Change One Thing Challenge-Taking Professional Photos
I love to have my kids pictures professionally made, however our budget doesn’t allow for this type of splurge. I mean, let’s face it, those photos can get pretty expensive!
I have found a way to photograph our kids, make it look professional, and still be within our budget. All you need is a friend, a digital camera, and somewhere with great scenery such as a park, and you are all set!
I did the cost comparison break down on what it would cost if I have my kid’s pictures professionally taken versus if I took the photos myself and then printed them out. Here is what I found out:
If you take the pictures yourself and then have them printed from an on-line photographer such as Shutterfly, you could save a tremendous amount of money. Professional photographers charge around $80.00 for a 16×20 print. At Shutterfly, that same print would only cost you $17.99.
Today, my challenge is this: Get that digital camera out, take the kids to the park, and snap away!
Do you have some photo tips you would like to share? How do you save money on having your family photos made?
A tip I would give here is to pre-crop your photos to the size you order. This means you have to upload more files. For example, you may want wallets, and 8×10, and a 5×7 of the same photo. Each of these sizes have different ratios, so it’s a little extra work to do before ordering, but you get to control where the cropping goes.
Picassa (a free photo software by Google) has an easy cropping tool, with some pre-set standard sizes.
I, of course, learned this one the hard way, when my daughter’s forehead got cut off, but there was plenty of room left on the bottom of the photo.
I don’t know if you have a costco near you, but they do an excellent job printing photos and for even cheaper (16X20 for $10)!!
When it’s too cold to go to a park, I set up a simple backdrop by a sunny window using bar stools and a sheet. Then get as far away from the subject and use your zoom. If you do it when your child is already happy, you can get professional results!
If you need to practice to test the lighting (whether or not you want to use the flash) use a baby doll instead of your child… saves some patience for both of you!
And I echo the Costco comment… it’s the only place I go.
I do my own photography here too. Same way I do the pictures outside or inside depending on the time of year. I also like to have some candid shots (some of my best ones are the candid ones!) the grandparents seem to love those shots too (like the one of my ds when he was 11 months old and playing in the sand and decided to eat it, the expression was priceless and yes we got all the sand out of his mouth!) I usually use Walgreens or Snapfish for my enlargements, they both do a great job. I too always crop my photos at home and either upload or take to the store already cropped on the photo card, red eye removed, etc. My software here works much better than any of the ones they have at the stores. I try to use natural light as much as possible when I do pictures but NOT bright direct sunlight I have found that we look really washed out in bright sunlight (my dh jokes that dd and I have skin the color of ghosts!)
You couldn’t be more right!!
This is how I had my children’s pics done. My amateur photographer friend has 2 pro digicams and she took amazing shots at a park just catching them being themselves. Well, there were some poses too. They loved doing that.
I highly recommend Shutterfly! They may not be the cheapest, but they are so worth the cost! Their prints come out way more vibrant than anywhere else. Do not get the photos printed at Sam’s or Walgreens! Learn from my mistake.
Professional Photos—-
Either with your zoom or even with your camera itself……
when you think you are close enough, get a little closer!
The eye generally “sees” the background but then your brain focuses on the object of interest (i.e. your child, the flower, etc) so you want to force the camera to focus on the object and give you all the details (i.e. the curve of their nose, the cookie mess on their cheek, the small bug on the petal of the flower)
Of course, if you are trying to “grab the entire event” you will need the “squeeze it all into one frame mentality” (i.e. all the relatives are at the beach for the day) so do a few of those.
THEN, take the next 30min getting close, then closer.
Blessings
I think there are things still worth spending money on and family is one of them. Though grab shots might be good for capturing day to day life – getting photographs done by a true professional who understands posing, lighting and the proper post-production that goes into a portrait is well worth the money. I’m not saying you have to go to the top dollar photographer but an established professional is going to give you a much better product that will have tangible value and will stay as a family heirloom. Make it that yearly thing you splurge a bit on and you wont’ regret it. Especially if you find a photographer that you can relate too and appreciate their work as art.