Guest Post: How to Take Better Snapshots of Your Family

This is a 'How To' guest post from Kristy of Kristy Pruet
Photography (www.kristypruetphotography.com).  I have the best job in the
world as a lifestyle photographer in the Birmingham metro area specializing
in children and family photography.

NOTE --

CLICK VIEW FULL SIZE UNDER THE PICTURE SO YOU CAN SEE ALL OF THE RULES AND TIPS IN ACTION.


HOW TO TAKE BETTER SNAPSHOTS OF YOUR FAMILY:

I'm so excited to be guest posting for Christie.  Today, I am going to share

with you a few simple tips and tricks to get better snapshot photos of your

family.

Study- 

You do not have to have a fancy-schmancy DSLR camera to take great

photographs.  With the current technology, a basic point and shoot camera is

capable of taking spectacular photographs.  That book that came in the box

wasn't packing material.  Get it out.  Read it front to back and then read

it again.  Cameras these days have so many great built in features that will

help you create a great photograph.  For instance, the landscape mode is

going to use a smaller aperture to keep your whole frame in focus.  You

could also use this mode when taking a photo of a large group to avoid

anyone being blurred out in what is called depth of field.  Learn your

camera and its features and understand what affect they will have on your

image.   Now that you know what all those buttons and dials do, let's talk

about what goes into taking a good photograph.


Lighting- 

Let there be light and let it be good light.  The best source of

light is absolutely free-the sun.  If you are shooting outdoors, look for

nice open shade where you can avoid crazy shadows but still get great light

on your subject. Typically you will get the best results if you position the

camera facing the light, otherwise you may end up with harsh shadows across

the face.  If you are shooting indoors, try everything possible to avoid

your on-camera pop-up flash.  The problem with pop-up flash is that the

flash is parallel to your lens and your subject so it will create dull,

flat, shadowless lighting that isn't attractive for anyone.  If you can,

move closer to a door or window, or use the available ambient lighting to

get a well lit shot.  Once you learn to "see" light and how it affects your

images, you will notice a huge improvement in your amateur photography

skills.


Composition-

That is how you compose the frame of your shot and it can make

or break a good shot.  There are many things that make a well composed shot

and I am going to share the biggie with you.  I think the most important is

what is called the Rule of Thirds.  Think of the most unattractive portrait

you can think of. a mugshot.  It wasn't just Nick Nolte's bad hair and crazy

expression that made his mug so horrible.  Photos like this are called

center-weighted and they are boring and lack any visual interest.  It

absolutely does not follow the Rule of Thirds.  This rule is simple and easy

to follow.  Imagine there is a tic-tac-toe board inside your viewfinder.  It

is best to put your subject or focal point on one of the top intersecting

points of the grid.  Think about the news, documentaries and interviews you

see on television.  Usually the person being interviewed or speaking is off

centered to the right.  It's not just coincidence that it is that way.  It

is far more visually appealing than a center-weighted arrangement.  Now that

you know to have your subject off center, what else?  Get down!  If you are

shooting a small child or a pet, sit, kneel, squat, whatever you have to do

to get on their level.  It's a whole different world down there and you

should capture it.  Watch for clutter in the background.  You don't want a

trash can in the background of the photos of your family picnic.  Watch for

things "growing" our of people's bodies.  People are always inclined to take

a photo of someone in front of a tree and oftentimes, there will be what

appears to be a limb coming out of their ear.  Instead, place your subject

to either side of the tree.  You still get the same affect without the

intruding limb.  Just be aware.  Being conscience of everything in your

frame will definitely make a better photo.  Make everything in your frame

have a purpose.

You've taken a photo that you love but it's lacking the WOW that you are
looking for.  Now we are at what I call post-processing.  It's like the
darkroom of the digital era

.


The "WOW" factor-

A little photo editing can easily make a good picture a

wow picture.  With programs like Photoshop you can do simple cropping,

sharpening, add contrast and color boost very easily without much training.

Even free software programs like Picasa and Gimp can work wonders on a photo

that has good technical merit.  No program is going to fix a photo that is

way too dark or way too bright but on those that are well exposed and well

composed, it's fun to play around with and experiment to see what you can

come up.

Now that you have a frame worthy photo you need to protect it.  That brings

us to the last tip I'm going to share with you today.

Backup-

I cannot stress this enough.  If I told you a million times, I could

still tell you again, backup your photos.  Computers die.  It's a fact of

life and more often than not, it's going to happen right before you planned

to backup your hard drive.  And let me tell you. it will be a sad and

miserable day at your house the moment you realize that years of your photos

are non-existent.  Some people choose to backup hard drives to an external

device.  Other's burn CD's or DVD's of their images.  The sad news is that

external hard drives, CD's and DVD's can fail you too!  There is a solution

to this and it's absolutely free.

is a great

company that gives you unlimited file storage to save your precious family

photos.  You simply create an account, create albums and upload your files.

You can simply use this site as file storage or you can purchase your prints

directly from them.  Whatever you choose, in the event your computer goes on

the fritz, you are protected.  That piece of mind is priceless and free too!

I hope that you have learned something today (Did I mention to back up your

files?)  and that you experiment and have fun taking photos of your family.

You can take great snapshots of your family with a little practice.  Just be

aware and plan your shot well.  And remember, the only bad photo is one you

never take so keep shooting!  I hope you will swing by my

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