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Two More Awards!

"The Whole Picture" Wins Two Telly Classic Awards

Engage

It’s Girl Scout cookie time! I was running errands today and noticed a group of girl scouts sitting outside the local bank who looked bored, tired, and slightly embarrassed in their “cookie” sales role. A dedicated Mom was standing nearby trying to provide encouragement. There was a large brown box full of thin mints and trefoils and the goal was to sell all the cookies before they went home. People walked by and might have guessed they were selling cookies (it happens every year), but without a proactive effort by the girls, no one was really paying attention—hence their lingering supply of unsold cookies. After buying a few boxes of cookies I gave them a little pep talk about engaging with people and communicating how wonderful their cookies were. I also tried to get them excited about the outcome, i.e. sell all the cookies and you get to go home. They seemed mildly entertained by my enthusiasm, and as I drove away I waved in encouragement.

This scenario reminds me of the problems we face as adult creative entrepreneurs trying to sell our photographs, art, or other creations, without the Girl Scout legacy or an advocate to help us out. To sell anything, you need to call attention to your product and engage with your potential clients—find out what they want, offer ways to solve their problems and answer their questions. Now that internet connections are faster, and social networking websites have gone mainstream, why not take advantage of the many ways you can market your work online, and connect with potential clients for FREE? Start a blog, a newsletter, open up a Facebook account, upload videos on YouTube – put it out there! Otherwise, people are not going to know about your fabulous product or service, and you aren’t going to be selling any cookies.

www.facebook.com
www.wordpress.com
www.blogger.com
www.youtube.com

A Few of My Favorite Things

I’m getting ready to go to PMA 2009 (March 3-5 in Las Vegas) and I’m so excited! The Photo Marketing Association trade show is a great place for photo retailers, professional photographers, and educators to learn about the hottest imaging products for the year. Last year I visited a few of my favorite booths and decided to create a video so you can see some of the cool stuff I found in 2008. Thanks to my producer, Michael Welch, for shooting and editing this video for me.

News flash: The Whole Picture is Back!

If you haven’t heard about it before, I hosted twenty six episodes of a digital photography series called “The Whole Picture.” It’s an action-packed show with lots of information for the photo beginner/photo enthusiast, winning seven Telly Awards to date.

The show aired on the DIY Network and HGTV-HD from 2005 to early 2008, but disappeared from the line up March 2008. Now it’s back on the air! I’ve heard reports that it’s also airing in the Philippines and Australia, and possibly other parts of the world too. The new schedule is a total DVR recording situation, unless you’re up during the wee hours.

Check out the episode guide

Click to watch a short clip about the show

In this series I explain, demonstrate and illustrate every phase of digital photography, from the basics of composition, exposure and lighting to using your computer and printer and enhancing your images before you print them out. In each episode I teach students with limited photography knowledge how to use their camera, improve their photographic skills and complete a specific photography project. Every show is an all-inclusive lesson on digital photography so you’ll have everything you need to get The Whole Picture.

Low-light Photography for the Holidays

The holidays are here! Lights twinkle, candles cast a warm glow, and fireplaces illuminate the room, creating a beautiful, festive atmosphere. Most people try to capture this mood in a photograph, but often end up with underexposed, overexposed, or blurry images that don’t reflect the feeling of the moment. Low-light photography can be a challenge, but with a few simple tips you’ll be on your way to successfully capturing those holiday memories that you and your family will treasure forever.

OBJECTS

If you’ve ever tried to capture a picture of an ornament or other holiday decoration in low-light, you may have experienced a few problems. Following are a few examples: 

I shot this photo using the Auto Flash mode and Auto ISO. You can see how the flash caused a distracting reflection and overexposed the image.

I shot this second photo with the Flash Off and the ISO set to 200. I’m hand holding the camera and the image turned out blurry.

The final image was shot with the Flash Off using an ISO of 1600, and I’m still hand holding the camera. By setting the camera’s ISO to a higher number, I’m letting more light into the camera which allows for a faster shutter speed and results in a sharper image. Keep in mind, when you raise your ISO you introduce noise into your image (similar to film grain). This translates to tiny, discolored pixels in the dark areas of your image. Typically, dSLR camera sensors are better at handling higher ISO speeds, but now even compact camera sensors are producing less noise at higher speeds. Personally, I’d rather deal with a little “noise” than have a blurry shot. Experiment and see how your camera responds. 

OUTDOORS

Your camera’s flash reaches approximately 10 feet so it won’t illuminate anything past that distance. When shooting a landscape in low light, turn off your flash, steady your camera on a tripod or solid surface to prevent blur, and take advantage of your camera’s two-second self timer to prevent any accidental camera movement.

• If you’re shooting with a compact camera, you may not be able to manually select a slow shutter speed, but your camera will adjust for a decent exposure. 
• If you do have manual control over your shutter speed, or you’re using a dSLR, set your camera to Manual, your ISO between 200 and 400, and try various slow shutter speeds (1/30 of a second and slower). Adjust your aperture to create an exposure that looks good on your LCD viewfinder. Every lighting situation varies, so experiment and don’t be afraid to take chances. With digital photography, you can take as many pictures as your memory card can hold. 

Every December our local pier dresses up for the holidays. I try to capture a different angle and lighting condition each time I venture out to document this tradition, and I always take a lot of pictures. As the light changes, I adjust my camera settings. Some of the images from this session were very dark, others were lighter, I thought this one was just right.

PEOPLE

Here’s the deal - it’s dark outside and your subject is standing in front of some very festive lights. You’d like to capture the glow, yet still light up your subject. Poof! You take a picture and your flash goes off. The resulting image shows a well lit subject, but the lights look….washed out. What happened? 

The Auto Flash works well in some situations, this is not one of them. Notice that my subject is illuminated, but the background lights look dim.

Most compact cameras and entry level dSLRs have a Night Portrait or Night Scene setting denoted by an icon on the Mode Dial or in the Menu settings. If you don’t have this option, look for Slow Synchro in your Menu settings. Night Scene, Night Portrait, and Slow Synchro use a slower shutter speed that captures the ambient light in your scene, while the flash still illuminates your subject. Since the shutter speed is slower, you may need to use a tripod or rest your camera on a stable surface to reduce image blur. Or you can use the blur as a creative element in your image. Try it, and see what happens.

This family photo was taken using a slow shutter speed (1/30) and flash. This setting allowed me to capture the glow of the tree lights and the flash cast a nice, even light on everyone’s face.

I hope these low-light photo tips inspire you to capture and remember the important people, places, and things that make your holiday special.

Fast Photo Decor

The holidays are here and people are coming over…yikes! Time to pull out the Christmas decorations and sweep the dust under the sofa. Well, sort of. I know one thing for sure, I’ve been way too busy to pay much attention to my interior decor. Things are looking a little shabby – the only problem is, I have champagne taste on a beer budget. What’s a girl to do? Get creative! I took macro shots of interesting things around the house, then found some cool looking frames on sale at Aaron Bros (with the museum mats), and printed up my own artwork with my Canon photo printer. Voila! A few nails later my creations were hanging on the wall, just in time for the festivities. This is one instance when things were easy, fast, AND cheap. Let the party begin.

Erin’s Photo Tips

How to Shoot with a Digital SLR Camera

If you’re a photo beginner/photo enthusiast with a compact camera and have attempted to capture the action at your child’s basketball game, or any other situation where things are moving, you may have experienced some frustration in getting the shot. As fabulous as compact cameras can be for taking snap shots, they aren’t in the same league as a DSLR (that’s digital single lens reflex). DSLRs have faster processors that capture images faster. You can also interchange lenses, which is a big deal when you want to express your creativity and experiment with different looks and perspectives. I carry my compact camera with me everywhere, but if I want professional results I can always count on my DSLR to help me successfully capture the shot.

Check out these cool tutorial videos I did for Canon. You’ll learn basic camera techniques with the Canon EOS Rebel XSi, lenses, flashes, and accessories.

Click HERE to see the tutorial videos “Fun with Photography!”

Cool video tutorials on the EOS Rebel XSi

The Making of the Canon XSi Videos

I had the opportunity to work with a great crew of people while shooting these videos. You can see some of them in these behind-the-scene images from the set of the “How-To” Youth Sporting Event.

The “How-To” Portraits of Kids video was a blast!
Check out Mr. Blue Eyes…

Create Videos with Your Images

Trip to Venice

I love using Animoto.com to create cool videos from my images. Here’s a 30 second video I created using pictures from last summer. It was really easy to do…and did I mention that’s it’s free? Wheeee!