Alice H.

Storage media = memory cards

- Format your memory card before first use.

- Format your memory card after every use.

- Only format your card after you have downloaded and made a backup of the images on the card.

- Use several smaller capacity cards instead of one large-capacity card in case of loss or damage.

I keep saying summer isn't over yet, and this sandwich is proof. I dined on this delicious BLT Saturday night for dinner during a little weekend getaway, and, well, YUM. That's a yellow Brandywine tomato, picked that morning from my yard. And bacon. Yum.

Thank you to my lovely hosts and my wonderful traveling companion!

This little bundle of goodness serves a few other roles today. It's my Best Shot Monday, and you know where to go for more of that.

Also, photo website Beyond Megapixels is doing a little giveaway when you post a photo tip between now and Friday, September 26.

So here's today's tip: Food Photography

Photographing food has a lot to do with the dish you're photographing and less to do with the photography, I think. Or maybe another way to say it is that it's hard to make something yummy look bad.

But since I need to add a tip to make this a legit contest entry, here you go:

Turn off the flash and get close if you want to improve your food photos. Use a fast lens (the popular 50mm 1.8 is cheap and great for food photos), dial up the ISO if you must, fill the frame and start shooting. If you're shooting indoors at night, a tripod or something to stabilize your camera is a good idea.

Yum. Got a photo tip to share for a chance at a $50 gift card? Post it over at Beyond Megapixels this week.

The time I spent researching travel to Alaska, really paid off when I came across a video by Clark Mishler on some tips and tutorials on photography.
Clark Mishler is one of the most sought after photographers in the US. He was a National Geographic photographer and his photos have been published in a whole range of books and magazines. Clark has traveled extensively and for the past 30 years he has been living in Anchorage, Alaska and exploring the beauty of the state. While searching for travel info about Alaska, I came across this exceptionally well-maintained site, www.alaska.org. The site is very informative, accurately updated, reliable and totally reader centric. We got every teeny bit of detail we were looking for. And my favorite part was a section called photo tips.

Alaska is a haven for nature lovers and photographers; and with all the SLRs, long-range lenses, camera gear and wear - "hunting and shooting" (pun intended) is what it is all about!

Visiting Alaska may not be a regular opportunity for people, given the distance, weather, cost and time required to spend in this beautiful state. So making maximum use of one's photo and video cameras becomes imperative. And so, this section by Clark on photo tutorials on the website is extremely useful.

This 13 minute video called "Elements of Photography" features 20 "elements".

According to Clark the use of these elements can really differentiate a good from a great photo. He explains each of the elements in simple words illustrating them eloquently with the help of his own photos.

I jotted down the points in a small paper and now regularly carry it in my camera bag. Not that I have to refer to it whenever I click ;) but quickly running through it, during long journeys has been refreshing and has certainly made a difference.

The list of elements is given below. I have found that taking a look at the video is helpful in remembering their usage

1) angle of view                                          11) frames
2) use of backlight                                     12) silhouettes
3) diagonals                                               13) scale
4) motion                                                   14) negative space
5) s curves                                                 15) dark-light-Dark
6) patterns                                                 16) human element
7) selective focus                                       17) crop
8 ) contrasts                                               18) camera tilt
9) color                                                       19) rules of Thirds
10) stop Action                                           20) humor

Happy clicking!

Very often, the role of family photographer is heaped squarely upon Dad's shoulders. For the most techie dads, the baby simply represents a new and exciting subject for a photographer's eye that has been carefully honed over the years, largely from taking photos of vacations, portraits of the dog and snaps of passed-out frat brothers with writing on their faces.

For others, it represents an intimidating new responsibility. There are a million brands and models.  And there are also a million better places than this blog to get recommendations on exactly which one to buy.

But I do think a few special considerations should be kept in mind when you're about to become a photo-taking dad.  There's just a bit of a difference between selecting a camera that will best help you take photos of your friends' beer goggle accidents and choosing and using one to capture cherished memories of your child.

So I asked someone who is both a dad to an infant and a bit of an expert on photography a few questions. Joe Hoetzl joins us for the first ever Dad or Bust interview...

Hi, Joe. Thanks for your help. Let's get right to the most pressing question of the day. How much do I have to spend to get a camera that will make my child look more attractive?

$200 will get you something that will work nicely. $2000 will get you something where the main limiting factor is the eye behind the viewfinder.

My old camera has 4 megapixels. The new one I'm looking at has 12 of them. Doing the math, does this mean my child will be three times more attractive with my new camera?

No, but even the smallest booger will be really clear in prints! Let’s look at this chart:

Acceptable when printed at:
2 MP -  4x6"
3 MP - 5x7"
4 MP - 6x8"
6 MP - 8x10"
8 MP - 10x14"
12 MP+ 16x24"

Note the “when printed” part. If you are only planning on displaying the photos on the web, just about any megapixel count will do. If you do plan on making poster sized prints, or selling the photos to an agency or something like that, then a minimum of 8MP is recommended. Can a 2MP photo be printed at 8x10? Sure, but it will look a bit fuzzy.

Beyond the megapixel number, there are other factors involved here, such as the size of the sensor where those pixels are captured. In your typical point and shoot camera, the sensor may be the size of your pinky nail, while on a digital SLR (DSLR), it would be closer to Michael Phelps’ big toenail. This becomes a factor in other aspects of the image quality as well. Here’s a good reference.

Enough about Michael Phelps already. For the record, my abs are WAY funnier than his, so I don’t know how he got the gig on SNL over me. Anyway.

My child can never seem to hold his pose long enough for my camera to take his picture. Do I have a stupid baby? How can I make him seem smarter?

Don’t worry about Buster. Heck, most adults won’t hold a pose long enough while you are waiting for a camera to cycle, especially if you are using the built-in flash.

That’s my biggest pet peeve with digital point and shoot cameras – every one of them that I have used. A DSLR will cycle on an order of magnitude faster than any compact or P&S camera. If you want that rapid-fire mode, get a DSLR. Yes, I am aware of point and shoots that claim 60 frames per second in video mode. Will it work to isolate a single image to display on the web? Yes. Will that image make a great print? Probably not.

Hey, I just got a Digital SLR. I don't know what that really means but the SLR part sounded sweet, like it could be an 1980s Datsun model that was reviewed in one of my dad's Penthouse magazines. So far, it makes me look pretty cool, like I could pop out from somewhere and take a bunch of shots of a B-list celebrity getting sick on her car hood. But why else did I buy it again?

SLR stands for single-lens reflex, which simply means that there is one lens, and what you are looking at through the viewfinder is exactly what will be captured. There are other aspects to the design, but for our purposes, the reasons for buying a DSLR are plenty:

• Speed/Cycle time – like I said, you’ll actually catch that smile as it happens
• Interchangeable lenses - from fisheye to wide angle to super telephoto and beyond
• “It’s what the pros use” – well, not all of them, but most
• Ability to use off-camera flash for portraits and other purposes (Most point and shoots don’t have this, although some more expensive models do)

My motor skills and general physical presence have sometimes been compared to a young wildebeest's. Are there any cameras specifically made for people who drop things a lot?

I don’t normally like to name brands in these sorts of things, but I will make one exception. I have a first hand account of the durability of the Olympus Stylus SW series. My dad, an avid fly fisherman who practices catch and release, released the wrong hand after capturing a photo of the trout, and down went the camera, into the stream and off a few rocks. He waded down, grabbed the camera, and much to his amazement, was able to use it for the rest of the trip with no problems. It is still in working order today, 4 months or so later. (This was a 770SW)

There are other brands out that claim this sort of durability, but most DSLRs or “Prosumer” level cameras will not be very durable when bounced off the sidewalk. Expect a $200 repair bill at minimum, which may mean you’re better off getting a new camera. So get a good case for it and use the strap every time you use your camera.

Do I want a camera that is small enough to swallow or one that can zoom well enough to see the neighbor lady before her nightly shower?

You want a camera that you are comfortable holding and one where your fingers can easily hit the on/off switch without making the battery eject. The major benefit of the compact point and shoots is that you are much more likely to have it with you when something magical happens. If you go all out and get that $2000 DSLR setup, chances are you won’t want to drag it to the park with you, and unless you have large pockets, it won’t go there either.

That said, if you are looking to take a photo for the cover of a magazine, it probably won’t be with the compact point and shoot. At some point you have to decide what it is you are after – snapshots or supershots. Consider that you may want one camera for each.

The other thing that comes to mind is the batteries. If you forget your charger (and you will), it’s nice when you can just go to the store and get some AA’s and be back in business. Many, many cameras use proprietary batteries. If you want something as usable as possible, get one that uses standard AA’s, but this is becoming harder and harder to find as the manufacturers look to cash in on the proprietary batteries. Oh, and if you really want amateur shower photos, search Google images.

What kinds of tiny indecipherable icons should appear on the dials and buttons of my new digital camera?

As many as possible. My favorite icon is “M”, put most people will be happy enough with “P” or “AUTO”. Sure, there are other “modes” that your camera may have, and every different brand has a different icon for the same meaning, but what those modes are really doing is setting Aperture, Shutter speed and ISO settings, and sometimes white balance and exposure compensation. Unless you are using a camera that makes it easy to change these values, you are probably better off using “AUTO”. The key here is how many clicks of the menu/dial it takes to get to these modes. If it’s on a physical dial/button, it takes less time to get to the right mode. You don’t want to be struggling to navigate some hideous menu just as your baby is taking his first steps.

I have a Sony computer. Does that mean I need a Sony camera? Oh wait, I also have a Canon printer. And an HP calculator. And I like that song by Paul Simon where he mentions his Nikon. Does any of this matter?

There are a few things that come to mind when I talk about brands.

Have you used a brand before? I ask this because you are more likely to be familiar with those icons as they tend to stay the same within brands, and you’ll find it more intuitive.

In general, I like to stick with brands that make cameras as one of their primary businesses, not something that a company just churned out so they don’t lose out on people who think they must buy the same brand as their computer and calculator.

For SLRs, I think brand matters even more. But there are other reasons to choose besides good feelings about a brand. Lenses from non-digital SLRs made in the nineties generally work on the modern models, so if you’ve got your dad’s Canon lenses laying around collecting dust, you’re probably best off getting a Canon. You can’t stick a Canon lens on a Nikon without spending a bunch of money on adapters, or vice versa.

Is digital zoom what you use if you can't get a date with real zoom?

No, digital zoom is what you use if you don’t know how to use your favorite photo editor’s crop tool. One of the first things I do is disable this, as the exact same result can be achieved using the crop tool. Optical zoom is the ONLY zoom to use.

How big of a memory card do I need on my camera if we never leave our house because we have a newborn baby? What if I do get to go outside someday?

Certainly the number of photos you’re taking matters, but the answer here probably depends more on how many megapixels your camera boasts, and at what resolution you are capturing images.

Two 2GB cards for most point-and-shoots or two 4GB cards for most DSLRs will do for just about any camera in production as of this writing. With ever-expanding camera capabilities and users’ thirst for images, that is subject to change by the time you get to the end of this sentence.

If I hand my Digital SLR to my mother-in-law, can she just press a button or will she be panicked by the complexity and just try to make it seem like she took a picture by saying "CACLICK" loudly?

Again, AUTO isn’t so bad these days. No, you won’t have any Ansel Adams shots coming from it, but as long as your mother-in-law can hold the weight of it, and press the shutter, and you do all the setup, you will be fine. Again, you don’t want to be stumbling around with all sorts of modes and settings – get super-familiar with your camera well before you want to capture some magical moment.

The line at the Sears is really long and the people that work there look kind of sad. How can I avoid listening to a man cry even as he smiles and squeaks a toy at my kid?

There are entire books written on taking good portraits. But here are some quick tips:

• Get help. Mom, Grandpa, Grandma, Aunts, Uncles, friends, etc. Managing a baby, propped up on things, held like a ventriloquist, takes great care and caution. Get enough people out of the view, but keep them close enough to grab, hold, move and position things.

• Get the lighting right. Natural light is always the easiest, but it’s not always possible. When indoors, you’ll need to make sure you don’t have shadows and unnatural looking hues. Get a piece of foamcore and put it on the floor in front of the shoot. This will bounce some light back up under the nose/chin area and make the photo look a bit more natural. If you are using flash, do not point it directly at the baby. No, they won’t freak out (most of the time), but they will look like a deer baby in headlights. If your only option is on-camera flash, get a ping-pong ball, or some other material like it (piece of a shower curtain, tissue paper, something) and let the light bounce/pass through it. Check out one of my contraptions, which I created more easily than you’d think. The difference that these methods can make will shock you.

• Get creative with backgrounds and props. That receiving blanket might be ok to use for a few, but it gets old fast. Plus, it’s nasty when there’s spit up stains in the background. Consider more interesting props than the rattle and other typical baby items. Use over-sized or really undersized items. For some real impact, use that at first glance seems out of visual context, like a bottle of wine with the same vintage year as your child.

• Get your point and shoot to behave like a “pro” camera. Forget “portrait mode” – zoom your lens to full telephoto, and back up as far as you can without falling off the Grand Canyon or into Buckingham fountain. I call this “sneakerzoom.” Using telephoto and feet fills the frame with your subject and has the effect of compressing space, which to most people is pleasing. By contrast, wide angle can introduce all sorts of distortions, which can be either annoying, or fun if you find ways to use it to your advantage.

• Use proper posture. The latest trend spurred by point and shoots is to ignore the optical viewfinder and rely solely on the LCD to compose a shot. As a result, people often hold the camera at an arm’s length as they frame it. This creates unintended motion that makes it harder to create a good shot. Look at the way racecar drivers hold a steering wheel. They are usually tucked up, arms bent to the wheel. Why? For strength and stability. If you want steadier shots, tuck your elbows into your sides and make yourself stiff. If the camera has an optical viewfinder, use it, because it tends to make you avoid the added shake that makes photos fuzzier.

So far, I've taken 200 photos of Buster in his car seat. My uncle thinks I lost my job and now live inside a Toyota. Got any other ideas for venues?

Try getting down low with your little one. Most boring baby snapshots are taken while hovering over the model. You’ve all seen that in the crib overheard shot they use in 99% of hospital shots. Instead, try shooting through the bars of the crib, or get down on the floor and shoot at eye level.

Do go out to a park, place a baby blanket on the grass and shoot. And do take that wicker basket with baby in photo. But don’t forget that the best photos may not be portraits at all. Focus on capturing the real milestones as they happen, not just the moments you create by making the baby pose perfectly for you.

Any other tips?

Remember, safety first. I meant what I said about not falling off the Grand Canyon.

Your photo is made up of a limited number of "pixels” dots that make up the photo, determined by the resolution setting you used on your camera when you originally took the photo.

When you zoom in on the photo on your computer, the number of or "pixels" you are looking at is reduced, the more you zoom in the  less “pixels” you have therefore you have a smaller the resolution. Up closer you zoom the more you can see the “pixels” and the picture doesn’t look very good (i.e., the resolution is poor), whereas from afar it looks like a complete, smooth image.

Your built-in digital zoom on your camera works in the same way. Digital zoom is just cropping your image it not optically zooming in on it. That is why it is advisable to avoid using your digital zooms when possible. You can always zoom in using your photo editing software later, but you can never zoom out from a photo you have already taken.

By Jackie J Jackson

Polarizers are two pieces of polarized, coated glass that rotate relative to each other to increase or decrease the polarizing effect. Depending upon how much you rotate the filter, the effect can be subtle or quite dramatic.

The standard filter minuses apply here. Circular polarizers are expensive and will put two, not one additional layer of glass between you and your subject. (If you remember my earlier post about filters, you'll remember that anytime you put glass in front of your camera, it causes some degree of image degradation.) Oh, and they'll cost you at least one f-stop in exposure...depending on how much polarizing you do (i.e. if your base exposure is f/8, you'll need to shoot at f/5.6 or thereabouts with a polarizer). Add to the pluses the added saturation, reflection control and the ability to double as a neutral density filter.

I think the pros outweigh the cons when it comes to polarizing filters.

Using a polarizer is simple, just rotate the filter as you look through the viewfinder. When you see the amount of sky darkening/saturation/reflection elimination you like, make the picture. Understand that if you change your camera's orientation to the subject (i.e. change from a horizontal to vertical shot), you'll need to re-adjust your polarizer.

I picked up a trick long ago that helps me quickly see where the maximum amount of polarization will take place. You simply make an "L" with your thumb and index finger, point your index finger at the sun and pretend your thumb is tracing an imaginary line across the sky. With that line in mind, the area of sky on the shadow side of your thumb will get the most benefit from the polarizer. A subject in front of that line will not see any benefit from a polarizer.

So, if you're still unconvinced about the value of a polarizing filter, borrow one from another photographer (that's another benefit of attending photo walks...well-equipped photogs!) and give it a few turns (literally). I think you'll see why I made room in my camera bag for this "must-have" filter.

Buy one.

Those shooting with a manual camera (any camera where you can manually set the shutter speed and aperture) will want set the camera to aperture mode and meter the bright sky (or light coming in the doorway). The main goal is to expose for the bright part. Your subjects should be at the edge of the door, but in the shadows.

Put your camera in manual mode, just to be safe, and use the settings you read on aperture mode (i.e. 1/750 at f/4.5). Since digital cameras only have a 7-8 stop latitude, and you're exposing for the highlights in a very contrasty situation, the shadows will turn into a black silhouette.

If you just have a point-and-shoot camera, it will take more effort, but you should be able to pull this off too. Most beginners take silhouettes inadvertently. ;) First, turn your flash off. If you have a manual setting, follow the directions above.

If not, when taking your photo, make sure that most of the frame is filled up with bright light. The camera will naturally meter for this, in return, turning your subjects into a silhouette.

Quick note, silhouettes look best when there is a clear definition between legs, arms, and such, otherwise it just looks like one big dark jumbled mess.

Some more examples:

• Wear comfortable shoes. Most photo walks last a couple hours. Wear shoes that allow you to be mobile on and off the beaten path. Who knows were you'll find that "once in a lifetime" photo?!
• Bring a camera and a couple lenses. No need to bring everything in your camera bag to one of these. For example, I'm planning to bring a camera, a wide zoom, a tele zoom, flash and extension tube. That's it. The point of these photo walks is photography, not weightlifting. Don't bring along more than you want to carry for a couple hours.
• Have enough memory cards. Estimate how much free space you'll need, then bring 50% more. No one likes to run out of memory space in the middle of great photo opportunities.
• Listen to the weather forecast and dress accordingly.
• Introduce yourself! Don't be shy. A photo walk is a social event! Have fun and meet new people who share your love of photography. Maybe they'll share their lenses with you!
• Afterwards, upload your best photos and comment on other people's pictures. I know you want to see their photos....and they want to see yours too! Share tips and don't be shy about asking others how the "got  that shot."

It's not too late to sign up for a walk in your area. Check this website for cities with photo walks near you. Get out there and have some fun!

Some photographers develop candid photography into an art form. Almost all successful photographers in the field of candid photography master the art of making people relax and feel at ease around the camera, they master the art of blending in at parties, of finding acceptance despite an obvious intrusive element - the camera.

It could be argued that candid photography is the purest form of photojournalism. There is a fine line between photojournalism and candid photography, a line that was blurred by photographers.

Photojournalism often sets out to tell a story in images, whereas candid photography simply captures people living an event.

What say you ? More importantly, ENJOY Capturing MOMENTS ! life is precious & great ! Live it !

Be anticipative ; Be fast ; Be emotional & of course, shoot with the RIGHT Tool !

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I learned to shoot this way years ago from the late Eddie Adams. He showed me that by simply tucking my elbows into my sides, I could steady myself enough to consistently shoot sharp photos at slow shutter speeds. That one tip has followed me throughout my career. In fact, I can still handhold my camera at shutter speeds as slow as 1/15th of a second! Give it a try and see if it helps your available light shooting. Please post how this tip worked/didn't work for you!

This is an excerpt we got from James over at Eyesonafrica.net for taking the perfect pictures when your on Safari in Africa.

Courtesy of Eyes On Africa:

Camera: I strongly encourage anyone interested in taking quality wildlife images on your African safari to invest in a digital SLR (single lens reflex) camera. I do not recommend point-and-shoots. However, that said, many of the new "all-in-one" (ie, no removable lens) digital cameras will get you some excellent shots, as the animals are often within close enough range of the vehicle for these cameras to capture good images.

My next suggestion may be impractical for most but here it is anyway: bring 2 cameras. Even if you bring a smaller, less functional backup, if something happens to your ONLY camera on your African safari, you will lose out on some of your enjoyment. At least if you have some backup with you, you can still record images. The best is to have two good cameras - put a lens on each and use them both! This is my suggestion and is really just insurance for most people.

Camera Support: I have taken tens of thousands of images on African safaris and my techniques for getting the best shots have changed slightly over the years. However, my main goal (and struggle) has always been the same - to find the most effective way of taking sharp, well exposed images. The main problem any guest will face in the photographic sense is finding the best way to steady your camera. The problem becomes more pronounced when using longer focal-length lenses.

I have used all conceivable techniques (I believe), including home-made mounts that affixed to the side of the Land Rovers consisting of a big C-clamp, a length of teak wood, a window mount, and an Arca-Swiss ball head. I used this for several years. Lately I have gotten more simplistic. Today, I stick with a good beanbag (I take my own but the vehicles usually have extras) and a tripod. I set the tripod up on the floor in front of me and, with the attached ball head (which pans and adjusts to any angle); this gives me a wider range of sight than the fixed door mount. It works well. I also used to sit in the front seat next to the driver which limits your angle of view in that you are lower down.

For anyone not using a very large lens (ie, if you can hand-hold your camera without struggling from the weight) a beanbag will usually suffice. I encourage you to bring a beanbag (empty - you can fill it with sand when you arrive in the camp) or two. If you are using a small point and shoot, most of this does not apply - again, I urge you to bring an SLR camera if you can afford one or borrow one.

Image Stabilization Lenses: If you're considering purchasing a new lens, I would strongly advise you to consider one which offers image stabilization. Both Canon and Nikon offer image stabilization lenses covering a wide range of focal lengths.

Typically, the use of some solid form of support (tripod, beanbag, etc) is essential to hold the camera completely still while you take your shot (especially with larger/heavier lenses); otherwise you risk the blurred images that are all too common when hand-holding a camera. The rule of thumb when hand-holding a camera is to use a shutter speed that is at least as fast as one over the focal length of the lens. For example, if you are trying to handhold a camera with a 200mm lens, you will need to have the shutter speed set for 1/200 or faster in order to maintain sharp focus.

Using an image-stabilized lens (Nikon calls their version Vibration Reduction) permits safe hand-holding (ie, no tripod or other support needed) at up to two full f/stops (Nikon claims three) slower shutter speeds than would otherwise be possible, and since they make hand-holding so practical, it's easy to shoot quickly and follow rapidly moving subjects. What this really means is that images which would otherwise turn out blurred or slightly out of focus can be captured in perfect focus using these lenses. My top recommendations for an IS/VR lens on an African safari would be the Nikon AF VR Zoom-Nikkor ED 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6D and the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM. Neither is inexpensive, but both offer a wide range of focal length and are great if you want to bring just one lens.

To Continue Reading The Article On Eyes On Africa Click Here

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I have been doing photography for about 10 years now off and on.  Family, Friends and work mates have ask me from time to time about equipment, technique and just basic help on how to photograph their kids or animals. I am not a professional by any means but I have learned from doing so I decided to put together five tips to help you get better results when shooting photos of your kids.

When we want to post pictures for our family and friends to see we want live actions shots as nobody stays interested in portraits.  Most of the tips are how to take live action photographs and making the most of your camera.

Tip #1:  Be ready to shoot at any moment.

To be blunt you have to pay attrition to the kids and the fun but not necessarily be part of the fun. In order to get that great shot you need to be watching all the time because Kids move fast and you won’t have time to get ready for the shot. If you want that special shot you can't be the life of the party or event, you will need to become part of the background noise.  You will be watching the kids play or just sitting and watching tv or playing video games. A kid will run through a range of emotions just playing a game so you can get great images by watching and learning their reactions.  In time you will see the emotions coming and will be ready to shoot. You will have to wait and be patient because you can’t force the shoot but It will come to you if you just wait and watch. So have the camera ready and watch, learn and shoot. if you do you will be amazed how many great shots you will get in a simple setting like watching TV or playing a game.

Tip#2:  Don’t force them to pose

Ever wonder how some people get that perfect smile or that quirky look that kids have? Well it doesn’t come from forcing a pose by the kids. If you try to force the smile or look you will only end up making you and the child mad and that makes for bad photographs and you still won’t have the shots you were trying to get. Watch and learn their body language it only takes a few minutes and then you will see it coming and that is the key. Seeing it coming is you’re warning to get the camera to you face and ready to shoot. Waiting until you see the smile is too late and you will miss the shot most of the time. Kids are smarter than you think and they know what you’re up to and if you force the pose they will make it impossible to get. So don’t force the pose and learn by watching their body language for that perfect smile with camera ready.

Tip#3:  Get down to their level

This technique is often over looked because most of us are lazy. We just want to point and shoot our way to the next photo and move on but by shooting that way you are missing out on the best shots. Shooting down on an already short person creates a perspective of looking down on them. Get down on bended knee and shoot at their level so when they look at you it is at eye level and not looking up at you.  When you shoot standing and they look your way they will be looking up and you will get a fake smile and stretched neck and that does not make for a great photo.  You need to get down to their level on bended knee or sitting on your butt. I know it’s hard and a pain but the images are well worth the effort.

 Tip#4: Image for the ages

We don’t always want live action images of our kids so one type of photo is a growing photo. Remember when kids drew a line in a door jam and marked it each year so they would know how tall they were from year to year well this is the same concept. Find a special location and start taking photographs of the child or person each year at that location and take more photos. You don’t have to use the same pose and its better you don’t but find something in the background that will give perspective to the person which acts just like the line in the door jam. Now you have a time line that shows the changes of the child or person from year to year. This is good for sports teams and events where they attend from year to year.

Tip#5 Point and Shot vs. SLR Cameras

I hear all the time I just have a point and shot camera not one of them fancy high dollar cameras and that’s why my shots aren’t as good. Well that’s not true your Point and Shoot can take beautiful pictures all it take is a different approach to shooting. The big fancy SLR camera has an advantage and this is a telephoto lens. The SLR with a telephoto lens allows you to stay way back and almost blend into the background so the kids don’t see you taking pictures. You can achieve the same type photos but you have to be closer to the action. You almost need to blend in the crowed instead of away from the crowed. If the kids are sitting in the grass playing game or talking you can sit down beside them a few feet back and get great shots. This takes a few time of doing before you get comfortable being that close to the kids and not disrupting them. It can be a challenge sometime because we are parents and want to correct them if something is said or done. But if you let them be you can get a great shot so stay close to the action and use bended knee to get a great shot. The SLR has its advantages but you can obtain just as many beautiful photos with a little practice and patience.

So there go five easy tips to making moments that last. I am sure if you just take the time to learn about your camera and learn the body language of the kids you too can take memorable pictures for all to see.

You can cut this risk substantially by learning to carry your camera correctly.

All it takes is orienting the camera so that the lens points inward toward your body, not away from it. The photo below illustrates this concept nicely. Carrying my cameras in this way has saved me countless dollars in lens repairs and bent hoods. Sure, it's still possible to ding your camera. But, as you can see, your elbow and/or shoulder will take a hit before your precious DSLR.

The price for this knowledge? Tell a friend about this blog!

I have been very satisfied with this lens and have used it to make a lot photos. It is not much good at focusing and very cheaply built but, it will keep happy a lot budget shooters if they use it carefully. This was not planned test shot just one from random daily shots so i decided to post.

But before we get to that, it is Monday, and here is my Best Shot for today, Henry in the blueberry patch last week. Looking for more Monday favorites? Click over to Best Shot Monday.

As you can see, the boy loves his blueberries.

DON'T FORGET THE GUMMY WORMS

(And six more tips for taking better photos of your kids this summer)

It's summertime, and the activities from each busy day could fill their own photo album. Maybe you've got a digital SLR camera, or maybe you're a diehard point-n-shooter, but we've all got the same goal in mind: to take the best possible pictures of our families, preserving the memories in the jewel-like light we remember them.

I can guarantee you'll see great results in your photos if you try a few of these tips, and I won't even talk about shutter speed and f-stops. And if you're a devotee of automatic settings, you don't have to change your stripes. You can try all these tips in auto mode.

1. Get involved.
Get close. Then get closer. Then get down low. Chances are you're taking a photo of your child in a location you'd like to remember—maybe a scenic mountainside or a sparkling beach. But one of the biggest mistakes we can make in a photo is trying to include too much information, like taking a landscape photo that just happens to have a small, faraway person in it. Instead, fill the frame with your subject, making them the most important part of the photo. Because they are.

Want to remember the beach? Get up close to your child and photograph his toes buried in the sand, or the look on her face when she spies a new piece of sea glass. Want to remember the mountain? Zoom in as your child reaches in to pick a wildflower or throws a rock in a rolling stream.

And unless you and your child are the same height, you'll want to get down where the action is. It's all part of getting involved.

2. Find the sweet light.
Your photos will be 1000-percent improved if you do nothing else but this: think about the best times of day for kids to be out in the sun and shoot your photos then. Early morning before the sun gets too intense (you're all awake anyway, right?) and afternoon/evening when the intensity wanes.

Here in New England, that's before 8 a.m. and after 5:30 p.m. this time of year. (Bribe 'em with ice cream if they are melting down at day's end.) Full-day sunlight washes out colors, creates harsh, unflattering shadows and causes sunburn, of course, while the warmth and softness of early and late-day sun will bring a beautiful, unrivaled tone to your images.

Now, I know what you're saying. Plenty of life goes on between 8 and 5:30, in fact most of the day for those of a certain age in my household. So if you're stuck outside at high noon on a sunny day, pray for a cloud or find some open shade (a spot out of direct sun lit by reflected light. Just go under a tree.) and shoot your photos there.

And, if you end up with a cloudy day on vacation, you can be the annoying one that chirps, "Well, it's an absolutely perfect day for photos!"

3. Go for the unexpected
If your child is about three or up, they probably know what it means to pose for a photo and you end up with a series of lock-jawed grins. So go for the anti-pose. Have your child leap in the air. Make a crazy monster face and challenge them to make one, too. (Guaranteed to get a laugh.) Sing the ABCs to them, and get it wrong, so they have to correct you, giggling all the way.

Younger than three? Try positioning them in or on something, like a ride-on horsie, a bathtub, a bucket or a basket and shoot away until they escape or are done. Then follow them around and capture their entirely unselfconscious anti-poses. Or hand them a prop you can stand to see in your photos, like a bright red ball.

4. Get cheeky
When photographing more than one child together, have them avoid perpetuating the grip-and-grin pose they see in adults. Instead get creative to get their faces close together. Have them lie on the ground and look up, which almost always will bring on the giggles. Encourage a whispered secret or a kiss on the cheek. Or just request "Cheeks together!" which will bring you sibling closeness you didn't know you had.

5. Remove the bulls eye from your child's forehead
So you're on the beach. It's 5:45 in the afternoon, and glorious streams of golden light are bathing the scene in front of you. The sky is a brilliant blue, the sand is warm and inviting, Junior is waving his snappy red shovel and he flashes you a big, natural-looking grin. Mentally patting yourself on the back, you get down on his eye level, perform a quick check on the background to be sure the lifeguard chair isn't growing out of his head, center him perfectly in the frame and...STOP!!!

Try this. Move your camera slightly to the right or left, so that Junior is now off center. Is there something else across the frame that you can bring into the photo, like the bright blue bucket he just threw in frustration when his sand castle caved in?

I promised no photo lingo in this post, but if you're ever tempted to Google the phrase "rule of thirds" you'll learn a lot more about this composition technique (and you'll find much better examples than the one I took, above.) In short, it can make for a much more appealing and interesting photo. Give it a try.

6. Take your camera for a spin
Take your camera and turn it 90°. Try using the camera in vertical or "portrait" position to capture an image of one or two children, a format that naturally crops extra information from the photo and focuses in close on the important stuff: your subject.

While excellent portraits can be in either landscape (horizontal) or portrait (vertical) position, trying the portrait position might bring a brand new focus to your shots.

7. Don't forget the gummy worms!
While portraits don't need to have dead-on eye contact to be successful, there is always something a little disappointing about the image that is nearly perfect in every way, yet has a child with a vacant stare over your shoulder, probably because a well-intentioned person was jumping up and down trying to get a laugh.

When I'm nearing the end of a photo-taking session (and I use the term loosely, I've been known to break out this trick in the backyard with my kids) and want to bag a few more good shots, I sometimes drape a gummy worm around the barrel of my lens. This usually promotes a tractor-beam lock on my lens (hello, eye contact!), as well as an interesting discussion about worms and eating them, depending on the age of your subject.

It doesn't last long, and if you're shooting someone else's kids you probably want to check the guidelines on sugar consumption, but it can be a serious secret weapon at the right moment.

BEFORE AND AFTER

Last week at a playdate, I used some of these tips to demonstrate what they can do in two quick snapshots.

Here's Sydney before, out in the blazing sun at about 11 a.m., in a cluttered snapshot, taken in landscape view with too much visual distraction around her, and too much strong sunlight washing out her face and creating harsh shadows on her eyes. Like the disembodied adult arm and half toddler in the background?

Here's Sydney a minute later, under a tree in her yard. This photo was taken at her level, in portrait view, in lovely open shade. She was so happy about it she even gave me a smile!

Got a great summer photo to share? Some before and afters?
Post a link to your blog, Flickr or web page in the comments section here, and let me know if these tips are working for you. Don't have a place to post your photos online? That's a topic for another post!

Scott's Run Falls (c) 2006 William Lawrence

After we posted our blog post on 10 Tips for Photographing Waterfalls, we got a couple of requests for more information about tip 1 - Shutter Speed. Since we're photographers - the easiest way for us to explain the concept is with photos!

These are some photos Bill and I took in Virginia where Scott's Run meets the Potomac River a couple miles down stream from Great Falls. We placed the camera on a tripod and set the ISO to 100 for all the photos. We used shutter priority mode on the camera to control the shutter speed.

As you'll see, in the photos with the faster shutter speeds you can see some of the individual water drops. The slower the shutter speed - the more creamy and flowing the water looks.

Shutter speed 1/50 of a second.

(c) 2005 Patty Hankins

Shutter speed 1/10 of a second

(c) 2005 Patty Hankins

Shutter speed 1/2 of a second

(c) 2005 Patty Hankins

Shutter speed one second

(c) 2005 Patty Hankins

Shutter speed 6 seconds. Bill used a polarizer filter to slow the water even further for this photo.

(c) 2005 William Lawrence

I hope these photos help explain how you can affect the way your waterfalls photographs will look by choosing your shutter speed.

The theory here is that the body is more relaxed and less tense when exhaling a breath. A body that's in a relaxed state will shake less than one that's all tensed up. It's a trick taught to snipers and can apply to shooters with a camera too. Try it for yourself the next time you're out with your camera. Adjust your exposure to 1/30th of a second or so and shoot a series of photos with your breath held during the exposure and some shot during a slow exhale. Squeeze off your shots while doing both, of course -- don't stab at the shutter release!

I think you'll see a big difference. 

A Clematis clings to the vine long after it has lost its petals...

Great Falls II (c) 2005 William Lawrence

One of Bill's and my favorite types of landscapes to photograph are waterfalls. If you've had a chance to check out our website, or have seen our booth at one of our shows, you have probably already figured out that we love waterfalls and that Great Falls on the Potomac River is one of our favorite sets of falls.

Bill took the photo at the top of this post from the second overlook at Great Falls National Park in Virginia. I love the way the light makes the rocks glow in this photo. To capture the light, Bill went out to Great Falls early on a Saturday morning to figure out how long after sunrise the light hits the rocks. The next morning, he was there, all set up and ready with his large format camera to take the photo just as the sun rose about the ridge line.

As we've built our collection of waterfall photographs, we've made a few (ok, more than a few) mistakes and learned a few things. Here are a few tips that we hope will help you take great waterfall photos of your own.

1. Shutter speed is important in waterfall photography! Tastes vary in how people like to see the water flowing over waterfalls presented in a photograph, but we prefer using a slower shutter speed for a motion effect to the water. A fast shutter speed will show individual waves and droplets in the water, but a slower shutter speed actually shows the path that the water travels - the slope of the water off the fall, the arcs of the water as it splashes off a rock on the way down the falls. For us, this makes a more interesting picture. Typically, we'll try for a shutter speed of ½ to 1 second if we can, but will try to at least keep the shutter slower than 1/15 of a second.

2. ISO matters. To keep the shutter speed slow, we use a low ASA film (we often use 50 ASA) or set the ISO on the digital camera as low as it will go (usually 100).

3. Use filters if you have them. If the light is bright enough, we may not be able use the shutter speed we want to. When this happens we use either a neutral density filter or a polarizing filter can be used to drop the shutter speed.

4. Use a tripod. With slow shutter speeds, you will need a tripod to steady the camera. Also, remember that with a shutter speed this low, anything moving in the picture other than the water (e.g. people, foliage blowing in the wind) will also be blurred.

5. Make sure the camera is level. A photograph of water that appears to be flowing uphill is very disturbing. I really try to remember to use my bubble level - and to make sure it is level for my waterfall photos. I've deleted more waterfall photos than I care to remember of water running uphill in the picture.

6. Direction matters. Remember to check the direction of the falls, to determine the best time of day for light hitting the falls to give the most dramatic photograph. Great Falls is best photographed in the morning.

7. Seasons matter. Check out the falls in different seasons, e.g. does it look best with new spring foliage? Best in the fall with the leaves turning? Some other time? Since spring and fall tend to be the wettest times of the year, these are usually good times to catch falls at their peak levels.

8. Research before you go. Learn what you can about the falls, and what you'll need photographically, before you get there. If you know that name of a waterfall you want to photograph, search for it on Google. Chances are someone has posted information about photographing that set of falls somewhere on the web.

9. Be prepared to do some hiking. Most of the waterfalls we have been to involve some hiking in hilly terrain (it is tough to have a waterfall over perfectly flat land). So don't forget comfortable hiking shoes for the trail, a water bottle (especially in hot weather), sunscreen and bug spray.

10. Takes lots of photos at various exposures. You may be surprised at what you discover what your preferences for waterfall photography are.

If you've got any tips for taking photos of waterfalls, please add them below as a comment. We'd love to hear your tips.