give you time to plan your shot before the good light happens. Try to compose your shots with as much sky as possible, getting down real low. Then, once you get your photo framed, set your white-balance to Tungsten as if you were shooting indoors. All those little bulbs are tungsten balanced and as an added bonus your sky will look even better. Needless to say, you’ll need a way to steady your camera, preferably a tripod or mono-pod or even a beanbag for those long exposures. Plus a remote trigger or cable can come in real handy. Shoot a test shot every minute or so constantly checking the LCD. Somewhere between sunset and full dark your Christmas lights and the ambient light with start to mix beautifully. Usually you’ll have about a 10-minute window with nice light. After that, the good light will fade very quickly and you will know it is gone when your photos start looking like the "bad light" photos you used to take. 

Bonus Tips:

If you plan to use flash, nothing screams point-and-shoot like using an on-camera flash. Red-eye reduction is nice, but a shoe-mounted flash is so much better. When shooting indoors, not only can you bounce off of a wall or ceiling you can add a diffuser and make it hard to know a flash was used at all. Of course you might be able to avoid using flash at all by using a nice wide aperture like f2.8 or f/4 and bumping up your ISO a little, but a little fill-flash helps to lighten up your shadow areas and can really add some dimension to your photograph.

Remember, its always a good idea to plan ahead, maybe even making a check list of the things to remember like batteries, extra flash cards etc. Another good tip if you already own the camera, read and re-read your manual and get to know it even better. I can’t tell you how important this is.

Well until my next post, I hope you all have a very safe and happy holiday season and remember, as always, keep shooting and have some fun!

How to take great Holiday Photos

Well it’s that time of the year again, Christmas season. For some us that means trying to squeeze in some time to get out with the camera and shoot some of those special outdoor Christmas light displays or maybe it’s just getting photos of the family on Christmas day. A lot of you might be trying out that new camera with the hopes of getting some great photos. But either way, whether you are photographing the symbolic subjects of the holidays or your friends and family, getting creative with your composition certainly cannot hurt. This means that by paying special attention to how you organize the various elements in each photo, you too can create your own set of great holiday memories.

For Better Family and Group Portraits

The most important thing to keep in mind when photographing groups and families is this: you absolutely must take a lot of photos. There is often a great deal of pressure when photographing groups. A lot of people complain about having their picture taken and want the experience to be over quickly so you'll need to work quickly in order to get the job done within the limits of their patience while trying to keep the experience as fun and friendly as possible. Since there is always someone blinking or looking off to the side or facing another member of the group, having a large number of photos will give you the best chances of catching everyone looking their best.

Shoot First, Ask Questions Later

This is usually the case especially if your subject is a child opening a gift or playing with a gift for the first time because you know that within a split second the whole scene can change. There are often just a few brief moments when that "magic spark" appears. Of course this means having your camera on hand and the batteries fully charged and its always it good idea to have back-up batteries ready also. After all, you can't capture the moment if you don't have your camera turned on and ready to go. Remember, you have to be ready to press that shutter button at a moment's notice, anticipating when the magic spark will surface. If you have a digital camera that suffers from a bit of a delay when taking the picture, then you will have to become even more intuitive and skilled at anticipating the moment. Another good tip; make sure you have enough space on your memory card and carry an extra card with you. Too often people will run out of space and either have to delete some photos or end their shooting for the day. Remember, these days memory cards are very inexpensive, so pick up an extra one and you’ll be glad you did.

Fill Your Frame

One of the most common mistakes I see in Christmas photos (or any party or event) is that people often end up with shots of their subjects off in the distance on the other side of a room with lots of space all around them. Fill your frame with your subject either by using your zoom or just getting up and moving yourself in closer. While this is one of the simplest tips I ever give it is one that can have the most profound impact on your shots. Try it out, you’ll be amazed.

 

Don’t Forget Your White-Balance

Now if your totally new to photography, your probably shooting in JPEG format with your camera set to auto and most digital cameras do a pretty good job with auto-white balance, but if you want to get better photos, try setting to white-balance. If you are shooting in RAW mode, you know you can always go back and change it afterwards if you forget.

Photographing Christmas Lights

The best time to shoot is before it gets totally dark, plus arriving around sunset will give you time to plan your shot before the good light happens. Try to compose your shots with as much sky as possible, getting down real low. Then, once you get your photo framed, set your white-balance to Tungsten as if you were shooting indoors. All those little bulbs are tungsten balanced and as an added bonus your sky will look even better. Needless to say, you’ll need a way to steady your camera, preferably a tripod or mono-pod or even a beanbag for those long exposures. Plus a remote trigger or cable can come in real handy. Shoot a test shot every minute or so constantly checking the LCD. Somewhere between sunset and full dark your Christmas lights and the ambient light with start to mix beautifully. Usually you’ll have about a 10-minute window with nice light. After that, the good light will fade very quickly and you will know it is gone when your photos start looking like the "bad light" photos you used to take.

Bonus Tips:

If you plan to use flash, nothing screams point-and-shoot like using an on-camera flash. Red-eye reduction is nice, but a shoe-mounted flash is so much better. When shooting indoors, not only can you bounce off of a wall or ceiling you can add a diffuser and make it hard to know a flash was used at all. Of course you might be able to avoid this just by using a nice wide aperture like f2.8 and bumping up your ISO a little.

Remember, its always a good idea to plan ahead, maybe even making a check list for things to remember like batteries, cards etc. Another good tip if you already own the camera, read and re-read your manual and get to know it even better. I can’t tell you how important this is.

Well until my next post, I hope you all have a very safe and happy holiday season and remember, as always, keep shooting and have some fun!

How to Make Money From Your Photos

If you’re like almost everyone new or semi-new to Digital Photography, you’ve probably noticed that your photos are starting to multiply. No, it’s not some new computer virus creating new photos on your system; you keep taking photos and your collection is just starting to take up more space. Maybe, the dreaded photography bug has bitten you?

Believe me, you’re not alone. Millions of people are purchasing Digital Cameras every year and a lot of them are starting to get the photography bug. Now not everyone who picks up a camera wants to be a professional photographer, but just about everyone who has ever taken a shot that makes them proud and gives them pleasure, has dreamed of making money from their photography. Maybe they’ll see a photo somewhere and say to themselves, I can do better than that or they might imagine one of their photos in the local newspaper or on a billboard, or maybe even hanging in a gallery somewhere?

Once upon a time this was limited only to professional photographers and it used to be that the equipment needed to capture quality images like we see daily, was very difficult to operate and far too expensive for the average person to go out and purchase. But luckily, this has all changed in recent years. Anyone who can afford just a few hundred dollars can get a camera capable of capturing these shots, and these days’ the buyers are more concerned about the quality of the image rather than what type of camera was used, how long the photographer that shot it has been shooting or what kind of formal education they have.

The good new is, that with a little effort and some research on the Internet, you too could find a way to sell some of those images that you’ve got sitting around on a hard drive or a disk somewhere. Wouldn’t it be nice to make a little extra cash to buy that new lens you’ve wanted or maybe you’ve thought about how you could turn you’re hobby into a side business? Whatever your reason might be I wanted to let you know about a new book out there that might help you out.

One of the websites I go to quite often is one aptly named: Photoprenuer.com. Maybe you’ve even visited it yourself. The site originated in 2007 and has since become a huge hit because this site is dedicated to helping people fulfill those dreams. It has tons of articles and new ideas on different ways you might market your own collection of photos. They have topics ranging from how you might start a photo business and selling the pictures you love, to articles about scams you might want to watch out for, and they even throw in some new shooting ideas now and then.

Well these fine people over there at Photoprennuer.com have put together a book titled ‘99 Ways to Make Money From Your Photos’. Like the cover says, the editors there have come up with 99 different ideas on how you too might start marketing your photos. They’ll show you some easy ways (and some not so easy ways) to turn your images into cash with proven ideas from experienced photographers who are doing it in today’s market. This book will give you tips on how you might sell your own vacation and travel photos and even give you ideas on how you might organize photo exhibitions yourself.

Maybe you’ve thought about shooting some stock photography? This book will teach you various ways on how you might get started and how to license your photos for selling to stock agencies. This book can be a very useful tool to get your creative juices flowing and spark some new ideas. Maybe this is something that interests you or you have someone on your Christmas list that might enjoy it? Either way you can check it out here at “99 Ways to Make Money From Your Photos”.

Remember, as always, keep shooting and have some fun!

Great Photography Books To Help You Take Better Photos

If you are just getting started in digital photography or just want to start taking better photos, then there are some books that I would highly recommend to help you to start taking great photos.
As you probably know already, there are tons of books on the market and picking one to cover all the basics in a plain, easy to read format can get confusing. If a friend asked me to suggest a few good books to read, I would recommend the following three. My first two choices would be a pair of books written by Scott Kelby and the third book would be one written by Bryan Peterson.



The Digital Photography Book and The Digital Photography Book Volume 2 by Scott Kelby are both enjoyable reading and full of useful tips and techniques. These books do a great job of getting you started in digital photography. In the first book (Volume #1) he covers a lot of the basics in good detail without getting too technical and even adds some tips on sharpening and printing your images. He has entire chapters written about shooting sports, people, weddings, landscapes and wraps up the book with a chapter called “Photo Recipes” with tips on what to do to get the shot.

In Volume 2 he actually picks up where he left off in the first book, and gives you tips on using flash, building a studio and shooting more professional portraits. Plus he has entire chapters devoted to shooting travel, landscape, macro photography just to name a few. He gives us tons of useful tips on how to take better photos. He even includes another chapter in this book on “Photo Recipes”. Both books are full of tips and techniques and loaded with photos and examples, which I will guarantee to help you take better photos. There is actually a Volume 3 in the works, which should be out very soon and I will definitely pick that up when it reaches the stores. Scott Kelby is the author of many excellent books on photography and Photoshop, all in an easy to read, friendly style all his own. If you ever have a chance to attended one of his all day Photoshop seminars I would recommend that also. Scott is also the president of the NAPP (National Association of Photoshop Professionals), which I have personally been a member of for a number of years. Joining NAPP entitles you to a yearly subscription to Photoshop User magazine, open access to Photoshop TV and tons of members perks and discounts. You can click on the banner at the bottom of this page to join or to just find out more about it.
The third book is one I would highly recommend and is probably the most important book I’ve ever read on photography, it is called Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson. This book is a little more technical, and the author gets into details on aperture, shutter speeds and shooting in manual mode on your SLR camera. He also includes a lot of tips to help you get more creative in your photography. This book I consider a must read for anyone who wants to get the most out of his camera. I refer back to this book over and over and recommend it highly. I purchased this book and a training DVD and utilize them both often. Bryan, in addition to being a great photographer, is also the founder of The Perfect Picture School of Photography. It’s an online school that offers a wide choice of classes taught by excellent instructors. Click on the Amazon.com box on the side of this page and you will find all of these books and more.
I hope you have a chance to pick up these books. I will guarantee they will help you start to take photos you can be proud of. Remember, keep shooting and last but not least, have some fun!

Photoshop For Photographers

A picture is worth a thousand words and that is why beautifully edited photos make loud statements and speak for themselves. As a photographer, you need to know how to use Photoshop to process all your digital photos, touch them up for professional look and feel. Photoshop software is used all over the world to edit, amend and touch up dull looking photos into elegant vivid colored photos that are used for magazines and newspapers.

You don't have to be a Professional Photographer. These days you do not have to be a professional photographer to produce quality photos. You do not have to learn how to do exposure compensation, white light balance, aperture adjustments, field of depth knowledge or to tweak your SLR camera. Just a normal digital camera to take photos and software to download to the computer is sufficient for you to produce professional looking photographs by using this software. It can correct the color saturation, make good exposure compensation and remove blemishes to old yellowed photos and add in new backgrounds.

By using levels adjustment in Photoshop, you can instantly add more colors to your otherwise plain washed out photos. One can also brighten up the colors and images in a dull and dark lighting. If your flash light is not powerful enough to reach the distant environment, fret not because you can turn to Photoshop to brighten up the dark photos.

Correct Hand Shake Errors. You can also correct hand shake errors in your digital photos by sharpening the images with the various tools like Smart Sharpen. Alternatively, you can also blur your photos for that misty feel by using Smart Blur. One can also change the numbers of the car plate, remove an unwanted object in the photos or add new objects to them. Such is the power of Photoshop for photographers.

You can also add text to your photos for posterity. On the other hand, you can also add a copy right text with your name to the digital image including the copyright sign to show ownership. This is useful when you need to post photos of products in eBay pages so that your potential clients know that the photos originate from you and not copied elsewhere.

If you are an avid aspiring photographer, it makes good sense to sign up for a course in Photoshop so that you know the basics of how to edit your digital photographs, re-size them for faster upload to the web sites. This is an investment in itself.