How to Take Your Photos to the Next Level

Did you know that Gary and I were photographers for eight years? It was an awesome experience building and owning our own side business and we developed many skills and met wonderful client turned friends. We closed down our business last year because weddings meant we were away from our kids on the weekends which is prime adventuring time. The good news is that we kept almost all of our equipment and I can continue to share images here. Using my DLSR is important to me because I appreciate having quality photos of my kids and the places that we have been to.

Would you like to put more time and effort into your photos for this upcoming year? 

Why Photos of My Kids Are a Priority

I am with my kids a lot.  I feel like the majority of my day is spent cleaning, feeding, teaching, and refereeing them. When we go out to do something fun, I take my camera. Ninety percent of the time, I just want to capture candid moments, and then yes, ten percent of the time I ask them to sit nicely and pose with a sweet smile on their face.

Why is this so important to me to get these photos?

1.  I want them to have memories of their childhood captured.

I appreciate all of the photos from my childhood and I think they will too. I don't have my mom around anymore to talk to about it and I can get a lot of information from those photo albums.

2.  I want to be in photos with my kids.

I spend so much time seeing them, them, them and I want to see us, us, us. We're a team.

3.  I want to freeze the good.

The hand hold. The arms around each other. The laughter. The eagerness. The excitement. It gets hard day in and out just seeing and feeling the weight of the fighting and the arguing and the negativity, I want to remember and savour the good, too.

4.  I'm wearing jeans and cute boots.

Let's pretend I always dress nicely. If I put effort into my clothing (aka not just in yoga pants), get me in those photos!

5.  Pictures are cuter with someone in them.

Yes, this gourd display is incredible but add in my sweetapotamus and yep, love it more.

6.  I love photography.  

If I enjoy taking photos, why not take them of my favourite people while they are having fun? Yes, it may feel annoying to them that I ask for five smiling photos in an hour but I think that they can handle it.

What about you: Do you enjoy taking photos of your family?  Is it a priority or not at all?  

Love, 

Louise

Rule of Thirds: Photography Tip

Welcome back to the Photography Tip Series!  The first one called Framing Your Subject talks about looking for natural frames while taking photos and this one is about where to position your subject for a more interesting persepctive.

Here is another photography tip in the series which many people probably know about, but just in case you don't or would like a refresher let's talk about The Rule of Thirds.

The Rule of Thirds is meant to be broken but it is also something to keep in mind when setting up your shot. Do you see where the bouquet is in the photo above?  It's in the left 3rd of the photo, and 2/3 of the way down. 

Photos can be split into thirds horizontally and vertically.

Your eye appreciates seeing subjects at these intersections.  Yes, some photos look great centered but it's good to mix it up a little. The subject doesn't need to be at the point where the lines meet, it could just be on one of the lines.

Do you see the horizon is not directly in the middle of the photo?  It lies closer to the bottom third.

When doing a head shot, it's good to get the eyes at the top intersections of the lines.  I probably should have had him tilt his head  slightly upward as the top line is probably just above his eyebrows.

Here's 6 month old Nya with her eyes in the top third. And below, she's lined up in the center but her eyes are on the left third.

You can see that this photo also follows the Frame Your Subject rule from last time.

Hopefully that gives you some inspiration for the week :)  Have a good one and let me know if you have any questions!

Love,
Louise