Beginner Family Photography – A Photo Tips Year In Review
Every “best” photo I take ends up falling in the rankings. This is consistent with most areas of life – practice and learning brings improvement. For example, look at the photo below:
Now compare that with a similar photo I took this week:
While there is still plenty of room for improvement, I feel like the 2nd picture captures more of the scene, and the wonder and excitement as they explore the sandstone cliffs. I thought the top photo was so great, when I took it, and now it’s my example for how bad lucky my photo were previously. As I learn how to operate my camera faster and instinctively, I am able to envision the image rather than praying the exposure works out. I am starting to consciously think about positioning my subjects in the light, and the story I want to tell with the image.
All of this growth stems from our photo tips archives, in the spirit of teaching as we learn. It has been a little random, but diving deeper on specific photography knowledge and skills for the posts helped us improve tremendously. With the basics on ISO, Shutter Speed, and Aperture, I thought I should put together a road map for new readers, and anyone wanting to make better use of the camera they have in the closet.
Beginner Family Photography – Day 1 With the Camera
When you take the camera out of the box, there are a few decisions and settings to adjust straight away. Choose whether or not you will shoot in RAW or JPEG, turn on bracketing, and setup your Maximum Auto ISO. This will acquaint you with the camera, and still capture some decent shots for your annual photo book.
4 Questions to Answer, Should I Shoot in RAW?
Bracketing Photography Tutorial – Never Miss a Moment
Basics of ISO – 5 Tips & Tricks for Less Grainy Photos
Beginner Family Photography – Shutter Speed
After famliarizing yourself with the camera, it’s time to start branching out a bit. I suggest starting out with shutter speed, and then working through the details of aperture. The goal is to capture those magic moments, and they happen quickly, especially with a running toddler.
When & How to Use Shutter Speed In Photography
Beginner Family Photography – Aperture
From there, start thinking about how much or how little of the image you want in focus, using aperture priority mode. The second article here will help with that “professional” swirly, twirly, blurred background.
Aperture Priority Mode – When and Where to Use It
Bokeh – How to Blur Background in 3 Simple Steps
Beginner Family Photography File Management & Editing:
With all of the new photos piling up on memory cards, it is important to have a good system in place for storing them. It is also useful to choose at least some basic free editing tools, if nothing else. We definitely prefer to use Lightroom now, but there are other options.
How to Organize Photos in Six Simple Steps (for Free!)
How To Import And Organize Media In Adobe Lightroom
Beginner Family Photography- Toddler Sessions
Toddlers are just too cute to miss out on the photos and expressions. While some of this content overlaps with other posts, I am proud of the CZ photos we captured after researching these posts.
Three Steps to Natural Toddler Photography
Three Simple Steps to Edit Your Toddler Photography
If you have any questions, please send them through in the comments, or contact us through our Facebook page.
