The following is a guest post from momAgendaCOMM blogger Jill Krause.
The carefree days of summer are just calling for you to document its bright colors and sun-filled scenes. Breakout your camera and follow these three simple tips to get the best summer-inspired pictures you can.
1. Take advantage of the light!
The sun doesn’t set until well into the evening this time of year, so you have no excuse not to use it to your full advantage. When you’re inside, open up blinds and curtains to let the sun stream in so that you can turn your flash off and capture images that aren’t flat.
When outside, take advantage of the later sunset. Capturing moments when the sun is just about to set behind your subject will give you warm images with a bit of haze and maybe even some sun flare. Just be sure to not focus your camera directly on the setting sun. You want it off to the side a bit, with your subject in the center.
Be sure when the sun is high in the sky in the middle of the day that you shoot your subjects under shade, at the edge of where the shade meets the sun.
2. Keep your shutter speed high when things/people are moving.
Whether you’re taking pictures of your son’s baseball game or you’re watching your toddler chase bubbles in the backyard, you’ll want to keep your shutter speed high so that your photos don’t appear blurry. The faster (or higher) your shutter speed, the better it will stop motion… or freeze that moment.
If you have a DSLR, make sure that you account for the high shutter speed by upping your ISO and/or aperture to let enough light into the picture. If you have a basic point and shoot, be sure to put it on the mode with the running man icon.
Be sure to switch out of this mode when you’re trying to capture moments in low-light situations, like in the house.
3. Tell the whole story.
It’s not just about my toddler’s first trip to get frozen yogurt. It’s about how she climbed on her daddy’s lap, begging him for some of his. How she licked the bowl clean. How small she looked sitting on that big bench and how her bright clothes matched the background.
Think beyond the obvious photos. Capture the details, the before and after, and the mess. Don’t forget the mess! Life is messy, we should celebrate that.
Jill Krause enjoys blogging on her personal site, Baby Rabies and you can also find her on Twitter and Facebook.