First of all....thanks Michelle for adding this community! I admit, photography is my true passion and I will have to try to have some restraint when it comes to posting to the community because I love talking about photography! :)
My passion for photography isn't a romantic, funny or exciting story. Actually the obsession kind of snuck up on me and really started with a New Year's resolution several years ago. While making my yearly list of things to resolve to do, I decided to be bold and make one resolution that was just for me.... something fun.... almost indulgent. I decided I was going to take a Photoshop class and learn something new and totally out of the realm of my medical based career. It wasn't hard to find a class and within the first two hours of the first class, little did I know that this 12 week class would be the beginning of what would be a life changing adventure.
At any rate, within the first several weeks of my class, I realized that it didn't matter how sophisticated I became with Photoshop..... if I didn't learn how to take a better picture and if I didn't invest in a better quality camera, my images would still be average at best. I started looking at pictures differently. Did they have impact? Did they make me go "Wow!" ? Did they make me cry? And if it did.....what was it about the image that made it stand out?
It was at that point that I began to spend hours researching cameras and lenses and the entire concept of photography. I took a second job to pay for my new investment and approximately six months later I purchased my first DSLR( oh and I should also mention that I haven't been to bed before midnight since 2004 as my evenings for the past 5 years have been spent studying photography/photoshop/photography/photoshop.....and so it goes.)
Anyway..... photography is something different for everyone but what I do believe is this.... a picture is our way of holding onto moments that are precious. A picture brings back memories of times that we hope to not forget. A picture truly is worth a thousand words....and sometimes more. A great picture doesn't have to be technically or creatively perfect. It just has to mean something to someone. If it didn't...we probably wouldn't have taken it in the first place.
So with that I will post a few tips to taking better pictures of your kids.
1. Get down on your child's level. 2. Use flash outdoors when the sun is super bright!!! 3. Move in close. Now get closer. 4. Shoot the same shot both in the vertical as well as the landscape (horizontal) position. 5. Dont' CENTER everything. Learn about the "Rule of Thirds" (google it!) 6. LOCK your focus. 7. Know your flashes range 8. Be silly and don't say "Say cheese"! The sillier you are the better the smiles will be from the kids and the adults. 9. BE IN THE PICTURE Moms! Seriously. Get in the picture. I'm going to start being in some of the pictures and handing off my precious camera to hubs. You do that too. 10. Last but not least... don't be afraid to delete an extremely over or underexposed picture. If it's not a picture that you are going to hang up in a 20 x 30" print don't stress about deleting a few of those bombs. It was lifechanging for me when a girlfriend said "I give you permission to toss the bombs!". Sheesh.... the overall quality of my albums went up ten-fold just by deleting the real duds. :)
Ok.... that's all for now. Looking forward to hearing about your photography passions, questions and of course seeing some of your favorite pics!
Barb (aka Photofabulous!)
This is a recent image of my youngest daughter....Hunter Cheri
Shutterbug
