Photography Tips

Face-free PhotographyPhotographing the graduation, wedding or Mother’s Day gathering? Capture a least a few photos that are face free. Relationships and settings are often more powerfully demonstrated with tight close-ups of things other than faces. Let’s look at a few shots you won’t want to miss.








HandsSnap grandma holding hands with grandpa or the newest member of the family. Grab a photo of the bride and groom hand-in-hand as husband and wife or capture the diploma in your young graduate’s grasp. Show Mom helping her daughter prepare for the prom or graduation. And too, if the event has associated traditions like a tea ceremony or signing a wedding certificate, those moments also deserve the power that a close up, face-free photo brings.







The DetailsGet in close and capture the décor, the jewelry, the shoes and socks, or lack of them, which make your family’s special occasion unique. If it’s a graduation, document the program, the flowers, and the school emblems that are displayed along with the Hawaiian print shorts your son will wear underneath his graduation gown. And if it’s a wedding, remember most wedding décor is chosen to be a reflection of the young couple. Will the bride be sporting jeweled flip-flops under her wedding dress? Are the paper lanterns a nod to her Chinese ancestry? Will one of the groomsmen be wearing purple socks? Let the personal touches they choose for their celebration live on forever in photos, and the memories made will be remembered long after the event is over.





The LocationTrying to get everyone in the photo and still see the scene behind is often just not practical. Always include at least a few face-free shots to help define the location. Whether it’s the celebration table, the high school sign, the outside of the church or a photo of the road sign; such scene-setting photos add context to your pages and projects.

Adding Context and DetailWhile faces are the mainstay of photographed moments, you can add rich detail and important context with your no faces photos. Never let them replace those smiling faces. Just think of them as the icing on the cake!

Click here to start a project now. http://studio.heritagemakers.com/getStarted/

Go to my web site at http://www.OurPhotoStories.com or contact me via email at Rebecca@OurPhotoStories.com to learn more about Heritage Makers products.

How to Be a Fabulous Photographer and a Studio Speed Diva

Ever wondered why some Heritage Makers finish their Studio projects so quickly or receive constant compliments about their photography? The fact is the fastest, most efficient and celebrated users of Studio are the ones who take their tips from professional photographers. Let’s look at the work flow of these professionals and see what tricks we can use for making our photos look fabulous while speeding up our Studio process.

Take MORE Photos

Professional photographers have always taken many more shots than the average home photographer, even when they were still using expensive film. The medium does not matter. And what professionals do with the shots AFTERWARDS is radically different and very informative. Let’s start by looking at each group’s typical picture-taking process.

Amateur: Takes a few shots of each event, waits several weeks, downloads photos from many different events to same dated file on computer, then uploads all to Studio.

Professional: Takes many more photos of a single event, downloads to computer so that event or topic is in one dated file, edits photos down to best handful and then finishes by uploading and publishing only the very best photos.

What Are the Lessons Here?

The professional takes more photos but downloads them right away so each subject ends up in its own dated file. That already sounds more efficient. And, because the professional takes so many more photos, they have plenty to choose from and can delete anything blurry, too dark, poorly focused, or that does not show an individual at his or her best. Because a professional takes more photos to start with, they don't have to hang on to the blurry one of great grandma because “It’s the only one I’ve got of her” or go searching a hard drive to find three less-than-impressive photos of an event that are all junk.

Good Photographers Are Ruthless

And we do mean ruthless. Anything that reflects poorly on the photography studio goes in the Recycle Bin immediately. “Maybes” are considered carefully and pared down, until a few “stars” remain. Star photos are the only ones used to make finished products.

Bottom Line

To be a fabulous photographer and speed up your creative processes, TAKE lots more photos, but KEEP far fewer, just like the professionals do, uploading only your very best, print-worthy images to Studio. The benefits of the “Take More/Throw More Away” approach are amazing. You will have the important photos you need. You will find your photos faster. The photos you do find will be exceptional ones. And you’ll be so much happier with your finished projects. So commit to this photography method today. You won’t just like this approach, you’ll LOVE it.

Go to my web site at http://www.OurPhotoStories.com or contact me via e-mail at Rebecca@OurPhotoStories.com to learn more about Studio and other Heritage Makers products.