Don’t linger here too long, because you can hop on over to The Wedding Chicks  to see a full post on our travel themed, vintage style shoot! If you love my photography and the other vendors involved, please comment on the blog, share with your friends, Pin to Pinterest, and Tweet a little, so that we all get the exposure that we deserve! That’s why we did it after all! Thanks!!!

Tuesday’s Tip #10:

Quick tip! Use a flash for portaits, even if it’s sunny. Often a bright sun will create very dark shadows on someone’s face, but you can fill in those shadows with light. Even if you only have a pop-up flash, chances are that this will improve the portrait. This is especially true when there is a bright scene behind a person. In such a case, you will notice that the person will look like a silhouette if you are exposing for the background without a flash. When you use extra light on the subject close to you, you are able to capture the exposure for the background as well as the person.  This is called fill flash.

I will talk more about getting the right exposures, and other essential basics, during my free intro to photography class. It’s coming up next Sunday at 5pm in Seattle! If you are interested, please contact me and I will send you the address.

Have any questions? Leave them in the comments below. Maybe I can answer your question in next week’s post.

Make sure you know what your subject is and try to isolate it. You may not want people to search around your image looking for something that could be important, but never knowing for sure. There are lots of ways to isolate, and therefore emphasize your subject.

One way is easy. Zoom in, or move close, so that you have only the subject in your viewfinder. Duh.

Another technique uses leading lines. This is an old rule of composition in photography. If your subject is pretty far away, see if you can find some existing lines in the landscape to guide the eye to your subject. Roads are often good tools for guiding your eye in a landscape, because they are well defined and force your eye to wherever they end, even if there is no subject at the end. Sometimes you just want to direct the eye to where it should go, whether you have a specific subject or not. As long as the eyes have a place to go.

Another way is to selectively focus. Maybe the background tells a part of your story, but it’s not as important. Try decreasing your depth-of-field (I will be covering this at my free class in 2 weeks!), so that the background is still visible, but fuzzy. When your background is blurred and your subject is sharp, it stands out really well. This also helps eliminate any background mess that could be a distraction, such as a parked car behind a portrait. It takes practice, and the circumstances have to be right, but photography can be a lot more fun when you realize you have this kind of power!

Just try to be more aware and your photography will improve. If something is popping up a little behind your baby’s head, simply get lower so that the thing disappears. Easy peasy! If a bright red toy is like a shining beacon in your green yard, remove it. If your subject blends into the background because there is not enough light to define him/her, then have the person move into some light. Better yet, position the light if you have that option!

As with all “rules” of photography, they are guides to get you started. Learn them, know them, and keep them in mind. Creativity is often about breaking the rules, so don’t let the rules stop you! Have fun!

Have any questions? Leave them in the comments below. Maybe I can answer your question in next week’s post.

Sorry, no tip this week, but there is some photo learning news! I will be having a very casual, free beginner photography class in a few weeks. Make sure to RSVP now if you are interested. Just let me know in some way or another (casual right?). The event will be on May 20th at 5pm in Seattle. The specific location is to be determined, but will be pretty central to Seattle. More info can be found on the event page: http://www.facebook.com/traciehowephotography/events . Please check it to see if this is something that would be helpful for you and whatever camera you have. I won’t make any rules about who can or cannot come, but I want people to be able to get something out of an intro class. I will update the event page when I know how many people are coming and where it will be held, so check back if you’ve RSVPed! I hope you can make it!

Have any questions? Leave them in the comments below. Maybe I can answer your question in next week’s post.

Tuesday’s Tip #7:

Understand that shooting in different lighting will affect the color of your photos. Light from the sun has a different color temperature (about 6000K) than fluorescent light (about 4500K). You should be aware of what lighting you are shooting under, because it is important for choosing a white balance (WB) setting on your camera. Choosing the wrong white balance can dramatically affect the color temperature of your photo. Ever get a really red, icky colored shot when shooting indoors? It’s because you have the wrong white balance set. I finally have a visual for you Tuesday Tip learners!

Keep in mind, that you have the creative freedom to choose what look you want. This is only a guide to help you more accurately represent that which you are photographing. In this photo example, I was shooting the Venetian mask under tungsten lights with a tungsten WB, so the middle picture is the closest to what this mask looks like under tungsten lights.

Sometimes choosing your WB can be tricky, because you don’t always know what sort of light you’re shooting in. However, the presets on your camera generally work pretty well so that you don’t have to think about it too much. A good idea for beginners, is first to figure out how to set your white balance, which should be a really quick and easy look up in your camera’s user manual. Second, at least get to know the preset symbols and what they mean. For example, the sun symbol is pretty obvious. It’s meant for sunny/daylight shooting situations. I typically use the cloudy setting for those overcast days, to put a little bit of warmth back into skin tones. The more complicated symbols are tungsten and fluorescent. I should know which one is which and what artificial light I’m shooting in, but I usually just determine which of the two to use by trial and error. When you’re not sure what light you’re shooting in, try the auto white balance setting. It’s often pretty good…at least on my camera.When you have mixed light, this might be a good solution as well.

When all else fails and everything looks really terrible with any preset, try messing around with the Kelvin temperature setting (K). This may be a bit advanced, but it will help you understand color temperature a bit better. The Kelvin scale measures color, so when you’re using the Kelvin setting, you can decide exactly what temperature to tell the camera to shoot at. For example, if shooting a lamp lit street at night,  a 6500K setting will result in an orangey light. If you want to cool the light down to something a little more blue, try 3000K. Just try it out and see what happens.

One more thing you can do to make for a very accurate white balance, is to set it to a custom temperature (symbol looks like a floating square over 2 triangles). It takes slightly longer, but it works well if your lighting won’t be changing at all. All you have to do is take a picture of an all white or all grey surface, set that as your custom white balance image, and then make sure your WB setting is on custom. Look that up in your manual for instructions for your specific camera, because it could be different. Then you’re golden!

I don’t want to get into the whole science of it all, but there are excellent resources out there that can explain this better than I can. Here’s a good one: http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/white-balance.htm .

Have any questions? Leave them in the comments below. Maybe I can answer your question in next week’s post.

Anyway, here are a bunch of our shots. Some of them are not original ideas of mine. Trust me, if I knew who’s they were, I would totally credit them! I played around with the sun a lot during this shoot, and I tried out some cool effects in post processing, so these are a little crazier than usual. I hope you enjoy them. I love how they turned out!

Congratulations you guys! For your upcoming wedding and for winning the shoot!

Tuesday’s Tip #6:

Although I haven’t covered the fundamentals of photography here (yet! It’s a long one so I’m working up to it.), you’re probably aware that using a faster shutter speed helps capture moving objects. Basically, you’re trying to catch the object and stop it in motion.

But, what about using a slow shutter speed? If you are unfamiliar with this concept, you might be thinking that sometimes objects are moving too fast to capture with slow shutter speeds, so how does that work? Well, you pan. That’s an action folks! Panning is a technique that involves following the moving object with your camera. It can be tricky to master, but the effect is a blurred background, which conveys movement, and a sharp (or relatively sharp) moving object. It’s pretty cool. When I get my act together, I will include photos related to each tip, but for now maybe you can Google it!

Have any questions? Leave them in the comments below. Maybe I can answer your question in next week’s post.

Tuesday’s Tip #5: 

Get in close! This can mean different things for different subjects, but it will often make an interesting photo no matter what.

For tiny things, getting in close means macro photography. Macro photography involves a whole world of challenges, but the first step is to use a macro lens that will allow you to focus close to an object. Ever notice that your camera has trouble focusing when you try to get right up next to your subject? That’s why. You need a macro lens, or even what’s called an extension tube. These are cheaper and will attach to your regular lens, but not always a better solution. I’ll talk more about macro photography in a later post. For now, just know that it is a super fun way to shoot! Google it and you will see!

For other subjects that aren’t so tiny, getting in close gives you a different perspective on things. Most people take wide, expansive shots of landscapes. Try zooming in, which is a way of getting close. Chances are, this will give you a unique take on a landscape that countless people have already photographed.

Stepping forward or zooming into a portrait shot is also fun. You don’t have to include someone’s entire head in a photo, because you have what’s called artistic discretion! Although I have to remind myself to take these types of shots more often, I think they often make the best portraits! If you know your technical stuff, you can also play around with fuzzing out the background, which is a nice way to isolate the subject even more. This is true for macro photos as well.

The sky is the limit for what you can get close to or zoom in on. Seriously… you can only zoom into the sky so far before you need some kind of crazy telescopic equipment, and I’m guessing you don’t have any if you’re reading my photo tips.

Have any questions? Leave them in the comments below. Maybe I can answer your question in next week’s post.

Tuesday’s Tip #4:

This is a quick tip for any of you who have ever wondered how to shoot through a glass window. Press your lens up against the glass. What this accomplishes is an elimination of reflective glare from things like your clothes. If the lens is not allowing any other light in between it and the glass, it won’t see those nasty glares. This works for SLR cameras and point and shoots, just remember that you have to be careful if your lens moves while zooming or focusing! Sometimes you may want to shoot through a window of a bumpy car or vibrating plane, so this trick won’t work as well. In these cases, it’s best to wear something dark and cover up any other light, reflective surfaces so that there is less glare in the reflection.

Another thing you may want to consider, is leaving the reflections in on purpose. This will be a creative decision on your part. Happy shooting!

Have any questions? Leave them in the comments below. Maybe I can answer your question in next week’s post.

Thanks to Laura for coming out to model for me! She did a fantastic job, especially given the conditions she was working in. Ah, you gotta love the Northwest! Thanks also to Sara, again, for another amazing stock photo suggestion! Anyway, here is the best shot we came away with. I added a tiny bit of fake rain in post-processing… just for fun. And to make it seem a bit gloomier than it actually was at that moment.

What’s your suggestion for the next themed stock photo shoot? I like the idea of phrases as suggestions. You can leave your idea with me anywhere, but the best place is my Facebook Page.

Tuesday’s Tip #3:

Your lens can make a world of difference! Those babies are expensive for a reason! Don’t be lured into buying a cheap lens because the price is good, because you really have to know what you’re buying… and not buying. I remember when I spent $250 on a 70-300mm lens, when I knew nothing about lenses, and I was shocked by how MUCH it was. Obviously, I had no clue how much it could have been. Lenses can cost more than your camera, so get over the price issue and learn about lenses if you’re serious about learning photography.

Here are a few very important things to keep in mind when searching for a good lens:

-Focal Length- An obvious one. Probably the first one that people know about. In my case, I knew that a 70-300mm  lens would zoom in quite far. The kit lens that came with the camera, only zoomed to 55mm as I recall. Now, I have a 50mm prime, which means that it doesn’t zoom in at all (FYI, these are usually cheaper and sharper, just less convenient if you prefer a more versatile lens). I also adore my 17-40mm lens, which can be quite wide at 17mm. It can distort landscapes in a favorable way, and people in a bad way depending on how it’s used. One more thing to know when you consider focal length is whether that length will be what you want for your sensor size. Without getting too detailed about this issue, just know that depending on whether you have a full frame camera like mine (Canon 5D mark II) or a camera with a smaller sensor, you will get a different effect with the same lens. For example, at 17mm my pro lens will show a black vignette around an image on the 40D, but on the 5D MarkII, it won’t because the lens is meant for that sensor size.

-Numbers, letters, and brands, oh my! – As stated above, not every lens will work with every camera in the way you might expect. I can only speak to Canon’s equipment, as my experience with other brands is limited. Canon has “smaller” lenses that are meant for the smaller sensor cameras. You can’t use those lenses (marked with an “S”) on the full frame cameras, because they simply won’t attach. However, somehow the more advanced lenses meant for the full frame cameras, will attach to the smaller sensor cameras. Weird. Anyway, I suggest simply going in to try out a lens on your camera. Focal length is the easiest thing to test out, and the folks at the camera store will be able to point you to which lenses are actually meant for your camera.

- Speed- This relates to both the aperture and the mechanics of the lens. If you have a fast lens, you can take pictures faster! Always good, right? Hopefully, that means you can focus more quickly too. The aperture is very important for speed, because the wider (lower number) you can set your aperture, the faster you can shoot with less light. Awesome! Some cheaper lenses have a range for their lowest aperture, which is something you may want to avoid. If you have a lens that shoots at f3.5 only at it’s widest focal length, what if you want to shoot at f3.5 while zoomed into something? If you have one of these cheaper lenses, you are forced to shoot at whatever lowest aperture they will give you at any given length.

- Image Stabilization- This is handy, but not always necessary. If you have a long, heavy lens, it’s definitely a good thing especially if you’re shooting without a tripod. Keep in mind that with a longer lens, you have to shoot a little faster to compensate for the wobblyness of just holding the darn thing. But what if it’s too dark to shoot fast? Well, a low aperture and/or high ISO helps, but so does an Image Stabilized lens. You might want to turn off this feature if you DO shoot with a tripod at a long exposure.

- Glass or plastic – Glass is better quality. Period.

- Zooms can slide – Not necessarily a make it or break it problem, but some zoom lenses can slip. Imagine walking around with your camera and your lens just starts getting longer and longer. Yeah, it looks funny. But it could also be a potential hazard, especially if you’re being very active. You don’t want to make the mistake of thinking your lens is closer to your body than it is, and then banging it into that rock you just crawled onto. Some cheaper lenses do this, but even expensive lenses can begin to slip over time. It’s just something to be aware of.

Have any questions? Leave them in the comments below. Maybe I can answer your question in next week’s post.

We started with a visit to Luray Caverns, one of the most popular caverns in the country. I have been there plenty of times and only cared to take a few iphone shots… sorry, no photos to post from there. What I really wanted to do was go through the big hedge maze right next door! It’s the sort of childish thing I like to do.

The next place we explored was downtown Richmond, my home town. I took Dave to some historical places in the city, and along the James River. That’s where I took this tree photo. You don’t see a lot of ivy growing all over trees in WA. At least I’ve never noticed.

Next, we took off for D.C. so that I could visit a couple of good friends, and so that Dave could check out the museums. I didn’t have time for any museums, but I did manage to get some photos of the cherry blossoms by the monuments.

After that we were free to meander back down to Richmond at a more leisurely pace. We decided to visit Assateague Island National Seashore and Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge. You would think I would have known about this place, growing up only about 4 hours away from it. Had I known about it before leaving for our trip, I would have definitely brought my telephoto lens! Oh well. Anyway, Assateague offers beautiful scenery and wild ponies that roam the marshes. I was told that I got pretty lucky with how close they got to me. A few of them came within 5 feet, but I was too nervous to get a better perspective than from my raised walkway. As wild animals, they’ve been known to charge, after all. But really, I’m just a chicken.

Every summer there is an event during which the ponies swim to Chincoteague from Assateague. The ponies we saw at Chincoteague were fenced in and pretty far away. While we were there, we walked a wildlife trail where I saved a turtle from being stuck in the long grass. We also visited an old lighthouse, as you can see.

And now, vacation is over. Back to business! The next thing on the agenda is my next stock photo shoot. Don’t forget to make your stock theme suggestions over on my Facebook Page!

We don’t need no stinkin’ sun! Cloudy days are amazing for photos! For our purposes here, think about the sun as your one and only light source, and think about the clouds as a natural diffuser for this light. If you are photographing a model outside, would you prefer a harsh direct light, or a soft even light on her skin? I guess it depends on what you’re going for (keep in mind that these tips won’t apply to every situation… rules are meant to be broken!), but generally a soft light is the most flattering for skin. As long as there is enough light, a diffused light is great for any subject!

Have any questions? Leave them in the comments below. Maybe I can answer your question in next week’s post.

Okay, here goes…

Tuesday’s Tip #1:

Change your perspective. You won’t believe how much more interesting a subject can become when you force yourself to photograph it from a new angle. Some of my best photos were taken in the most uncomfortable positions, but they were well worth it! I suggest finding a subject that you can manuver around, and try taking pictures from all different positions. Don’t worry about your camera settings as much, just think about perspective. Shoot straight down from above, bend over, climb a ladder, lay on the ground, get as close as possible, and get far away. Don’t just stand there, move around!

Have any questions? Leave them in the comments below. Maybe I can answer your question in next week’s post.

Thanks for the great phrase suggestions! Keep ‘em coming for next month!