Photography & Me

I got my first SLR camera (Canon Rebel XTi) for Christmas in 2007. I begged and begged my husband to let me buy one before our first daughter was born…

{pre-SLR pic}

…but alas she was over six months old before I got it.

Christmas morning came and I was ecstatic to see that small square box with my name on it. All of my photo problems were going to be fixed once I opened this box! I took out the camera, inserted the battery and memory card, pressed down on the button, and pulled back to reveal… only a slightly better picture.

{taken one month after Christmas with my new Canon Rebel XTi}

Bahg.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who assumed that buying an SLR would result in uuuhhhmazing pictures, and that I’d suddenly become the most amazing photographer. I was disappointed to find that after spending $700, the pictures {although drastically better} were still NOT uuuhhhhmazing.

That’s when I went on a crusade to find out what I was doing wrong. I bought Canon Rebel XTi for Dummies {yup…} and started reading. It was SO big and I must be the dead brain-cell in a dummies head because I still found it confusing! What was all this junk about aperature? ISO? And only shooting in manual?!

Manual. I dreaded that word for a LONG time. I basically refused to take my camera off auto-pilot and tried to take the best picture possible.

I remember talking to a friend who was a professional photographer and she said that I absolutely HAD to start shooting in manual if I wanted uuuhhhmazing pictures. Again with the word, “Manual”. I felt defeated. I started looking through photography forums, websites, yahoo-answers, trying to figure out how to navigate my camera in the manual settings. It was all gibberish.

I was about to give up and invest in an UBER expensive photography e-course when I stumbled upon an ebook, “Say no to Auto”.

It was $10 and only 10 pages! I could definitely swing that! I purchased the book {purchase here} and it was amazing! Did my pictures suddenly become amazing the minute after reading the book? The honest answer is No. Nothing in life is ever that easy, people! It took lots & LOTS of practice. I’d take my camera outside every chance I got, switching the settings to create the perfect shot. And yes, the book still had all the technical jargon but she wrote it in a way that I {a.k.a. the dead brain cell} could understand! After reading it I felt comfortable switching my settings to Manual and I’ve never gone back!

I actually met Kristen at SNAP and told her my story. She was so happy to hear that her book had helped me so much!

If you’re going to shoot inside your house, you really need to have good lighting. I found a tutorial {here} on how to build you own light-box.

{un-edited photo taken in a light box with a Canon Rebel Xti on manual settings}

This helped immensely with indoor product photography. If you don’t have professional lighting equipment in your house (who does?!) and don’t have the time to build a light box, you should really shoot outside.

Now that I’ve kind of talked you through my journey,

I gonna leave you with some helpful hints and facts.

What camera do I own now? A Nikon D90. It was just over $1,000 and worth every penny! It even takes video.

What is my favorite light to shoot in? Full sunlight, in the shade. Have the subject stand right inside the shade line. It makes for beautiful lighting on the face.

Where do I shoot most of my craft pictures?  Tutorial pictures are taken in my home, final pics are taken on my shady porch on a sunny day {see cupcake picture above}.

What is my favorite lens? My newest lens. A Nikon portrait lens, 50mm f/1.8D Autofocus Lens. You can find these lenses for around $100.

Trick to getting smooth, beautiful faces on your kiddos? Always make sure that you child’s face has baby lotion on it before a photoshoot!

Alright, that’s it…

I’m still learning and hope to be an even better photographer this time next year… but this is where I’m at in photography journey.

Don’t miss out on your opportunity to win a Silhouette Cameo {here}

This was NOT a sponsored post. Kristen did NOT ask me to write it. She is genuinely a part of my photography story…