Picture this, no pun intended. I was spending so much money on photographs when my little ones were babies that my husband decided maybe I should just try this myself. My first camera was a Canon Rebel with the kit lens. That means that it looked a step up more professional from a phone or point and shoot camera. For almost three years I had no clue what I was doing and thought I was pretty good just because I had a “nice camera.” I was nowhere close to being a professional photographer.

You can buy a pair of dance shoes…but you cannot dance yet. It takes a lot of time, effort and research. So I decided to start a little series. Tips from the photographer! This is the first chapter. This is my first tip.

Do you have a “nice camera?” Do you want to take “nice pictures.” You can!

Get your camera off of AUTO MODE. I know you are guilty. I was for years. Put your camera on MANUAL MODE!

I know what you are thinking. You have no idea what you are doing. Maybe the manual will help. Now I didn’t say to read your manual. I never read my manual. I said to put your camera on manual mode. Take a deep breath and step outside. Find something to take a picture of over and over. Take a lot of photos. Play around with the settings. If you don’t know what your aperture, shutter speed and ISO are, go on pinterest and search some other blogs and read up on them. When you hit the triangle on those you will have a perfectly lit photo.

So that is your first challenge! Good luck and have fun.

First newborn session ever, circa 2013:

One of my most recent sessions from May, 2018: