1.) Don't Get Lazy and think you'll fix it later. try to take the best images you can in the moment, not leaving the dirty work to do on the computer. I have a theory that no matter how amazing digital cameras are, they are breeding a generation of lazy and tech heavy photographers. Don't trade good technique and hard work for technology.

2.) Free photo editing online. I have fallen deeply in love with Picnik, it is a photo editing program that I have used for many an image. I just use it online. I paid the extra enabeling me to edit and change all that I please, but before I paid for the Picnik Premimum the freebe served me well too.

Here is the image you may recognize as my header image for the Dreadlock Girl main blog, with some changes and fixin's done. With photo editing, you can do so much, you can make your own header, work with your own images by putting text in them, or the year on your kids shots.

Below is a screenshot of the final Dreadlock Girl header image, I love playing with Picnik! Make sure you check it out, you surely don't want to be in the dark any longer. And you no longer have the excuse that you don't know where to find the software. Picnik is excellent and very much pop-up free. There are small adds up at the top if you have not purchased the Premium Picnik, but they are not annoying. Picnik on!

3.) Don't toss your shots too soon! switch them to B&W or sepia and that really can hide many mistakes, saving some photos from the rubbish bin, maybe even having them end up some of your favourites. An error with the light meeter, bad colouring and so many more unpredictable blunders may be blended and made invisible in B&W, as long as the image is good and sharp...try it!

4.) The more you edit, the more your image quality decreases. Yes, sadly this is true, unless you are working in RAW. I don't work with RAW because they take so much more space than any of the other formats, and because I don't like to edit that much it really doesn't matter.  So with every colour change and edit, just beware of your image quality.

5.) Try not to mess. This last one is all personal opinion, maybe because I am a little old school, maybe because I like to try and get it right the first time, but it is how I feel. When I take a shot, if the sky is white, it is white, if I am lucky it will be blue, but I don't input a blue sky into my picture to make it better. Maybe more than anything I don't like messing around with those kinds of details. I like taking pictures, editing is probably my least favourite. I only try to fix my mistakes, salvage some shots...and besides that: nothing.

Make sure you check in next Wednesday for Dreadlock Girl Photography Tips!!

I always love answering questions for readers. I’d love ideas on future Dreadlock Girl Photography Tips sessions if you have them. Leave me a comment, I love hearing from you!

Previous Dreadlock Girl Photography Tips:
The Basics
Capture Real People, In Real Life Shots
Work That Thing! How to Get the Best Shots
Tips for Group Shots: How to Shoot a Group Session Like You Know What You’re Doing!
Photo Editing, Fixin' Your Images

Dreadlock Girl Photography Tips: I am going to do several of these posts, I am not a professional photographer by a long shot, but I love taking pictures and seeing beautiful pictures so I want to share what I have learned with you.

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1.) When you are down, low, low down, you will get some of your best shots especially of kids and animals. I try to be at the level of the being that I am taking a picture of. It looks more natural for kids to be looking straight at the camera when it is level with them, and even if they aren't looking, get down on your knees to shoot. It really does make a difference.

2.) Flash, what flash? A flash can work, but I think the ones that come with cameras (which is what many of us have) really don't work worth their existence. Forget you have it! That means, get your camera off of the setting which sets up your flash automatically. Mess with your ISO and shutter speed and ditch the flash for good. One day I will buy an expensive flash to try out, but I have heard it from the best that even those make your victims look, " like a deer in the headlights".

3.) Get Closer, there is no 6 inch rule when it comes to photography, get in close and then zoom in further. Most shots I see just don't have the detail they could because the subject you are shooting is 15 feet away! Walk right up, and then zoom the rest of the way. Your subject should fill up a large part of the picture. If there is something worth looking at around the subject, take that into account, if not, then why do you want it in your picture?

4.) Experiment! If you want to get good you have to waste time in training, it is like so much else out there: some people are naturally just good at it, but that is a rare stroke of luck and doesn't happen to most of us. The rest of us are just shooting away, hoping to capture something good, once in a while. To get good, try new things. Don't do the same spot as last time, take your camera with you and try a different location, different lighting than you are used to, try mixin' it up. If the shots don't turn out, then try again, adjust the light meter, the shutter speed, try a new angle. If you push yourself you will grow!

Sometimes I do get to places just when God's ready to have somebody click the shutter.

~Ansel Adams

Be sure to come back next Wednesday to Dreadlock Girl for some tips on Group Photo Shoots. Nothing fancy, just what I have learned so far.

I always love answering questions for readers. I’d love ideas on future Dreadlock Girl Photography Tips sessions if you have them. Leave me a comment, I love hearing from you!

Previous Dreadlock Girl Photography Tips:
The Basics
Capture Real People, In Real Life Shots
Work That Thing! How to Get the Best Shots
Tips for Group Shots: How to Shoot a Group Session Like You Know What You’re Doing!
Photo Editing, Fixin' Your Images

Dreadlock Girl Photography Tips: I am going to do several of these posts, I am not a professional photographer by a long shot, but I love taking pictures and seeing beautiful pictures so I want to share what I have learned with you.

Share/Save