Tag Archives: picture taking tips

Preparing for a Winter Photo Shoot

Each year I put together a photo calendar for my mom. I collect 12 pictures of my daughter and use one for each month. But, every year I run into the same problem—-I never have a snowy shot to feature in the month of January. I deduced it is simply because I rarely take my camera outdoors when it’s frigid outside (which is practically every day in January given that I live in Wisconsin). As a result, I barely have any pictures of my daughter frolicking in snowdrifts or making a snowman or a snow angel. This winter I plan … Continue reading →

Photography Potpourri—-NO To “Cheese” and YES to Hats

In the last couple of weeks I’ve provided tips on how to capture frameworthy shots and what to do when you don’t have enough frames to preserve your prize-winning photos. Shooting the perfect picture and organizing the end results… you’d think I would have exhausted all of my advice by now, but you’d be wrong. I have a few additional tips I wanted to share with you. (When my daughter was an infant she would wear a different hat nearly everyday.) JUST SAY NO TO “CHEEEESSSSE.” It’s the universal method for getting photo subjects to smile (or least contort their … Continue reading →

Spicing Up Your Shots

Have you ever watched a professional photographer in action? I had the great fortune of working with some of the best videographers and still photographers during my tenure as a TV journalist and the one thing they all had in common is that you would rarely take a shot at eye-level. Typically, they were crouched under a bench or standing on a tree stump or on the bumper of the news vehicle. That’s because they realize that shooting from different angles greatly enhances the composition of an image. Even the most common items can appear interesting when they are snapped … Continue reading →

More Common Sense Tips To Capturing A Frame-Worthy Picture

I caught the last few minutes of Oprah’s show yesterday when she was paying tribute to the children of the men and women who lost their lives during the 9/11 terror attacks. Show producers created a video montage of still photos the families had taken of their loved ones and set it to music. It was a touching tribute that caused many of the children to shed tears. (I’m sure there wasn’t a dry eye in the entire audience or in the homes of Oprah’s viewers either—-I know it made me choke up.) To me, the picture montage spoke to … Continue reading →

Common Sense Tips To Capturing Frame-Worthy Pictures

My last blog entry while helpful (to some) was done a bit tongue-in-cheek. Let’s face it; every person wielding a camera is looking for that one great shot to admire for years to come. Whether it’s a brilliant Hawaiian sunset or your child’s first smile. Pictures are the closest way any of us comes to freezing time. So what can you do to make sure you don’t squander these precious moments? Here are some tips: Stand Still (My blog title didn’t lie–I told you these were common sense tips.) If you are taking a shot of your child planting her … Continue reading →

Tips For Taking Pictures With Your Camera Phone

I must preface this blog by stating that I am not an advocate of camera phones. Which is not to say that I don’t think the technology is phenomenal and the convenience unparalleled. However, the sacrifices that are necessitated by trying to pack so much into such a small device obviously compromises way too much for me to rely on a camera phone to capture important milestones. Now, that doesn’t mean that I don’t know many people who own camera phones and use them in the same manner that I do my Canon Rebel. Some of my closest friends use … Continue reading →