Picture Tip: DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT!

Okay all you Pinterest junkies.....  I totally get it.  I am always trying to find ideas online.  BUT, I think that the thing in photography, and just daily life, that has helped and hurt me the most is the world wide web.  I have been browsing other photographer's blogs and websites since I started, and I have found great inspiration.  It has pushed me to get better, and I appreciate that.  But, after a while, I feel myself forgetting what I REALLY love about photography... what MY style is... what my priorities are.  I feel like it is really possible to get lazy by relying on everyone else to show us how to live and work BETTER, and it's easy to start comparing yourself to everyone's beautiful life and business.  I know that what I LOVE is capturing people doing what they already love to do... what is special to them, and just making them look better doing it in pictures.   If you contact me in 2012 to take pics, I will be making a bigger effort to get to know you, your interests, your style... etc... before the session, so that it is very custom and unique to you specifically.

HOW DOES THIS HELP YOU TAKE BETTER PICTURES??  TIPS FOR YOU!

Whether you are a mom taking pictures of your own kids, an amateur photographer, or whatever the case might be, really take some time to think about what moves you, what you enjoy, and what you would REALLY LOVE to be good at.

Do you LOVE babies squished up in baskets with colorful backdrops?  If so, challenge yourself to do it differently than the photographer down the street who is using the same hat with ears and wooden floor/ damask backdrop as everyone else.

Or, do you simply love watching your kids play in the backyard?  If so, just make sure they are dressed cute, snap pictures of them at different angles (get above them, below them, shoot from far and extremely close), and do it at a time if day when the sun is not hitting them right in the face.

Or, get your husband (or me) to snap pics of you painting your daughter's fingernails, then jazz them up in photoshop so they are a little more fun.   The possibilities for the memories you can create in a DIFFERENT way are endless!

This was the front of our Christmas card this year.  Loved playing on the fact that they love to play house!   This just makes me smile every time I see it, and it took about 5 minutes!

These were taken when Chann got the croup for the first time EVER the very FIRST week of school.  She was feeling better and snapping green beans.  I loved the way she looked in the hat, and had fun playing with the 70's style feel of the pics.  I'll always remember that week at home alone with her, and this shines a new light on it!