Indigo Skye Photography

Week Five - Tips for Better Photos

Weekly riddle update:  as of yet I have not have any winners for this week's contest.  I had one person guess correctly but she had just won a prize in the last few weeks so she is not eligible.  So come on you guys, this is your chance to win a free portrait charm.  These really are beautiful and would make a great Christmas gift if you don't want it for yourself.

On to the nitty gritty.  I realize that this is a day early, but I decided to post this week's Photo Tips now since tomorrow is August 1st and is the first day of our "Baby...You're Beautiful!" photo contest. Hopefully everyone is learning some great tips for improving their photo skills. You can even practice by taking photos of those sweet little babies in order to enter them into the contest.

This is the third and final week that I will talk about Photographic Composition. In my opinion, composition is one of the most important things that will make your photos stand out. It can often be something that is easily overlooked because we are in a hurry to capture that moment. That is why it is important to practice these tips ahead of time, so that they will become second nature and you won't have to think about them. So, here we go...

1) Leading Lines Use natural lines in your surrounding to help lead the viewer's eye to the subject. Select a camera angle where the natural lines of the scene lead the viewer's eyes into the picture and toward your main center of interest. You can find such a line in a road, a fence, even a shadow. Diagonal lines are dynamic; curved lines are flowing and graceful. You can often find the right line by moving around and choosing a different angle.

In this image, notice how the winding wall that she is laying on curves into the portrait, drawing your eyes to the subject.

2) Change Your Vantage Point One of the most effective ways to make your images more interesting to the eye is to change the angle that you’re shooting from. This is one place that you get to be darning. Take your photo from an unusual angle. Get down on the ground and look up, get on a chair and look down, etc. The point is instead of doing the obvious, look at your subject from all sorts of views and find one that stands out. Change your position to emphasize or exaggerate how big or small your subject is. Crouch down and shoot up at someone and that person towers over you. Shoot down on your pet and it seems so comically small. You can also move your camera right or left only a few feet to change the composition dramatically.

This is a photo that my son Ian took.  This is a great example of taking a photo at a really unusual angle.  By getting down on the ground and looking up at the tulips, he has totally changed the way these flowers normally look.  They now look like giant flowers.  Also by chosing this angle, he has given these tulips a very beautiful background vs. the normal backgrouds of other flowers and grass.

3) Framing No, I am not referring to the frames we but to put our photos in, I am referring to the natural frames in nature that we can use to frame our subjects in. Framing is the tactic of using natural surroundings to add more meaning to your subject. Doing this can help to add more meaning to the subject by surrounding the subject or by simply pointing in the direction of the main subject. It can be anything a window, a doorway, a mirror, a group of trees or bushes. You get the picture. Just be careful that you don't only focus on what's framing your subject, make sure that your camera is focused on the main subject.

Notice how these two tree trunks frame this little guy, giving character to this photo.

I am still waiting for someone, anyone to email me some of their photo work to post on here.  Who wants to be the first budding artist to be that person?

Sunday's Are For Prizes!

Good morning everyone. I hope you are enjoying our last Sunday in July. I just can't believe that the summer is nearly over, where did the time go? I think that the older I get, the faster time flies. It is almost time to start buying Christmas presents, I don't even want to think about that yet!!

Well, let's get to it shall we?. It's riddle time, I have a really good one for you today, here is goes:

I soar without wings, I see without eyes.
I've traveled the universe to and fro.
I've conquered the world.
Yet I have never been anywhere but home.
Who am I?

This week I will will take three winners. Each winner will receive a FREE Portrait Tile Pendant with any paid session (necklace not included). Here are a few examples of these beautiful pendants:

**The catch:Sessions must be by October 31, 2007. Prize may not be used in conjuction with any other prize won or any advertised special. You are not eligible to win if you have won anything in the past 3 months. You must be the first person to either enter a comment back to this Post, or email me with the correct answer. Please include the following in with your reply to be eligible: Name, complete address & email address. I will respond to your guess and let you know if you are correct or not. Please don't enter if you aren't interested in the prize. I have given away alot of really great prizes this year that were never used.

August 1st is almost here. I hope everyone is ready to enter their sweet little ones in the "Baby... You're Beautiful!" photo contest. Remember the contest is open for all babies ages newborn to 24 months. We will accept any snapshot of your beautiful baby by email, no professional photos please. You can email them to domandme@charter.net throughout the month of August. Once we have closed the entry to the contest, we will post all of the entries on this Blog Page and everyone out there gets to vote on their favorite winner. So eveyone, get out those baby photos and have them ready to send them to us!

The 1st place winner will receive a free portrait session, a 16x20 wall portrait and a feature on our website and blog page. The second place winner will receive a free session and an 8x10 portrait. The third place winner will receive a free session.

Official rules:
1) entries will be accepted August 1 - 31, 2007.
2) photo entries will need to be emailed to domandme@charter.net .
3) only one photo per entry please, so send your very best.
4) no professional portraits will be accepted, only snapshots.
5) please include the following information along with your entry photo: your name, address and phone number, your baby's name, age and birthdate.
6) winning sessions will be held in our studio or within a 20 mile radius of our studio. If you live outside of this range you may still enter and are encouraged to do so. However, know in advanced that travel arrangements will be your responsibility.

Week Four - Tips for Better Photos

I know this is late. There were some technical difficulties online that prevented me from getting this up on Wednesday like I should have. But I thought I would put it up today instead of waiting until next Wednesday.

How many of you are actually reading these Photo Tips? How many are learning anything from these tips? I would love to hear back from some of you to let me know if these tips are helping to improve your photography. So who wants to be the first to share any recent pictures they have taken since reading these tips. Email me your photos and I will post them on the blog with the weekly photo tips.

Last week I promised that we would work on different aspects of photographic compisition. Last week we started with three good but easy ones. This week's tips are also easy, but often overlooked or never thought of in the first place by most people.

Here we go, here are your next three compisition tips:

1) Zoom In. Fill your frame with the subject of your photo. We all love to photograph the wonderful things we see in life. You know what I am talking about, those beautiful beach or mountain scenes when on vacation, or those sweet moments when your child (or grandchild) is doing something cute and unexpected. The natural inclination is to photograph the entire scene or person as we see it, because we a re afraid that we will lose something if we don't. If you take a more long-distance view of the scene, you may lose the obvious visual interest in the surroundings. Zooming in close to your subject, especially when photographing a person, will make your photo more personal and you will find the beauty in the details. When you take a photograph, decide what your subject is. The person or the beach is not good enough. You need to go deeper and look to the details of the person or beach. The emotion on the face of the person or the way the light reflects off of the shells on the beach -- something that activates your senses, that you can touch, feel, smell, or taste. This process is the most overlooked step in photography. Although it may be tempting to simply snap your photos and rush on, I encourage you to take time to visually explore the subject and see what appeals to you. Ask yourself: 'What is the purpose of this photograph?' and 'What is the reaction I want a person who sees it to have?'

In the two photos beach photos below, see how zooming in can make a difference. The first one is nice but the second one make you feel more of the scene. You can almost smell the salt water and hear the waves breaking against the pier and the seagulls that would be flying around waiting for a chance to snag a meal from an unsuspecting fisherman.

In this photo, the details in her eyes and her cute little teeth would have been lost if I hadn't zoomed in. So it is perfectly acceptable to crop off the top of the head if zooming in for a closer shot like this.

2) Move Your Subject Out of the Middle. The placement of your subject in the frame denotes its relevance to the context. The center of the frame is the weakest place -- it's static and dull. The more you move the subject away from the center, the more importance you give to the subject; so juggle until you get the right balance. One of the most popular 'rules' in photography is the Rule Of Thirds. This is how it works: Imaginary lines are drawn both horizontally and vertically, dividing the image into thirds. You place the important elements of your photograph where these lines intersect. The theory is that if you place points of interest in the intersections or along the lines that your photo becomes more balanced and will enable the viewer to interact with it more naturally. Studies have shown that when viewing images people’s eyes usually go to one of the intersection points most naturally rather than the center of the shot - using the rule of thirds works with this natural way of viewing an image rather than working against it.
Here is a portrait that is a great example of the rule of thirds. I could have very easily place this little guyin the center of the image. But it wouldn't have had the same effect as it does by placing him off to the side.

Here is an examle of the imaginary lines used in the rule of thirds. See how it divides the photo up into nine even pieces. Your subject should be near if not in one of the places where these lines intersect. In this photo, not only does his body line up with one of the lines, but his face is almost in an intersecting point as well

2) Verticle Vs. Horizontal. Changing your camera orientation came make a world of difference in your photos. Whether to shoot your photograph horizontally or vertically is among the most basic decisions that you face in composing any photograph. Because cameras are rectangular and are more comfortable to hold horizontally, that's how most people shoot their pictures. Turning the camera on end makes handling a bit awkward, but the effort can add power and visual variety to your pictures. Many subjects cry out to be framed in a particular way. As a rule, tall subjects (like trees or people) stand more comfortably in a vertical frame (but this isn't always the case). Framing a scene vertically forces the eye to scan the photograph from bottom to top where horizontally forces the eye to scan it from side to side. For many subjects, either format will work; choosing the best framing is then largely a matter of instinct. If deciding which format looks best becomes difficult, photograph it both ways and decide later; it's often easier to grasp the full impact from a print than it is when you're looking through the viewfinder.

The portraits below are shown in both portrait (verticle) modes and landscape (horizontal) modes. They are all great shots, but each presentation of the image offers a different feel or emotion to the portrait.

I have given you guys a few more things to think about for taking better photos. I was serious when I said that I would love to hear back from you guys to let me know if these tips are helping you. And if you want to share your photos with others just email me a copy and I will showcase them here on the blog. Have Fun!!

And We Have A Winner!

Congrats to Jada B. of Taylors, she is the winner of this weeks riddle. I did have a few people submit the correct answer, but she was the first one to get it correct. By the way, the answer to the riddle

He starts and ends two common English words.
One is painfull in love.
The other is painfull in everyday matter.
What two words are they?

Heartache and headache!

Be sure to check in next Sunday for another chance to win.

Who Wants to Play? Weekly Riddle Time

Happy Sunday everyone. I can't believe July is almost over. One more month and the kids will be back in school.

Well, it is time for this week's riddle. Last week's riddle must have been an easy one because I had two winners right away. This week will be a little more challanging! I found a really good riddle on the internet, here it goes:

He starts and ends two common English words.
One is painfull in love.
The other is painfull in everyday matter.
What two words are they?

This week's winner will receive 40% off a Custom 10x20 Canvas Storyboard wall portrait. For those of you that are not familiar with a Storyboard, it is a custom creation of three to four portraits and can include names, poems or other such wording. Here is an example of one:

**The catch:Prize must be claimed by October 15, 2007. Prize may not be used in conjuction with any other prize won or any advertised special. You are not eligible to win if you have won anything in the past 6 months. You must be the first person to either enter a comment back to this Post, or email me with the correct answer. Please include the following in with your reply to be eligible: Name, complete address & email address. I will respond to your guess and let you know if you are correct or not. Please don't enter if you aren't interested in the prize. I have given away alot of really great prizes this year that were never used.

Remember, starting August 1st, we will begin accepting entries into our "Baby... You're Beautiful!" photo contest. The contest is open for all babies ages newborn to 24 months. We will accept any snapshot of your beautiful baby by email, no professional photos please. You can email them to domandme@charter.net throughout the month of August. Once we have closed the entry to the contest, we will post all of the entries on this Blog Page and everyone out there gets to vote on their favorite winner. So eveyone, get out those baby photos and have them ready to send them to us!

The 1st place winner will receive a free portrait session, a 16x20 wall portrait and a feature on our website and blog page. The second place winner will receive a free session and an 8x10 portrait. The third place winner will receive a free session.

Official rules:
1) entries will be accepted August 1 - 31, 2007.
2) photo entries will need to be emailed to domandme@charter.net .
3) only one photo per entry please, so send your very best.
4) no professional portraits will be accepted, only snapshots.
5) please include the following information along with your entry photo: your name, address and phone number, your baby's name, age and birthdate.
6) winning sessions will be held in our studio or within a 20 mile radius of our studio. If you live outside of this range you may still enter and are encouraged to do so. However, know in advanced that travel arrangements will be your responsibility.

A Sneak Peak at Ben

This is Ben, we had a great time on Wednesday down at the Falls Park and downtown Greenville.  I know is mom Christine is excited to see his portraits, so here is a little peak into what's to come. 

Baby...You're Beautiful!  Photo Contest

Starting August 1st, we will begin accepting entries into our "Baby... You're Beautiful!" photo contest. The contest is open for babies ages newborn to 24 months. We will accept any snapshot of your beautiful baby by email, no professional photos please. You can email them to domandme@charter.net throughout the month of August. Once we have closed the entry to the contest, we will post all of the entries on this Blog Page and everyone out there gets to vote on their favorite winner. So everyone, get out those baby photos and have them ready to send them to us!

The 1st place winner will receive a free portrait session, a 16x20 wall portrait and a feature on our website and blog page. The second place winner will receive a free session and an 8x10 portrait. The third place winner will receive a free session.

Official rules:
1) entries will be accepted August 1 - 31, 2007.
2) photo entries will need to be emailed to domandme@charter.net .
3) only one photo per entry please, so send your very best.
4) no professional portraits will be accepted, only snapshots.
5) please include the following information along with your entry photo: your name, address and phone number, your baby's name, age and birthdate.
6) winning sessions will be held in our studio or within a 20 mile radius of our studio. If you live outside of this range you may still enter and are encouraged to do so. However, know in advanced that travel arrangements will be your responsibility.

Week Three - Tips for Better Photos

I hope everyone is learning something from these weekly tips. I know that the last two week's tips were kind of boring, but they really are a necessary evil in taking better photos. For the next three weeks I will cover different aspects of photographic compisition. These range from the really obvious (but often over looked) tip to something that that takes a little more thought to remember.

Here we go, here are you first three compisition tips:
1) Hold your camera at the subject's eye level. This one is really important when photographing children and animals. There is always an exception to the rule, but generally speaking it looks better when you get down on their level with them.

2) Don't amputate your subject. Beware that you don't cut off arms and legs at a wierd place, such as around any joints. It is better if you crop them off between the joints, so instead of cutting them off at the knees or elbows - try cropping them off at the thighs or upper arms.

3) Watch out for what is in the background. Before taking that perfect shot, check to be sure there are no distracing clutter or objects sticking out of your subjects head (trees, plants, poles, ect.). A plain background or one that has been blurred to become very soft is much less distracting and will put more emphasis on the subject.

WOW!!! That Was Quick!

Either this was an easier riddle, or you guys liked the prize better! I have already receive two corrct answers to the weekly riddle. And since the arrived in my email with the same time tag, I will have two winners this week. Heather D. & Kelly B. were both correct and will be receiving a free 16x20 portrait. By the way the answer to the riddle is the King of Spades. Congrats ladies!

Weekly Riddle & Beautiful Baby Contest

I am sorry that the weekly riddle is a day late, but I was out of town visiting family. I thought I would have internet access over the weekend, but it didn't work out that way. So better late than never, right?

First I would like to congratulate last week's winners Amy S. & Stacey F., they both will receive 40% off of any custom made photo purse from Bags by Babycakes. They were the only two to guess the answer to last's weeks riddle:
I am only one color, but not one size,
I am stuck at the bottom, yet can easily fly,
Present in the sun, but not in the rain,
I do no harm, and I feel no pain.
What am I?

The answer is: a shadow!

This week's winner will receive a free 16x20 wall portrait.
Here is your riddle:

I am the ruler of shovels
I have a double
I am as thin as a knife
I have a wife
What am I?

Good Luck!

**The catch:Prize must be claimed by September 30, 2007. Prize may not be used in conjuction with any other prize won or any advertised special. You are not eligible to win if you have won anything in the past 6 months. You must be the first person to either enter a comment back to this Post, or email me with the correct answer. Please include the following in with your reply to be eligible: Name, complete address & email address. I will respond to your guess and let you know if you are correct or not. Please don't enter if you aren't interested in the prize. I have given away alot of really great prizes this year that were never used.

Starting August 1st, we will begin accepting entries into our "Baby... You're Beautiful!" photo contest. The contest is open for babies ages newborn to 24 months. We will accept any snapshot of your beautiful baby by email, no professional photos please. You can email them to domandme@charter.net throughout the month of August. Once we have closed the entry to the contest, we will post all of the entries on this Blog Page and everyone out there gets to vote on their favorite winner. So eveyone, get out those baby photos and have them ready to send them to us!

The 1st place winner will receive a free portrait session, a 16x20 wall portrait and a feature on our website and blog page. The second place winner will receive a free session and an 8x10 portrait. The third place winner will receive a free session.

Official rules:
1) entries will be accepted August 1 - 31, 2007.
2) photo entries will need to be emailed to domandme@charter.net .
3) only one photo per entry please, so send your very best.
4) no professional portraits will be accepted, only snapshots.
5) please include the following information along with your entry photo: your name, address and phone number, your baby's name, age and birthdate.
6) winning sessions will be held in our studio or within a 20 mile radius of our studio. If you live outside of this range you may still enter and are encouraged to do so. However, know in advanced that travel arrangements will be your responsibility.

Just A Little Announcement

I will be out of town from today, Friday July 13th, until Monday afternoon July 16th. You can reach me be email but not by phone if you have any questions.

Also, I have had only one winner so far for this week's blog contest - Amy S. has been the only person to get the riddle correct. I know it seems like a hard one, but as always you CAN find it on the internet. You have two more days to enter to win!

I can't leave without posting a portrait from a recent session. This was Emma, Owen and Ian. Let me tell you, these kids were like pros when it came to having their portraits taken.

And here is Christopher, Connor and Lauren. We had a blast with these portraits. Even the difficult ones (and you know who you are) have fun when we take their portraits.