Hi Everyone!

I am Sarah with a Tips and Tricks for you today. I promise today I will keep it quick, easy and to the point!
My tip is something that we can all do to get a better photo universally whether you
use a point and shoot camera or the latest technology in digital SLR cameras!

The one thing that really helped my photos was learning how to utilize light to my advantage. I am a natural light photographer for the most part and once I learned a few things on how to really
take advantage of nature’s gift to photographers, I found a HUGE improvement in my pictures.  As a matter of fact the more you get used to using natural light the more developed your eye will become to proper exposure and in turn you will recieve much better results and camera editing is much easier.
You get a bigger bang for your buck as far as photoshop actions and the like are concerned.

So my quick and easy lesson today?  Don’t use that flash unless under extreme dark conditions. The flash can cast really harsh shadows on your subject, and blow out detail that you won’t be able to recover.  I understand at night there may be no helping it.

Another natural light tip. Find a good window! Seriously it works. It also helps produce great catchlights! I like to place my subject next to a window and experiment with different angles and positions so that I can control the shadowing on the contours of the face and how the light hits them.  Another easy trick some photographers use is they walk around the subject in a circle and watch how the light changes as they do so until they find the light they want to use.

However, when you have to use the flash, diffuse the light (or make it softer) and it will definitely give you a more pleasing asthetic. How do you diffuse? Easy peasy. For a quick cheap solution tape a piece of tissue or toilet paper over the flash. If you are lucky to have a DSLR with a speedlight, you want to bounce your flash or angle it so it is pointing upward, to the side or behind you so you don’t have it hitting your
subject directly on.

Lastly avoid dappled light. When you are out and your in a park or a place with a lot of shaded areas your first instinct is to head for a tree. I know they make great props, but you don’t want harsh dappled light on your subject. Dappled light is the light that filters down through tree branches or things of that nature that cast different highlights and shadows. It can give you a really uneven exposure and make it really hard for you to edit afterwards in your photoshop program.

A few people have asked to see what one of my photos typically looks like SOOC (straight out of the camera) with no editing at all.

So here it is! I just opened the door and use that natural light when I took this photo!
I hope that I have helped in some small way! I hope you will share your gorgeous photos with us here at A5!
Thanks again!
Sarah