How to Photograph Your Child on A Swing!

I don't think there is a child in the world who doesn't like swings!  So, for us as photographers, it's a great place to capture joyful, happy images of our children, with only a few things to worry about :)  It's a win - win as far as I'm concerned - your child is enjoying himself and you get to play too! 

Here's some tips for photographing your child on a swing.

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Metering Modes Demystified

Most DSLR’s will give you some different options for metering for the light in your image, and the results you get can vary tremendously depending on which metering mode you use!  That's why understanding the different metering modes available and how they will affect the exposure of your final image is so so important.

What is Metering?

Metering is simply our camera trying to gauge the amount of light in the scene, so it can set the correct exposure.  Regardless of whether you shoot in AUTO, a semi automatic mode, or in full manual mode, you will still use your in-camera meter for assessing exposure, and knowing how it works can help you get your exposure right first time, instead of having to continually 'chimp" and assess your exposure by eye.

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Photography Case Study: Jan Johnson

Ever wondered how photographers get where they are today, how long it took them, and what their turning points were?  I know I do and I bet you do too, so today, my fav "momtog" Jan Johnson is going to be sharing the story of her photography journey with you, along with some details on how she shoots.  Jan was one of the very first readers of this ol' blog, way back in 2013, and at that time, she was incredibly frustrated because although she could see exactly how she wanted the picture to look in her head, she couldn't quite get the camera to co-operate! I know that many of you will feel that same frustration RIGHT NOW, so I hope seeing someone else progression helps you realise that you will get there too! Over to Jan...

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Which Color Space should I use?

How much do you all know about Colour Space? It’s something we tend not to pay too much attention to until we start to notice that our prints aren’t coming back from the print shop the way we thought they would, or we post our images on Facebook and they look all washed out and with weird colors!

Getting your colour space right is one of the secrets to having your images look beautiful, so it pays to take a few minutes to get this right - and that is exactly what we are going to look at today! 

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How to Critique a Photograph

A handy little tool to have at your disposal is knowing how to critique a photograph, either your own or somebody else’s. Being able to look constructively at your own photographs will allow you to improve and grow as a photographer, and you can use the exact same process to "pick apart" images from a photographer that you admire, so you can see what elements appeal to you, and try to purposefully add them into your own images. 

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How To Use The Curves Tool in Photoshop

The Curves Tool must be one of the most versatile tools in Photoshop, and you can do so much with it! It's also looks seriously scary with all those grids, lines, and points - so much so that many people shy away from using it. That is all going to change today my friend! You and I are going for a little walk through the curves tool, and finding out some of the things we can do with it. 

 

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5 Reasons Why You Should Make The Switch To RAW

So, how many times have you heard that you should make the switch to RAW? Probably a few times I bet!  But perhaps you are not yet convinced, or don't really know what this means for your images, so today I'm breaking down the reasons why I believe you should shoot in RAW, and why it's a great thing for your images! 

Before we kick off, let's start back at the beginning with what RAW is.  

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25 Ideas for Photographs (for times when you need a creative push)

As a photographer, it’s pretty common (dare I say unavoidable) to go through different peaks and troughs with regard to your creativity.  There are times when you feel so incredibly inspired that you can't wait to pick up your camera for another day, and you have so many ideas for images that you can't possibly take them all!  However, on the flip side, there are also bound to be days when you don't feel inspired to pick up your camera at all, much less know what to photograph with it, or what to try next. 

Or you may be a new photographer, wondering what you on earth you can photograph, and needing a little push to get you going again - and maybe even to learn something new!

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Why you NEED to learn Manual Mode!

Are you scared to make the switch to manual mode? Or maybe you just don't see the point of moving away from the AUTO functions on your camera, after all, your camera can do it all for you - can't it?!

Not to put to fine a point on it, if you only ever use your high-quality DSLR quality on one of the automatic modes, you would have been just as well buying an inexpensive point and shoot camera.  Sure, your camera may luck out from time to time and snag you a decent photo, but more often than not, all you will end up with is middle of the road images that lack any real impact. Relying on a bunch of wires and sensors in your camera is no way to make a good photograph! 

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5 Common Mistakes When Learning Photography (and how to avoid them!)

Hey friends! 

Today, we’re diving into what I think are some of the biggest mistakes that new photographers make when trying to learn how to take successful images. Honestly, these are mistakes that I’ve seen tons of new photographers make over and over again - and I did most of them too so I'm pretty familiar with them :-)

In no particular order, here are 5 common mistakes,  along with what you can do to avoid them. 

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