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Posts Tagged ‘Photography Tips’

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.

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.