Photography Tip #1: Find the Light.

When you’re starting out, it will be a lot easier to play with your camera’s settings when you have a lot of light to work with. The more light, the cleaner and crisper your photos will be.

If you have a room with a lot of windows, you'll have to entice your little one to spend some time around there. My favorite spot to photograph Elle is by our front door {it has a glass screen} so we keep it open year round. It's not hard to get her to go over to it, because there are usually some woodland creatures out on our front lawn... you know squirrels, bunnies, turkeys, a neighborhood fox, so her and the pup are easily entertained {sometimes even hugs are involved}.

The kid also love to clean, so I just give her a spray bottle, and she is preoccupied long enough for me to snap some photos.

If you really don't have a room with a lot of natural light, just prop a chair next to a window, put your babe in it, and give them a little prop {book, doll/toy... my go to is a coffee mug filled with Cheerios}. Or if your child is like mine, they will climb out of the chair, and straight onto the windowsill.

As a whole, my advice about photographing inside, is to observe your house....which room gets the most light, and what time of day? Remember to pull up those window shades (as well as those nearby), and click away. Oh and one more tip.... this is important.. turn your lights off! Artificial lights create a yellow glow, and cause shadows, and that takes away from your photos looking crispy and clean {this was something I never thought about when I first started out taking photos, it just never occurred to me that my lights inside the house contributed to my less than stellar pictures}.

My favorite place to take photos is definitely outside, {and for us us that's the beach since we are lucky to live only 2 miles away from one}. Unless it's a really dark and gloomy day, you will usually have a lot of natural light to work with. Bonus: you don't have to do anything particular to keep your little one preoccupied, because there is so much they can do, and you get to chase them around with your camera.

Once you're outside and ready to go, here are some important things to consider:

1. Avoid the sun directly above as it will create some harsh shadows on your little one’s face.

2. Avoid the sun behind you. Think of it this way. Your little one will be looking in your direction/into the camera, and if the sun if behind you, they will essentially be looking directly into the sunlight. This equals squinty eyes. And nobody wants that.

3. Try to catch some sun in your lens. Don't point your camera directly into the sunlight, as this can damage your lens, but a little bit of sun goes a long way, and can create a pretty sun flare.

Go find that light my friends. Stay tuned for the next tip soon.. it will be a little more technical {playing with different settings for your camera} but it's a biggie, so I'll try and break it down as much as possible, without sending ya'll running.

#Photographytips