Michelle East, Fine Art and Portrait Photographer, My Favorite Tools of the Trade!

Today I thought I would post about a few of my favorite things!  

This is the Cintique. A pressure sensitive monitor that I use to create much of my fine art work. They also make tablet which I use as well. Intuos is my favorite tablet! Find them all at the Wacom website~

http://www.wacom.com




Love the imac from Apple! Yes, this is what I do all of my creative computer work on.

I purchased my imac from the Germantown,TN Apple store but you can also get your at the Apple website~

http://www.apple.com

Another favorite of mine are the Nikon Cameras. Read reviews and order at~ http://www.Nikon.com.

And of course you should always buy the best lens that you can afford!

If you would like to see my fine art photography work, I have a one woman exhibition at GPAC until Sunday. Please feel free to stop by and see it before it comes down.  Would love your feedback on my work.

Hope you enjoyed this blog about my favorite things in photography!

Till next time,

Photography Tips Mom to Mom, Michelle East, Award Winning Photographer and Artist, Memphis TN

More Mom to Mom Tips!
Let's talk about composition.  This is an easy way to make your pictures look good with out much effort on your part.  As a mom I know it is easiest to just zoom in on the face and aim. Centering the child right in the middle of the frame.  While that is fine, let's step it up a notch.  Why don't we turn the camera vertical rather than the standard horizontal set up. Hmmm that changes things.
















Isn't he cute!
I took this image during a photo safari in San Francisco.

You could also tilt the camera off its axis and use creative angles to get the shot! Now that is fun!!Here is another love also from San Francisco.

Another something to try is called the Rule of Thirds.  The rule of thirds is an important tool in creating great pictures. It is basically if you were to draw imaginary lines dividing the image into thirds, horizontally and vertically. (Kinda looks like a tic tac toe board. :)  Well the subject should fall on the intersections of the lines or along the lines. See the picture above. I have drawn the tic tac toe board on the image and then circled where the focal point is along the top 2/3 rd's of the image. It makes the image much stronger than if his face was dead center.  

Our last tip today on composition is called framing. This is when you use doorways, architecture etc... in your image.   

I challenge you to use your imagination!  Get creative and take chances. That is the only way to learn.  

Till next time,

Photography Tips Mom to Mom, Michelle East, Award Winning Photographer and Artist, Memphis TN

Hi to all the Moms out there who love to take pictures of their babies - no matter what their age!

I get a lot of questions these days about digital cameras, taking pictures, computer
software, etc..... you get my drift!  It seems like we all have to be photographers
even if we just want to be moms! So I thought it would be fun to post once a week
or so, a tip to help you as moms take better pictures of your children.

So check back often and get your camera ready because you will become a better photographer
if you follow my tips.  :)

To kick off the Photography Tips Mom to Mom blog I want to start with a natural light tip. I am assuming 99% of you do your photography with natural light or with a pop up flash on your camera, which I want you to stop using immediately!

A flash makes the skin look over exposed and blotchy.  The best and most natural look for your pictures will always be natural light.  Please, please, please turn the camera's automatic flash off if you can. You may even go so far as to borrow your husbands duct tape and tape that sucker down!!!!

Head outside into an area out of the direct sun, i.e. shady spot.  Remember not to get into too dark of an area. We in professional photography call it open shade. It is where once you have the child set up, there is open sky on both sides of the child when you look thru the camera. Another option is to use tree shade or a porch.  Try to get the light on your child from the sides rather that straight above which causes shadows on their sweet little eyes.

If you are inside, go to a window to get the natural light falling on your children. Surround them in a warm glow keeping the shadows off their faces. Watch what the light does. You are training your eye to see as a professional photographer sees! Once you get the lighting right, act fast because sunlight changes quickly and so do kids!

A great set up inside it to have the window on the right or left of the child and them facing you forward.

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|  Window         X  Child
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                        X  You








Here is your photography cheat sheet!
Enjoy!
If you like this idea of tips from me on photography, please let me know. I would love to hear from you. Also, I will take questions and try to answer them on the blog if I feel they would be good for everyone to hear.

Happy Photographing!