Photographing your own children?

It can be quite frustrating and rewarding in the same time! The most important thing that you should be looking for is to capture the spirit of the moment, but here are few tips for you:

The Setting and the Natural Approach: with children, there is no better environment than their own home, with their own things around them, especially toys. Gardens and lawns are a great place to photograph your child or children, but be prepared to get a little mucky. Get on the floor with the baby and shoot as though you were another baby playing, from his or her viewpoint. Be Prepared and have a plan as to where and how you will photograph the child/children.

Clothes and Props. A change of clothes midway through the shoot is a good idea, it gives EVERYONE a break and makes for a more varied portfolio for your family album.

Smile Please! Smile, and keep smiling. I don’t mean to the point where your face seizes up, I mean show the children you are of a happy disposition, assure them you’ll have fun.

Equipment – Whilst it is not necessary to have the latest in Digital or Film SLR camera (Single Lens Reflex), if you are serious about photography, my tip would be to invest in this type of camera. Lighting is probably the most important aspect of not just child photography, but ALL photography. The best lighting will always be natural, by a bright window or in the shade under a tree…  Try, if possible NOT to photograph the child or children in DIRECT sunlight. Direct flash is also a no-no.

Be Ready! Always have your finger on the shutter button, and try to have the camera settings set correctly. Children are one of the most spontaneous and unpredictable subjects you can photograph, you NEVER know what they will do next.

Note: NEVER give out bad photographs. Even if you think the picture itself is sweet, but is blurred, or has red eye, or badly composed, bin it. A parent (including myself) loves any photograph of their child, but a friend of the parent, will just see a bad photograph! That’s why at this point, after you did your best shooting the photos, there comes the photo editing studio, just that is almost impossible to find one that works WITH YOUR PHOTOS. The photographers may or may not accept to apply few effects on their own photos, but definitely not on yours!

Well I find a place where great photo artists work for you and with you: www.pixelpole.com is The Advanced Digital Pictures Editing Studio that takes photos from ordinary to extraordinary and enables customers to transform their pictures in unforgettable memories. See for yourself how your pictures can be the envy of all your friends when using Pixel Pole services on your favorite photos.

Enjoy!

Displaying Family Photos

When talking about designing your own space and enhancing it by displaying family photos, there is quite a debate over the subject. We all have families, childhood memories, people we love, so why not have pictures of them in our homes? Pictures inspire us and captivate our imaginations.

Lately I’ve been on the lookout for interesting and beautiful ideas for balancing sentiment and style when it comes to hanging family photos.
Most collections of family pictures have the biggest impact when grouped.

You may group them along an imaginary horizontal line on the wall, behind a big piece of furniture and hang all pictures above it. As shown in the sample.

Another option may be to hang all pictures above and below the midline, if there is no furniture against the wall.

You may like them “lining” the stairwell, at the same distance from each step. Or you may choose the mantel for a more formal display.

Whatever your choice, the most appealing way of grouping your family pictures is to set up the pictures you want to display.
When it comes to choosing which photos to display, there is just one DON’T that everyone agrees with: don’t mix and match different styles of black & whites photos with very colorful ones. The best idea is to ask a photo art designer to find a common thread to tie the pieces together. Perhaps the pictures are part of a set or collection; if not maybe you’ll like them all black and white… but what about those beautiful tones of autumn leaves that you want to keep? Difficult – I know!
A grouping needs a linking element so they are best suited for displaying together. A unifying theme is hard to find among pictures of different people, faraway places, and different seasons, you may find their “linking element” in the same art effect applied to each of them.
For instance in the design of a group of pictures shown here, combining sepia tones and other original pictures works very well, sepia tones being here “the unifying element”.
You may mix black & white pictures with other pictures where the effect of “accent color” is done onto a black and white background. The possibilities are endless; just find a photo art designer to help you choose the effects for your favorite pictures. The answer to the difficult problem of when it comes to displaying family photos will be answered.
I found the answer to my “picture problems” here: Pixel Pole and I do recommend it to everybody.