photography tips
Who Wants to be a Photographer?
As many of you know, I own a photography studio, Myrtle Beach Photography, but I am not a professional photographer. I post tips that I have learned from owning a studio and seeking answers from my staff of brilliant professional photographers. I know there are many photography tips out there from professional photographers that are much more technical but I am trying to take this information and translate it for us “want to be photographers”.
I really would like to know how many of you want to be photographer?
For those of you who want to become professional photographers, what are some things that you would like to know?
It has been my experience, while working with many professional photographers, that they know how to take beautiful images but the business side is baffling to them. I guess I would really like to know if posting about the business side of running a photography studio would be of interest to you.
I will await your responses.
Holiday Photography Tips
| # 1 | Play Around When Composing Your Photograph Whether you are photographing holiday images or family and friends, try different compositions. Pay special attention to how you organize elements in each photo.Concepts when composing a shot:
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| # 2 | Family and Group Portraits The main thing that professional photographers do that most don’t is take tons of images. That is the trick. Take a large number of photos. Since there is always someone blinking or looking off to the side or facing another member of the group, having a large number of photos will give you the best chances of catching everyone looking their best.There is often a great deal of pressure when photographing groups so keep the experience as fun and friendly as possible, so they remember it in a positive light. |
| # 3 | Taking the Perfect Candid Shot Shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot and delete later. If a child opening a gift – or playing with a gift for the first time – you know that, within a split second, the scene can change. There is often just a few brief moments when that “magic shot” appears.Be ready to go at a moment’s notice and keep that shutter clicking. Be assertive with your picture-taking. Be ready to press that shutter button at a moment’s notice. Either way, shoot quickly and shoot often. Don’t be shy – getting a great photo of the right moment is rewarding and well worth the extra effort. |
| # 4 | Don’t Always Use Flash IndoorsThe flash can be a real lifesaver, no doubt about it. This burst of artificial light can mean the difference between a decent photo and a totally blurry, unusable image.
If you are shooting indoors at night, try to flood the room where you are photographing with as much light as you can – turn on whatever lamps you have at hand. This will help reduce those harsh, flashed-out subjects, as well as other problems like red-eye. However, the light from flash units – especially from the tiny on-camera flash units found on most every camera – tend to produce harsh, flat, and cold light. This is rarely a complimentary way to illuminate your subject. Try using your hand to block some of that harsh lighting. If you are shooting indoors during the day, make your portraits with your subjects standing near a window or door instead of relying on the flash. Get between your subject and the window – in other words, don’t include the window in your composition, as this will throw off your exposure meter. |
| # 5 | If You Use Flash Outdoors Most people think that using flash is synonymous with photographing indoors at night – at a Christmas party for example.However, flash need not be relegated to indoor, night photography. Flash can be a big help when it comes to shooting outdoors during the day. Even in bright sunlight, forcing your flash to fire can often mean the difference between a so-so snapshot and an eye-grabbing masterpiece. The reason is that this kind of bright day flash will fill in the shadows and even out harsh contrasts. Try it out… next time you are photographing friends or children outdoors, turn your flash on and see if it works. |
| # 6 | Get Creative With Those Christmas Lights
Tired of the same old Christmas tree photos? If you want to try something new, set your camera to a slower shutter speed. Meaning, make the shutter open and close more slowly. Maybe try setting your camera on a stationary object like a table to steady it. When you hear the shutter open, move the camera to cause a blur of the lights. The idea here is to intentionally blur the colorful Christmas lights. |
| # 7 | Give the Gift of a Photograph Whether you are a last minute shopper or not, we have the perfect gift idea for you: a family photo.Parents and grandparents in particular love photos of the family and children as a holiday present.
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| # 8 | Be Prepared: Charge Batteries and Clear Cards The last thing you want to have happen is to get all set up for the family portrait or holiday photo to realize you forgot to charge the battery!In addition to making sure your batteries are charged (or you have replacements on hand), you will also want to make sure you have a place for your potential images to be recorded. Clear your memory card to free up space.
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Lighting Tip – Myrtle Beach Photography
Direction of Lighting
Photography is all about light, the direction of the light falling on your subject is most important, you must look at your subject carefully and see how the shadows fall.
If you are able to choose the time of day to shoot your pictures, try to pick a time when the sun is low in the sky, either shoot in the early morning or late afternoon. Shooting pictures of people with the sun too high in the sky, tends to mean the subject’s eyes will be in shadow and/or your subject will be squinting in the strong light, both of which tend to look horrible. A nice side effect of shooting in the early morning or late afternoon is that the color of the light is ‘warmer’, reds and yellows are stronger which generally gives a more pleasing effect.
If you are photographing in sunlight, try to position yourself so that the sun hits your subject from the side, this will give you nice ‘modeling’ effect.
Sunlight behind the subject can give a very pleasing ‘backlight’ effect but be careful that you are not getting ‘flare’ in the lens.
Direction of Lighting
Modern cameras have horrible little flashes. They cause red eye and also flattens all faces into shadow. Use the in camera flashlight only in an emergency.
On Camera Flash
When you have to use the in camera flash, keep your subject(s) away from walls or solid objects. Standing or sitting against a wall will throw a horrible shadow. This will not show up against a dark background.
Photography Tip – Simple But Important
Here is a photography tip that is so simple that it is often overlooked. The crooked horizon. As many of you know, I am not a professional photographer but own a photography studio. My job is to correct mistakes, through photoshop, that come through my studio. I would guess that besides the obvious removing people from the background, removing stray hair, etc, straightening the horizon is way up there. When you set up to take a shot, especially on the beach where the horizon plays a very big part of the background, make sure the horizon is straight and not going through the head of your subject. This task is sometimes more difficult for taller photographers. Just take a moment before you click your shutter and make sure the horizon is below the head and that it is straight.
Background Clutter Tip by Myrtle Beach Photography
Our studio takes thousands of family beach portrait shots a summer. The biggest obstacle we run into is clutter. Everything from trash on the beach to people walking in the background when the beaches are busy. Even a small piece of trash or a cigarette butt can destroy an image. Clutter can turn a beautiful professional portrait into what can look like a snapshot. When setting up a portrait shot, consider simplifying the background to avoid photo clutter. Take the time to move things that can be a distraction. If you take a photo of someone in front of a busy background, when someone else looks at the picture their eyes will be pulled to the distractions.
Your photos should focus the viewer on the person, and only afterwards their surroundings. Instead of getting an entire beach scene in the photo, just get enough so the viewer knows the person is in front of ocean. Try and crop out any hotels or people walking by. You cannot get entire beach scene in a photo and still record the details of a person’s face, so unless you are just going for the effect of comparing the person’s size with the largeness of their surroundings, focus on one background detail and let the person’s image fill most of the viewfinder. These small tips will save you hours in the graphic process if you are aware of your surroundings.
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