I am excited to help give you some basic photography tips to help you create stunning photos with these photography tips and tricks!
Basic Photography Tips
Using a DSLR camera or the camera on your phone – these basic photography tips are essential to elevating your images to go from amateur to pro. Don’t try to tackle them all at one time, rather practice your technique and master one at a time!
- Put your subjects’ back to the sun – this will keep your subject from squinting as well as provide some beautiful back lighting to your subject.
- Try to find even light – either look for a fully shaded area or if it’s sunny and you can’t avoid it refer to tip #1. Sometimes you just can’t avoid full sun – so do your best!
- Avoid strange shadows or “hotspots”- You know those shadows you get from trees? Avoid these spots – or wait until golden hour
- Don’t cut off people at the ankles!! Either do a full body picture or if you cut your image from a full body never cut at a bend of a limb – i.e. ankles, knees, waist – go above or below those bends.
- Try to get in close or on the subjects eye level – always try to get in closer than you think – you’ll be surprised how much you love it.
- Avoid random things in the background. – LOOK! look look and look again behind your subject and avoid the clutter.
- Shoot up high to make double chins look better!
- Posing tip: When getting your photos have your subject put weight on one leg and bend a knee.
- Watch for hair ties on girls and ladies – a pet peeve of mine is hair ties on the wrist! Many clients don’t think about it because they are so used to it on their wrist, but photographers watch the details!
- Back up your digital images. I can’t stress this enough…I have lost some of my own pictures and there is no worse feeling in the world.
- Print your images. Don’t take the chance of loosing them off of a device, a platform or a hard drive that malfunctions – print print print those pictures!
First I am a mommy of three kids, ages 13, 12 and 4. I just moved to Salt Lake City from Wichita KS. I love everything vintage, naps, the beach and crafting even though I am not great at it. I started with film over 20 years ago. I have been a full time photographer for 13 years now. My love for photo’s started as a young girl, I just did not know it at the time. My family moved around a ton and we lost so many images I can’t even count how many. I can still see some of these precious images in my mind. These meant the world to me and I would do anything in the world to get them back.
My first year of college I took a photography class for fun. My start at photography is not an easy one but let me explain. My grandfather had given me a broken camera but we did not know this until later on. So I got my first roll of film with assignment in hand. Back then with film every shot counted. I was trying to think out each picture in my head. I mean between the film and developing. I took my roommate out and we had a blast taking pictures. I was so excited I took the film to get it developed. This is when I found out my camera had an issue. There was something stuck on the shutter so all day shooting and only 2 images came out. I was so heartbroken. I will say that one of the two images that came out almost made me cry I was in shock that I took it. It was gorgeous!!! I knew right at that moment I wanted to be photographer.
But wait the story it’s better or what I would say is worse. I wanted to blow this image up to a 8×10 and give it to my friend and the lab had CUT the negative in half!!!! I was even more heartbroken than having a broken camera! In the end I got my camera fixed and kept going. I moved to FL two years later to go to photography school. I got turned down for funding. So that felt like a huge set back. I still was not going to let it stop me. I would call photographers and ask questions this was before we could learn everything and anything off of google. I ended up moving back to KS and started at a corporate photography job. I loved it for about a year and then I would come home crying and knew if I stayed I would end up hating photography. When I had my son and was on “materinty leave” I had called to come back and they actually told me my job was no longer open! Wait what… I thought this was illegal. They got a away with this many times. So I decided this was the time to take a jump and do this on my own.
This is when Avion Photography came to be. Even though my ex husband told me it was my fantasy job and to get another job. I kept on learning and within a year I was making more money than him and was getting ready to open a studio. I had a studio for about 3 years and those were some of my best and most rewarding years in my career anyway. My marriage was falling apart and my kids were young. I had lots’ of struggles but photography kept me sane and going. It gave me confidence I had never had in my life. I would drink and eat photography all day. Sadly I had to move out of the studio I knew as my second home. Some big builders came in and bought my building. They said I could move back in but the size would be cut in half and the rent would go up 75%. So I decided to move it back home. I did not do many studio sessions then and it was great time for me to cut back on my cost. After that I won’t lie and say it’s wasn’t a struggle again. I mean it was hard going from a cute little store front to back home. I had a place to go work and get away. Now I had to work from home again.
Fast forward to about 4 years. I stopped taking weddings because my heart was not in it. I took some workshops and wanted to try to find my true style something that spoke to my soul! I did not want to just have people come in and sit and say cheese anymore. I wanted to make art… I wanted to be proud of my work and not just photograph what everyone else wanted. That is when the I found my true calling. I wanted to bring in things I love like vintage clothes, props, flowers and crowns. That is when my heart started to flourish again. I wasn’t feeling stuck anymore. Now to find customers who liked or got this look was a big struggle and ones who wanted to pay more than $150 for it. All my clients were use to me being a “shoot and burn” photographer. I wanted to offer more like heirloom albums, canvases and image boxes. I didn’t want my hard work styling, editing and making these look amazing to be printed at a box store. So finding clients that value art and not just a digital download has been my newest struggle but it’s getting better. Since I moved I do need to work on getting out and meeting new people and “finding my ideal clients”. Even though I love my work more than anything now I still second guess people wanting to spend money on me and my art. It’s like life which is ever changing and growing into different things. Some day’s I want to give up completely and other day’s I know I can’t live without it. Thank you for taking the time to read this. Feel free to ad me on social media I love making new friends.
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