At the tail-end of 2019, some seemingly random events came together for me resulting in a power photo shoot and a breakthrough moment. It all started with an email I received a few months ago. The topic was the number one ‘posing for females’ mistake beginning photographers make. My curiosity was tickled. Are you ready? Apparently, the number one mistake is ……….
The defining element in kids photography in a documentary style is your mindset as the one who is photographing children. Sure a nice camera helps but it’s you that makes it fun for them or not. It’s you who is documenting life as it unfolds. And how you approach that is what makes the difference between lifeless photos and the ones you’ll treasure 20 years from now.
Why learning a few rules of composition won’t make your pics any better and what to do instead. Composition is how you arrange all the elements in the outside world in your frame to make an interesting and appealing photograph. Photo composition is a very powerful tool. And the good news is you can improve your composition without even understanding anything about your camera.
So, a funny thing happens every time I write about photography which is like on a daily basis. I make it a point to write Make Photographs and not Take Photographs because well, that’s what it actually is. A photo is made. But the spelling checker on my laptop keeps highlighting the word Make wanting me to correct it to Take. It annoys me because it’s wrong on so many levels and I always ignore the suggestion.
Capturing motion in photography can be quite a challenge. When things are in motion you need to act quickly and go with the flow at the same time. But photographing movement can also be very fulfilling and exciting because it shows us aspects of life that are otherwise not seen by the human eye. There are basically 2 ways to go about capturing motion in photography. You can decide to …………..
Photography Quotes to Inspire and Delight, a monthly series on Photography Playground. This month’s quote is by Robert Capa: “If your pictures aren’t good enough, you aren’t close enough.” I’ve always believed this is true for the actual physical closeness to your subject. But there’s also a deeper level to his words. It’s about the connections you make with the people and the places you photograph.
In the previous Lightroom photography tutorial, I walked you through the very important process of importing and selecting your files. If all is well by now you have a couple of pics selected that you wanna edit. In this Lightroom tutorial, I’m gonna show you how to edit photos in the Develop Module in Adobe Lightroom. Let’s first talk about why editing your photos is super important………..
Don’t you just love a dark and moody scene out in the street or a low light landscape during sunset or a face illuminated by the warm light from a candle? It makes you wanna know how to photograph in the dark, doesn’t it? But shooting in low light without a flash comes with its own set of challenges. Like what are the best camera settings for low light? What’s the best camera ……….
This month’s quote is not by a photographer but by a writer. Oddly enough I never read anything by Maya Angelou but this quote has always had a special place in my heart. Because it’s so profoundly true. “You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” The other day I was teaching a photography workshop with a deep focus on creativity. We talked about our relationship with creativity, memories ……
Lightroom fundamentally changed the way I post-process my images. When I started in digital photography there was only Photoshop. And yes I could do great things with my images in Photoshop. However, Lightroom is the game-changer. It saves me a ton of time, it doesn’t require huge amounts of memory and it runs a tight ship.
Making mistakes is how we learn, right? Nothing wrong with making mistakes unless you’re not aware you’re making them. Which is why I thought it would be a great idea to approach improving your photography from the angle of the travel photography mistakes you might be making.
Photography Quotes to Inspire and Delight, a monthly series on Photography Playground. This month’s quote is by Henri Cartier-Bresson and is a shout out to think before you shoot. “We must avoid, however, snapping away, shooting quickly and without thought, overloading ourselves with unnecessary images that clutter our memory and diminish the clarity of the whole.”
In the battle between raw vs JPEG, I’m a firm supporter of shooting in raw. I see absolutely no reason not to shoot in raw. Are you wondering what the difference is between raw and JPEG? You wanna know why shooting in raw is better? Keep reading and you’ll find out! Let’s start by talking about the differences between a raw and a JPEG file.
We all love to travel. And we all want to bring our cameras to create lasting memories of the wonders we encounter. But when we’re traveling we’re usually more relaxed and carefree making us an easy target for people with bad intentions. With these travel photography safety tips, you can develop some safety habits and come home with your gear and precious pixels.
Photography Quotes to Inspire and Delight, a monthly series on the Photography Playground. This months photography quote is by the American landscape photographer Ansel Adams. “A Good Photograph is Knowing Where to Stand.” There are many moving parts when you’re making a photograph. And one of them is your point of view, the place where you stand.
What if you actually knew how to take your camera out of Auto Mode? Would your pictures become better? Or would you mess them up? The answer is yes, they will get better…eventually! And yes, you’ll probably mess it up from time to time. But there are a lot of reasons to take the plunge and take the first step in learning to shoot in Manual Mode. Let me share 7 of them.
For me, photography apps are my friendly little helpers and you can never have enough of those. Whether I’m traveling with my DSLR or I rely on my iPhone for my travel pics travel photography apps will help me to create the best images possible. I’ve put together a list of travel photography apps I’ve come to rely on when I’m traveling to help you do the same.
Photography Quotes to Inspire and Delight, a monthly series on the Photography Playground. This months photography quote is by Burk Uzzle: “Photography is a Love Affair with Life.” There’s no other medium that’s so intricate and detailed in showing us the wonder of being human and alive on this planet. At its best, photography touches and connects us on a deeply human level.
Instagram is the perfect way to share your travel adventures with your tribe around the world. The sharing part is not the most difficult aspect of Instagram. It’s the making of Instagrammable pictures that is. Because making inspiring Instagram photos is a little more complicated than just snapping around.
What is it about Black and White Photography that makes it sort of indestructible? It is as old as photography and although photography has been through many changes and developments Black and White Photography is still here. And it will never go away. By taking away color somehow the underlying qualities emerge. It stirs a feeling of timelessness and emphasizes the things we share over time and place.
Photography Quotes to Inspire and Delight, a monthly series on the Photography Playground. This months photography quote is by Alfred Eisenstaedt. “It’s more important to click with people than to click the shutter.” Because when the person in front and the person behind the camera are equally connected and at ease, you create the magic together.