Fantastic Tips for Baby Photos

1. Baby Wraps

When working with a baby wrap I recommend to always bundle the baby as tight as possible to simulate the security and warmth of the womb. Having a happy (and still) newborn baby during your photo shoot is essential to getting great shots. Wrapping the baby tightly is, in essence, the same as swaddling; which has been proven by specialists to calm infants because it recreates the warm and comforting feeling of the womb. A baby that feels secure and safe is a happy baby!

2. White Noise

Babies, particularly newborns, are accustomed to the sounds of the womb so white noise can have a powerful calming effect on them. Most professional baby photographers keep a white noise machine handy in their stash and will even use it during the entire photo shoot. If you don't have a white noise machine or are unwilling to buy one, there are free and paid iPhone apps that simulate these machines machines (just search iTunes for "White Noise"). If you have your laptop with you on site and there is an internet connection available, you can find a number of different websites available that simulate white noise machines (just search "White Noise Player"). For babies or toddlers that are a few months older, sometimes a white noise machine doesn't do the trick but the little one may have a favorite song that he/she likes to hear and this can have the same soothing effect (although it might drive you crazy!). When you arrive for the photo shoot just ask whoever is there if their baby has a favorite song or musical toy that they like to listen to when they nap.

3. Bring Wipes!

Protecting the value of your hand-chosen photo prop stash is super important. It is inevitable that in working with little ones on a regular basis most of your props are going to face an unfortunate, occasional accident. Keeping a pack of wipes with you on the set of your photo shoot so you can react right away to accidents will help the long term durability of your props. Most parents will keep wipes in the house that you might be able to use but you don't want to rely on this or come across as imposing so just bring your own. You'll be glad you did.

These are the top three tips that I keep coming back to in my experience. Even some of the best photographers can sometimes forget about these three tips.

For other great baby photo tips and a wealth of fresh ideas to inspire your own baby photo ideas, visit http://www.babyphotoideas.us.

Digital Photography For Beginners

Poor, lifeless, or simply lacklustre photos are often triggered through idleness. Regrettably, a lot of photography enthusiasts, amateurs and even professionals, will approach a photograph assignment having a pre-created preconception of attack - mostly from either their own set style (and attempting to be cautious) or not wanting to go against the grain of acceptance. Rarely will the digital photographer take one step back, lower their camera for a few seconds, and size-up the job in hand before proceeding. Instead, a lot of us will execute the photo in the position we initially perceived the topic, never thinking to review the possibilities and the environment first.

Consider this. A well-known and respected world class digital photographer once stated "Look at it like this - the subject you wish to photograph is the nucleus of an atom. You, the photographer, are the electron spinning around the subject until you find just the right angle and distance. Not until then will you have successfully evaluated every aspect of that subject and its possibilities." Furthermore, he added, "Just the slightest move to the right or left, up or down has the potential to make or break the photo. Don't be in such a hurry to finish and leave."

This is why I say to you "Dare To Be Different". Some time ago I attended an Advanced Photography Workshop which was held over a beautiful summer's weekend. A large number of photography enthusiasts accompanied me. On Day One we spent the whole morning in a popular wedding venue with the models for a photo session where everybody was directed and challenged to consider photographs they'd not usually do. After the session, everybody was told to review and select their 10 favourite images ready for appraisal during the session the next morning.

What I believe everybody found so interesting was that although we had all worked with the very same models, with the potential for carrying out exactly the same poses, actually everybody had chosen to see things from different angles, and therefore generate highly creative poses. This was purely down to the fact that they had been instructed before the shoot to challenge their normal limitations, and "think outside the box". Instead of just charging in, which is easy and habitual to do, the photographers were taking that proverbial 'one step back' before taking each shot. Subsequently, each attendee genuinely presented a totally different group of images to one another and, most importantly, really set themselves apart.

So next time you are out with your camera, remember this most simple, but effective, digital photography trick. Take a step back and think carefully about the various ways that you might take the photograph. You may be pleasantly surprised just what the finished result is.

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Jewelry Photography Basics

Jewelry photography is a specialty style of photography. Most people will use a lightbox, or tent which is simply a cube that is build up of translucent material shaped in a cube. The translucent material is used to diffuse hard light to avoid harsh shadows. But usually what you end up with is super low contrast flat lighting. This style is most popular with catalog style photography. But if you are looking to create a stunning photo of a piece of jewelry you are going to have use a different method to create a "beauty" shot as they call it in the industry.

Chose a background color, or texture to enhance the photo. For the color you can use a contrasting color from the stones. Avoid similar colors and tones as the stone or color of the gems. For texture, a granite tile works pretty good. Or some stones, bamboo, and even some props can help enhance the photo to create a scene and something more visually appealing than your boring white background.

Instead of using all softbox light, throw in some hard light to hit stones and make them really pop. A photographic bling if you will. Mirrors or silver reflectors can be used as your hard light source as well.

The second most important part of jewelry photography is depth of field. You want to get the most focus out of the shot as possible. Usually using a small aperture will do the trick. Remember not to zoom too far in as that will also kill your depth of field. More than likely you want a lens that has macro capabilities. This way you can get as close as possible to the object with your camera, keeping you from having to zoom in and lose your deep of field (dof).

White balance is another big concern when it comes to jewelry photography, especially with gold. If you don't have your white balance set correctly your gold will more than likely come out a brownish color and tone. If you come across this issue you know that you have too much blue or green in your color, and should adjust accordingly. Usually setting up a white card in the beginning of the shoot is a good idea. And you can reference that for you source of white point. Exposure is also important to keep your gold jewelry from turning brown. Check your histogram to make sure you are at proper exposure.

Craig Smith is a Dallas Jewelry Photographer. Specializing in advertisement style photography, and shoots product photography in Dallas for catalogs, retail, online stores and more.

Mother's Day Portrait Tips And Ideas - How To Be Creative

I wanted to share some portrait ideas and tips for Mother's Day. Believe it or not, Mother's day is right around the corner and choosing the perfect gift can be extremely difficult. I always tell photographers to plan ahead and to plan this at least a few weeks before the occasion. If you can plan a couple of months ahead...that's even better. I know where talking about Mother's Day here, but this applies to any Holiday or special occasion.

Let's be clear about something here

Your job as a photographer and a marketer, is to help your clients find that special gift by offering them a unique portrait session and with Mother's day near as I wrote this...we'll use this as our example. Always remind them that this is guaranteed to be the most favorite gift she'll receive and it will last longer than a bouquet of flowers!

They can choose from a generation portrait, a family portrait, a Mommy and me session or simply just photograph the children by themselves. A beautiful portrait that captures a moment in time is a gift from the heart and will be treasured forever. But...you already know that.

Here's a couple of unique portrait ideas for inspiration!

Take a photograph of the Mother and child's shoes or capture a close-up of them holding hands. Find a meaningful quote and personalize the portrait using Photoshop or create a unique personalized collage.

Photograph a little girl playing dress-up in her mother's or her grandmother's clothing or wedding gown. The client can help you create this family heirloom portrait by bringing along their mother or grandmother's wedding gown. If they don't have a gown, they can bring a favorite dress or outfit and shoes. You can also ask them to bring any vintage hats, old family photographs or other special mementos to personalize their portrait.

Children will have a ball playing dress-up! Using their mother's or grandmother's clothing, photos and mementos makes it extra special. I recommend using a vintage trunk that the child can sit on or they may even want to climb inside. A few years back I created a portrait of our daughter wearing her great-grandmother's nightgown and was admiring her old black and white wedding photos. As you can imagine, her great- grandmother was absolutely thrilled when she received this on Mother's Day. This unique gift idea is sure to be a hit and will be cherished for generations to come.

So...I hope this gets you thinking of the possibilities that can be created by using some simple props and classic portraiture. Don't over complicate things when creating these special portraits. Just keep in mind that the Mother/Grandmothers will be thrilled to have a keepsake from their child or children.

Scott Voelker is the creator of NewPortraitBiz. He has taught 1,000's of students how to start a photography business. To receive his Free video lessons and Blog posts visit New Portrait Biz Blog.

You should also check out this Digital Portrait Idea he posted that shows you a simple technique you can use for inspiration.

Easy Tips For Taking Better Pictures Everyday

Photography is a difficult art, it takes and master to achieve awesome results, but it's not difficult to take great photos and improve our technique. On-line you can find a lot of guhdes that will teach you how to use the camera, capture the light, compose the picture and so on. All those advices are very helpful, but I wanted to help by adding my ten tips that have helped me become a better photographer every day:

    Don't buy a new camera: Yes, everybody says you need a fancy camera, but trust me, you don't. The reason is tip number 2, you need to use your camera as much as possible, so what happens if you lose your fancy new camera? And what if you forget somewhere that old one?

    Take pictures: Yes, it might sound stupid, but it's not. You must take pictures everyday, and not just one. Use your commuting route as a way to focus on your environment and take pictures of it. As many as you can.

    Select your best pictures: Spend 20 minutes every day to download your pictures, look at them and choose the best three.

    Analyse your best pictures: What makes those three nice? What did you do to make them so good? Analyse your "success" so you can apply it the next day.

    Share your pictures: Take part of an on-line community and share your pictures there. Ask for critics, advice and comments. The users are your jury and you will learn much from them.

    Use the composition: Play with the pictures composition to distort the view and show what you found interesting in the spot you are picturing.

    Use the light: The light is a wonderful way to hide and show objects. Play with it so you can make the interesting points stand out and hide what is meaningless for the photo.

    Use a tripod: Tripods are good to hold the camera and give you time to work with your composition and lights. If no tripod is available find a spot were you can stand the camera still.

    Wake up early and go to bed late: Sunshine and sunset are the best times to take photos, the sun is not up and shadows are amazing. Take advantage of it so you can play more with the picture and make details stand out.

    Work, work, work: Keep focus and remember to take pictures everyday. Your technique will improve with time and you will find more and more difficult to choose your best pictures.

I really hope this tips are useful for you and that you grow, day by day, to become a better photographer. Thanks for reading!

I'm John Scott-Adams, I love pictures, mines and from others. So I choose daily a city picture to share with the readers of my blog thecitypictures.net.