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Category : Photography

Candid Photo Tips

Taking photographs of people have two categories. They are either portraits or candids.

Portraits are the shots when your subjects are in poses. While the candids are usually when your subject is doing something natural.

I would like to focus on taking shots that are candid.With this type of photography, their is an art form, and if you follow these steps you will be real happy with your work. This is from my experience as a San Diego Photographer.

First off you don’t want to obtrusive. Most candid shots you take of course are going to be people going about their business, but the secret to taking a great shot like that is to make sure they are unaware of the shot.

Because often times, when they do notice you, you are going to miss the essence of catching an unguarded shot. So try hard to make sure they are unaware of the camera.

Another consideration is the setting or the environment.When you take candid shots, where you take them plays an important role. You want the candid shot to capture the subject and their setting as naturally as possible. It’s that setting
whether it is their work, their house, or the street they are walking, helps tell a story of your subject’s life. This is especially important if you are going to be taking shots as a Wedding Photographer San Diego.

A third tip to think about is to anticipate behavior. An important part of taking candid shots of people acting naturally is to know what your subject may do next in a given situation.

This will help you if you are trying to catch something in particular because it will allow you to be prepared rather than miss the shot. Knowing how they will react and being able to capture that is all about anticipation.

Finally, always be looking for those times when a person may express their emotions. Because after all, when taking these types of shots, that is the main thing you want to capture in these candid shots is emotion.

Take a look at what your subject is doing and think about whether or not it’s a moment that will express an emotion.Such as an expression of impatience at a stoplight. Or a joyous expression at an event.All moments in time give you the opportunity to truly capture an emotion.Being ready for those types of moments helps you capture that moment in time to tell that story.

Taking candid photos is an art form for sure. Especially if you truly want to tell a story in your candid shots. Following these few simple steps will help you be on the road of capturing as many storytelling moments as possible as a photographer.

San Diego The Place for Weddings

For most people the wedding day is going to be the biggest thing to happen in their life. For quite a few people they will be spending a lot of money. Some people choose to travel to other locations for the wedding. One of the places that is great to have a wedding in is San Diego. Let’s look into it a little closer.

When couples plan out their wedding, the location is always a major decision. It is an exciting option for couples that can afford it to have the wedding in a different city. San Diego is one of those cities that come to mind for a few reasons. Now of course this is going to come from first hand experience working with a lot of couples as a San Diego wedding photographer. So my experience offers tremendous insight.

One of the big reasons is weather. A lot of weddings are performed in the summer. Well in general a lot of the places are going to be hot in the summer. One of those locations that is comfortable is San Diego. The weather is reasonably mild on the coast. This is another big reason because of the photography. As a photographer I appreciate good weather. It gives the opportunity for great photos to be taken. It makes for a very nice and comfortable photo session. Where the wedding party isn’t too uncomfortable in the heat.

Another reason to consider is San Diego is really a great location for events. It has a bunch of different hotels for all your guests to stay in. It also has a lot of activities to offer your guests in and around the city. Your guests can have a mini vacation. Doing San Diego weddings has allowed me to see how this works out beautifully. Make no mistake a wedding is a huge event So what you are doing as a photographer is in reality event photography. San Diego is one that offers a great location for this kind of thing.

It is a hope that these few insights is going to give you some feedback to help you make a better choice when deciding on a wedding location.

Photography Lighting Tips

In this day and age of digital cameras, you’ve probably heard or thought that all you have to do is push the button and great pictures magically appear.Hold on, don’t go so fast.The fact of the matter is, you can have the best digital camera, but if you have no clue in what you are doing, you are gonna take horrible shots.

I would love to give you some good tips to help you improve your photography skills. These tips are coming from years of experience shooting weddings in San Diego. These tips all involve lighting and they are going to be some of the biggest keys to your success in taking your photos.

First tip you will use in regards to lighting. Now if you are taking shots outdoors during the day, natural sunlight provides some of the best lighting possible. Now you are probably thinking, “that’s easy, when you are a San Diego photographer since it is always shiny there”, when in actuality really bright sunlight can cast harsh shadows. Or it will wash out the face details while the sun is overhead.

Overall, most of the shots you are going to want to take with the sun behind you.This eliminates any harsh shawows from effecting your shot from the sun.There will be some times when you want to take shots from different angles when you do try to get some shadows into the shots.

Now that we have addressed the shots during the day, what about those night shots?

The key technique for night photos is actually turning off your flash.Of course if it is absolutely dark with no light you will need it, but for times when there is some lighting, use the lighting around you, but make sure the shutter speeds are slow enough to let light in.Also, stay steady when you are taking your photograph or you will cause the picture to blur.Doing these tricks should make a significantly dramatic difference when you take night shots.

The final tips to using lighting for great shots is using the golden hour. Now there is a time that photographers refer to as the “golden hour” or “magic hour”, and that is during sunrise and sunset.

It is during this time of day when you will capture great shots that capture more warmer colors. You will be able to capture that golden lighting you won’t catch any other time of day.

There you go.Probably the biggest tip in taking beautiful photos is to make use of the natural lighting around you. Knowing what techniques to use for different parts of the day, or just scheduling a photo shoots to capture those times of day will help you become an excellent photographer.

Finding A Wedding Photographer

A wedding is one of the most important events that will occur in a person’s life. Hours and hours go into all of the planning for the wedding. Probably all of the list of things to do in wedding planning are frustrating, stressful, and time consuming. That is why it is so important to do some homework and find the right people for all of the jobs.  One of the most important jobs is that of the photographer. From my experience as a Southern California wedding photographer I’ll show you it can be a few simple steps away.

Hiring a Wedding Photographer


Trying to find a wedding photographer is huge responsibility and job. There are several things to take into account when trying to make this important decision. The photos that you take away from your wedding are going to be the most memorable keepsakes that you have. The photos will be all over your walls for the rest of yourlife. One of the important factors when trying to find a photographer is price. Most photographers do charge a price for a specific amount of time for the wedding. It is important to know what will be included with that price up front. When it comes to finding a wedding photographer, the biggest upside to pricing is there is a lot of competition. Remember, that a lot of photographers can and will negotiate their price a little bit to fit what you need.

Another thing to think about and consider when choosing is the experience a person may have. Is this their firs big wedding job, or have they done a few dozen or more? Their price might be an indication of how many years they have been in business as well. Just because someone has a lot of experience doesn’t always mean they will be better. Sometimes those people that are just starting out and trying to build a name for themselves will turn out to be excellent. The advantage of going with someone like that is you know you are going to get their best effort. In your search for a wedding photographer, you are going to find different levels of experience between them. When you do an interview of prospective photographers, it will give you a sense of what it will be like when you work with them.

A final thing to consider when making this decision is what type of personality the photographer has. Are they likely going to try call all the shots and decide on all your poses? Or are they going to let the bride and groom make some decisions? The other thing to think about is do you want to be the one to make the decisions on the photos. The bride and groom will have enough to think about the day of the wedding as it is. Take all of these factors into consideration when you choose your photographer. If you do, you are going to have a lot of wonderful pictures to cherish for the rest of your lives.