Be sure to celebrate the everyday gifts and blessings as well as the monumental occasions. Oprah Winfrey puts it best: “The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.”
And I will add something to that. The art and act of photographing your life will open your eyes to all of the everyday reasons to celebrate and will invite even more of these special moments into your life.
Playing, sleeping, exploring nature, crawling in the grass, climbing a favorite tree, playing a sport, baking or cooking with a family member, picking apples, getting on the school bus—there are so many daily celebrations to capture. Consider taking a series of shots to tell the story.
You might even want to use the Collage feature in Pixlr’s Express editor to present the photos (pixlr.com).
There are also some iPhoneography collage apps with appealing templates—try Mosaiq and Diptic.
Celebrate accomplishments—the big, the small and everything in between. Capture family and friends in their special moments—dance and music recitals, sporting events, the building of a home, climbing a mountain, a young couple’s first Thanksgiving turkey, running a race, a baby taking her first steps, an art show, last or first day of school, graduation, reading a book for the first time, cutting or losing a first tooth, removing the training wheels and going for a ride, getting a car license, etc.
Take photos of someone doing what they love in life—playing a musical instrument, making art, sailing, fishing, hunting, doing puzzles, running, gardening, cooking, taking photos (yes, don’t forget to have someone photograph you engaging in your passion), reading, sewing, fencing, whatever the passion happens to be.
For a spouse, child, parent, grandparent, friend, animal …. Shots of love are filled with energy you can feel! These snippets are so fun to photograph and mega-fun to photo-manipulate.
December is a great time for photographing holiday light displays, flickering candles and fires in the hearth. You might want to capture some bokeh while you’re at it. Use manual focusing to achieve this, turning the focus ring until you see those holiday lights transform into beautiful, soft, abstract dots of light in your viewfinder. Be sure to switch your lens to Manual Focus mode, as this maneuver can damage some lenses in Autofocus mode.
Take photos of glowing jack-o’-lanterns at Halloween. And what about the Fourth of July fireworks? (See the how-to for fireworks in the Creative Camera Model for Shooting in Manual section in Chapter Two.) Don’t forget to bring along your tripod to accommodate those slower shutter speeds.
Since photographing life celebrations calls for a variety of appropriate apertures and shutter speeds, depending on the scenario, I’ve decided to give you a quick reference list.
Use the Portrait Scene mode for a soft, blurred background.
When folks are staggered, a range of f/8 to f/11 is recommended to ensure everyone is in focus. In P mode, you can indirectly manipulate aperture by increasing or decreasing shutter speed with the program shift feature. To obtain a smaller aperture, just decrease the shutter speed by simply turning the dial on the top of your DSLR to the left.
Use the Landscape Scene mode for clarity from front to back in the scene.
Use roughly f/4 or wider. Wider than f/2.8 can cause facial blur.
Generally f/5.6 to f/11 is a good range.
A range of f/8 to f/11 will ensure everyone is in focus.
A general range of f/11 to f/22 is preferable for capturing detail from front to back in a landscape scene. Keep in mind that the closer you are to your subject, the more the blurred the background will be, even at f/22.
Use the Sports Scene mode.
In P mode use the program shift feature to override the camera’s shutter speed choice. Flip the dial to the left to choose a slower shutter speed. Use a tripod to prevent blur from camera shake.
If taking a shot of a still person, you might be able to get away with 1⁄60 sec. To play it safe and when taking photos of subjects who are relatively still, a range of 1⁄125 sec. to 1⁄250 sec. is ideal, with 1⁄250 sec. ensuring crisper shots. When you see movement, you’ll need 1⁄250 sec. or faster to freeze it. For fast action shots of people, 1⁄500 sec. is more than sufficient.
Use 1⁄60 sec. or slower. If you want to use the panning technique, consult the Semiautomatic Exposure Modes section in Chapter Two for a how-to refresher.
If you want to capture fireworks or sparkling holiday lights at night with your smartphone, here are some mobile apps to try:
LightBomber (Tip: If using this app, be sure to sign up for an account via the app before taking photos—it’s the only way you can save the photos you take. Unfortunately I learned this the hard way.), Slow Shutter Cam and LongExpo.
The first youth soccer game of the season means bright and shiny new uniforms, shinguards and cleats. I spotted this eye-catching composition of the kiddos all lined up in a colorful row. 75–300mm f/4–5.6 lens at 200mm, ISO 200, f/6.3 for 1⁄250 sec.
Celebrate the tastes of autumn with apple orchard shots. Lucky me the rule of odds occurred by happenstance here; remember that the eye prefers to see an odd number of objects, as opposed to even. 50mm f/1.8 lens, ISO 100, f/2.8 for 1⁄400 sec.
When taking photographs at, say, a wedding or birthday party, there are moments you don’t want to miss. These moments often happen fast amongst a flurry of movement, so you need to be ready.
My town celebrates its birthday each year with a fair and finishes off the event with a spectacular fireworks show. Don’t these look like dragonflies? 50mm f/1.8 lens, ISO 100, f/8, bulb for a few seconds (taken with a tripod, of course).
Very wide-angle lens shots can make physiques look distorted, especially shot from above, like in this image. However, this cartoonish appearance looks charming and adorable with kids and pets. 15–85mm f/3.5–5.6 lens at 15mm, ISO 200, f/3.5 for 1⁄320 sec. I also applied several MCP Actions to this photograph.