Tips for Shooting a Wedding in a Pinch.

So, you show up at a wedding with your camera and your friend, the bride, is in tears. The photographer isn't gonna be there! She sees your camera and suddenly you are the photographer. Don't freak out. You can do this!

Here are some survival tips for shooting a wedding, on-the-spot or not.

1. Make a list of important shots. This is your cheat sheet.  Put formal portraits in the list and candid shots you know the couple will love.  This way when you get busy you won't forget what needs to be done. Check the list every 10 minutes or as needed. Weddings make almost all photographers nervous. Don't worry. You'll do fine.

2.Pretend you are shooting a movie. Have the bride and groom move. Have them touch noses or hug. Have them spin or jump. Photos will look less posed if you to this. Most of all, make sure they are having fun.

3. Shoot a lot of candids.  Always get the flower girl. Take photos of the guests and family.  Take photos of the cake. Remember that photos don't need to be posed.

4. Check out the location in advance.  Look around for nice backgrounds. Find interesting places and think about how to pose the couple in the surroundings.  Be creative.

5. Always have a back-up camera.  Extra batteries are nice also.  You don't want to get stuck with a dead battery or a camera that doesn't work.

6. Do the formal shots(groups and family) first if possible. This will make things easier as the day goes on.

7. Shoot close-ups. Get ring shots. Get hands. Shoot the detail in the back of the dress, shoot the bouquet, get creative! These shots will add depth to the album or DVD.

8. Get help from the Maid of Honor. Girls are more comfortable with helping than men.

9. Get to know the DJ.   He can help you get ready for shots like the bouquet toss and the dance shots.

10. Enjoy yourself. Your images will reflect it if you are not having fun, so have fun!

How to get better photos of snow.

Have you ever taken a photo of snow on an overcast day  and wondered why the snow photos look dark or grey  and not white like real snow? The reason is simple.  Your light meter in your camera  is being tricked! Your light meter is thinking "Wow! This  is a really bright photo.I need to compensate for the  brightness!"  Your light meter does not know you are  photographing snow! It thinks you are looking at your  typical grey scene like spring grass or something.   So, what happens is that your camera  lowers the exposure to compensate for the difference in the  scene.  This is why you get grey snow.  So, how do you fix this problem?  On almost every  camera there is an Exposure Compensation button.   If you do not know where it is, get into your camera  manual and look it up. It is a very handy button. I use  it constantly. Anyway, all you have to do is add in f/stop  or +1 to your exposure and you should get better photos  of snow! Who knew it was so easy?    If you have questions, leave a comment and let me know.  I will do my best at answering them and if I can't, I will at  least point you in the right direction.  Have fun as always:) Here is a photo that I took of snow.  Enjoy:)

Getting Funky with the X-mas Tree

I like to have fun with photography. I always look for ways to be creative and I have found a good way to make some neat photos with the X-mas tree.  Most photographers take the same photo of the Xmas tree every year. They place it in a corner and set up a tripod with their camera on top and shoot a few photos.  I'm not saying anything bad about that but sometimes it's nice to switch things up and get funky. So while you are taking these photos turn on the disco music (or Xmas music).  So, what I did was:

1.Got rid of the tripod, handheld the camera.
2. Turned off the lights in the room.
3. Set my camera shutter speed to 1 second. You can adjust this to your liking. Also, change the fstop for different shots to get the effect you want.
4. Moved the camera while the shutter is open.

Some people actually toss their cameras with the shutter open. You get a cool effect this way too, but I am not taking responsibility for broken cameras.

Hope you enjoyed the tips. Let me know if you have any questions:)