Making it Lovely

Tag: photography

  • Taking Great Photos of Kids

    Taking Great Photos of Kids

    I’m working with Shutterfly on a sponsored three-part series to share some of my favorite photography tips with you. Over the next few weeks I’ll tell you how to photograph your cute home, and I’ll talk about documenting your baby’s growth like I’ve done with my monthly baby pictures. Today though? It’s all about taking great photos of kids.

    First of all, kiddos are short. You’ll get better results if you get down to their level.

    Of course, sometimes standing over them can give you an interesting shot. The occasional Dutch angle is good too (just don’t overdo it).

    Don’t be afraid to get close.

    Closer.

    And even if you don’t know a thing about composition, or the technical aspects of photography, you can never fail when capturing emotion.


    “I’m not so sure about this…”


    “It moves!?”


    “This is the best!”

    See that? Pure joy! Nothing better.

    This content series is brought to you by Shutterfly. Make your photo book just the way you want with the all New Custom Path.

  • Family Photo Time

    Family Photo Time

    We took a family photo yesterday, right before we left to go to my mom’s house.

    Cute, right? Aw, what a sweet little family I have. And here’s what it took to get that shot… (more…)

  • Nicole Hill Gerulat’s Online Photo 101 Class

    Nicole Hill Gerulat’s Online Photo 101 Class

    Nicole Hill Gerulat has an amazing photography portfolio. She also teaches an online Photo 101 class, which she offered to me when she saw that I had written about wanting to become a better photographer.

    I had taken a photo class in high school, but that was fifteen years ago and I no longer knew my f-stop from my aperture. (Turns out they’re the same thing, go figure.) Before the class began, I had been trying to improve through trial and error, mostly relying on my camera’s AV and TV priority modes. Now I’m fully comfortable shooting in manual.

    The photos in this post are from one of my class homework assignments. All of these images are straight out of camera (SOOC), shot in manual mode.

    The class structure is great because there is a video for each week’s lesson, but you can also read the information instead of just watching it. There is a companion text book as well which I’ve written about separately. If you’re looking for a course to start shooting in manual, or just to improve your photography skills in general (composition is covered as well), I’d definitely recommend Nicole’s Photo 101 class.

    The only drawback I’m seeing? Now that I know what I’m doing, I want some new lenses to play with. And lenses are expensive. Must practice restraint.

  • Photo 101: The Book

    Photo 101: The Book

    Nicole Hill Gerulat sent this book to me after she read that I was looking to improve my photography skills. It’s a companion to her Photo 101 course, which I wrote about separately.

    First off, I learned a lot about my camera in just the first ten pages. I’ve read (OK, glanced) through my camera’s instruction manual before, but the features and functions never made as much sense to me as they did after reading the first chapter. I was excited! Then I read this:

    It should not take 1,000 shots (or even 10) to get the right one. Who has that kind of time? Or hard drive space? The goal here is to get our percentages up so that at least 80% of a shoot is portfolio-worthy.

    Say what? I sat up a little straighter in my chair. I’ve always been of the ‘take a million shots and hope for a few good ones’ school. Happily, my percentage has been improving, thanks in large part to Nicole.

    • Photo 101 Textbook by Nicole Hill Gerulat

  • Eleanor’s Monthly Photo Shoot (Video)

    Eleanor’s Monthly Photo Shoot (Video)

    Eleanor’s monthly baby photo shoots are nearly at an end. She’ll turn two next month, and then I’ll be photographing her yearly instead. I used to carry her over to the chair each month for her picture, but lately she’s taken to hopping in on her own. She’s growing up, that little girl!

    I take a hundred or so photographs each month, and from those I choose one image to share with you. Eleanor had a great time during our latest session, so I thought I’d give you a little peek into what our photo shoots are like. I created a video out of our still photos, and I’d say it’s just about the cutest thing ever.


    Music: Toc Toc by The Lovers

    As always, you can see all of Eleanor’s monthly photos here.

  • Totally Rad Photoshop Actions

    Totally Rad Photoshop Actions

    They hooked me on the free samples, and now I’m love with the full set.

    • Totally Rad