Sister Shoot...

I was feeling kinda rusty since I hadn't taken pictures for awhile, so I had fun dolling my sister up and taking pictures yesterday.  Hope you all will enjoy them! :)

How to do: Jump pose

This is da bomb pose for seniors.  It's fun, it shows energy, and is fairly easy!

1. First off, makes sure you have a fast shutter speed, I'm talk'n like at least 1/400
2.  Make sure you are focused on the subject BEFORE you start shooting.
3.  Tell them to jump on three....
4. Before you even say "three", start shooting, to make sure you don't miss the key moment

Okay, compare these to photos, which one looks better?  The 2nd one!  Why?  I'll tell you. ;D

With the 1st, it looks like she has no feet and no lower legs.  Awkward.

SO what I told her to do on the 2nd picture, to turn slightly away from the camera and then make sure her feet were apart when she jumped.
ALSO I showed her what expression I wanted, FUN!!!  A jumping pose is WAY more interesting if you have an energetic and fun expression!

Okay, that's all I have. :)  Please comment if you have any questions, or if something didn't make sense, I'll gladly answer any question! :)

How to Pose: Girl version

Howdy ya'll!  So sorry it's taken me so long to get this post up.   But I think for the next couple of weeks I'll post 1 posing tip a week.  Since there is so much to say about posing. ;)  But we will see. :)
Okey doke, as you can see from the title I'm doing how to pose girls.  Posing girls and guys are different (some of the basics are the same though).  So hopefully I'll have one on how to pose guys in the near future. ;)  If you all have ANY questions please ask!  Also if I didn't explain something well, please tell me and I'll try to clarify it. ;)  Alrighty, lets get to posing!


1.  Create lines.

You want to create interesting, flattering lines.  Diagonal lines are much more appealing to the eye than consistently straight ones.  And as you can tell from the pictures, it's much more flattering for your subject as well!

2. Pose the feet.

If you pose the feet right, you'll make more relaxed, natural pose for the rest of the body.  If your feet are flat on the floor next to each other, the rest of your body is going to be straight and have no interesting lines.  

3. Give the hands something to do.

  Do you normally see people with their hands right by their side?  Nope!  They normally have them in pockets, belt loops, on hips, leaning against something, brushing back hair, crossed arms, or holding something.  So make sure you pose them doing what they normally do. ;)

4. Tilt the head.

This is the phrase I use the most.  I can’t tell you how much of a difference this makes. Tipping the head, again, creates interesting lines. Generally, with girls, tip their head the opposite way the shoulders are.  But go for what looks best!

5.  Use your surroundings.

Look around you, what do you normally see people doing?  Like in the picture, if they're by a fence, do you see somebody standing straight and stiff next to it?  Nope, people are leaning against it, sitting on it, standing on it, or maybe with a foot propped up on the bottom rung.

6.  Try different angles.

Don't always shoot at eye level.  I actually prefer getting above my subject for head shots.  You can definitely see the difference between these two pictures!

Well that's all for this post!  Hope it was helpful. :)

   

How to take good portraits

Here is my first tutorial ever.  *gulp*  Hopfully I won’t totally butcher it.   I'm just a self taught photographer so I'm still learning, and FAR from perfect.  ;)   So please let me know if you’re confused, and/or have questions. ;D

How to get good portraits:

1.Learn to shoot in Manual.  I cannot stress how important this is, if you don’t have this down you’ll never be fully happy with your portraits.  No matter how “smart” your auto setting are, you’ll be disappointed or frustrated with it.  It does take work to learn manual, but it is so worth it, you won’t be disappointed.

2. Learn to be an encouraging chatter box...  I know it sound lame and shallow (believe me, this is hard, I’m not a natural chatter box), but the constant encouragement makes your client confident that they are doing the right thing.   Then you will get more natural, comfortable pictures of them, and they love it!

3. Learn how to pose.   When you understand the best way the human body looks it will help you get much better shots, consistently.   Also learning how to get you’re client INTO the pose is very important.  I’ve found that showing the pose myself is the best way to get them into it.  Yes, it seems a little bit silly at first, but then it becomes pretty natural.  (And guess what?  If you were in their position you’d love to have the pose shown to you).

I’m planning on doing a post on posing with more detail.   As I said, I’d love to hear you’re thoughts/questions or random comments. :)