Looking for pet photography tips that will help you with dog photoshoots and cat pictures? Check out these professional pet photography tips. What is Pet Photography? It is a fun and profitable niche business that allows you to combine a love of animals with technical skill in photography. Many families and pet owners are very interested in including professional pet photography of their pets into their own session or within family portraits. Yet a pet photoshoot is totally different than one dealing only with humans! So find reading along with our best tips should help you in capturing those furry friends. Let’s face it, pet photography poses are hard to get…..just like kids sometimes! They don’t like to sit still, they have an itch or just want to go to…oh wait…SQUIRREL! Anyway, most of the time pets are just to distracted or wanting to love up on you or their owners. If I am photographing a family portrait with pets, I always ask if they have a favorite toy or treat and ask them to bring it along to their session. I will explain in detail what I do with these below! Here are some of my tips and tricks to “getting […]
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The Beginners Guide to a Newborn Photoshoot
Are you looking for newborn photoshoot tips for beginners or newborn photography ideas? This Beginners Guide to Newborn Photography will be your go to for tips and pose ideas. SAFETY FIRST!Always make sure your baby is safe and not in any danger of falling or getting hurt in any way. The newer the baby, the less they move which makes it easier but always make sure there is no way they can get hurt if they suddenly stretch out their arms or legs as newborns tend to do. This could be one of the most important aspects for a newborn photoshoot. You can set your settings for your dslr camera and then hand your camera to a friend or family member for them to take some newborn poses for you. Be sure to offer them some brief instructions or set your camera on a tripod and use a remote (I got my remote on Amazon for about $6) Newborn Photography Ideas CAPTURE THE DETAILSEyelashes, lips, toes, and hair are great details to document! Grab some up close shots while baby naps. Babies change so much so quickly so make sure to capture those little details before they grow and change! […]
6 Tips for the Best Pet Photos
Curious the best camera for dog photography? Wanting to take professional pet photos of your cat or dog? Use the 6 tips to guide you in pet portraits. Pet Photos What settings should I use on my camera when photographing my pets? I personally prefer to shoot in full manual mode, but if that seems too intimidating at first, then try one of the more semi-manual modes like Aperture Priority or Shutter Priority. The biggest game changer for me in terms of getting more in focus shots was learning about back button focusing. It’s essentially a camera setting that allows you to use a different button to focus other than the shutter release. In many cameras, you may see an AEL lock button on the back, or some even come included with the AF On button. That is typically what you would want to move your focus button to and then you’ll be free to use the shutter release to actually take the shot. My personal recommendation for professional pet photography and wildlife is to use Auto Focus Continuous. This is essential, especially if you’re using back button focus. It allows you to maintain focus on your subject as long […]
Ultimate Hot Dog Bar Party Ideas
This post is sponsored by Tyson Foods, Inc. All comments and opinions are my own. With springtime in the air, it’s birthday time here at our house and we are celebrating BIG! After all, any birthday is worth celebrating for the family and friends in your life, right?! After weeks of planning and coordinating, it all came together and was a blast! I’ve learned over the past few years how much I love a good celebration of life and loved ones. I want to celebrate these special people as long and as much as I can. Each year I try super hard to make my family member’s birth-DAY special. Not every year do we get to celebrate on the actual day – so I still make the actual day extra special at home…then of course within the week, on a weekend, and we’ll also have a party with family and friends! We invited family and friends over to celebrate. Instead of everyone bringing gifts, we opted for just a good family time; we played games in the back yard, enjoyed yummy food, played board games as it got dark outside and created memories together. With everyone’s busy lives it […]
5 Easy Ideas – Senior Pictures for Guys
5 Tips for Awesome Senior Pictures for Guys – from choosing locations, to outfits and even how to pose a senior guy. Learning how to take senior pictures can be easy! Senior Pictures for Guys Where are good places for Senior pictures? Choosing Locations/Clients Vision – Choosing locations that match the clients vision is one of the most important things to make these images perfect for the client. I like to sit down with all clients before the session and discuss what they are envisioning for their session. I like to discuss locations, hobbies, and times of day for best lighting. This helps reassure the clients about the location and helps us get to know each other a little bit before the session. If sitting down with your clients isn’t an option, I suggest a phone call, email, etc. with the clients to make sure you will be capturing their vision during the session. Making your client comfortable – You want to make sure your subject is comfortable at all times during your session. I like to try to crack jokes, use prompts, ask questions and just keep them talking the entire session. This helps them from being tense […]
Ring of Fire Photography Technique with a Copper Pipe
A fun photography hack and creative photography tool – ring of fire lens flare with a copper pipe at golden hour for pictures. Learn the Ring of Fire Photography Technique using a pipe. Ring of Fire Photography Technique Do you ever get bored of the same shots over and over? Yes golden hour is beautiful and the ideal time to photograph. Yes you squeal when you get that perfect golden light and those beautiful sun flares everyone goes crazy about. But what happens when you get bored of it: Same locations…same pose…same lighting scenario? Break out of the box!! The golden circle (ring of fire photography technique) is a creative twist on golden hour light. Create Photography Tool What you need? Camera Lens Copper Pipe (best sizes are 1″, 1.5″ and/or 2″) How to Use a Copper Pipe in Photography Have you heard of the golden circle? It is basically a copper pipe on your lens that the sun reflects into. 1- Purchase a Copper pipe – this is very easy to purchase, and you don’t even have to wait for 2 day prime shipping. Its located in any hardware store around you in the plumbing department. The best sizes to […]
11 Back to School Meal Tips, Tricks & Hacks
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Tyson Foods, Inc. All opinions are entirely my own. It’s back to school time which means I’m mentally prepping for our new schedule and another school year. I was JUST talking to Bern, my husband, the other day about getting back into the swing of our school schedule and meals. Since he is a high-school teacher, I prep his meals as well. At the beginning of every single school year I have my act together like a ninja. Fast-forward to the end of the school year and well…my ninja skills have faded. Goals for this coming year – be on top of my game the entire year! So here goes year #5 of prepping school meals…breakfast, lunch and snacks- here we go with my tried and true tips, tricks and hacks! 11 Back to School Meal Tips, Tricks & Hacks Tip #1 Be on top of your game Know the week ahead, how many meals you need to prepare for. This helps you create your meal list, grocery list and have a plan. Sometimes there is a school lunch the kids may want to eat or a field trip…know […]
Ultimate Guide: How to Take Pictures in the Rain
How to Take Pictures in the Rain – taking photos in the rain with a dslr can be tricky and stressful. Here is your ultimate guide with camera settings for rainy day, tips for family photos in the rain or portraits in the rain. There’s something about taking photographs in the rain that I love. Perhaps because they aren’t your typical blue sky, sunshine, warm and fuzzy kind of photographs and I love a good challenge. Rain also makes me nostalgic and a little homesick – I grew up in Vancouver BC, aka “rain-city” so whenever I wanted to be outside the weather had other ideas. With that being said, shooting in the rain doesn’t have to be that much of a challenge if you are prepared. Here is a quick checklist to get you started and I’ll go into more detail below. Rain checklist A long waterproof jacket with hood Rain boots A good sturdy wood handle umbrella (preferably one with the rounded handle so if the rain does stop it’s easier to carry on your arm or hook onto your camera bag) Rolling camera bag Baby stroller rain cover. Optional – a rain sleeve for your camera. […]
Our Snow Day in South Mississippi
A very cold Friday morning, a morning the mister had already been given off of work due to inclement weather coming our way. The news forecast said we were getting snow…this is unheard of in our area in the deep south….we figured a dusting would happen at the most. As we woke up and peeked out the front window there was nothing falling from the sky…we began to cook a big family breakfast…with coffee in my hand I peeked out the window again only to see snow falling from the sky! I quickly told everyone to come look…we were excited, we bundled up and as we were heading out the front door little Miss E said “this is going to be great!”…and GREAT it was! The ground had a beautiful dust of snow and she and her daddy were catching it…it stopped and we went inside to warm up and eat breakfast that was waiting on us! I merely made the statement that the snow was probably over…*if* we ever get snow this is usually about it, just a good dusting. Much to my surprise, a bit later, snow was falling again, the beautiful big flakes falling down. We quickly […]
Three Ways Photoshop Templates Can Help You Promote Your Business
The life of a professional photographer is a busy one. Photo sessions and editing can take up all of your time leaving very little for promoting your business, finding new clients and keeping in touch with your current ones. This is where using Photoshop marketing templates can really help you out with your workload. Here are just a few ways you can use them. 1. Promote your studio and get new business by catching the eye of potential clients – Marketing templates take the time and effort you would have to spend creating your own off your plate. This leaves you more time to focus on what’s at the top of your to do list, spend time with your family, or binge watch a new series on Netflix. I’m not judging. 2. Stay in touch with your current clients – Use mini session marketing templates to let them know what type of sessions and special offers you have coming up. Send them a session reminder card to let them know their appointment date and time, and use a studio magazine template to let them know what to expect from their photo session and how to prepare. Follow up after with […]
4 Tips to Capture Real Life Photos
Hi ladies! My name is Nikki and I am a portrait and wedding photographer based out of Starkville, MS. I live with my husband and our two puppies (who are gradually becoming well trained dogs) and we are slowly updating our first home. I drink too much coffee, am currently reading Harry Potter for the first time, and love horse riding. Before I get started, I want to give a quick shout out to Erin for letting me share with you all. I’m excited to be here. 🙂 You can follow me on : FACEBOOK | INSTGRAM Quick disclaimer: I want to start by saying that I specialize in lifestyle/documentary photography. My focus is primarily capturing real moments as they unfold so if this interests you, read on. If you’re looking for perfectly posed moments, this probably won’t be much help for you. Look for Light The word photography literally means to draw with light. Your camera isn’t seeing cute moments and fun expression, it’s reading light. So, if your light is bad, then it doesn’t matter how great your moment is, you’re only going to get a so-so photo. I shoot 90% of all my sessions in what is […]
Summertime Cookout | Hotdog Bar
This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #StarsOfSummer #CollectiveBias It’s summer time! That means a lot of time spent around water activities and outdoors, as much as we can! Especially in the evenings when the sun is setting…we find ourselves eating out on our front porch a lot, wandering around the property/garden or even going on a walk around our little neighborhood. All three of us love being outside! So on the flip side it seems like we grill out quite often…not to mention I’m always looking for easy meals so I’m not missing out on family time or slaving in the kitchen anddddddd something the mister loves to do too. Which brings me to my next thought… We are all american, through and through. Since we love to grill out we also love hotdogs! HOLD ON though… I’m super picky with my hotdogs…my husband on the other hand is not so much and I cringe!!!!! So if I’m eating them, I’m picky! Thanks to Hebrew National® Franks they’ve got me covered!!!! So I call myself a hotdog snob, and I’m ok with that! You could WIN! Looking to summer certify […]
8 Tips for Working with Toddlers During Photo Sessions
Most people ask me if I went to college for photography, and I laugh and say that I actually have my Bachelor’s in Early Childhood Education –but I DID take a VERY basic photography class for fun while I was in college! I taught at a preschool for several years before resigning and diving head-first into my own photography business. I had been doing photography on the side since 2010 (started weddings in 2011), but I didn’t go full time until the end of 2014! It’s been fun to watch how God has used my teaching experience to work with children during sessions! I just wanted to share a few tips (I’m sure there are PLENTY more) that I have picked up from working with children! 8 Tips for Working with Toddlers During Photo Sessions: 1) Let them be in their element! Often times, the best photos are the candid ones! If a child keeps wanting to run up and down a sidewalk instead of standing still for a photo, let them do it –and document it!! Give them a “break” from posing/smiling/looking at the camera and just follow them around as they explore. Give them zero instructions. Just follow […]
5 Tips for taking Great Cat Photos
5 Tips for taking Great Cat Photos Other Popular Pet Photography Posts: 7 Tips to Take Incredible Pictures of your Pet 8 Tips to Photograph Pets on the Move Tales from a cat mama… Cats can be a little strange and disconcerting for those of us who consider ourselves, “dog people”. I was once where you are, a dog person who knew nothing about cats except that they were cute. However, through a series of extraordinary events I became a rescue mom to two adorable cats, Google and Copper. I honestly wasn’t sure what I was getting into, all I knew was that cats were extremely different than dogs in terms of personalities. But,the more I interacted with my boys the more I saw their personalities come out and I learned the things they liked and disliked. 1- Be calm and assuring Being a pet photographer and working with other photographers that photograph animals I find that people get nervous around cats. I think that some of this is due to the fact that cats guard their emotions, they need time to assess you before they decide if you are one of the good guys. Dogs, on the […]
5 Helpful Tips When Incorporating Pets in Pictures
5 Helpful Tips When Incorporating Pets in Pictures “Can we bring our dog with us?” is one of the most popular questions my clients ask. My response is, “YES.” Being a dog mom, I understand the importance of including pet in portraits. Our dogs, Rex and Pearl, are part of our family unit. 1) Make sure your pet is freshly groomed. You want to look your best, and so should your pet! 2) Exercise them before your session, if applicable. I know exercising a cat seems silly, but your dog will love it. Take your dog on a good 20 minute walk before your portrait session. This will use up some of their energy and help them be relaxed for our time together. 3) Treats and Toys! If your pet has a favorite treat and/or toy, bring them along. These work great for encouraging good behavior and help keep your pet’s attention. 4) Bring a pet sitter. I like to include pets in the first part of our time together. For the safety of your animals I would not recommend putting them in your vehicle alone. Ask a friend or family member to arrive 15 minutes into your photographic […]