Photo Shoot - Cumming GA Family Photographer

The leaves are all sorts of pretty colours, making it a wonderfully fun time of year for family photos.  Here are some from a shoot I did earlier this month.

 

SKP PhotoTips - It's All About Perspective

Odds are you've either taken or seen a photo of a 'miniature' person standing in the palm of their friend - you can have a lot of fun playing with perspective and distance.  On the other hand (excuse the pun!), remember when you took a great photo but it didn't quite portray how big or how small the subject was?  It's a good idea to incorporate something into your image that gives the viewer a sense of scale. 

We put in a veggie garden this year - here's a photo of a couple of red potatoes we grew:

They look a little on the smallish side, but you don't realise just how small they are until I include something that gives you a better idea:

As you can imagine, I was a little underwhelmed by these two.  For the record, we did harvest some larger potatoes, but the sweet potatoes were a much better crop.

But you can see what I mean about giving the viewer a reference point.  The photo below is of a famous Kauri tree in New Zealand.  It's of great significance to the Maori people, who named it Tane Mahuta, which means God of the Forest.  The Kauri is a beautiful tree with a scalloped bark that glows silver in the sunlight as it stands above the canopy of the forest.

You're not really sure how big it is until you notice the people at the bottom of the frame.  The woman closest to the camera is still a good distance from the tree, as you can see by the size of the blonde man, wearing a gray, sleeveless shirt.  He is standing on a platform built to protect the tree's shallow roots from tourists and is further from the tree than the woman is from him.  As a further reference, the man is roughly 1.83m (6ft) tall.

The next time you're out taking photos, think about how to help the viewer see what you saw.  Want to remember how tiny your baby's hands are?  Capture an image of him wrapping his fingers around one of yours.  Cradle that tiny kitten in the palm of your hand.  Be inventive and have fun!

Survey - Should It Stay or Should It Go Now...?

The cold snap we had last week made me think about last winter's snowfall.  A good deal of Georgia either freaked out or rejoiced, depending on how much milk and bread you had or if it was a school day.  You Northerners can stop snickering now.  Okay stop.  Pretty please?

My husband and I had plenty of food in the pantry and although we ran out of milk, we did have some not-so-awful-tasting powdered milk that worked well with copious amounts of hot chocolate mix.  In fact, we didn't leave the house for three days and then it was only to sight-see at the mayhem and buy ice cream from the supermarket.  Go figure.

Anyhow, back to my point.  I took a series of photos of the snow, including this one below.  My question for you is: what do you think of the photo?  Is it worthy of being added to my website gallery or should it hit the circular file?  Have a look at the photo and then answer the survey.  All votes are anonymous but feel free to leave feedback in the comments section below. 

SKP PhotoTips - Room to Breathe

In last week's post about the Rule of Thirds (click HERE) we discussed one of the simplest ways to improve our photography.  This week we're going to explore it a little further and see one of the reasons why it works.

When photographing a moving object, make sure it has room to move within the frame, otherwise the image will have a choked feeling.  The rabbit below is a good example of this.  When I originally framed the photo he was on the right vertical third line, but he spotted me and moved.  I moved with him but couldn't recompose the photo properly because of the plant to the left of the image.  The resulting image is of a baby bunny, ready for flight but with nowhere to go. 

This photo, of a Black-Backed Seagull, is a better example of allowing space for the subject.  The bird is on the top left line-intersection, which gives it two-thirds of the photo to move on its flight path.  He looks a lot more comfortable and free than the bunny!

These next two photos were taken when I was using a film camera and show how you can create curiosity in the viewer.  We wonder what has caught their attention so strongly.  The little dog is looking at something on the other side of the frame, while the kitten - typical for his type - is so captivated that he ignores the photographer and focuses on something completely separate from us as viewers.

Although the we've observed the Rule of Thirds and have placed the kitten on the top right line-intersection, he is looking out of the closest edge of the frame rather than looking across the image.  We've broken the rule of giving space for the subject to move, but it doesn't feel awkward as it did with the bunny.  The black and white bands of the stairs give a feeling of imprisonment, which the kitten is completely ignoring, fascinated by something we can't see.

So there you have it.  Rules are meant to be followed - and broken when it creates a good image.  The best way to discover what works and what doesn't is to get out there and experiment.  The joy of digital is that it doesn't cost anything to learn from a bad photo!

SKP PhotoTips - the Rule of Thirds

It's very tempting when you see an eye-catching subject, to put it right smack in the middle of the frame.  After all, that's what you're photographing.  The problem is that putting the subject centre stage leaves you with an image that feels unbalanced or even downright boring, as in the example below:

The Rule of Thirds states that you should divide the image into thirds horizontally and vertically, as in this drawing:

Now you can start to have all sorts of fun.  Firstly, you have the four points where lines within the image intersect.  Placing the subject or main feature of a subject at any of these points will result in a more interesting photo.

Second, using any of the horizontal or vertical lines as a guide will also give you a better photo.  Have a look at the first image again, but this time as it was actually taken:

The subject is positioned on the left side vertical third, giving more room to the right.  But that's not all - the couple's faces, which are the main feature of the subject, are placed at the top left intersection.  Their reflection faces are at the bottom left intersection.

An important side note:  be careful of having two equally strong subjects in the same image.  Pay attention to how your eye moves as you look at a photo.  It tends to move around the image but always returning to rest on what catches it the most.  If you have two subjects that attract the eye equally, it becomes confused, leaving the viewer unable to decide where to look.  In the photo above we have the subject shown twice, but notice how the reflection isn't as strong as the actual couple, as well as being upside down.  We notice the reflection and may wander off to look at the dam wall (drawn by its movement through the frame and its placement on the top right intersection), but we frequently and ultimately return to the couple.

The Rule of Thirds also applies to landscapes.  Have a look at the photo from last week's tip (click HERE).  Notice how the girl is on the left vertical third line, but where's the horizon?  A third of the way up from the bottom of the frame.

We'll discuss landscape composition further in a future post, but a basic rule of thumb is: Don't put the horizon in the middle of the photo.  Of course, as they say: rules are meant to be broken, but you have to know them before you can break them effectively.  In the meantime, here are another couple of photos demonstrating the Rule of Thirds:

October Special!

How does

15% off prints

sound to you?

That's right - our October Special is 15% off prints.  As always, the special is dependent on when you book, not when we photograph you.  

Which means if you want to get the October Special of 15% but you don't have time for a photo session until next month, go ahead and call us now to schedule your appointment.  We'll honour this month's special because, well, you called us this month to book your session!  Easy as that.

Offer expires 31 Oct 2011 and applies to Portrait Photography only.  May not be combined with any other offer.

SKP PhotoTips - Get Down on Your Knees

One thing we adults tend to forget is that there is a completely different world below us.  For us the change has happened slowly, over the years and so we don't notice how things might look differently from a shorter perspective.

When done right, shooting down on children can produce fun pictures, but for the most part it's better to take photos of them at their level.  It gives you the feeling of seeing the world through their eyes, instead of through your own.

 
The same goes for animals: want to take a photo of Pookie or Fluffy?  Get down to their level, instead of taking shots of the top of their heads.  Just make sure Pookie doesn't put his wet nose on your camera lens! 

Change your approach to the subject - literally.  Most flowers are around our feet or knee level.  Have you thought about what they might look like side on?  Or looking from the ground up?

Sometimes it's the simplest thing that can make a great photo - and usually it's showing the viewer something they're not used to seeing.  You might get a little (or a lot!) dirty, but hey - it's worth it to get the shot, right?

Photo Shoot - Corporate

Here we have a fun, friendly and very clued-up lady.  This was a great shoot with a lot of laughs.  I love my job!