Reid Warner

January 25, 2018

7 Tips For Wedding Party Photos

Reid Warner

January 25, 2018

If you photograph weddings, you will be focusing a lot on the bride and groom but you also have to be a master at shooting wedding party group photos. Today, we wanted to share this 9-minute video from Shutterbug Magazine where veteran photographer Denis Reggie will give you 7 tips for taking group photos at weddings.

Watch the video below to find out tips to make sure you are taking the best wedding party group shots that you can! Those photos are ones that the bride and groom will remember forever, so you want to make sure each one captures the personalities, love and wedding day perfectly. We hope you enjoy this video.

Here’s an overview of what Reggie teaches in the video. Be sure to watch so you can see actual examples of what he discusses.

1. Arrange the Wedding Party Properly - It’s important to think about where you are positioning different people in the wedding party for a group shot.

2. Use an Off-Camera Umbrella Light - Reggie uses an off-camera umbrella light to light his group shots.

3. Change the Color Temperature - Using color gels to adjust the temperature of the flash can make for a much more well-balanced shot.

4. Use the Right Gear - Choosing the right pieces of gear is essential. For example, using the right master controllers for your flashes so that you can be flexible is essential.

5. Use a Tripod - Reggie mentions that the more megapixels there are, the more “sensitive” the camera is to motion, so using a tripod is very important.

6. Pick Your Settings - Following on from using a tripod, it may be possible to achieve a slower shutter speed to deal with indoor lighting.

7. Shoot in Raw Format - Using raw allows you to fine-tune your white balance later, thanks to the non-destructive element of this key camera format. Shooting in JPEG limits your options, but raw gives you a massive amount of flexibility in post.

We originally saw this video on PetaPixel.

If you take photos of couples for weddings, engagement photos and more then you need to get this great product from BP4U. The Posing Guide for Couple Portraits will provide you with TONS of great pose ideas as well as tips on gear, finding clients, scouting, and even prepping for your sessions. You can get this guide for only $9.99 (a $129 value)!

GET THE POSING GUIDE FOR COUPLE PORTRAITS NOW!

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Reid Warner

January 11, 2018

tips & tutorials

Tips To Taking Outdoor Portraits In The Winter

Reid Warner

January 11, 2018

tips & tutorials

If you photograph portraits, whether it be for couples, families, children or even seniors, you may find that your Client wants to get outdoor photos in the cold, winter months. Even when the temperatures are cold or there is snow on the ground, you want to make sure you are prepared for everything that could come your way during the shoot. Today, we wanted to share with you a few tips to taking outdoor portraits in the winter so you are as prepared as can be and can focus on taking the best photos you can!

Tip #1 - Keep Your Batteries Warm

Your camera batteries can lose their power quicker when exposed to low temperatures. In cold temperatures, the number of shots you take with one charge can drop considerably... as much as 50-70% less than you are used to. It would be awful to run out of batteries while you are out shooting in the cold weather. Be sure to keep your spare batteries warm. If you keep the extra batteries you brought with you in your inner pocket of your coat, and close to your body heat, that will be helpful in keeping them warmer.

Tip #2 - Wear Photo Friendly Gloves

If it is very cold where you are shooting, you will most likely want to wear gloves so you stay comfortable and do not feel like you need to rush your session. You should consider using photo friendly gloves so you will be able to use the buttons and fully control your camera settings without having to remove your gloves each time. You can find these at any camera store... and you want to be sure to try them out before you buy to make sure they fit right and they work nicely with your camera.

Tip #3 - Be Prepared With Extra Warm Blankets

Your Clients may not think about bringing extra warm stuff along for the shoot so having an extra blanket or two in your car may be very helpful! It may even be fun to use the blankets as a prop in some of their snowy winter photos! A couple could wrap up together in the blanket or a family could lay the blanket out in the snow and sit on it. The possibilities are endless.

Photo credit: Brianna Record Photography

Tip #4 - Increase Exposure Compensation

When you are out shooting when it is sunny and bright outside, which happens during the winter when there is snow on the ground, adjust your exposure compensation by +0.3 or +0.7. Your camera will not know that you are shooting snow, so you have to tell the camera that you are shooting something bright and adjust your exposure accordingly. If you do not adjust, you will find that your snow will end up looking gray in the photos instead of the beautiful white that you are hoping to capture.

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Reid Warner

November 28, 2017

photography

Photo Of The Week

Reid Warner

November 28, 2017

photography

Today's photo of the week was taken by Carol Bolin with Carol Bolin Photography.

Here is what Carol said about the portrait: "This photo is of the very lovely Allise! We did a few Autumn shots and I am in awe of not only her outer beauty, but her inner glow as well."

To see more of Carol's work, visit her website at carolbolinphotography.myportfolio.com or follow her on Facebook.

We Want To Feature Your Work!

Do you have some really amazing photos you have taken recently or some of your past work that you simply love? We want to see! Each Tuesday, we will be featuring a "photo of the week" right here on the Camera Giveaways blog. We are looking for anything from amazing landscape photos, a gorgeous wedding or engagement shot, sports or animal photography, an awesome fashion photo...whatever you want to share, we would love to see!

Email your photos to contact@cameragiveaways.com with the subject "CG Blog Photo Submission" for consideration. In your email be sure to include a description of your photo, your name and company name as well as website and social media links. Please... no watermarks! If this information is not included, your photo will not be included.

Reid Warner

November 7, 2017

photography

Photo Of The Week

Reid Warner

November 7, 2017

photography

This week's photo of the week was taken by Trisha Phillips with Trisha Phillips Photography & Design.

Here is what Trisha said about this photo: "Abi is a senior this year and she also happens to be my dog sitter! This photo was taken as part of her fall photo shoot, we will be doing a winter one as well!"

To see more of Trisha's work, visit her website at tphillipsdesign.wixsite.com/photography. You can also find her on Facebook.

We Want To Feature Your Work!

Reid Warner

August 2, 2017

photography

Photo Of The Week

Reid Warner

August 2, 2017

photography

Today's photo of the week was taken by Keegan Meenagh, a freelance videographer and photographer in Norman, Oklahoma, a suburb of Oklahoma City.

Here is what Keegan has to say about the photo: "Every April we have the Norman Music Festival, where hundreds of bands from across the state come and play down on Main Street at bars and on stages outside. I took about 3000 photos over 3 days and this picture is my favorite. This is a photo of my friend Parker Rhea right before his band, NoiseBleedsSound, performed. If you look closely, you can see me in one of his eyeballs. It's my favorite photo that I've taken."

To see more of Keegan's work, visit his Facebook page and on Instagram @rockandrollkeeg.

We Want To Feature Your Work!

Reid Warner

June 13, 2017

photography

Photo Of The Week

Reid Warner

June 13, 2017

photography

Today's photo of the week is this great portrait that was taken by Reggie Bridges with HR1 Photography.

HR1 Photography is a a partnership formed by two cousins, Reggie and Harvey, that had a common vision to form a client friendly photography business focusing on weddings, events and portraiture. Be sure to check out HR1 Photography on their website at www.hr1photography.com or on Instagram.

We Want To Feature Your Work!

Reid Warner

April 24, 2017

tips & tutorials

Different Types Of Emotions To Capture During A Lifestyle Portrait Session

Reid Warner

April 24, 2017

tips & tutorials

When you are taking a lifestyle portrait session, you want to capture all the different emotions those family members can feel around each other. Emotion is everything in photos and if someone has hired you to shoot a photo session for them, whether it be in their home, at your studio or another location, they want you to capture great emotions so they get to take home some amazing photos.

Many time you will find that if you go to the clients home to take the photos, it is typically a much more relaxed session because they are in their own environment that they are comfortable in and familiar with.

When thinking of emotion in photos, you may automatically think about happiness. When you pose for a photo, you are typically told to smile for the camera. But keep in mind that there are many other emotions you can capture in the photos that will make for some amazing photos that your client is sure to love. And if you capture a variety of different emotions during the photo session, the client will have a variety of different types of shots to choose from - and you never know which one will be their favorite!

So, what are the different types of emotions you want to be on the lookout for during a photo session? We are going to list out these different emotions for you... these come straight from The Lifestyle Portrait Guide offered at Photographer Candy.

Smile

This is the main emotion that you think of when taking photos. People want to look back on their family photos and remember the happy and good times. Those times when everyone was smiling and happy. It is a very important thing to be sure and capture in a lifestyle portrait session.

Laughter

Taking that happiness to the next level is laughter. It is so fun to capture a family or couple laughing naturally together. We are not talking about staged laughing that looks fake... real laughter. Perhaps it is a child doing a funny face that the parents love or the couple tickling each other.... whatever they do naturally to make each other laugh is fun to capture.

Candid

Some of the best photos are when no one is posed and everyone is being totally natural. When the clients are not aware of the camera being on them you can get some of the best photos that are totally raw and real life.

Serious

See if you can capture the clients in a more serious way... if you can capture it the right way, this could make for a very powerful photo.

Excited

Excitement is a fun human emotion... who does not love to be excited about something?!? A great type of session where a couple would be expressing emotion is during a gender reveal session or an engagement session.

Tears

Tears are a unique thing to photograph. Whether you capture tears of joy or ones of sadness, both of those when taken right will pull at the heart strings.

Love

Always try and find the love shared between the clients in every single session you photograph. Whether it is a family where you can capture the love shared between the parents and children, a couple who is excited about their upcoming wedding or new parents staring lovingly at their new baby, love is such a special emotion that every client will want you to capture.

If you take lifestyle portraits regularly or you are looking to break into that industry, you need to get your hands on The Lifestyle Portrait Guide that is a collaboration between Jordan Parks Photography and BP4U Photography Resources. This 126-page guide answers all the questions you need to know about lifestyle photography while talking about scouting locations, emotion, equipment, mastering light, post processing tips and so much more!

Get this guide today for a sale price of $19.00 (regularly $199) on Photographer Candy!

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Reid Warner

January 30, 2017

tips & tutorials

2 Ways To Make Couples Feel Comfortable While Taking Portraits

Reid Warner

January 30, 2017

tips & tutorials

Photographing couples is such a great market. There is just something about capturing the love that two people share for each other. Whether you are taking engagement photos or capturing a milestone anniversary, the couple will look back on these photos for the rest of their lives.

You want to make sure that you capture the couple exactly how they hope to be photographed so they come back to you anytime they need other photos taken. You want to take the time to understand and get to know the couple together... what they enjoy doing together, their hobbies, and even unique places around the city that mean something special to them. All of these things will help you plan a perfect portrait session that will be personalized for that specific couple.

When you are actually at the portrait session taking their photos, you have to keep the couple comfortable to be sure they are relaxed. If they seem nervous or stiff, it will come across in the photos. The Posing Guide For Couple Portraits, a BP4U guide written by Beth with ENV Photography, gives some great tips to help make the couple feel comfortable with icebreakers and awkward posing fixes and more. Today, we are going to share 2 of those tips with you below!

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE THE POSING GUIDE
FOR COUPLE PORTRAITS NOW!

1. Have some ice breakers ready.

You want to have some fun jokes or goofy faces ready to break the nervousness and make the couple laugh. Tell jokes, trip over things... do whatever it takes to get your couple laughing and relaxed. Another fun ice breaker that Beth talks about doing herself in this guide is having the couple nose-wrestle. After rubbing noses together, the couple is sure to be laughing and much more ready to smile big and take some great photos!

2. Work with awkward poses.

Sometimes a pose that you love from a previous couple portrait session just does not look right with the couple you are currently photographing. That is okay! Be confident in what you are doing and just try and adjust the couple to make it more natural - or even watch how they normally move and interact with one another and go with something new.

The one thing you do not want to do is make the couple feel discouraged. Once they realize that something is not working or looking right, they may get tense or agitated which does not help the rest of the shoot and will make them feel uncomfortable. Even if the pose is not working, take a few photos and just go with it without saying it looks funny so they stay comfortable.

If you love these 2 great tips on making a couple feel comfortable during portraits and want to see even more, you must get the Posing Guide For Couple Portraits today! In this 209 page guide, you will get tons of pose ideas as well as tips on finding the perfect location, pricing and even post processing. For only $9.99 you can get this awesome guide today!

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE THE POSING GUIDE
FOR COUPLE PORTRAITS NOW!

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Reid Warner

January 13, 2017

tips & tutorials

3 Ways To Spice Up A Dull Location

Reid Warner

January 13, 2017

tips & tutorials

There is nothing fun about trying to take an amazing photo with a dull location showing up in the background. It has probably happened to most of you where you find yourself taking portraits, at a wedding or even while taking landscape photos, and the location is just not as artistic as you would like. No matter what it is that you are shooting, there are plenty of ways you can spice up a dull location and we want to share 3 ways with you today.

1. Add In Some Extra Lighting

Adding in a little bit of light can really make a difference in spicing up your location and making the photos look great. Take some time when you arrive at the location and scope out unique details of the background that would be great to draw a little extra attention to with the lighting.

Photo credit: Meredith Clark Photography — Photo credit: Meredith Clark Photography

2. Think About The Time Of Day

You may find that a specific location may be boring at one time of day, but may look totally different at another time. It is always important to scope out your location, so perhaps visit the spot at different times prior to your shoot to see what time of day is best. See what it looks like either early in the morning or late in the evening. Or, think about how the scene would look at night. Each time can bring a totally different look to the photos even though you take them from the exact same spot.

Photo credit: wildpianist via Flickr — Photo credit: wildpianist via Flickr

3. Snap Photos From Different Angles

Just snapping a photo while you are standing straight in front of your subject is wonderful but if you move to a higher or lower angle to take the same photo can make it stand out that much more. While preparing for your shot, try and visualize different angles you can try out. Perhaps you are photographing a family at a park and you can get up on top of a table or playground to shoot them from above. Or maybe you can try lying in front of the subject you are photographing so you photograph them from below catching a great background of the blue sky in the distance.

These are just a few ways to spice up a dull location when you are taking photos. If you are out taking photos and find yourself in a location with a less than stellar look to it, be sure to consider all of these options to take the best photos you possibly can.

If you liked these tips, here are a few more you may enjoy:

Do you take animal photographs or other shots outdoors and sometimes need to fix the sky? If you ever want to add clouds or sunsets to your photos then this Pretty Sky Overlays is for you! For $124.99, you will get 110 overlays that will allow you to fix a blown out sky or edit in a specific mood.

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE PRETTY SKY OVERLAYS NOW!

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