Phew!  The weeks are flying by and we’re at week 4 already.  Doing this challenge has made me acutely aware of the fact that right now, there is no way I could cope with Project 365!

Last week’s theme was “Play-Time”

Despite the fact that I spend my days surrounded by toys my kids – like most kids – are difficult to photograph because they never stay still!  So I gotta say I was pleased with shot shot as I didn’t use any flash and just bumped my ISO  – waaay up to 1600 which on my camera is a lot.  It is grainy but I think it kinda adds to the shot.

This week’s theme is “Comfort”

Let me know how you are getting on!

Happy Snapping

Wow! I can’t believe January is flying by so fast.  It seems like no time since we were getting ready for Christmas and then making New Years Resolutions.

My main resolution this year is to get as many Digital SLR owners Out of the Auto mode on their cameras as possible.

So many people have these great (expensive!) , powerful, digital cameras but yet they have no idea how to operate it out of the Automatic setting.  It’s such a waste!  Seriously, you may as well just be using a heavy point and shoot camera if you are stuck on the little green square or smiley faced man setting…

But I know why you are stuck there…

DSLRs can be confusing

There are so many buttons to figure out.

The manuals are written in double dutch and use hieroglyphics!

If only someone could TELL you what you need to know

If only someone could show you what mode to be in for each shot

If only someone could just explain some of the terminology!

Well it’s time to be stuck no more.

It’s time to Get out of Auto!

Join me live, online each Tuesday evening at 8pm EST, beginning Jan 24th, for this 4 week course designed to Get you Out of Auto

It’s going to be fun!  To get the details click here and start using your camera to the max.

See you in class!

Ingrid

P.S. This is a very unique course delivery and class size is very limited so hurry up and register right away!

So how did we all do in week 2 of the Take 52 Challenge?  I found the theme “Cold to be particularly tricky.  I was sure I would be able to conjure up some magical winter scene outside my house, but alas, it was not to be. Every time I would venture out, camera in hand, everything seemed bleak, barren and boring. The day that I finally took the shot below I was wearing Mollie in the ergobaby carrier and was somewhat restricted in the types of pictures I could take.  Crawling on the ground,for example, was out of the question.

So, when in doubt – I look up.

These are the awesome Oak trees that surround our house.  They must be hundreds of years old as they are huge.  I plan on doing a study of these trees at some point as they are very much a part of my husband’s family history.  But that is for another time…

As always I took several shots, zooming in and out, varying my position and trying to eliminate the power lines. It was tricky enough getting the both the sky and the trees properly exposed and I had to tweak a little in PSE which brought out some green detail in the bark of the trees. A tiny sign of growth in an otherwise chilly image.

I hope you are sticking with me and the Challenge and enjoying it. Each week we get to start anew!  So it’s not too late to join in. You can check out the Flickr group , the Facebook Page  and previous week’s themes to see what’s been happening so far.

This week the theme is full of fun – “Play-time”

Can’t wait to see what you come up with!

Happy Snapping

What a week!  I’ve been overwhelmed by the response of all of you wanting to join in on the Take 52 Challenge.  It’s been great to have some company and I’ve been starting to get to know some of you over in Flickr and on facebook.  It’s been awesome putting faces and names to readers!

Last week’s theme was “New” and here is my effort:

Mollie’s New Shoes

It was much harder than I thought it would be – and this is only the first week!

As I said in Flickr:

There was a time when I loved buying new shoes.  Now I buy them for my little girls while I run around in trainers. This is my baby’s first pair bought specifically for her. Being my 2nd girl she gets her fair share of hand-me-downs. New.

I tried several other subjects before settling on this one.  And I tried several different backgrounds, lighting and elements of this shot as well.  It’s funny how a simple change of background gave a completely different feel to the shot. This is the one I decided on because it seemed girlie and bright and New.

So onward to Week 2.

And the theme for this week is “Cold”

Easy perhaps for our Irish participants, not so much for those in Australia!

Don’t forget to join in the Flickr group where there’s a great community forming with lots of commenting and discussion.

I’d love to hear your comments about how you are getting on with the challenge so let me know below!

Happy Snapping

Happy New Year!

Hope you all had a lovely holiday season and you are looking forward to the New Year with gusto.

I am really looking forward to 2012 and I have LOTS of New Year’s Resolutions… Some of them I’m going to keep to myself but the one major one that I would like to share with you all is my resolution to take more PICTURES!  Sometimes I honestly get so caught up in teaching photography and talking about about photography that I neglect the art of actually practicing photography!  I know, I do take tons of pictures of my little girls and I love doing that but lately I’ve been craving more.  More photography for photography’s sake, rather than taking pictures just because I want to record an event.  So I’m going to take more photos.  And I want you to join me!

Introducing CameraShy’s Take 52 Project.

Spurred on from the feedback in the Facebook Group and my students here in Atlanta I’ve put together this project for 2012 to inspire a little creativity.

Here’s how it’s going to work:

1. Every Monday I will announce this week’s theme on the blog and on the facebook page.

2. Take some pictures inspired by this theme

3. Pick your best shot

4. Share it with the group before the following Sunday.

• The theme is designed to fire your creative spirit and can be interpreted however you may wish.  You can use it to perfect your technical skills, your composition skills or just to photograph ordinary subjects in interesting ways.  Whatever you do, if your taking pictures you are practicing your skill and perfecting your art.
• The challenge is open to everyone – it doesn’t matter what type of camera you have or what level you are at, shoot in auto or full manual–just as long as you participate.
• You can share your best shots in the new Flickr group that I created specifically for this project or upload it to the facebook page if you’d prefer.  The idea is to receive some feedback on your work and encourage others by commenting on their work.
• Remember that this is a challenge designed to help you practice your skills.  Although you might have a photo in your library that would suit the theme take a new photo that week.  You can always try and perfect the one you already have and even try to recreate it.
• There are no winners or loosers just a group of like minded photogs!

I hope you’ll join me in participating.  Don’t worry if you feel you can’t commit to the whole year – just jump in when you can and have fun!

If you want to be sure to receive notification of each week’s theme sign up below and I send you an email when each theme is posted.

So to kick things off…

The theme for Week 1 is “New”

How easy is that?!

I’m off to get shooting.   Hope you are too.

Happy Snapping

P.S. Be sure to sign up using the form above if you want me to send you each week’s theme.

Useful Links:

CameraShy Facebook Page

CameraShy Take 52 Flickr Group Page

I’ve finally got my tree and my decorations up.  I know, I’m super slow but as my daughter’s birthday is in December we try to keep things separate so we don’t decorate for Christmas until her celebrations are through.  This leaves everything a bit rushed so I’m kinda late getting around to trimming the tree and taking pictures of it but hopefully I’m not too late in sharing these tips with you on how to take some beautiful Christmassy pictures of your lights and decorations.

1. Turn off your flash.  That’s right.  Do not use a flash when shooting any kind of Christmas lights or anything that is illuminated for that matter.  Most digital cameras will allow you to turn off the flash by way of a shortcut button on the back of the camera body although you might have to move out of Auto mode into P to manually override your Auto flash.  This will depend on your camera model – dig out that manual if in doubt!

2. Raise your ISO.  This will make your camera more sensitive to low light and give you a better chance and getting those beautiful sparkly lights.  Again the ISO is usually controlled by a shortcut button on the back of your camera and how you can raise it will depend on your specific model.  I suggest using an ISO rating of 800 to capture indoor Christmas lights.

3. Keep steady.  Because you have turned off your flash, the camera now has to do something to let more light in and in most cameras that’s going to be slow the shutter speed down.  When this happens, any kind of movement or camera shake will blur your image so use a tripod if you have one. If not improvise with a stack of books a table or anything steady to rest your camera on

4. If you want to take a picture of your little ones in front of the tree try using the night portrait mode in your cameras scene modes.  You’ll recognize this icon as it has a little image of a person with stars.  This is a combination of a slow shutter speed so that the twinkly lights are correctly exposed and a burst of flash to correctly expose your subject.  It gives a great effect and its one of the only scene modes that I recommend to my students to use.

5.  Get up close.  Fill your frame with lights and close-ups of specific ornaments so that there is no doubt about what you are trying to capture. You may want to switch your camera to Macro mode to allow you to get super close.

Have fun trying to capture that Holiday feeling!

Merry Christmas

Ingrid

This is photography’s silly season when everyone is out snapping photos wildly in anticipation of the perfect Holiday card shot.  Have you been out shooting some family fall pictures over the weekend?  Does this scenario sound familiar?

You take a million pictures (ok seriously several hundred) only to find 1 or 2 really good ones.

You sit back,  look at your computer and think “Now how did I do that again?”

You have no idea.

You just switched the camera to Auto and hoped for the best.

Sometimes you get lucky!

But the next time you have to repeat that shot, you have to go through the same process of shooting several hundred images to get that one winner.

…Still stuck in Auto Mode….

Wouldn’t it be nice to know what all those camera buttons mean so that you could just take a look at your subject, your lighting and knowing what effect you want to achieve, just make it happen?

Because you know how to use that camera.

You know all the secrets and tips of getting that great shot.

You know how to handle different lighting scenarios, what those buttons do and when things aren’t looking good you know what to do to make it right.

Well I have news for you!

As part of my mission to get everyone out of Auto mode, my “Master your DSLR  – Photography 101″ is now on sale for half price.  Yes–I’ve dropped the price to only $99 for the remainder of 2011 so you can have a chance to get in before the holiday season to really learn how to use your camera like a Pro.

Use the time between now and the end of the year to get a great introduction to photography and using your camera to the max all in the comfort of home, on your schedule and at your own pace.

You can check out the full course content here.

Once you register you have full access to the full 5  week’s material so you can digest it slowly or all in one go!  And you’ll continue to have access for 3 months so even you plan to get a new camera over the holidays take advantage of the discounted price now because enrollment into the course at this price will end on December 31st 2011.

Don’t just use your DSLR camera like a big ol’ Point and Shoot– Get out of Auto Mode and check out “Master your DSLR – Photography 101″ now!

Happy Snapping

P.S. The holidays season will have lots of great photo opportunities.  Don’t waste them! Learn how to use that DSLR now.

Glide Strap

This morning has been transformational!  Yes – my photography experience has been changed forever.  Why you ask?  Well of course, I love my camera. I love taking pictures of my kids on the go – at the park, running around, playing outside, but I HATE my itchy, scratchy, not-fun-to-wear camera strap.  My DSLR is heavy and having it swinging from my neck is just one more thing that makes me feel more like a mule than a mom ( diaper bag, camera bag, purse, toddler, oh yeah and infant in the Ergo.)

Well today I finally opened up a package sent to me by the innovative team at Custom SLR.  These guys make AWESOME stuff to pimp out your camera.  They had sent me a C-loop and a Glide Strap to do try out and review.  Now I know you can get really nice cushy camera straps and camera strap covers that help with the itchy scratchy stuff but the Glide Strap from does so much more than just look cool.  It’s ergonomically designed so that the weight of the camera is evenly distributed over your shoulders and the camera feels like a feather.  It also has a super innovate design so that your camera simply slides up and down the strap – hence the “Glide.”  It sounds strange but trust me – it’s genius. As I was assembling the strap out of the box I was thinking – em…  I don’t see how this is going to work but when I put it on it was a total ah ha moment!  Why didn’t I think of that!

Split Strap

But wait – there’s more!   The best thing about the kit that I received was the C-loop.  This is totally innocent looking little piece of equipment is the key to the ease of use of the strap and what’s revolutionized my photography experience!  If you’ve ever traveled with your camera you are faced with a big dilemma.  For example, when myself and my hubby went to Florence we were really nervous about having the camera on full view around our necks.  It’s so cumbersome and obvious that we’re tourists and I was already trying to watch my pockets and my backpack.  If I put the camera in the camera bag, trying to access it at a moments notice on a busy hot street was not easy. I ended up  carrying it bandeau style which was good but still difficult to access in order to quickly to snap a shot.  Another problem I had was that the lens kept bumping into people as I walked.

C-Loop

Now the C-Loop changes all of that.  As you can see from the pictures below it simple attaches your camera strap to your camera by screwing into the tripod thread at the bottom of your camera body.  This allows the camera to freely rotate and hangs directly down so no bumping off walls or tourists!  Like I said – such a simple idea which works brilliantly.

So I am transformed.  Some days it’s easy to take pictures and somedays it’s hard.  Make it easier on yourself by getting your gear on and check out the difference that a new way of carrying your camera might make to your photography over at Custom SLR.  I’m off out to get some more shots of these kiddos running around on this glorious Fall day.  Then I might chat to the hubby about a repeat trip to Italy to get all those shots we missed before

Happy Snapping

Ingrid

P.S. Check out other reviews of the Creative SLRs’ Glide Strap and C-loop on Amazon

There is very little that you can do wrong when faced with the wonderful beauty of the red, amber and golden foliage that fall bestows on us for a few weeks  this time of year.   Sometimes however, our pictures fail to live up to the beauty we saw in reality. Here are 10 tips to make sure what you see is what you get.

1. Shoot during the golden hours.

You’ve probably heard me talk about the Golden Hours before. This is the first hour after sunrise in the morning and the last hour of daylight in the evening when the light is at it’s richest. This will in turn give you the best light for shooting. It’s definitely worth your while to get up that little bit earlier just to see the impact that the light will have on your image.

2. Shoot after the rain.

This is another time when the air is at it’s clearest and hence the light has a great quality to it. It can also be really interesting to see how the we leaves reflect and play with the light.

3. Don’t forget about general composition rules .

This is the biggest mistake people make when shooting Fall Colors. They get so overwhelmed by the beauty surrounding them they forget things like using the Rule of Thirds, having a definite focal point and using lines to draw the viewer’s eye into the picture.

4. Don’t clutter your image with unnecessary stuff.

Keep it simple perhaps by concentrating on a few leaves or interesting trees.

5. Vary your angle

Look up into the trees and don’t forget the leaves on the ground.

6. Make use of contrasting colors.

Red berries contrasting with green leaves, orange leaves backdropped against a blue sky

7. If your sky is not a vibrant blue, then just omit it from your pictures.

Best to leave it out rather than have a dull washed out gray sky.

8. If your shooting with a DSLR,use a polarizer.

This will really help to saturate your colors.

9. Don’t forget to play around a little in Post Production.

Every image can benefit from a little tweaking in your photo editing software.

10. Have fun

and get out there before the display is gone again till next year

Got any more tips?

Please share them in the comments below.

Happy Snapping

The very photogenic Agne

I got a great question this week on the Facebook page from Tracy. She wanted to know if I had any tips for making a person more photogenic?

Instead of trying to put together my answer in a Facebook Post I thought I’d answer it here on the blog so we all call learn how to look pretty.  These tips are great if you are getting headshots done for your profile, at an event or anytime a camera is pointed in your direction.

1.Relax.  

The first thing that you have to do is to try to relax.  If your not relaxed then you are going to look uncomfortable and awkward and ultimately you’ll be unhappy with your photo.  I realize that this is easier said than done but it does get easier with practice so the more opportunities you get to get your photo taken  - do it!   This might mean hiring your kid to do a photoshoot with you in the back yard until you perfect your posing

2. Make Up.

Don’t underestimate the power of a little blush and a little lipstick.  The camera tends to show up more of our flaws so do your best to cover them up before getting in front of the camera.  A tad more make up than you’re usually comfortable with is probably the right amount.   A little retouching afterwards can help too but it’s always better to look great from the get go.  This will help your confidence and hence help you to relax also.

3.Elevate

If possible, try to get the photographer to take your picture from a slightly elevated position looking down on you.  Grab a step ladder or a stool and get the photographer to shoot you from above as you look up into the camera.  This   is a very flattering angle for most people.  It helps to elongate the neck and get rid of any extra double chins and gives an overall feeling of “lift” to the image.

4. Angle.

Turn your body at an angle to the camera.  This is so much more flattering than standing straight on towards the camera –  mugshot style.

5. Smile!

I guarantee you you wll look better if you smile at the camera.  It doesn’t have to be a cheesy grin just try to smile with your eyes and look into the lens of the camera as if it is the eyes of the person you are talking to. The end result will be a much better connection between you, the camera and the viewer of the image.

So take a deep breath, relax and Bonus Tip Number 6. – Don’t say cheese say lollies:) !

Happy Snapping

P.S. Thinking of taking up a camera class this Fall?  Check out my Master your DSLR – Photography 101 and learn from the comfort of your own home.