Get Down

This picture isn't the best but usually once in a shoot, Gary purposely gets a picture of me taking a picture. I always delete them but I like to see them:) It's really good to try to get pictures at all angles. Stand on a bench and look down, get a shot from a 45 degree angle, from the back....and, get down. Especially if you are taking pictures of kids or babies, it's great to get down at their level. Later on in the shoot we were actually lying on the grass amongst a million mosquitoes.
Can you tell right away what's bad about the picture of the little girl? If you said that the hands holding hers are cut off at the wrist, you are right. Would be better if it was up to their forearms or biceps. Oh well, still a cutie!

Frame It

It's nice to naturally frame the subject using objects such as a buildings, windows, door frames, trellis', trees, mountains, and even other people. And, in my opinion, it doesn't have to surround all the sides to be a frame. I just took the kids to the park, now that is a place with a ton of different frames ready to be used! Here are some examples below.



Look for frames around you, they are everywhere!

Leading Lines

Try to find natural lines such as fences, roads, paths, logs, and one of the most common...rail road tracks. These generally draw your eyes into the photograph. The bottom left picture would be a touch better if they were further down the path.

The Cut Off

When taking or cropping a picture, leave the joints in the picture. Do not cut off a picture at a wrist, elbow, knee or ankle. It looks wrong. The picture on the left could be salvageable if I crop them at their biceps but the far right is much better as it's cropped at their thighs.

Picture that cut off the ankles and feet are probably one of my greatest pet peeves. Not saying we don't do it, sometimes you're thinking about a billion other things. But ya, leave the joints in the picture!

Rule of Thirds and a Little Extra

Okay, this is one of the most basic tips in photography known as the Rule of Thirds. In case you don't know it, here ya go! Basically, picture your frame broken into 3 X 3 segments for a total of 9 squares. Does that make sense?

You want your main subject(s)/objects to be on one of the vertical and/or the horizontal lines, generally you don't want them right in the center. I realize the tree is in the center but read on. You want your horizon to either fall on the top or bottom third and not directly in the middle of your frame. In the above picture, the grass lines up perfectly with the bottom third and the kids are in the bottom right third (although they were running fast, could've gotten them a bit earlier as they are fast approaching the center!).

Here the girls are standing on the right line and...another tip, there is `space in front of face'. They are looking/facing the left side of the photo. It wouldn't look as good if they were facing the right in this photo.

Here they are on the right third again AND there is `space in front of face'. It draws you in and you follow their eyes to the left. It's just more natural looking too.

Finally, rules are definitely made to be broken. Although, I really try not to mess with the Rule of Thirds in regards to the horizon. When you have a close up of a face, it looks fantastic to have the face centered, AND you will notice that the eyes are generally on the top third line which does follow the rule, just in case you thought you were breaking it.

Happy photographing and rule breaking!

Keepin' It Real

Photoshop. Hmmm...I do love it, but, I don't like it to change people's features. Isn't that like saying, `Hey, your nose is too big, let me tweak it'. `Hey, you've got arm flab, you shouldn't, let me help!'. `Wrinkles? Who wants wrinkles?' . Where is the line? I recently tried using as many techniques as I could on a picture of Gary. Should I get rid of his wrinkles? Cover up his freckles? Whiten his teeth? Change his eye colour? Then it's not Gary anymore. Where is the line between loving a photo for exactly what it is and trying to make a photo all `America's Next Top Modelish'? I have no problem enhancing colours and playing with the exposure. I'm okay with removing zits. I think I'm also okay with whitening teeth. As for altering more than that, I don't think I'm the biggest fan of digital slimming/trimming/nose jobs.

Here is a way to tweak colours in Photoshop. It is super, super easy.

1. Open picture

2. Go to Image and then Adjustments

3. Go to Hue/Saturation

4. Under edit, change `master' to individual colours. For example, on the picture below, I adjusted the blue. I increased the hue and saturation and decreased the lightness. Click `okay' when happy.

5. Go to Brightness/Contrast and in this case, I increased the brightness and increased the contrast. Click `okay'.

There ya go! The left side has been photoshopped, really not too different. This original picture has pretty good colouring already but you get the idea. Gives it some zip.

Wanna know how to whiten teeth? This is taken from Scott Kelby's `The Photoshop CS Book For Digital Photographers'. By the way, I got this book used off of Amazon.ca...it's normally $60.99 and I got it shipped to me for under $30. Ya. Awesome.

1. Open photo.

2. Switch to Lasso tool and draw a selection around the teeth (zoom in so you don't get the gums!)

3. Under the Select menu, choose Feather. Enter 1 pixel and click OK.

4. Under Images, go to Adjustments, choose Hue/Saturation. Choose Yellows and drag saturation to the left.

5. Switch back to `Master' in the Edit menu and drag the lightness slider to the right. Not too far or you get a crazy white glow....remember that episode of Friends where Ross' teeth were glowing in the black light..ya, like that.

6. Click Okay and then Control D.

So, below shows the teeth whitened on the right. Then, I would go and adjust the contrast, saturation etc. to make the colours a little more vibrant.

In conclusion, I'm not sure that I will ever use the tooth whitening tool due to the fake factor. Also, I do most of my light and colour adjusting in Lightroom but I'm assuming more people have a version photoshop.

Okay, seriously, any photography questions pour moi?

I've Got Sunshine

Okay, no more song titles after this one. Well, we'll see. No promises.

On a bright sunny day (yay, love summer!), either stand in the shade or full sun, but not under a tree that has spots of light coming through it. This will not look good and will make editing way harder (if you are the editing type). Also, if you are taking pictures of a large group, make sure EVERYONE is in the sun or EVERYONE is in the shade. A diffuser is awesome to use, you just need someone to hold it although you can get some with stands too. It works to soften and even the light out.

Here is a picture we took using a collapsible diffusing panel in the bright, bright sun. One of these panels is about $30.00 off of Ebay and well worth it if you are doing any wedding photography or you just really, really care about your regular family photos:) We have not used it on our kids as we can't even get them to sit still.

The picture on the left shows what happens without a diffuser. Still a beautiful picture but see the sun light on her forehead and cheek? For the picture on the right, I was holding a diffuser. The downfall is that I am short so I cannot hold the diffuser very high and we may have to get an arm extension or something for it. This means the photo needs to be more of a closeup. Fortunately, my husband is tall so we just switch up who's taking the photos at different times.

We could've turned them so that they were perpendicular to the sun and in full light, but then we would have to change positions and the background would then not be ideal.

We have one that can act as a diffuser or reflector as seen on the link. This is beneficial because you can bounce warm golden light onto faces if they are in the shade.

Here's another picture where they were in the bright sun and the only shade was coming through the filtered light of the diffusing panel. Nice. No shadows, soft light.

(Beim shaq, if you are checking this, hope you are okay that I'm posting a picture of your beautiful daughter!)
Finally, time of day is soooooo important. Are you still reading? This is the most important part! Obviously with a wedding there isn't much flexibility as most brides don't want to have their photos done at 8am on their wedding day:) The best time is either starting at sunrise or an hour before sunset. You will definitely have a warmer, softer light. Try it. You'll see.

Any other topics you would like me to cover?

Hands Up, Baby, Hands Up

A common question I hear from women my age, when photographing them, is `How can I stand so my belly looks a little more flattering?'. If you are thin, these tips apply for a more comfortable look as well. Here are some ideas for when someone says, `Hey, let me take a picture of you!' and you are in a photo by yourself:

1. Do not wear baggy clothing. This doesn't mean skin tight is necessary but find a happy medium. Okay, so you generally can't quickly change your clothes if you find yourself in front of a camera but you know what I mean. For my example photo on the bottom, I think my shirt is too tight. I can see that now. Lesson learned:)

2. Shoulders at an angle (about 45 degrees) NOT facing the photographer straight on.

3. Have one leg in front, closest to the camera, almost pointing at the camera. Your legs should be slightly apart, try to have your thighs not touching yet look natural:)

4. Arm closest to camera should be on hip, in your pocket, up in the air, pointing, or anything you can do to get it a little ways off of the body. Hence, the `Hands Up' title.

If you are getting pictures in a group, make contact with the others. Put your arms around the people beside you. Shoulders, waist, whatever. Get comfy!! No way should there be 2 arms by your side.

Okay, here is an example. I won't make any negative comments about myself. Nope. Won't.

Hopefully you can see that the second one is a lot more flattering and that the first one is AWKWARD!!!

Please leave a comment at some point so I know people are actually reading this:)

The Purpose of `Picture This'

Everywhere I go, everywere I look, I see a picture. I see great background, light, people, barn, a smile...basically something begging to be photographed. I would like this to document my growth as a photographer. Trying new techniques. Going to new places. Tips to others. Maybe a picture a day. We'll see!