Lesson 5: composition

Today's lesson is all about getting creative with your photos!  right up my alley. I had a great time with today's lesson, and I hope you will too!  and guess what??  who better to tell us all about how to take better pictures than the lovely Casey ... omg, friends!.. have you stopped by her blog yet?  she is an amazingly talented artist with the sweetest little family and such an inspiring blog!  do stop by!  you'll fall in love! promise!

ok, so back to the logistics, here is the content! check it out and meet back here!

and make sure and check out the maker's of this fun class, here...

ok friends...

meet

Casey!

My name is Casey Wiegand, I am a freelance artist, wife and mama.  I love painting and sharing our life through our blog...where you can expect pieces of my perspective on life, faith, kids, marriage, with touches of art, creative inspiration, projects and things I love along the way. I have two little ones in the hopes of lots more and am married to the love of my life!

ok casey, how do you use photography in your everyday life??

I use photography in my everyday life for a lot of reasons. One, I am married to a photographer :). He is incredibly talented so getting to watch him and learn from him is amazing. {no joke, check out some of his work here, ok sorry to interrupt} Looking at life through an artist's eyes I am always trying to capture everything. And now that I have kiddos I ESPECIALLY am taking pictures non stop! They change so quickly so capturing each little phase is so important to me!

 

any advice to those of us who are just using a dslr camera for the first time?

Well, I feel like I am cheating a bit because I get to use my hubby's awesome camera's and lens' but I would say to think outside the box. You can take beautiful, creative pictures with any kind of camera, so don't be afraid to try shots that are out of the ordinary! Some of my favorite pics were taken with my cellphone!!!

  

your pictures are always creative and candid, any advice on posing or tips for creative pictures of ourselves, our families, our kiddos??  tips on achieving that candid feel in our pictures, those that we take or have taken of ourselves?

I guess I have a few pieces of advice! I LOVE candid pictures,( over posed ones.) Look through magazines and beautiful ads and notice how natural they are. When I take pictures I am often thinking ahead at how I can edit it and what the end product will look like. You don't have to know photoshop to edit pictures. Picnik is an awesome editing tool! Also, be aware of the time of day. The middle of the afternoon is not ideal for taking pictures.... usually early morning or when the sun is setting! And natural light inside makes for beautiful shots!

 

composition, summing it up...

A few tips I have on composition are think out side the box, if you have kiddos get down on their level and get close to them, also candid!!! Maybe it is the artist in me but posed pictures can look "stiff" at times. Catch a group from an interesting angle, having fun! Also, I prefer things off-centered. So sometimes taking a picture of a half of a face or just a child's feet off to one side of the photograph adds the "artsy" element that will draw someone in. Lastly, cut out "dead" space. People will be more intrigued to look at a photograph that is interesting and a close up of the subject rather than a photograph with a lot of dead space!

 

thanks Casey for stopping by today and for all the great advice!  seriously, check out her sweet little blog

I had so much fun with this lesson.. I just really took the opportunity to "think outside the box" and use my surroundings and just had FUN!

Enjoy!

{all edited in picnik}

I could keep going but I will stop, mm'kay!

are you following along?? trying to improve your photos too?? leave a comment, let me know.  I would love to stop by your blog and see your photos and cheer you on! 

just joining, that's ok too.. catch up here

come back next week for another great lesson and another fab photographer!