Turn the Lights Off!

Remember when shooting indoors to turn all of the lights off and open up those windows.  Artifical light can create harsh shadows and yucky colors.  If it’s too dark to shoot in that room without lights and you have to shoot in there use flash.  If you don’t have to shoot in that particular room then try switching rooms to see if the light is better or shoot at a different time.  Watch your rooms to see which rooms get the best light at what time of day.  Natural light is the best, cheapest, and easiest light!

Here are a couple random shots I took of B yesterday.

2.8, 1/250, ISO 320

2.4, 1/160 ISO 320

Tips For Your Family Session – #5

This is the last and final tip for making your family session awesome!

I know family sessions can be stressful.  How do I know this?  Well, I get emails from my clients telling me how stressed they are  But, also I’ve been there!  You put a lot of time, and not to mention money, into the perfect session only to have your 16 month old miss his nap and be a cranky, grouchy, thumb sucking mess.  

Photo by Tara Whitney

It happens!  I should know.  It happened at our last family session!  But, the most important thing is to not stress and go with the flow.  If you and your husband stress then that will stress your kids out.  Just have fun!  Do what makes your kids happy and don’t force it.  And also, hire a good photographer who knows how to deal with these situations.  A real pro will have plenty of experience dealing with cranky kids and will know how to make it fun and stress free for everyone!

Reward If Found!

Are you scared of losing those teeny, tiny SD and compact flash cards?  It’s so easy when you’re fumbling around trying to change cards fast (especially at weddings and family sessions!).  My biggest fear is losing a card somewhere.  Yikes!

A couple of years ago I decided to write “Reward if found” and my phone number on the back of all my cards.  I figure that way a nice person will know how to contact me if they find one of my cards and a not so nice person may decide to do the right thing if there’s $50 involved.  Luckily (knock on wood!) I haven’t ever lost a card, but I would gladly pay someone to get it back.

Mom*togs can do the same thing on their cards and also on your camera.  Point and shoot cameras are so small these days and easy to loose.  If you write “reward if found” with your phone number on your camera at least there’s a chance you may be reuinted with it.  And if you’re anything like me, it’s not the camera that I care that much about, but the precious memories that are stored on my memory card!