Tips for Momtographers - Does your photo tell a story?

It's been a while since I've done a "Tip for Momtographers" so I thought I'd bring you a quickie.

See the 2 photos above? Both were taken within a minute of each other at a wildlife refuge near here (mainly birds). I happened to notice a few of these cool looking bird "houses" (not sure of technical terms here) and decided to snap the picture on the let. It's then that I realized it was kind of boring, and didn't tell a story so I moved my car up a little bit (yep, I shoot out my window sometimes) and shot through the trees.

A good story has a beginning, a middle and an end. This story has a little something in the beginning that helps set the stage of where we are. Our main subject in the middle tells what it is, and an end that helps set the mood (in a forest).

So my tip is, if you feel like your subject is a little "boring" just sitting there, move yourself around your subject. Don't be afraid to get a bit of something else in the foreground of your photo, especially if it helps tell the story of your photo. It might be a tree, or a wall, maybe the chains on a playground swing, or flowers at a park at the bottom of the photo. It's a great way to add a little life and depth to a photo.

Did you try it? Share your links!

Thursday Sparks - Props

(forgot to post this last night! oops!)

I've been inspired by props lately. Props are a mainstay from most photographers. It gives the subject something to "do". Sadly I forget to drag along my bag of props most of the time, and then when I do, I forget to drag them out. DOH.

Click on the photo to see more by these photgraphers.


Balloons:

And these photos actually by me:

Maybe a few hats and crowns:

Even a piece of candy can be a prop:

and everyone has a basket:

an older one by me:

So if you're at a loss of how to take a photos, look around and see what you have that could be used for a prop.


Now, if I could JUST get someone.. anyone... to let me use a chicken as a prop.
Hmmm.

{I love you Tanner, but this is your punishment for not letting me take a proper photo of you. LOL. Complain and you're grounded. That is all.}

Tips for Momtographers - Free Lensing

I heard about this cool technique on one of my photography groups today, and just had to give it a shot. It's called "Free Lensing", and on the "Tips for Momtography" scale, this is going to be one of those things that you're only going to be able to do with a detachable lens. Sorry :(

Essentially, when a camera lense is attached to the body, the focal plane is straight ahead perpendicular to the camera. So if something is close, middle, and far away, and you focus on the middle item, the close and far away items will most likely be in some degree of out of focus.

Got that part?

Well, with free lensing (and tilt shift lenses) the focal plane shifts. Imagine taking a photo of a brick wall standing straight in front of it.. With a regular camera, the whole wall will be in focus, but with free lensing, either the left, right, top, bottom or middle can be in focus while the rest is out of focus.

If you want a more detailed and technical explaination (ie: more understandable) read here.


So I popped out my lens (literally) and decided to give it a shot on the only willing subjects available:

Pink rooster and Mr. Bear!!
(told you that you'd see the rooster again)

As you can see in the before, the rooster is sharp, and the bear is slightly out of focus. Just as expected.

But with the lens detached and tilted slightly (and I mean literally like a millimeter), you get the cool tilt shift effect.



I also wanted to give it a good go outside and thought the "cool alley" might look interesting on a whole new focal plane.

I've also noticed that when I detach the lens, it throws the white balance off a bit, but I liked the reddish tones in the right photo so I left it.

I really think the detached image is much more interesting and artistic. A win, considering I saved around a grand not buying a tilt shift.

Go me.

If you'd like to try this, you can read more at the link provided above, which will tell you what to do in each brand of camera. You can also see examples of other (and better) work in a free lensing flickr group.

If you try, share your links!

Tips for Momtographers - capturing a great sunrise/sunset

It's been a while since I've brought you a segment from "Tips for Momtographers". I was talking to the very lovely, Heather, the other day and she mentioned (oh lord, I hope it was Heather lol) about taking sunset/sunrise photos and having them look right.

In my head, I said "I can do that!" and realized later, that there are a couple simple things that can make a sunrise look even better.

Below are 3 samples.

{#1, ISO200, F4, 1/4000th}

{#2, ISO200, F4, 1/500th}

{#3, ISO200, F4, 1/125th}

Now, something you should know, is that these three photos were taken within 1 minute of each other. No, there was not a quick shift in the light. I only did one little thing different.

I'm sure you can see, that the first photo, the shutter was open the least amount of time at 1/4000th of a second, the second at 1/500th of a second and the third the longest at 1/125th of a second.

Now, you could just manually set your camera to each increment until you get the look that you want. I'm entirely more lazy than that. LOL.

I do the easy way. First, I ALWAYS set my focus point to the center. I will point at the point I want to focus and recompose my shot. This is also the point where your camera will meter for the light.

So essentially, if you want a dark moody photo, pick a light spot and meter for that spot. {I metered for the sun in the photo#1} That will force the shutter to open and close fastest letting in the least amount of light to expose the rest of the photo, this will make your darker parts of the photo, darker than in real life. This might be the dramatic look that you're looking for.

If you want your photo to be bright, or you want to see the details in a darker area of photo, point, focus/meter off of the darkest areas {photo #3, I metered the trees}

I prefered something in between, that felt like what the real sunset was like, so I might pick something of a medium light or tone to meter off of, like a cloud or the edge of the tree line.

This method works best for a landscape photo where you are focusing on infinity. If you are wanting to focus on one thing, but meter for another, then you should expose for part that you'd like to meter for, pay attention to what your readings are in your camera and go into manual mode, THEN focus on the closer item.

This makes no sense if you're not using a DSLR. This CAN work if you're using a point and shoot to a certain extent. If you want more dramatic skies, point more towards the sky, if you want lighter sky, try to point more towards the skyline. If this doesn't work for the composition of the photo, you can crop the photo in your photo editing programs at home, or if your just uploading to a photo processor, they always allow you to crop with their software.

Hopefully this will help your photos when you take us to the bahamas this January!

Anyone?

Hello?

I miss squirrels - tips for momtographers

I'm not a bird person. I'm a squirrel person.

Really.

I always say if I were to die and come back as an animal, I would never pick being a cat like 90% of ppl say, I'd be a squirrel. Dude those things have the most fun, they can climb like mad, fly without wings, cute as a button, they have FUN, and they usually go out with a blaze of glory. Yeah. I wanna be a squirrel.

But the down side is, there's no squirrels out here. Oh, maybe down the road there is, but *right here*, nothing. Probably because they like that whole "tree" thing, and I have lots of trees, but they are all about 8 feet all.

What I didn't expect was birds. In town, there were tons of sparrows, occasionally a robin or a cardinal, and nothing else. Here? I'm seeing birds I've never seen before.

A few days ago, I saw a bird I DID recognize. The Goldfinch, I know that one because I'm from Iowa, and it's the Iowa state bird - and I think they are one of the prettiest birds ever.

So I stopped in at Walter-mart, and found this sock thing, full of finch food. I had shepherds hooks left over from the wedding, and stuck it out in the yard. It was a matter of ONE day, and there were the goldfinches eating away. Manna from heaven. I question how they can even fly they eat so much.

Tanner has been picking up my camera lately and taking photos himself.

Sunday, he took the above photo with my long telephoto lens, then came to me and asked me a good question.

"How do I make the camera not be so shaky when taking pictures with the big lens?"

Good question!

Here's the answer. If you want to take a photo and you're using a long lens, you have a couple problems. The closer you get in lens, the more you'll notice a fraction of movement. It also is a lot heavier, so that fraction of movement is very easy to make happen.

The best thing to do is use your tripod. What? You don't have a tripod? OK, you have alternatives. You could get one of those fancy bean bags from a photography store that you set on a solid object like your fence, or your car and then place your camera on it. Those are cool, and something you could even use with your point and shoot, put one in your camera bag or in the trunk of your car.

OR

You could be cheap and lazy like myself, and just buy a bag of dry beans. It'll do the same thing, and then when you crash your car into a snowbank in February, you'll have some beans to live on.

what? you got caught with no tripod, and no beans?
*sigh*
Are you my husband or child?

Anyway...

You can make yourself into a makeshift tripod. First, stand with your feet apart, one slightly in front of the other. Tuck your elbows in tight to your sides, take a deep breath, exhale half way, then shoot. Now take 5 pics if you can because odds are at least one will be pretty clear.

If that still doesn't seem to be enough, try growing a third leg, -or- you can lean against your car, a wall, the fence, etc.

*****If using a DSLR or SLR - crank up your ISO, increase shutter speed, shoot f-stop wide open. ie: get as much light in your camera as possible to make it as fast as possible.

We're still not getting close enough for super sharp photos to make me happy, so the master plan is to buy a remote for the camera, set it outside, and then in air conditioned comfort, take super close up photos of the birdies from the kitchen window.

In my jammies.

Tips for Momtographers - get down low

My new favorite camera angle is one where I'm not even looking through the eyepiece.

This is a perspective that anyone can shoot, with any camera at all. All you do, is sit it on the floor, and push the button. Now my camera is a DSLR (digital single lens reflex) so my lens is close to the bottom of the camera, so if you have a point and shoot, your perspective might be slightly different but just play until you get something you really like.

You'll need your camera to be on auto focus, unless of course, you'd like to lay on the floor. Also, if you're using an slr, be sure to put your finger over the eyepiece as light can leak into sensor and make your photos very under exposed.

The resulting effect is a distinct depth of field (DOF) that's extreme and helps draw more dramatic attention to your subject.

You don't have to do this angle just on the floor or ground either.

Try sitting it on a table top, dashboard, counter, on a vertical wall or any flat surface. You can have fun and get some really cool "from the hip" perspective photos of your friends while you're out for dinner or the kids at the park while they think the camera is sitting in the grass.

So don't be scared to get your good pants dirty, get down in the grass and look at your world from a different angle

Tips for Momtographers - try a new perspective

As a reward, for not driving me crazy for at least an hour, we all went out and had a little fun at the park. OK, so I also went to let them burn off energy, which never seems to work, but when they argue outside, it's so much easier to handle than when they are arguing inside.

I went with a second mission in mind. To document the "event" but at the same time, see it with a different set of eyes, a new angle on a classic situation. Coming home, I thought this would be a good lesson for moms out there. A little less classic "swings or slide" shots and a little more "capture this moment" shots.

After reviewing my photos, I realized that the main theme of my photos ended up being "a new perspective". Seeing the same old things, but seeing them in a new way that can add a little excitement to your memories.

Find a frame. Look for nooks and crannies, places that you can see your subject at a different angle, or in a "frame". Don't be ashamed to make a funny face or vulgar noises to get a genuine smile.

Sometimes your subject isn't your subject. You don't always have to shoot your subject directly. Capturing this shadow tells the entire story itself, without ever seeing the child herself.

Take second stage. Let your subject, be the secondary part of the story. Showing a little detail with someone in the background, still reminds you that they were there at the moment, but shows a little detail that you might forget otherwise.

Look at your scene from an entirely new angle. With this shot, I just sat the camera in the grass, pointed it in the general direction and started shooting. I'm not scared to lay in the grass (despite the fact that I'm allergic to it - itching's worth a great shot) just to get a cool pic. Lay on your back, shoot straight up, shoot straight down, get in close or give your camera a little tilt.

Freeze time. Look at the settings on the top or the back of your camera. See that little running man? He's the one that will help you freeze a scene and capture a minute instant in time. This one is especially good for wiggly children and pets (unless you have a lazy cat like mine, then you can do time lapse and nothing will happen)

Find supporting details. Watch close, are there things around you that help tell the story? They don't have to have a person in them ALL the time to tell the complete story.

Capture the true moments. I won't say that I never set up a posed shot, or that I ask someone to turn and smile at the camera, because I DO ALL THE TIME, but a cheesy grin will NEVER tell the true emotion felt at any moment in time. Stand back, and just wait, be focused and ready, and when the moment comes, snap fast.






My three favorite tips:
1. Fill the frame with your subject. That means you'll probably need to get up, and walk 5 or 20 steps closer. Nothing says boring photo more than just a snapshot in the general direction where you can't see what's going on more than just who was there.

2. Remember, your camera can take vertical shots too. It's true. Try it. :p I grit my teeth to let a stranger take a photo of me. Everyone holds up the camera, and snap. Analyze your scene and make sure that what you want to capture wouldn't look better in a vertical. Hey, it's digital (well most of us anyway), what's it going to hurt if you try both ways?

3. Stop making your kids say cheese. It's a crying shame. And while you're at it, don't even make them look at the camera all the time. By doing so, you only capture who was there, you never will capture the emotion of the moment.

I read this once:

"I heard a really sad story. The kids were in the backyard playing football together, playing nicely and not fighting. Mom wanted to capture the moment. Dad yelled 'Come over here, your mom wants to take your picture.'"

The end.