One of the fastest ways to frustrate your subject is to ask them to remove their glasses for a photo.

Seriously? I know. I’ve been wearing glasses since I was three years old. Well, except for those two years in college when I decided to just go without because, you know, squinting is such a good look!

I understand why people fear the frames, but there are some simple solutions.

Find Good Light

Good light produces good results. You’ve heard me say it before. Find even, non-dappled, non direct light and the reflections will disappear. If you can’t see the reflection through your camera’s lens, it won’t be on your subject’s lenses. Sometimes this means walking around your subject to find the right angle.

Tilt A Bit

Don’t underestimate the power of a tilt. Have your subject either tilt their head slightly down or turn their head to the side. Once they’ve turned their head to the side, have them turn their eyes to you. Okay, not easy with kids, so you may want to find that good light I mentioned.

You can also have your subject tilt their frames down just a bit by raising their frames a bit off their ears. This is not noticeable to the viewer but can feel a little funky to the wearer.

Diffuse Your Flash (if you must use it)

Diffuse your flash or bounce it off of something if you’ve got to use it at all.

Want to sound smart around your friends or your husband (as you convince him you NEED that new piece of gear) here is a concept you will want to remember.

The angle of incidence equals the angle of reflectance.

In English? It means the angle your light source hits the glass will be the same as the angle the light bounces back. So if I’m using a flash on my point and shoot camera photographing someone looking right into the lens, I can guarantee I will have lens glare.

Avoid the glare by either changing the angle of my light source or the angle of the glasses. This is where our quick, trick of angling frames down just a bit works. The tilt changes how the light hits the glass, eliminating the reflection. Do you feel smarter now?
I hope so.

Live With It

When you look at me in glasses, you will see glare sometimes. Sometimes the frame cuts through my eyeball. But that is the way you see me. That is the beauty of everyday photography. And I’ll live with a little glare if I have to! Consider it a little extra catchlight!

Avoid This!

If you google “photographing people with glasses” you may find the brilliant advice to remove the lenses from the frames. (Note the sarcasm in my previous sentence.) Please don’t use this option. Yes, many professional photographers use this trick, but as someone whose Senior photos were taken this way, they just look goofy. If I was brave enough I’d post my photo, but alas, I am not!

Project 365 is a “project” where a person commits to taking one photo everyday.  I have started Project 365 (P365) at least twice in the years I have been a digital scrapbooker and quit as many times within ten days. P365 is something that I have always loved the idea of, but has also been too overwhelming for me, not to mention how behind I felt in scrapping it. Remembering to take a photo every single day, just didn’t happen and my reality didn’t allow me to do a layout each week. I often felt like a failure.

So, the last time I tried P365, I swore it off for good. I accepted the fact that I would never be able to achieve that goal and therefor, would not attempt again. Until…

A listener of The Digi Show posted that they had found an iPhone app that was really helping them with Project 365. I downloaded Photo 365 and on 11/11/11 (at 11:11) I decided to start P365 and see how long it stuck (I seriously had given it no thought prior to that exact moment). With some new allowances in place, I have been successful since. This is the longest I have ever stuck with this daily photo project.

Why It’s Working This Time

This is another method of documenting memories. With the app, I can enter a bit of text about the photo that is added to the images metadata. This has become a way for me to document memories that might not have been documented in any other way. Small details in my life that I would never do a layout about, but will enjoy looking back on later (for example: my internet grocery order being delivered, a screenshot of doing Facetime with my husbands family on Christmas Eve, my record high score in Ticket to Ride on the iPad, the clock as I sit in the parking lot at a crazy early morning hour waiting for my daughter, etc.)

It’s less about the photos and more about the memories. Because this is another way to document my life, I’ve told myself that it’s okay to use screenshots of texts, emails, or other items as my photo for a day. This has been a super fun addition.

(The above text was sent to my daughter the day after my car was hit by a teenager in the parking lot while waiting for her).

I didn’t start at the first of the year. I know this would be a barrier to some people and you need to do what works for you. I have now realized that one of the reasons P365 hasn’t been successful for me in the past is because I am burned out at the first of the year. After the craziness of the holidays and everything that comes with it, my heart just isn’t into it.

I’m not scrapping these photos. Some of the photos might end up in layouts, but most of them will not. I’m not worrying about doing a layout each week or each month with these photos. Removing the mental requirement that I must scrap these photos has given me a lot more freedom!

An automated daily reminder. I was able to set up a daily reminder at a specific time in the app (1pm in the afternoon). This has been the biggest contributing factor to my success. It comes in similar to a text by vibrating my phone and putting an alert up.

I can forget or miss a day. I am giving myself the allowance to miss a day and come back later and add a photo. I usually take a photo of something from the day that I missed and then add it.

I’m just using my phone. This has simplified a lot of things for me, mostly the keeping track part. I put all of the images into their spot on the calendar in the app and then also add them to my P365 folder of photos for easy access later. My camera on my phone is the camera that is with me most often, no remembering to bring the big one.

I’m enjoying it. So far, I typically look forward to figuring out what photo  or thing will be my photo of the day. Some days, I am more excited than others, but that’s just part of life. This hasn’t become “one more thing to do” and I hope it stays that way. If it does ever become a chore, I will most likely drop it.

(I think it’s important to note (especially for Android users) that you don’t need this app, you could easily set a daily alarm on your phone and put all of the photos into a folder or album. I think the calendar is a super fun addition and worth the 99 cents, if you have an iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad.)

I think it was Anna Aspnes that said on one of The Digi Show episodes that we are often limited by the rules that we give ourselves. I have found this to be true for me with P365. By not limiting myself to what P365 should or should not be, I have been able to document more of my life, and to me, that’s what it’s all about!

Looking for support and inspiration for Project 365?

One of my favorite sites for P365 inspiration and ideas is Katrina Kennedy’s Capture Your 365. Katrina’s daily email reminders have quickly become one of my favorite sources of P365 and photography information.

ZigZag Scraps has a few forums for P365 and P52 set up.

Check out Oscraps gallery.

If I did decide to scrap my P365 photos, I would probably use every{day} life 365 system by Weeds and Wildflowers. They also have a support forum and gallery in place:

Be sure to check out these older posts as well:

Our first post about P365 on our second day in existence.

P365 Check in at 4 mos. and 11 days

P365 and Alternatives

Photographing Christmas morning can be exciting and overwhelming. Check a few last minutes details before Christmas morning:

• Charge your batteries.
• Clear your memory card and have extras ready.
• Check the batteries in your flash. Have spares ready.
• Dial in your settings for the morning.

If your house is like mine, our living room gets really cluttered. People and things tend to be everywhere. This year I’m not going to worry about perfect composition and clean backgrounds. I want my Christmas morning to feel and look like the actual event.

I love that the clutter in Christmas morning images can trigger memories of moments, gifts, and special time spent with family.

USE AVAILABLE LIGHT

You may be reluctant to use your flash on Christmas morning. I know my family is never thrilled to have a bright strobe greet them first thing in the morning!

If you want great Christmas morning photos without the flash, you will need to create a little light! You can get light from adjusting:

• ISO – bump it up to a higher number.
• Aperture – choose a wide aperture (small f/#).
• Shutter speed - leave it open longer.

On Christmas morning, get your light from ISO and Aperture. If you slow your shutter speed down, you will have blurry photos with unidentifiable people in them.

Let me give you one more source for light, not a source I typically suggest. Turn your room lights on.  Create ambient light by turning on lamps, overhead lights, and Christmas lights to brighten your room.

Open the shades and let any light from outside pour in. This will give you that extra boost so you can get a shutter speed fast enough to stop motion.

If you have available window light, try to position yourself so the window light is on the faces of the people you are shooting and on your back.

Christmas morning, no flash, AV mode

1. Set your camera to Aperture Priority mode (AV or A).
2. Choose spot metering.
3. Choose an ISO of 800. This number may vary based on your light, don’t be afraid to bump it up.
4. Make sure your shutter speed stays above 1/125 to avoid motion blur. If you can’t keep it there, you may want to consider adding flash.
5. Shoot.
6. Check your histogram and LCD.
7. Adjust your exposure compensation if necessary.
8. Reshoot.
9. Have a wonderful day.

Christmas Morning With Flash

My photos are always better on Christmas morning when I do use my flash. I need that extra light. It seems we get up earlier and earlier the older my son gets! This will change when he hits the teen years, right?!

1. Set your camera to Manual Mode (M).
2. Choose spot metering.
3. Choose an ISO of 400.
4. Set your shutter speed to 1/125th of a second.
5. Set your aperture to f/5.6.
6. Turn your flash on.
7. If you are using an external flash, adjust it to bounce off of a ceiling or wall.
8. Shoot.
9. Check your histogram and LCD.
10. Adjust your flash compensation if necessary.
11. Reshoot.
12. Have a wonderful day.

Point & Shoot Without A Flash

For Christmas morning photos without your flash, shoot in portrait mode. It will give you a large aperture, bringing in more light. Review your images to make sure you like the results. Point and shoot cameras are not as sensitive to light and may need the flash.

If you need your flash consider diffusing it some! To reduce the direct burst of flash, cover it with tissue paper or a plastic container. The light will be reduced and diffused, eliminating its harshness.

Some point and shoots, but not all, will let you adjust the intensity of the flash. Check in your manual to see if that is an option for you!

If you feel like you’ve messed up your camera somehow, you can reset to factory defaults in your menu. That can be helpful just in case something got bumped unintentionally.

ENJOY THE DAY

Enjoy the moments on Christmas morning.

If all your photography knowledge jumbles together on Christmas morning, place your camera on Auto and don’t worry about. There are no camera settings police!

Whether you get good or “not so great” photos, it is the moment you want to treasure! Enjoy your holiday.

Merry Christmas!

Katrina is a team member here at The Daily Digi, be sure to also check out Katrina’s CaptureYour365 for more great photography tips and daily photo prompts!

• Angle of View: What do you like to shoot most often?
• Aperture: What lighting situations will you be shooting in most often?
• Cost: How much do you want to spend?

With these three in mind, you can make a more informed decision. We’ll begin with lens terminology and then break the three big factors down.

Anatomy of a Lens

Let’s take a look around a lens for some of the important things to notice.

Your lens may not look exactly like the examples, but the basic parts will be similar.

Notice the tripod mount on the zoom lens. It is provided on heavier lenses that would be off balance if a tripod was connected to the camera. Also, the zoom example uses a “focal length ring” that is twisted to change the distance. Some zoom lenses are called “push and pulls” because you literally push and pull the lens to adjust the distance.

If you are shooting with a prime or fixed lens, you will have one focus distance and no focal distance ring.

Focal Length & Angle of View

Focal length determines your angle of view when shooting.  The angle of view is essential to telling your story. Do you tell more sweeping stories (wide angle) or do you want to zoom in for details (telephoto)?

Focal lengths are grouped into three categories:

• Wide angle 10mm to 35mm
• Normal 35mm to 100mm
• Telephoto 100mm or more

Wide Angle Lenses

10-35mm

Wide angle lenses are great for landscape photography, architecture, and large groups. They have a large angle of view and a shorter minimum focus distance.

Wide angle lenses are often sold with a lens hood. The lens hood is helpful to avoid the potential of sun flare, more commonly a problem with the larger glass area of a wide angle lens.

Popular wide angle lenses include:

• Canon 17-40mm f/4.0 L
• Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC HSM

Normal Lenses

35 to 100mm

Normal or “standard” lenses get their names because their focal lengths most closely captures our eye’s angle of view. They tend to be light weight and have a focal length easy to use in indoor, closer situations.

Normal lenses are popular for portraits and everyday photography.

Popular normal lenses include:

• Canon 50mm f/1.4 or f/1.8
• Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 D AF
• Canon or Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 (this lens is a little wider than normal)

Telephoto Lenses

100mm or more

Telephoto lenses refer to lenses with a focal length longer than 100mm. They are commonly used for wildlife and sports photos. They can be a great alternative for snapping photos of young children from a distance without them noticing.

Many photographers use telephoto lenses for shooting portraits as they compress the background. They also allow space between your model and the lens, which can be more comfortable for your subject.

Popular telephoto lenses include:

• Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 L or f/4
• Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8

Prime VERSUS ZOOM

A prime lens has a fixed focal length limiting your angle of view to a specific view. The advantage of a prime lens is its superior quality of glass. You will hear people refer to “zooming with your feet” when they are using a prime lens. For some photographers, prime lenses can seem limiting.

Popular prime lenses include:

• Canon 50mm f/1.4 or f/1.8
• Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 D AF
• Canon 85mm f/1.8

Crop factor

The crop factor of your camera effects your focal length.  Most consumer level digital cameras have a sensor larger than 35mm. What does this mean for you? Dependent upon your camera’s brand, you can multiply your lenses’ focal length by the crop factor to get your effective focal length.

This means your wide angle isn’t as wide as with a full frame camera, but it also means your telephoto distances are longer!

Aperture

After focal length, aperture is your next important consideration. Aperture refers to the size of the “hole” your lens uses to let light into the camera. The larger the hole, the more light the lens lets in and the “faster” the lens is considered.

Keep in mind that aperture appears to work backwards. f/1.4 is wider than f/5.6.

Many photographers select a wide aperture for indoor shots and natural light photography. They provide diverse uses and can create beautiful background blur, also known as bokeh.

Cost Considerations

The faster the lens, typically the more costly the lens. F/1.0 is the widest aperture you can purchase. The price of a 50mm f/1.0 is about $3,800, making it impractical and out of reach for most of us. The fastest (widest) aperture you can purchase for a zoom lens is f/2.8, price will vary widely dependent upon focal lengths and quality of the glass.

The 50mm lens is popular because for roughly $100.00 you get an aperture of f/1.8.

F/3.5-5.6 is a common variable aperture provided on kit lenses. It is not considered a fast aperture, but is an affordable price.

Wider aperture, “fast” lenses, will always cost more than other lenses. The difference between a fixed aperture and a variable aperture lens will differ greatly as well. As you see prices increase with lenses, keep in mind, you are also getting improved optics.

Consider the weight and feel of a lens when you are purchasing it. The 70-200mm f/2.8 is a popular lens with quality optics, but is heavy. It may not be practical for you to throw in your purse and take out and about with you.

The popular 50mm f/1.8 lens, “the nifty fifty,” has a plastic body and may feel “cheap” in your hands, although it has beautiful image results.

Many people prefer the versatility of a zoom lens to get their shots, while others like the superior optics prime lenses offer. It is a very personal decision.

Consider renting a lens or visiting your local camera store to feel and see lenses you are considering.

You may be wondering, “couldn’t you just buy one lens to do it all?” Yes, you could purchase a 28-300 millimeter lens at relatively low cost. You could then get wide angle, regular, and telephoto shots with one lens. The drawback is quality of the optics. You simply aren’t going to get photos as sharp as a wide angle or a telephoto lens will provide. It is a trade off worth considering.

Have fun as you search out exactly which lens is right for you!

Katrina is a team member here at The Daily Digi, be sure to also check out Katrina’s CaptureYour365 for more great photography tips!  Join her for Capture Your Holidays, a two week class that begins December 6th.

Are you ready to get a little spooky with your Halloween photos this year?

If you want to try a little something different that may actually get your kids interested in getting in on the action, grab your flash or a flashlight and your tripod so we can have some fun!

Once they see this technique they’ll want you to shoot them this way over and over again.

The Set Up

• Find a dark space. The darker the better.

The Camera Settings

• Set your camera to Manual Mode.
• Set your focus to Auto.
• Set your aperture to f/8.
• Set your to ISO 100.
• Set your shutter speed to 10″ (5 seconds).

The Prep

• Take a photograph with the background you will use, no need to have your subject yet.

• If your photo is completely black, you are ready for the next step!
• If there is still light in your image move your aperture up a stop to f/11 and shoot again without your model. You are aiming for as little light as possible in your background.

The Photo

• Now place your camera on your tripod.
• It’s time to put your subject in the frame.
• Let your subject know where to stand.
• Either hand them your flash or a flash light.
• They are going to stand in one spot in the frame, illuminate themselves, move, and then flash themselves again.

Variations

• Put yourself in the photo.
• You or someone else can also light them with the flash or flashlight.
• If there isn’t enough light hitting your subject, bump your ISO up a bit or raise your flash power. Play with it to see the results you can create.
• You can set your shutter speed for longer if you’d like, giving them more opportunities to light themselves up. Play with the shutter length

Have fun with it and see what creative results you can get! Your “headless horseman” subject may just get into it too!

Katrina is a team member here at The Daily Digi, be sure to also check out Katrina’s CaptureYour365 for more great photography tips! She’ll explore even more fun ways to play with low light situations in her new class Exposure. Class begins October 25th!

P.S. The random winner chosen from yesterday’s comments on the Sugarplum Paperie feature was Rebekah. She won $10 in product from Sugarplum!

Want to try your photographic hand at a fun technique?

I love to have fun with my camera. I love to see how I can push it, what I can make it do.

What It Is

Panning is a fun technique to add some pizzazz to your photos and your memory-keeping.

It can take a little practice, but once you nail it, you’ll be in love. Be prepared to have a few photos to delete in the process!

What You Need

What do you need to make it work?

• A camera with the ability to control shutter speed
• A moving subject – a car, bike, runner, merry-go-round
• Patience
• Good light

How To Do It

Start by turning your flash off.

If you know how to use manual mode, you can definitely go there.

For the rest of us we are going to use Shutter Priority mode.

In shutter priority mode, you select the shutter speed and your camera will select the aperture for a correct exposure. This technique is all about shutter speed.

1. Set your camera to  TV (Canon), S (Nikon and Sony)*
2. Set your ISO based on the available light
3. Set your camera to take as many frames as possible - Drive Mode on Canon, Release Mode on Nikon, Continuous on Sony
4. Set your Shutter Speed, dependent on the speed of your subject (use these as a starting point, adjust accordingly)
   1. Car 1/500
   2. Bike 1/125
   3. Runner 1/50
5. Stand with your feet firmly planted and your elbows tucked close to your body.
6. As your subject moves, press your shutter down to lock focus and swivel at your hips, following your subject as it moves. Keep the camera as steady as you can. The steadier you keep it, the smoother your image will be.

The real trick for this technique is to hit that optimum spot where your shutter speed and the movement of your subject moves in synch. Adjust your shutter speed either faster or slower until you find that sweet spot!

A few fun subjects to give this a try with:

• Children at a soccer game, running down the field
• Someone skateboarding in front of alley art
• A car speeding by a busy city street

Have fun with it. Shoot lots. Let me know how your results turn out!

*Is your camera brand not listed? I still love you. Post in the comments if you can’t find the right setting.

Katrina is a team member here at The Daily Digi, be sure to also check out Katrina’s CaptureYour365 for more great photography tips!

P.S. the random winner chosen from the “Just Scrap Reader Challenge” was Lisa. You can see her layout here. She won $10 in product from one of this month’s contributors.

P.S.S. Sue was the random winner selected from those that commented on Tangie’s feature. She won $10 in product from Studio Tangie!

The photo above was taken on my daughters birthday. My son had given her a gift he had made that was very thoughtful and an inside joke between the two of them. After she opened it and they had a good laugh, he jumped up and gave her an impromptu hug. This was unexpected and I wasn’t fast enough with my camera to get a good shot.  This is the photo that I have and I wanted to be able to use it.

By adding some filters and effects, the fact that my daughter is blurry is less obvious.  Here’s what I did to this photo:

Using my Rad Lab, I added the following filters:

Cool as a Cucumber 58%
Flare Up Faded 100%
Edge Blur 100%

I added a commercial use texture paper by Happy Scrap Girl Designs above my photo layer and set it to  the Multiply blending mode at 86%:

Last, I added the Brennan and Black Border – Feathered Instagram actions.

Wendyzine from our team had a lot of tips she has used for salvaging a photo in order to scrap it:

The only copies of these photos that we had were very small, very bad digital scans. But, I wanted to scrap them, so I put them in a film strip and made them small.

Zoom in and crop out the bad stuff. Maybe this means you only use the tiny foot, or a single toy instead of the entire messy pile.

Blend photos into other backgrounds. It gives the hint of the image and again, minimized the negative issues. I do this with lower resolution images because blending them in with a high res image can hide those jaggies and artifacts you get when you enlarge.

Other tips for bad photos…
Try adjusting the levels on images that have colored or faded over time. You can sometimes get some of that original color back. IMAGE>ADJUST>LEVELS. It’s best to adjust in RGB (not CMYK)) and to adjust each channel by itself. So, select the RED channel. Drag the left slider to the right until the point where the histogram starts showing data. Adjust the right slider to the left. Repeat for the Green and Blue channels. Then, return to the RGB channel and see what you have. You can tweak the middle slider here to make it lighter or darker.

Try making photos black and white. It can help minimized some distracting flaws. Or, use selective coloring to block out background noise, or other flaws. Leave the main focal point in color and desaturate the other items. Or, use lomo effect to minimize the background and draw focus to the subject. Masks work great for this too.

Run a filter on the photo. Try converting it to a sketch or a watercolor. This sometimes can make otherwise bad items look intentional.

Finally, sometimes you just have to go find another photo. Sometimes, if we go on vacation and my photo of a particular monument or building doesn’t come out very well, or I forget to take the picture entirely, I head over to a stock photo site and grab one that allows me to use it under a creative commons license (meaning I can use it for personal use and share it online). In the end, scrapping the memory is more important than me having taken the photo.

Do you have some techniques you’ve used of your own to salvage a photo? We would love to hear about them in the comments!

I love silhouette photos. There is something mesmerizing about the story they hold without showing your subject’s detail. So much is left to the imagination for us to fill in our own interpretations.

How do you capture a silhouette?

Begin with Backlight

Bright light behind your subject is the easiest way to create a silhouette. A few places you can find it:

1. In a open door
2. In front of a window
3. In front of the sun, especially when it is low in the sky, just above the horizon

Once you find the light, let your subject go. Let them play. Let them pose. Or simply find a scene with interesting objects.

Look for Strong Lines & Clean Backgrounds

You can create a stronger image by having less in the photo to compete with your subject. Like most photography, a clear story is easier to convey with minimal distractions in the image and good use of negative space.

Place your strongest lines at the third points in your photos. Avoid cutting through the center of your image with the horizon. The more recognizable your shapes, the more interest you will create in your photo.

CaptureYour365 contributor Jeannie Thiessen created a stunning view of the fair.

Expose For The Light Around Your Subject

Silhouettes are definitely a place where it benefits you to shoot in manual mode although you can be successful with other modes.

1. Choose center-weighted or spot metering.
2. Point your camera at the area of sky or light beside your subject.
3. Adjust your light meter for a correct exposure. You have a lot of flexibility with your camera settings.  Start with an aperture around f/8.  To get a sharp image, choose a shutter speed that you can easily hand hold. Choose the lowest ISO you can get away with for your shutter speed.
4. Check your LCD and histogram. Adjust your exposure and shoot again if needed.

CaptureYour365 contributer Deirdre Harger used the poor lighting inside the barn to create a dramatic silhouette of her daughter.

Shoot A Few

Try a few different angles and a few different settings.

Bracketing can be helpful in this situation to get a few options to work with. You’ll find the setting either in your camera menus or as a button on the back of your camera. Choose this option to take a a series of photos one stop over and one stop under what you’ve metered for.

Do A Little Post Processing

Once you move the photo into your processing software adjust the levels, shadows and highlights until you get the look you are hoping for. Don’t be afraid to up your blacks just a bit to get a darker silhouette.

Point & Shoot Silhouettes

Want to try it with your point and shoot? Find your backlit subject, turn your flash off, and aim your camera at the sky with your subject in the frame. Shoot. If you point your camera at your subject, the camera will try to expose for your subject losing the silhouette.

Have Fun

Give it a try. Play around. See what you can create. You can see even more silhouette inspiration on my Silhouette Pinterest Board.

What do you love about silhouettes? Questions about the technique? I’m here to help!

Katrina is a team member here at The Daily Digi, be sure to also check out Katrina’s CaptureYour365 for more great photography tips!

Practice a few things to get the most out of your photo projects.

Shoot More Than One Frame

Consider different angles as you shoot. Above. Below. At eye level. Take more than one photo. Do it deliberately though. Don’t just simply snap multiple photos because you can, select your views and shoot. Try different crops.  One photo may appeal to you more than the others.

Photograph New Things

Look around you right now. Find ten things you’ve never photographed. Shoot them. Always shoot people looking in the lens? Grab some candid photos. Pick a color in your home. Photograph it everywhere you see it. Photograph your house numbers, your car keys, your fingerprint, your signature. Don’t overlook those things that seem mundane, but are integral parts of your everyday.

Place Things on The Diagonal

Diagonals imply motion or action in your photo. A diagonal line can lead the viewer’s eye through the photo, telling more of a story and increasing interest. Place something in the corner of the frame and let it move through the frame. Tilt your camera a smidge or two.

Leave White Space

Give things room to breathe. It can be as simple as stepping to one side to avoid extras in the frame. Stooping just a bit, going for something other than what you usually do.

Fill Your Frame

Step in closer. And then get even closer. Most everyday photos can be quickly improved by stepping in closer and being more deliberate with the subject.

Go With Your Gut

When you think, “I should shoot that,” go with it. Chances are there is an angle, a contrasting color, something of appeal that grabs your attention. Tell that story. I’d rather have too many photos than a lot of missed opportunities.

Shoot at Different Times

The photo you take at noon is not going to be the same as the photo you shoot at 6PM. Light changes and with it the personality of a photo will change. Try different times, different locations in your home to see what you find.

Try A New Technique

Projects focus our energy and intention. They can be a great time to try things you haven’t before. Experiment some.

• Set your camera to a different aperture.
• Slow your shutter speed even if you don’t have a tripod or the perfect results.
• Use your flash
• Shoot in low light
• Grab some light bokeh

Always shoot with your dSLR? Grab your phone. Buy a new app. Grab your point and shoot. Shake it up.

Have fun! You are making memories as well taking photos of them!

What are your favorite ways to get more out of your week in the life? And, I’m just wondering, which of those  veggie shots do you prefer?!

Be sure to check out Katrina’s CaptureYour365 for more great photography tips!

Taking photos during Magic Hour actually makes me think I’m a good photographer.  That is probably the biggest reason I like taking pictures during this time of day (not to mention that the word “magic” conjures up wonderful Disney inspired thoughts and memories).

I spent sometime doing a little research on this wonderful time of day and how to best capture it with my camera.  I thought I would share some of my favorite resources with you:

If you would like to see more Magic Hour inspiration, check out the Magic Hour Flickr group.

“It’s About Light” on Digital Photography School shows some great examples of shots taken with Magic Hour lighting and without.

Beyond Sunset: The Different Phases of Twilight is a great resource for identifying and shooting in great light after the sun sets.

Beginners Tips for Sunrise Portraits : Part I is full of great tips for shooting in the morning “Magic Hours,” if you are a morning person (I am not).  After you have a chance to practice those, you can try the tips from Beginners Tips for Sunrise Portraits: Part II.

I really enjoyed Advanced Photography’s tips for shooting during Magic Hours.

Shutterbug’s ideas for photographing the Magic Hours are different from the others and range from practical to artistic suggestions.

These are all really fast reads, with tips that anyone can try, using just about any camera.  So, find some magic light and snap away!