Taking Better Photos - Day 1

Now that summer has officially arrived and 4^th of July celebrations are quickly approaching, there couldn’t be a better time to take out our cameras and capture some good times.   

As a photographer, I am often asked by friends about “how to take good pictures”.  This question kind of breaks my heart.  Photography is something I have worked hard at understanding and I know what it’s like to feel that the pictures I’m taking just aren’t up to par.  Through my journey of learning photography I have learned something much more important.  You could know everything there is to know about your camera, but if the picture doesn’t speak to you, you’re still not going to feel that your pictures are good enough.  I still don’t know everything and I don’t think I ever will.  I’m okay with that because it allows me room to grow.  Sure, the technical aspect helps, but photography is about emotion.  It’s much more important that the picture invoke emotion in you than it is to capture a perfect technically accurate photo. 

However, since I’ve been there, I totally relate and it’s been on my heart to educate a little bit.  I remember as a new mom what it was like to feel as if I wasn’t going to do a good enough job at capturing Alexander.  That’s what my driving force was in learning photography.  I wanted and still want to be able to have Alexander look back on family photos and feel like he was going back in time to that moment.  So, I’m going to spend some time blogging about camera know how.

From a camera standpoint, the price of DSLR’s these day’s makes buying an awesome camera easily attainable to the non professional.  In my eyes, that’s great news.  The bad news is that most people only know auto mode, as that’s what our point and shoots gave us.  Point and shoots also offer some nice hidden gems.  We’ve bought these wonderful cameras, but don’t know what power they possess.  This must be fixed. 

First up, for this lesson I want everybody to forget about technical know how.  Just enjoy taking pictures.  Enjoy watching the story unfold before your eyes.  Enjoy being in the moment and capturing it.  Be it your kids, your pets, the weather, nature, Independence Day weekend with your friends and family…whatever it is, just capture it.  Next week we’ll get into the know how.  For now, just see those sweet moments and take your picture. 

Scott and I went out to Geneva-on-the-Lake this weekend and celebrated our anniversary at the Lake Erie Wine Festival.  Our 5th anniversary celebration is definitely one I'll remember and I'm glad we got a picture.  What do you want to remember?