Happy Helps with Ashley B.- Summer Photography

It is time for another post by the lovely and talented Ashley who has some great tips for us on Summer Photography.  I'm so happy to have her here on this blog and so thankful that she is willing to share her expertise with us!

first of all, happy first weeks of summer darlings! i can't even tell you how excited i am to have all of my babies at home with me and to be able to map out our days any ol' way we please. hello lazy summer mornings! 

secondly, i am so excited for summer because the family photo ops are nearly endless!  so that is kind of where my focus is going today.  thanks for joining me and i hope you enjoy!

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so the most important thing that i can say to start is this, if you own a dslr camera and you have found yourself disappointed that your new expensive camera didn't automatically produce amazing pictures, you are not alone!  i have been there.  amazing photographers have been there.  and there is hope!  you just need to put in the time and work it takes to get your money's worth out of that bad boy. with that being said, here is step number one.

#1  TAKE THE PLUNGE TO MANUAL SHOOTING

i know it is intimidating to turn that little dial to "M".  it kind of feels like a big blind step into unknown territory.  trust me, i get it.  the method that i took was to ease myself into it.  i started myself off on aperture priority.  the only manual adjustment that i had to make was on my aperture setting and the rest was all being done automatically by the genius little man inside my camera.  {not really sure what aperture is and what it has to do with your photos?  read this.} within a few weeks that involved a lot of toying around with my camera and a lot of googling, i finally felt comfortable enough to dive into manual shooting.  it took a lot of trial and error to become comfortable with it and in all honesty i feel like i am still learning little things here and there that improve my ability to quickly determine which settings i need for what situation.  there is so much to learn!  but it has taken away all kinds of limitations i struggled with before.  you can do it, be brave!

#2  MAKE THE MOST OF THAT SWEET SWEET SUNSHINE

summer means lots and lots of sun.  we need that blessed sunshine of course, but sometimes it can be hard to know what to do with it. here are a few things to keep in mind this summer.

DON'T let the sun have control of the situation.  squinty eyes, bleached out skin, shiny face.  no bueno.

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DO turn that pretty little face in another direction and you just kicked that awful glare's butt.  simple fix.

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DON'T plan an outdoor photo session with your kiddos when the sun is directly above your head. i automatically rule out 11am to 3pm and depending on where you live, you may want to be more selective and work around the heat.  You don't want flushed sweaty faces in a photo that you're actually planning for. plan to get cute photos of jimmy or sally within a few hours after sunrise or a few hours before sunset.

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IF you are trying to get a few good photos while you're out at the park, swimming, etc you probably aren't going to be too particular about shadows and what not, you just want to capture the fun.  right?  but do remember that awesome sunlight can open the door to some great action shots by allowing you to choose a faster shutter speed while still getting great light and a crisp photo. this is one of those great perks of learning to shoot manually.  {read about shutter speed here}

here is an example where i increased the shutter speed.  you would never guess that my nephew was hopping around like a little froggy.  and take a look at those water droplets!

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this is an example of a slow shutter speed.  the little guy is still hopping about and it is very obvious.  he's all a blur.  and look at the water.  you lose the cool effect of the suspended water bubbles because with your shutter staying open for longer you are catching more of the motion.

swing sets and trampolines are another place where you are going to need to up your shutter speed.  if your summers are anything like ours, you will spend lots of time near those two things.  get some good photos out of it!

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DO take advantage of that gorgeous sunset and capture a photo with a soft lovely haze.  you can create beautiful photos by learning to work with the sun and not against it.  this photo was shot just as the sun was sinking behind the treeline.  i like to position myself where the sun is partially obscured to kind of control the amount of haze in the photo.

because the sun was still up pretty high when this photo was taken, i just angled my camera to where it was picking up the slightest bit of rays from the lowest point of the sun.  as you can see, a little bit of sun goes a long way.  if i had angled my lense higher i would have had a huge amount of haze or just a completely bleached out shot.  if i had angled it down slightly i may have ended up with no haze at all.  it's amazing the difference that shifting a few inches can make in a photo.

#3  BE CREATIVE & HAVE FUN

one of my photo goals for this summer is to let my boys have some sparkler fun while i go camera happy.  i bet you've all seen some of the fun sparkler pictures that people seem to take every year around the fourth of july.  it really just looks like too much fun!  plus it is something i have never done before which poses a challenge and i love a good challenge.  since i have yet to do it i won't even pretend that i am an authority on what to do.  so here are a couple of tutorials i found helpful:: ONE & TWO.{spoiler alert!! it will involve more talk about shutter speed!}

last year we spent an evening at The Great Balloon Race here in texas.  this is one of my favorite pictures from the event except for the fact that i didn't bother to put my boys in the shot.  another of my photo goals for this summer is to get a do-over at this year's balloon race.

not every shot has to have a face in it.  i was literally laying in a puddle of water for this picture.  but i love it and thus it was worth it.  try capturing something different.  don't be afraid of getting dirty.

sometimes "cheese" is overrated.  you don't always have to have your child looking at your camera lens.  in fact i almost always prefer them to just do their own thing and let me capture what is really going on.  catch the expressions in the moment and learn to be a silent momarazzi.  some of my favorite pictures of my boys are from times that they didn't realize i was right there with my camera.

remember that you can learn just about anything you want in this amazing space we call the internet.  don't be embarrassed to ask questions and google to your little heart's content.  the more you learn about your camera the better your photos will be.  the time you put in will be well rewarded!

and that is how i'll wrap up this month's post.  i hope i've helped you at least in some small way.  now get that camera out and get to practicing!  

happy snapping!

xoxo. ash

p.s.  if you have questions you would like me to answer, you can ask me on facebook or contact me through my blog. i'd love to hear from you!