I am live blogging for the very first time from CyberMummy11. Please don’t judge if this goes terribly awry. As a blogger who is keen on photography, I am very excited about this one!
@cosmicgirlie has just been told not to swear… Let’s see if she can do it.
You just have to take a good photo the first time. Editing later to make it look good is not necessary.
When taking photos, you need to think about angles. Composition is really important. Framing can enhance any photo. Composition is setting up the picture.
Make your subject more interesting by either tilting the camera, stepping back or crouching down to a different angle. These can help make the photos “quirky”.
Composition: think about where the angle is going. If you crouch down, you instantly make your subject matter taller – pointing to the sky. Focus on a point of reference for interest. Frame the face, drop down and tilt, this brings out the character and detail in the subject matter.
Don’t just stick the camera in front of faces and snap. Think about the composition.
Do a quick assessment of your subject. Don’t focus on features they may be self conscious of; perspective can change the image into something possibly unflattering into a beautiful portrait.
Photographing children:
Most often the best photos of children are candid. Begging a child to smile never works and usually comes out unnatural.
Capture the moment. Catch the child doing what they are interested in. Be patient, these photos take time to capture, but are worth the wait. The photos will look natural and not forced or posed. Children’s photography = be natural.
Photographing food:
Food photography is very difficult and is a profession in itself. Food photos take a lot of time to set up to look good. Lighting, sprays, gels and even fake food are all keys to making food photography look good.
DISCLAIMER: **Cupcakesandotherstuff does not use any of these methods when photographing food, as you can probably tell.**
Using reflection and different angles can help add interest to a simple subject.
Make the viewer question: “What is it?” Crop images when taking the photo not in editing. Create abstract view to make the viewer question what it is and create intrigue. Using techniques like these is quirky, artistic, interesting and makes people think.
Editing can’t make a rubbish photo look good. Start with good composition, lighting, focus. If you don’t have a good photo from the camera, you will have a difficult time making it look good using editing programs. Within reason, you can create better photos in editing if the photo is a bit too dark.
A more expensive camera doesn’t necessarily make your photos better. Learn to use the camera you have before moving to on a more expensive camera with fancy bells and whistles.
Using DSLR, think about aperture and ISO. These are more advanced terms, but will assist in taking photos in low lighting.
If you have any questions for @cosmicgirlie for photography, you can check out her blog.
@ericawhiteman live blogging from @cybermummy – out.
Wonderful summary Erica. Thanks so much for doing this. I was moderating another session and couldn’t make this.
@cosmicgirlie is one of the speakers I would have headed straight for. Yesterday, out of necessity, I tried to take some product photos myself and certainly could have benefitted from any hints and tips here. Thank you for posting ….and when I ever get hold of our family camera I may have a go at portrait photography too !
Good live blog. I was sorry to miss this too, so it’s great to catch up with it. Sounds like Jay has some very sound advice. I hate it when people use editing to massage bad photos.
Great live blog! And sorry I didn’t get a chance to find you yesterday… it was huge!
[…] Workshop: Photography- Cupcakes and Other Stuff […]
Erica, thank you so much for live-blogging this and getting down those important points! I appreciate it a lot. You’ve caught everything brilliantly, and I am LOVING your photos – I see them getting better as you continue through your post.
WELL DONE and a big squishy thank you hug 😀
xx
Well done! It was a great session!
Thanks! It was a fun one to live blog 🙂
This is just what I need as I turned up late! Very helpful well done you and well done jay for such a great workshop (the bit I saw anyway)
[…] LOVED doing my photography workshop at Cybermummy 11. And I want to do more of that […]
Excellent post! I really wanted to go but hadn’t brought a camera or l;aptop. Thank you for filling that gap for me – really useful!
Sorry I missed this, so thanks for a good summary of Jay’s talk. Am now practising composition with my iPhone!