School of Design – You and Your Camera 4

Welcome to Design House Digital’s School of Design. Today, and every single day in September, we’ll have new blog posts; informative, detailed, and FREE classes that will take your digital scrapbooking to the next level. Each subject will have a new post weekly, and at the end of the month you won’t believe how much you’ve learned!

Hi there! Allison again back with some more SLR camera tips. So last week we talked about the basics. This week I wanted to show some examples and talk about the settings I used and why. I always like to see examples and it helps what I’ve learned sink in a little more, so I’m hoping that will help you as well!

For all of these images I used Auto white balance. I love natural light and my camera does a pretty good job of white balance using natural light. So we’re looking at ISO, Aperture, and shutter speed.  You’ll usually start of with an idea of where you want your aperture to be and the ISO and shutter speed will change as needed.

What we didn’t talk about last week was metering modes. They are called different things on different cameras but for the most part there is center weighted metering (using a very large portion of the image to measure light), partial metering (which uses a smaller portion of the center of the sensor), or my preference, spot metering, which uses a very small area around your focus point. Spot metering allows me to make sure my subject (what’s in focus) to be exposed correctly – which is GREAT for backlit photos!

If you’re using the in camera metering you need to understand that it’s metering for middle gray. Now depending on what metering mode you’re using and your subject your exposure could come out very differently. If you have a subject with medium toned skin you’ll probably get a good meter using the spot mode, however if they have very light or darker skin you’ll need to adjust your exposure accordingly.

Let’s get started!

Settings: ISO 125, Aperture F2.0, SS 1/8000

Ok  so obviously this is outdoors and this is full bright sun. I have a low ISO because there is PLENTY of light, plus I like to use a wide open aperture which also allows for more light. My shutter speed is maxed out at 1/8000. If my meter in camera (the line with the + and – referring to the exposure) where telling me that I was still way over exposed at this point I would need to lower my ISO even more and/or close down my aperture (use a higher number). A wide aperture gives me a softer background and a lighter airy feel. I used spot metering to meter for his head. If I had been using evaluative metering (using the whole scene) this image would have been much darker as it would have to take the entire sky into consideration when choosing the correct exposure.

ISO 50, Aperture F2.2, SS 1/6400

Here I am shooting directly into the morning sun so I need a VERY low ISO. I still want my background blurred so I choose an aperture of F2.2 which lands my shutter speed at 1/6400. Because I am standing so close to the branch there is more blurred out here than in the first image where I am standing a lot farther away from my subject. Your distance from your subject has an effect on your depth of field.

ISO 50, Aperture F16.0, SS 1/40

Ok so here I wanted some motion blur. Because I’m outside with a lot of sun I am again at an ISO 0f 50. However you’ll notice that my Aperture is much higher than I normally use – why? Because I wanted motion blur and to get it I need a slower shutter speed to get that shutter speed low enough while still exposing the image correctly I need to close up that aperture to let less light in. In this image I am panning (moving my camera with him while he passes) which is why the front of the scooter and his front leg are in focus while his back kicking leg and the background are blurred.

ISO 250, Aperture F3.2, SS 1/160

Here is a really good basic outdoor setting. F3.2 gives me a little room in case my subject can’t sit perfectly still but I can still get in close and get both eyes in focus. If my aperture had been open up anymore and his head was at a slight angle both eyes would not be in focus. I try not to let my shutter speed go below 1/100 for little kids or below 1/80 for subjects that can sit still a little better.

ISO 500, Aperture 20.0, SS 1/4000

Here’s a little different situation. I wanted a silhouette shot and there are different ways of capturing this. However I wanted some sharp edges in my scenery and that sunflare along with good deep color in the sky so I wanted a high aperture of 20. This put my ISO at 500, and SS at 1/4000. I metered for the sky behind her NOT on her belly. I set my exposure based on the sky then refocused on her stomach so that she would be in focus.

ISO 3200, Aperture F2.0, SS 1/60

Ok so here we are inside and there is obviously a specific look I am going for so I wanted a wider aperture (lower number). It was pretty dark this morning so my ISO was all the way up to 3200 and even still my shutter speed was still only 1/60. I had the camera set on the counter which got rid of any camera shake I may have had by having a shutter speed that low.

ISO 3200, Aperture 1.6, SS 1/100

This is a situation when an SLR really comes in handy. We were at an outdoor shopping center in the evening. There was no sun left so all we had was the shopping/holiday lights. I already knew I needed a high ISO so I cranked it up to 3200 and because I had my Canon 50mm 1.4 lens I was able to open the aperture up to 1.6 which put my shutter speed at 100 lighting up my cute little subject perfectly.

A few notes – if you are using the kit lens it may say that it’s a 18-55 f/3.5-5.6. What does that mean? Well it means the widest that aperture can open up is 3.5 BUT it can only open up to that if it’s at 18mm (which is the widest angle). If you’re zoomed in you can only open up that aperture to 5.6. This greatly reduces the amount of light you can get in to your sensor. If you are wanting to take better low light photos or just get more creative with your SLR photography I HIGHLY recommend getting a low aperture lens. Both Canon and Nikon make a very reasonably priced 50mm 1.8 lens which will give you sharper images AND allow you to open up that aperture more. A longer lens will give you better bokeh (fuzzy background) so the next step up from that would be an 85mm 1.8 lens but it does increase the cost.

I hope these tips helped! As always feel free to ask questions!

School of Design: Photography Tips and Tricks 4

Welcome to Design House Digital’s School of Design. Today, and every single day in September, we’ll have new blog posts; informative, detailed, and FREE classes that will take your digital scrapbooking to the next level. Each subject will have a new post weekly, and at the end of the month you won’t believe how much you’ve learned!

Welcome back for another installment of Photography Tips and Tricks!  I hope you all are enjoying these School of Design blog posts as much as I am.  This week I want to talk to you about photo traditions.

One of the best ways to capture great, heartwarming images is to start a photo tradition.

First well start with some examples and ideas to get your thinking…

One of our family photo traditions is our anniversary pictures.  Every year on our anniversary I buy a mini cake and number candles to display how many years we’ve been married.  It’s quick and simple and easy to show exactly what year we are celebrating.

Another idea I love seeing, is the first day of school pictures.  I recommend taking them in the same place each year (like in front of your front door or in front of the school) or have your child pose in a similar way each year.  I love this idea of having the child hold a sign of what grade they are starting and who their teacher is that year.

Another idea I love is taking a picture of your child with the same inanimate object.  With my niece we took pictures of her with a teddy bear each month.  When we started out, she was smaller than they teddy bear, and is slowly getting to be about the same size.  I’m excited to one day take a picture of her graduating college hugging that same bear.  I’ve also seen this type of tradition down where they child is sitting in a particular chair each year.  Here’s another cute example I found on Pinterest of a baby in the same onesie quarterly.

Now that you have some ideas, here are some tips for sticking to it and getting the most out of your tradition.

• Don’t over stress it! The second or third year we were married we got home late on our anniversary and had both been busy most of the day.  We ended up waiting and taking the picture the next day.  I cried because I thought our tradition was ruined and ended up fussing at my newlywed husband for why he wouldn’t just go shave and shower even though it was 10 o’clock at night.  Looking back on it now, that was the silliest thing I could have done.  One of these days when we are old and gray and I have all 50 anniversary pictures all lined up beside one another, do you think it will make any difference to me that that one was taken on June 4^th and not June 3^rd.  I think not!  So my point is, learn from my mistake and don’t stress it.  Don’t set unreal expectations of the tradition and remember the sentiment behind it and not the fake rules you’ve made up for it.
• Keep it simple. Having a cake with a number on it or holding a sign with the school grade are both pretty easy to pull together and do.  Don’t make the tradition a big elaborate event that you will have a hard time repeating.
• It’s never too late to start. So what if your child is in the third grade and you don’t have the beginning years.  You can start the tradition now and you will still appreciate the ones you do have.
• Don’t give up. Say you decide to do Project 52 and take a picture of you and your child once every week for a year.  (I know a lot of you might not want to be in that many pictures, but how many of us don’t wish we had more pictures of us with our parents when we were little???) If you happen to miss one week, take two the next or just skip a week.  Pick it back up when you have time and don’t hold it against yourself.  Having a book of 50 family pictures at the end of the year will still make an awesome scrapbook.

I really hope I’ve inspired you to start some of your own photo traditions.  I promise they will be worth the time and effort.  Or maybe you already have some and you’d like to share the idea with the rest of us.  Leave me a comment and let me know what you think!

School of Design: Photography Tips and Tricks 3

Welcome to Design House Digital’s School of Design. Today, and every single day in September, we’ll have new blog posts; informative, detailed, and FREE classes that will take your digital scrapbooking to the next level. Each subject will have a new post weekly, and at the end of the month you won’t believe how much you’ve learned!

Hi everyone and welcome back to Week 3 of my Photography Tips and Tricks.  This week I’m focusing on posing and milestones for different age groups.  So let’s start at the beginning…

Newborns

Newborns are one of my favorite ages to photograph, but they also require a lot of work and patience! Here are a few of my favorite newborn tips:

- Keep it warm.  Crank up the furnace a few notches and maybe use a space heater.  You should be sweating and the baby will be comfortable.

- Use white noise.  Babies will jump at the sudden sound of your shutter or people moving around, so I find it really helpful to have a white noise playing in the background.  There are machines you can buy that play ocean sounds or there are a ton of websites that let you download free white noise recordings.

- Naked.  Newborns typically photograph better in the buff or close to it.  Even 0 – 3 month clothes can look overly bulky on a tiny newborn, so I prefer naked, just a diaper cover, or maybe a small swaddled wrap.

- Bean Bag.  I like to use a bean bag to pose newborns on.  It’s easy to shape them to position you need, and they are a soft surface for the baby to lay on in just about any position.

- For all the cute baby poses you see, it is best if the baby is REALLY asleep. If the baby is well fed and warm, they usually become pretty pose-able for you.  Make subtle movements and gently place the babies hands and limbs where you want them for the picture.

- One of my favorite poses is the baby in a bucket.  For a long time this really intimidated me, but it’s actually easy to do.  While the baby is asleep, swaddle them in a blanket with their arms out.  Easy way to do this is have one person hold the baby and one person wrap the blanket around them like a burrito.  Once wrapped, you can put the baby and blanket inside a bucket or basket and begin to pose.  The baby feels safe and swaddled and for the most part is well supported by the blanket and sides.

3 Months

Three months can be an awkward age because the baby can’t sit up by itself yet, but isn’t sleepy and bendy like a newborn.  My favorite poses for this age are…

- Laying on their tummy.  At this age, most of them can hold their head up, even if it is just for a moment.  Prop them up on a bobby or something else to give their front half a little lift.  Get really low to the grown so you are at their level.  Be ready to snap when they do raise up and give you that little grin.

- Supported seat.  Usually at three or four months, a baby can sit up if the are resting against something.  I usually like baskets or chairs that have sides all the way around, so you can place them in a corner.  I also fill the basket with extra blankets in front and behind the baby to help support them in the position.  Also, always have another adult stay right beside the baby in case they start to lean or drop their head forward.

- Finding their feet.  Usually at this age, they have found their feet and like to lay on their back and play.  This is a great milestone to capture.

6 Months

This is honestly the easiest age to photograph!  They can normally sit up by themselves, but they can’t crawl away yet !

- Props and help.  If they need a little extra help, you can still put them in a chair or basket .  If you want to showcase their cute shows or little feet, you can put them in a little higher chair where their feet are exposed.

- Airplane.  Another favorite pose for this age is the airplane.  Whether it’s a ride from Mom or Dad, it almost always gets a smile and I love the interaction of them looking back into their parent’s eyes.

- Assisted standing.  Anywhere from 6 months to a year is a good time to have them standing with they help of mom or dad.  Even if you want to crop out everything but Mom’s hands, it always makes for a cute shot or their fun new skill.

1 year

Such a great age and milestone!

- At this point most of them can stand up beside things or possible even on their own.

- Smash the cake.  I LOVE smash the cake sessions!  I recommend a very plain background or scenery and just let them have at it.  Also, I like to do one separately from the birthday party.  Lot’s of parent’s tell me that at the party the child really didn’t get into it, but for their photo session they just go wild.  Probably has something to do with a whole room full of people watching you and having a little more time to explore!

Toddlers

At this point, it becomes less about your photography skill and more about how fast you can run!  For the longest time, you hoped and dreamed of the day when they could walk and now you can’t get them to sit still for two seconds.

- Chairs and seats.  By far the best way to contain them is a cute little chair or something fun to sit on.

- Some cooperation.  At this age, they are able to respond to some basic posing suggestions, like asking them to lay their hands in their lap or tilt their heads slightly.

- Bribery.  This is also the age that bribery, unfortunately, may need to come into play.  I recommend something small like Smarties.

- Simon Says.  A great way to get them to pose is play Simon Says.  Start out with some silly stuff and keep it interesting, but usually they will play along with a few lean against that; look this way kind of stuff too.

- Smiles.  This is also a great age to start using some of my other tips and tricks for getting smiles and attention:  Week 2 Tips and Tricks

Younger Children

By this age they can take direction and can, if willing, basically pose any way you wish.  At this point, it’s all about getting cooperation and making them feel comfortable.

- Keep it fun and get them involved.  Keep the mood fun and light, and let them help you come up with ideas and poses.

- Give them something to do.  Have them sit on a tire or lean against a wall.  Giving them specific ideas for things to interact with will help keep them from doing goofy faces or crazy poses because they are bored.

- Let their personality shine.  To be honest, you don’t really want a hundred pictures of them standing straight, slight head tilt and smiling directly at you.  This will get boring for you and them!  Capture the real child and all of his emotions.

Tweens

To be completely honest, this is not an age group I work with a lot.  Clients book sessions with me until their child is five or so, and then I don’t hear from them again until they are seniors.  But, I know a lot of you have kids this age, so I will do my best to give you some ideas…

- Keep it age appropriate.  This is the time where they don’t want to look like babies, but really shouldn’t be dressing or posing like sexy teens either.

- Reassure them.  This is an age group where their confidence is constantly being challenged.  Remind them all the time how beautiful they truly are.  Let them know how lovely they look when they pose a certain way.  While you are taking pictures be sure that they know you are thinking about how the pose and that they don’t look awkward.  If needed, show them you “favorites” on the back of the camera, so they can see that they do in fact not look dorky.

- Use social media.  Bribery has kind of taken a new level with this age group.  Make the photos something that they actually want.  I can pretty much talk my teen cousin into a photo shoot any day by asking if she wants some new photos for her Facebook profile.  You get nice photos to scrapbook and some input about what she puts on the World Wide Web, and she gets some fun photos to use as her 15^th update for the day.  (insert eye roll)

Seniors

I LOVE this age!  Most girls actually want to have their picture taken and even the guys are usually willing to cooperate if I keep it quick and easy.

- Location.  Find a cool location that gives you texture or patterns.  You can even make it a bonding time, just driving around to find cool little nooks and alleys to try out.

- Comfortable.  Just ask them to stand how they feel comfortable.  Have them move around, so they don’t look stiff and awkward.

- Give them something to do with their hands.  This is by far the questions I get the most!  For guys, my go-to poses are either thumbs in the pockets (thumbs only not whole hand) or arms crossed.  For girls I usually have them put it on their hip or in the back pocket of their jeans.  Have them fidget (or appear to).  Have them play with their hair or tug at their scarf or sweater.

- Showcase who they are at this time.  Take some of things that they are involved in or what the like to do.  Capture their interest and personality.

No matter what age your children or subjects are, there are fun milestones and characteristics that will come out.  Hopefully some of these posing ideas will help to keep your picture fun and full of variety.

School of Design – You and Your Camera 3

Welcome to Design House Digital’s School of Design. Today, and every single day in September, we’ll have new blog posts; informative, detailed, and FREE classes that will take your digital scrapbooking to the next level. Each subject will have a new post weekly, and at the end of the month you won’t believe how much you’ve learned!

Hi there! Allison here with some Manual mode SLR info. Shannon has done a great job the last 2 weeks introducing you to the auto and semi-automatic modes of your DSLR. As she explained every DSLR is different so please consult your manual (or my favorite Google) on how to adjust these settings on your individual cameras.

There are so many factors that go into using manual mode with your cameras. I’m going to discuss these settings today and next week share some photos I’ve taken and share what my settings were and why I chose them. I think that will help it sink in a little better.

Shannon shared a GREAT cheat sheet that we’ll use as we talk about your different settings.

click photo for source information

Each of these has an effect on your end result. I want to start with ISO because it’s usually the setting that I set first. 100-3200 is a normal range for a digital SLR. The lower the number here, the LESS sensitive your sensor is to light. The higher the number the MORE sensitive it is to light which is why in dark situations you’re going to want a high ISO and outdoors in full sun you can use a lower ISO. The lowest ISO you can use for your situation is (in my opinion) the best because the higher up you go the more noise (fuzziness) you’re going to get which does result in a loss of clarity.  So if I’m outside in the middle of the day I’ll choose 100, inside at night (and I’m not using flash) I’m usually at 3200 or in my cameras case even higher at the setting of  ”high”.

Next I set my Aperture. I choose this based on a few things – the look I want, and how much light I have to work with. Think of the aperture as the pupil of your eye. When you go in the dark what do your pupils do? They get bigger (in an aperture this is a small number like 1.8 or 3.2). When you instantly flash a light at them then shrink up and get smaller (a high number for an aperture like 11 or 22). So the more light you have the higher the number you can use (or smaller the aperture) the high numbers allow more of your scene to be in focus as well as usually results in bluer skies if you’re outdoors. The lower apertures result in a much softer background, less in focus, and will likely blow out more of your skies outdoors if you’re photographing anything other than the sky itself.

Shutter speed is how fast your shutter opens and closes (like your eyelids) the length of time it is open is where they get the numbers for the shutter speed. A shutter speed of  500 is when the shutter is open for 1/500th of a second. A lower shutter speed does allow more light in, but also can result in blurriness of your photo due to a moving subject or even camera shake. We can only hold those heavy cameras still for so long! A higher shutter speed will allow you to capture action and freeze time!

Exposure is how your photo will come out “light” wise. When you’re in auto your camera chooses settings so that your exposure is right in the middle at 0. A lot of people like to keep their exposure a bit over, but if you’re photographing say a large group of people who are all wearing black clothing your exposure meter is going to see things a bit differently so your photo will actually need to be a tad under exposed.

The white balance can be left on Auto which I think a lot of people do, but even the cameras modes can help your photo turn out much better. For example, if you’re taking photos indoors at night and don’t want to use your flash the tungsten or fluorescent settings will probably yield colors much closer to what they are in real life than your auto setting. For outdoors it’s a little less noticeable. Setting a custom white balance is the best way to achieve proper colors every time but it’s best to get all the other basics down before you delve into that!

If you want to practice some basic settings you could start with outside during the day are ISO 200, aperture 5.0, and see where your shutter speeds are landing you on your exposure meter. Usually adjusting the shutter speed is a scrolling wheel because it’s what you’ll adjust the most as you’re snapping away. If you’re taking pictures of kids, pets, or moving objects try to keep your shutter speed around 200 or above to keep them in focus!

If you’re indoors where it’s much darker you’ll need to bump up that ISO (like I said before I use high quite a bit), will have to probably open up your aperture (to 3.2 or lower if your lens can go lower) and slow down your shutter speeds. Again, if you have a moving subject getting down too low (below 100 or 80) will result in a blurry subject.

Here’s a little example of aperture changes – notice what happens with my iso and shutter speed as my aperture gets smaller (the number goes up). The aperture is also displayed as F-stop which is what the “F” means in these photos.

Because my camera is sitting on the table in these photos I’ll share an example of a low shutter speed vs. a high shutter speed.

Feel free to discuss or ask questions in our Photography Forum!

School of Design: Photography Tips and Tricks 2

One of the biggest compliments I get from my clients is for how well I interact with kids.  Just recently I got an email from a client saying, “I was there for the session and with those two crazy kids running around like they did, I didn’t really expect much, but somehow you made it happen.”  I’m here today to share with you some of my favorite attention and smile getting tips and tricks, so you can make it happen with your own photos!

Tip #1 – Keep it fun and easy!

Don’t make taking pictures feel like a chore.  I approach every session like I’m Fun Aunt Lori and we are there to hang out and be silly.  If you immediately go to the bribe option or if you make it seem like they just have to suffer through three more shots, you’re setting it up to be something they should want to avoid.

Tip #2 – Be crazy and silly!

When I’m in the studio, I’m sure that my husband down stairs thinks there are crazy wild animals in the room with all the sounds I make.  Your kids may think you’re weird, but they also normally think it’s funny too.  Sometimes I will do some silly animal noises and then tell them about an even better one that I can make .  They of course want to hear it, so I will tell them to pose a certain way and then I will do it.  For little ones, I find these are noises they haven’t learned to tune out yet, so they immediately turn and look your direction – instant eye contact with the camera.

Tip #3 – Never ask them to say “Cheese”

It’s way over done and normally gets you a big fake smile at best.  Again, I find being extra silly will help out here.  I’ll have them say things like “Daddy wears diapers!”  You can also try stuff that their into, like say “Pretty Pretty Princess”  or “Superman is awesome!” – anything to keep them engaged with you.

Tip #4 – Make it all about them

Compliment them on how great they’re doing.  Tell them how pretty their eyes are when they turn their head this way or how strong they look when the stand up straight like that.  Sometimes I even like to go into super model mode, “Oh, that’s perfect.  Work it! You should be a model.  Right there – awesome pose.  I’m going to love these photos!” Keep the excitement level high and give them lots of attention.

Tip #5 – Get them involved in the creative side

Kids love to give their input and feel like they are helping to make decisions.  Let them make suggestions for poses or props.  Make it a game of what kind of fun photo shoot can we have today.  Some ideas might not be great, but other times they may have a fun idea that you’ve never thought of.  Either way it keeps them engaged, brings out their personality, and makes them feel less like they are your little dress up doll.

Tip #6 – Balancing stuff on your head

Getting eye contact is one of the biggest things I strive for in most shots.  It just gives more of a connetion in the photo, so one way that I’ve found to keep  them looking at me for more than a millisecond is to balance something on my head.  Ususally a stick or some random object laying around.  I will sometimes asking them to count or guess how long I can keep it on there.  That gets them looking right at my head (and the camera) and then I let it fall off – and wait for them to laugh at me.  This also works with holding stuff in my teeth (again, usually a stick) and then at some point spitting it out and pretending it tastes awful!  Not the most fun idea, but usually gets a laugh or two.

So the overall basic idea is to keep it fun and unexpected.  If you do that, you can eventually make taking pictures something they enjoy instead of a black box that they run the other direction from.

All that being said, I will fully admit that the hardest children to photograph are your own.  After awhile, they’ve seen your tricks or they just aren’t in the mood to cooperate with you.  For these times, I would suggest having someone else take the photos.  Maybe that’s a professional studio, maybe that’s just another mom that you agree to trade off with.

I’m willing to bet that being extra silly will get you a few good smiles though.  Give these tips and trick a try this week and come back and leave me a comment about what you son did when you started mooing like a cow!