My Two Cents Tuesday!

I stated I would do a Tutorial Tuesday in a previous post some where! But than I got to thinking, what do I have to give on tutorials? I Better "Keep It Real!" I am not a pro, I am not semi-pro, I am not even semi of a semi-pro. I am still learning the ropes! So I thought what else could I call it since Tutorial is a little bit of a stretch! So TADAAAA! Here you have it folks~"My Two Cents Tuesday" It's obvious this will come from a beginners perspective. Hoping in time I will be able to upgrade to Tutorial status, take on at least a Semi-pro stature and give back to all the newbies like myself. So here we go my first Two Cents Post!

Whether you have a point and shoot or DSLR all these tips will apply when it comes to taking pictures of the little ones. I started out on a point and shoot and was able to apply some things I learned using my point and shoot to get some frame-able images. I read somewhere on a photography site I can't remember quote for quote or source so please forgive me but it went something like this, "It's not the camera that takes the picture, it's the person behind the lens." The writer was referring to many who run out to buy expensive equipment and camera thinking the camera will make them a better photographer. In fact in the end they find out it just became one expensive hobby! That is if you are thinking of making a profession out of it. This stuck with me because I didn't want this to be the case in my situation. So before I ran out and purchased the expensive Semi-pro DSLR, I made sure my point and shoot and I became best of friends! I will post a few images I took from my point and shoot following this post. So here we go!

#1 Practice,practice...did I mention PRACTICE! Practice does lead to better images by far! In fact I would recommend starting out on a point and shoot to get the artistic part down. I can honestly say in the past year my images have improved just by doing this very thing PRACTICE! Shoot to your hearts content!

#2 Who did I practice on? My brand new baby girl because my older girls never wanted to be photographed! I was lucky a few times, it is however how I got the face shots posted on my Blog~~~~~> see side column! Not to forget to mention these too were taken with a point and shoot! Before my DSLR days, which was what a week ago?!? I tend to gravitate towards people especially children. It is what brought me to my love of photography, my very own children!

#3 How did I photograph her? Well I chased her around the house day after day literally 365 days for her 1st year! Then I got bored of my own picture taking and started looking up Children's photography and that's when the bug hit me! I remember the first thing I read, "GET DOWN TO THEIR LEVEL!" get on the floor on your knees whatever it takes~ just get to their level! Engage yourself in their activity with your camera in hand. I would sing her favorite songs and capture her smiling, or catch her at the back door on a rainy day trying to touch the rain drops through the window. I started seeing life through the eyes of my child instead of my own. Doing this did wonders for my images!

#4 Don't worry about perfection! Just shoot and keep shooting. Taking just a few shots and calling it quits is a no no! I was so happy when a photographer revealed they have to take at least 10 to get a handful of usable shots. Thats the beauty of the digital age of photography! We can snap away and delete the imperfect ones. Though sometimes those we see imperfect are actually just right! It's all one's individual point of view.

So get out that point and shoot and start Snap, Snap....Snapping away! Create those images that will last a lifetime!

Happy Picture taking!
XO~MJ

These were taken with a Canon point and shoot!
This was Mikayla's First Day of Spring in her life exploring outside after a long winter. She was very content.


Below is Mikayla pointing to her eye. She was learning eyes, ears, nose and mouth. She thinks poking us in the eye is hilarious! Whatever makes her laugh right..lol:)