Photographing kids, useful tips.
Hey all,
Photographing children can be a joyful and rewarding process but it's also uniquely challenging.
So here you can find some useful tips or I hope so...:)
1. Be flexible and follow kids lead
Working with children can be very unpredictable so the best thing is to follow their lead and to be patient. If you getting lots of candid moments that's ok or if you get more posing moments - that's ok too..:)The important thing is to get great photos!
2. Shoot at the child's level
For a great composition most of the time you need to shoot from the child's eye level. This creates a more natural perspective in your image.
3. Try a variety of poses
Just try as many poses as possible and ask the child to do different poses, movements all the time so that way you will have plenty of photos to pick for the parents.
4. Capture candid photos
Posing images are very nice but the moments between posing, the very natural ones are just great and most of the parents would love them!
5. Don't tire the children
When photographing children the time is very important because kids getting very tired and bored quickly so shoot quickly and set your camera to it's fastest shutter speed and use a high ISO to freeze speed moments.
6. Speaking with children
It's very important to create a bond with the children and to make them feel calm and comfortable. Talk to them about the real things like what they like to do for example...
7. Tickles
Always help with all ages
8. Offer a reward
Always help with all ages too..:)
9. Take a break
If the kid is not in the mood just give him/her a break. Always help!
10. Don't force it!
The harder you try the more reluctant they will become!
These are all my tips for getting nice children photos and I really hope to help you with the challenge called kids..:)
But one thing is for sure more you shoot more you get and the results are getting better and better..:)
xx
Petya
Tips for gorgeous outdoor photos.
Hello,
It's already this time of the year when the sun is here, the day is longer and the outdoor photos are MUST and honestly, these are my favorite too..:)
So I decided it will be useful to give you nice tips for gorgeous outdoor photos which are part of my personal experience as a photographer.
MY TIPS FOR GORGEOUS OUTDOOR PHOTOS:
1. Best season - People often ask me what is the best season for outdoor sessions and honestly, every season is the best season and it has its own colors and you can get gorgeous outdoor photos if you are not afraid to go out and explore. You can use snowflakes in the winter, colorful leaves in autumn, sunny warm days in summer or beautiful blossoms in spring. Just go out and start creating moments!
2. Best time - What is the best time of the day is the other question people ask me often and yeah the best time is the "Golden hour" - this is the time two-three hours before sunset or one-two hours after sunrise when you can avoid the harsh shadows on people faces. Of course, you can not always shoot at that time but just be aware to avoid the direct sunlight, use the shadows and in cloudy weather is good to have a reflector to get better results.
3. What to wear - It really depends on the whole concept of the photoshoot but simple natural colors are the best, with no stamps on your clothes and for families, the matching colors are very suitable so you can find the season color palettes here where you can choose between the seasonal colors to match...
4. Using a flash - Using an external flash is the most effective way to remove any shadows that may appear on the face of your subject. In this case, the external flash is acting as a fill light, so just try it and will not regret it!
5. Dreamy effect - When you shoot outdoor portraiture to achieve this nice and dreamy effect of your photos I really recommend you to shoot in Aperture Priority Mode or just to set a wide aperture to have a blurred background called bokeh. It's good to have a fixed focal length lens to create a soft and delicate bokeh and the most popular options are 50mm, 85mm and 135mm. Your aperture is good to be between f-1.8 and f-4 to have this blurred and nice background.
6. Focus - My advice is to always focus on the people eye's, The eyes are the most important part of every good portrait and also the sharper one so when you focus on eyes they will stay sharp but the skin will look softer.
7. Composition - It's essential for great portraits. Be sure to incorporate plenty of your surroundings into your images- look for interesting objects, colors and textures - blue sky, green fields or light through a tree. Also, you can look for interesting architecture, textures or statues to use in your images.
8. Posing - Guidance your subjects and put them in an easy and fun and relaxed atmosphere. If a certain pose isn't working then don't force it. Sometimes the natural poses of the subjects are the best ones.
9. Backgrounds - Remove distracting backgrounds and always looking for distracting elements in the background. Sometimes you just need to move a few inches in either direction or use the subject to block it out.
10. Change angles - For the best results trying different angles is very important to create a beautiful photo. It's advisable to get on your subject's level, especially if they are small children. Don't afraid to try everything!
These were my tips for gorgeous outdoor photos and people I really hope you will find them useful and easy to understand, the best thing with the photography is to keep trying new things all the time just because every person has a different view and different feeling about what is beautiful so this definitely will make your photos gorgeous in your own way and it will be unique!
If you have questions just connect with me and enjoy the beautiful weather..:)
xx Petya
My family trip to Groombridge Place England
Hello people,
One of the things I really love aside photography is to travel and to explore new places so today my blog post is actually a little photo walk in a wonderful countryside place not far away from London - Groombridge Place.
Groombridge Place is located on a half an hour from London between East Sussex and Kent at the historic village of Groombridge.
"Described as one of the finest 17th-century classical mansion in England., it was built by Philip Packer a founder member of the Royal Society and a friend of Sir Christopher Wren, an architect of St. Paul's Cathedral.
The loggia at the front and the formal canal in the garden both show a strong Italian influence, inspired by Packer's "Grand Tour" of Europe in the 1640's.
The design is in the style of Sir Christopher Wren, and it remains virtually unaltered since it was built around the time of the restoration of King Charles II in 1660."
The Place has a private Manor House not open to the public unfortunately but beautiful outside.
And also it has lovely gardens very green and perfectly arranged, fairytale adventure forest with resident birds and dears and canal available for you to explore and enjoy.
So if you haven't been to Groombridge Place I hope the rest of the images will change your mind and you will go..:) Definitely is one of my favorite places to visit now and there is a lot of activities for adults and children too so it's a perfect place for a family day out and relax. More details you can find at the website of the Groombridge Estate where you can find anything you need..:)
I hope this blog post was a nice photo walk for you in the beautiful green countryside of England and you will find it inspirational and very calming..:)
Enjoy!
What camera to use to get a nice photos?
Hey all,
Recently I received so many questions about what camera to use to get nice photos and honestly I don't have a proper answer. It really depends on what are you going to use the camera - taking family pictures, travel photography, shoot nature or whatever you see and what would you expect? Do you need the camera for a hobby or for more professional purposes? But to give you a little bit more idea what to expect from the very different camera types I can explain more about the basic models here.
So generally you can find the following types of cameras to choose from:
- COMPACT DIGITAL CAMERAS
Obviously, this type of camera is the most popular one, because firstly of their smaller size and ease of using and secondary because of their prize. These cameras are fully automated and you don't have to worry about the camera settings and also you don't have manual adjustments to the camera settings, so littery you just point and shoot (the other name of this type of cameras). That's it - simple and easy!
- BRIDGE SUPER ZOOM CAMERAS
The main difference between Bridge and Compact cameras is that you have a little bit more control over the camera exposure settings. They have semi-automated modes like Program modes, Aperture, and Shutter priority. Most of them have full manual mode as well. Bridge cameras have a lens attached but the main difference from the DSLR cameras is that you can't change the lens. Also, they have a smaller sensor and a smaller lens. So the good thing about these cameras is that you have a little bit more control over your settings and also, they are not so expensive compared with DSLR cameras.
- MIRRORLESS/COMPACT SYSTEM LENS CAMERAS
This type of camera is very similar to DSLR cameras and just like them have full and crop sensors (I will write about these in my future blog posts). You can use full manual mode, which gives you more freedom and creative points or you can use automatic or semi-automatic modes. Also, you can use different lenses for different situations, but the lenses here are quite smaller than the DSLR cameras, even those the quality of the images taken is very good and very similar to the DSLR cameras. So if you prefer good quality images but a smaller size camera and not so heavy this is the right camera for you.
- DSLR CAMERAS
DSLR or digital single lens reflex cameras are the most advanced type of cameras on the market. Definitely, they are much bigger and heavier than all other cameras but you have full control of your settings and full creative control as well. You can use many different types of lenses for different situations and photography purposes and the quality of the lenses is much better than the other camera types which makes the quality of the images much better too.
So as you can see there is a variety of a different type of cameras and choosing the right one for you really depend from your knowledge, purpose, and preferences and I have not even mentioned the action cameras and the mobile ones. Nowadays mobile photography is so popular that soon mobile phones will replace Compact Cameras. The best advice I can give you before you buy a camera is to go to the local photography store and just try different models, ask for details and compare the types to see if they suit your needs.
I really hope this brief blog post was useful and helpful for you!
Please feel free to connect with me, any blog post suggestions are very welcome too!
Have a great and relaxed weekend..:)
Petya xx
My start as a photographer
Hello everyone,
As most of you know my blog is very new and I was really wondering how to start and what to write about at the beginning, so following your suggestions on my FB page and group I decided that this title is really a good starting point.:)
MY START AS A PHOTOGRAPHER
In fact, my love for photography came into my life when I received my first camera gift from my mum when I was 18 years old. It was not a very expensive or fancy model but from the moment I pulled it out of the box and started shooting, I already knew it was love for a lifetime. :)
As completely new to me, I started to shoot everything, littery from portraits to flowers, landscapes, and street shots. I was obsessed with all the beauty around me and wanted to capture everything, especially the small and real details. Everything was perfect until my camera was stolen and I had nothing to shoot...so you can imagine how sad and disappointed I was..:) Thankfully my loving husband decided to surprise me and one day coming back from work, he brings me a box with gift, I opened it and what to see - my first DSRL camera. I cannot really explain how happy and excited I was at the time!
And then, in fact, my photography vision was changed completely, I no longer just wanted to capture everything but wanted to photograph unforgettable moments and enjoy the small details in the pictures but at the same time, I wanted my pictures to be better than before and definitely with great quality. I started to study very hard about photography, taking photography courses, watching photography tutorials all the time, studying how my camera works and how to use it in the best possible way, and over time I have found that portraits and street photos are very interesting to me, especially taking pictures of people in their daily lives, walking around at the streets, laughing and doing their daily duties..I loved lifestyle portraits and photography. But among other things, flowers and landscapes were another passion of mine and still is by the way..:)
After some time I started to work as a sales assistant at a very professional photography store and there I actually learned a lot about the camera types, the difference between them, how and where to use every single model, the camera accessories and pretty much everything for the equipment I need and a photography at all. So after all the useful information I already had I decided to sell my current camera and to get my first FULL FRAME DSRL camera (I can explain the difference between full frame and crop cameras in another blog story). A new world was opened for me! My photographs started getting better and more professional and I was shooting more and more portraits of friends, events and special occasions and family portraits, all my close friends started to ask me why I did not start doing photography professionally, but despite the wonderful reviews of my work, I still had no courage to start that.
Until...one wonderful summer day I was invited to take part in charity event as a photography and this literally turned my life...I had two shooting days and I shot about 30 families and after those two days I was absolutely sure this is the thing I want to do in the future, I wanted to shoot children and families and to make them happy. I wanted to have my own studio place and I wanted to develop as a photographer and I knew this was my dream and this dream would make me happy.
So, just over two years ago, I started to realize my dream, I had a camera already, I started working as a photographer on a part-time basis and the other time I was doing my other job so that I could save money for a second camera body, better equipment, computer, and photographic software. I have made a FB page, a business email, a logo, I have launched my website and step by step I started spreading. I had just a few clients and the started to increase and after little time my first photography home studio was opened.
So until now...:) And I couldn't be happier!
I am still developing and still have much to learn but what I know for sure is that I really LOVE taking photos and I really love creating lifetime memories!
And at the end of that story I want to send a message to all of you who don't feel confident enough about what you love, follow your dreams, have the courage and never give up doing what makes you happy! It's worth every moment!