Photo Tips by Alecia.

Hello, SHEnaniganers!

This is Astrid from the Omega Force!

(aka: Alecia~ aleciasphotography.blogspot.com )

I was asked by the awesome, inspirational,  head SHEnaniganer herself, Laura, to do a photography post!

She could probably do this herself, because she does photography also, so this was way nice of her to ask me! 

* I do not claim to know it all about photography, just so ya know! you may have a style you prefer, and if so, that's wonderful! I just want to share some things I have learned through my journey in photography.

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First of all: CAMERA

 -You do NOT need an SLR (aka: big, nice expensive camera) to take good photos. It does help of course. And if you do have one, by all means, use it! Better yet, if you have knowledge of manual mode, use it! But chances are, unless you do photography for a living, you do not have a huge camera or the know how. WHICH IS FINE. People like to think that the bigger camera you have, the better photos you'll get. Not entirely true. Big cameras do produce better quality of course, but why do you need super great quality and humongous sized files unless you plan on blowing those suckers up large and selling them? Truth is, you don't.  These days, most digital point and shoot cameras will do the job just fine, if you know a little about what you are doing.

This brings me to camera settings. Again, if you are comfortable with manual mode, that is wonderful. If you have never even heard of manual mode, its ok! chances are, if your group assigned you the photographer job, you have a camera that you are comfortable using, and you can produce some nice lookin photos. you probably know how to disable your flash, right? because you can get better photos without that darn flash most of the time.

-Second: LIGHT

 -Photography is all about light & knowing what to do with it.

Some amazing things can be done with light, all different kinds. The trick is, making it work with the light you've got. I usually head straight for some nice open shade. If you are doing headshots, or close ups, shade is your best friend.

this photo was shot in the soft shade of a building. Instead of facing her toward the building, I had her face toward where the light was coming from but not IN the light, if that makes sense.

-The key to knowing you're in some great light for portraits is to check your subjects eyes. If they are reflecting tons of light in them (photo above), you're set! (these are called catchlights)

this photo below, is an example of shooting in spotty, uneven shade.

where is the first place your eye goes? Mine go straight to that big patch of light on his shirt!

yucky!

If you can find soft open shade, you are in luck. But sometimes you can't. Maybe you are shooting in an open area at 12 noon on a cloudless day. This would be your worse case scenario! If this happens, you'll be needing to turn on your flash, to fill in the shadows that the harsh sunlight is creating on your subjects face.

this isn't the best example, but it is one. This was before I knew squat about photography, obviously. I wasn't shooting at noon, but there are yucky shadows on all of their faces. With a flash, this would have been taken care of.

See? This is better. Their faces are all evenly lit. I hate using flash, but sometimes you have to in harsh lighting situations.

Then , there is backlight. I love backlight and always use it on photoshoots. If you sun is bright and glaring, you NEVER , EVER, EVER have your subject face it!

this is a nice photo of everything else EXCEPT my son, because he's squinting. His face is tense because the only thing he can focus on is trying to keep that sun out of his eyes!

This is NOT flattering, or comfortable for your subject.

Instead, put their back toward the light. See that lovely glow behind him?

That's how you deal with a bright sun. (and we have lots of that here in St. George)

If you are going to shoot indoors, don't use fluorescent light. Place your subject in front of a window.

Soft window light is terrific!

When there is NO light, get creative!

silhouettes are SO FUN!

So there's my quick run-down on light.

OWN your light.

Next, TIPS ON SHOOTING

- Either get on eye level with your subject, or be above them when shooting. Looking up at them with your camera is NOT flattering. (Unless you are trying some creative angle, then its fine) Pretty much, you want them looking up at you.

- Try to have your subject relax. This helps if you relax. Laugh, joke. This is fun, remember? We tend to tense up in front of the camera, and it totally shows. 

-Laugh. Tell your subject to give you a fake laugh. a fake laugh will turn into a real laugh, and a real laugh turns into a real smile. And real smiles are beautiful.

-Take LOTS of photos. If you have a digital camera, then you can just get rid of what you want later. Its better to have too many than not enough. Plus, if you take lots, you'll be capturing more.

-Don't stop taking photos if they start laughing or do a silly face. That is totally them! You are wanting to CAPTURE them. Sometimes these photos, (the ones we don't think to even take, are the best ones!) Plus, you'll look back at the photos, remember the moment and laugh even harder. That's what we want, right?

-Tell them to be natural. You can tell when someone feels uncomfortable because what they are doing is totally unnatural. I always tell my subjects to go sit down like you normally would, if I wasn't here. And THAT's when they look the best.

-Details. Capture details. (I forgot to do this on the Omega force shoot) Shoes. Jewelry. Accessories. ANYTHING that helps depict what YOUR photoshoot is all about. We spend so much time on details, and most of the time forget to capture them.

-Get close-ups. Fill your camera's entire frame with their face. Don't be scared. You'll be glad you did later.

-Keep composition in mind. Does something look off? or unbalanced? An amazing photo is usually amazing because of the composition. Make it look interesting to our eyes!

-Get Creative!! Have FUN!!! try new things. focus on something different. Some of my "mistake" photos have been my faves!

WHEW!!! Am I done yet??? Never! Haha, I could go on and on....

BUT I only have one more thing for you now..

and 

it's

EDITING

Photos NEED to be edited & touched up! Most photos need brightening, sharpening, enhancing, cropping, 

you can create so much drama depending on the way you edit. You can make a photo look old and vintage or bright and cheery, or classic black and white. You can add textures, change colors, fix things! You can do so much!

Here is a photo straight out of camera:



and here it is with a simple, basic edit.



you can completely transform a photo & this is where you can have lots of fun!

if you don't have photoshop, or photoshop elements, ITS OKAY!
I used photoscape for a very, very long time. You can do some great things with that program! and ITS FREE!
there are also others you can use, like I've heard picnik is good.

Aaaaand..that's my rundown.

I hope I didn't bore you to tears, or confuse the crap out of you. Hopefully, this HELPS you and inspires you with new ideas!

We can all learn from eachother, so lets get that creativity flowing!

Can't wait to see what you all come up with! :)