by Sherri on February 13, 2007
By all means, test your battery power before heading out for a photo shoot. If it’s low, recharge or replace your batteries. But, don’t stop there! Carry an extra battery/batteries along with you. Certain situations will drain your battery power very quickly, such as shooting in very COLD weather and previewing your digital images as your shoot.
When I am out snowshoeing or cross-country skiing, I also tape a handwarmer to my battery storage area with DUCT tape. This keeps my battery from draining so quickly. I also look at my images as I shoot, as many people do. This is both good and bad. The good is, you can delete the obvious bad images, which saves space on your memory card. The bad is, it also uses lots of battery power. If you were to be both shooting in very COLD weather and previewing your images, the chances of needing a spare battery increases.
While teaching a photo workshop recently, one of my students failed to bring a spare battery with her. I’m pretty certain she didn’t check her battery power beforehand either. About 1/3 of the way into the workshop, she ran out of battery power. That was a hard lesson to learn! Â
by Sherri on February 12, 2007
Instead of shooting your subject at eye level, try shooting down from a bird’s eye view, or shooting up from a bug’s eye view. Try shooting from the moon roof of a moving car (I have only done this out in the Nevada desert), while out on a trail run, or horseback riding. Use your imagination and you will come with ideas of your own. Don’t be afraid to experiment!
by Sherri on February 11, 2007
When in doubt, leave it out – the sky that is! When shooting a scene that includes a sky consider this. If the sky is great by all means include it, but if it’s not, leave it out. By leaving the ugly sky out, you will actually add more color and impact to your photograph.
Next time you are confronted with this situation, try shooting the scene both with and without the sky and see which one you like best.
by Sherri on February 10, 2007
If you didn’t see the abstract photo I posted a few days ago, don’t read any further until you do!
Okay, today is the day I’m going to reveal the answer to “Mystery Photo – what is it?”
Answer: The photo is a close-up of a frozen mud puddle.
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by Sherri on February 9, 2007
When you think you are close enough to your subject, move closer! You can get too far away from your subject without trying, but getting close enough seems to be difficult for most people. Try getting what you perceive as “too close” and you will most likely love the results. This is something I still have to work on after years of shooting!
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by Sherri on February 8, 2007
Many people shooting with a digital camera these days, seem to think that Photoshop will be their “saving grace” when their photos are not what they hoped for.  For best results, get it right in the camera first, then you can always tweak it later if you want to. It’s far better to experiment with Photoshop to make a great photo even better, than to depend on it to turn a bad photo into a good enough photo!
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by Sherri on February 7, 2007
I can’t stress this enough. Whenever you have a great subject in front of you, shoot several frames instead of only one or two. Shooting a few extra frames is a lot less expensive than returning to the location, especially if it’s not in your own backyard.
Most people are shooting digital these days, so there is no excuse not to practice this simple tip. Here are a few things to try. Shoot your subject in both horizontal and vertical formats, use different lenses, shoot from different angles, shoot with a flash, then without, shoot a landscape with a person included, then without. The possibilities are endless. You will have a much better chance of getting at least one “keeper” if you practice this simple tip.
If you have any photo tips you would like to share, please comment. Happy shooting!
by Sherri on February 6, 2007
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Use your imagination and see if you can guess what this is. I will post the answer in a few days. Have fun!
