Recent Photo Favs

I thought today I would share some of my favorite photos for the past couple months. I have really enjoyed working on my photography skills and I love to look back on my photos of my sweet boys often. And guys, I am itching for a new camera! For now my little Rebel will have to do.

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Another photo shoot

Ok, so on my last post (which was forever ago!) I said I wasn't going to do another photo shoot. Well, apparently I lied because I did another one for a friend last night. She wanted a Christmas card picture but I talked her into letting me do storytelling photos first. I only took pictures for about 45-60 min so there weren't a ton, but it was pretty fun. I liked how most of the pictures came out and this is more my speed than posed photos. So, maybe, just maybe, I will really start doing this next year as a business. We will see. But for now, I wanted to share some of my favorite photos!

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Triangles, Diagonals, and Patterns in Composition

How is everyone doing? Hanging in there? Well, today is our last day of composition and the rest of the month will be easy breezy! Today's focus will be on adding triangles and diagonals in your photos to make a stronger composition and more interest in the photo. This may be tricky at first but really my favorite pictures just have these elements without me trying. Remember I don't do posed pictures because I don't know how to pose people and my little kiddos don't hold still for more than 2 seconds. All but one of the following examples were not 'posed' so you can see that it is possible to get the shapes in the photo without forcing it. If I get a triangle in my photo, then it is by chance, but it looks good!

Here are some examples of triangles in my photos.

Similarly, diagonals can enhance the composition of your photo. Here are two examples.

Lastly, finding patterns or repetitions can have an impact on your photos, especially if the pattern breaks in the photo. For example, in this photo I took with my camera phone (which is HORRIBLE and my pictures are always awful using it!), there is a pattern of the buckets in the playroom. John's cute little body tucked in the space breaks that pattern and gives interest to the photo.

YOUR challenge is to practice looking for triangles, diagonals, and patterns when taking photos. Share your favorites with the rest of us!

For those smarty pants among us, challenge yourself by finding as many triangles as you can in one shot. Or find triangles and diagonals in subjects you normally don't shoot (nature, architecture, pets, etc). Find triangles in the shadows. Be creative!


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Auto Focus vs Toggle Focus

One thing I was always frustrated with on taking photos was the focus. Actually, I still get frustrated with that and am rarely 100%  happy with my focus. However, what I found to be the most helpful thing is to use the toggle focus feature on my camera. Instead of using the auto-focus where the camera picks what it thinks should be in focus (don't tell me what to do, Mr. Camera!!), this is where YOU select where the focus will be.

Here is an example of the focus points that would show up on your camera. Yours could have more points than this example. Either way, you would select the one that is on your person's eye and the camera should focus on that point. May sound hard to do but once you get quick at changing that it isn't that hard to do.

For more explanation, go to THIS link to a super short video on selecting the focus. 

Key things to remember:

1. Press the shutter release halfway to focus on the subject.

2. Change the focus point if necessary.

3. Take the photo by pressing the shutter release all the way.

Be careful with the 'set and recompose' idea from the video because if your aperture is low, then you will get a blurry picture. So use that with caution!

Other people swear by back button focusing, but I have not been able to get the hang of that. HERE  is a link for more info on that method of focusing in case that method works for you.

Today's challenge is to practice taking photos by toggling focus points or back button focusing. Share your favorite photos!

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Framing

Hi everyone! We are movin' and groovin' right along with our photography challenge. I am loving all the photo shares!

Today is going to be a fun day and I know you are going to love it. We are continuing our discussion of composition with ....wait for it...Framing!

So, this is exactly as what you think it might be: framing your subject in the photo. This will add interest to the photo and make a stronger statement. You can get as creative as you want in where you find frames in the world around you. Here are just a couple examples I have.

1. Matthew is framed by slide. Don't mind the finger and toe chop though!

2. I love this one of Thomas at his first baseball game. I feel like he is framed by the people next to him.

3. The boys are being framed by the water.

 4. The girls are framed by the door and fridge (even though Emma's arm looks like it is chopped weird).

5. This is one of my current favorites. Bella and Lilly are framed by the legs of the lifeguard stand.

6. Thomas and Bella framed by legs of the stand again.

7. John is framed by the window.

8. Matthew is framed by window lines.

9. Thomas is framed by the dugout lines. This would have been better if I could have gotten more of the lines in there to make the complete frame, but oh well. Such is life!

10. John is framed by the door.

 11. Boys are being framed with door to room and the edge of the picture.

12. Thomas in his crib with shoe is framed with door and wall.

13. Thomas is framed by older brother's legs.

So you can use whatever you want for frames. Not all pictures will be perfect and that is ok. I am sure you will love them even with their imperfections.

YOUR challenge is to find the frames are you are taking photos. When I first learned this I thought it seemed so easy but it takes practice to get your squirmy subjects framed. Post some of your favorite frames.

For those experienced photogs, how creative can you get with your framing? Try to find the most unusual frame you can think of when photographing today. Or perhaps a frame within a frame photo. I don't usually frame with the edge of the camera frame (like in example 11) so I am going to try more of that today!

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