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1. Fill the frame with your subject, and your photos will be easy to understand. Focus in on just the people you see from across the room,don’t include the entire room.

2. Pay attention to backgrounds.  Be careful about bright light sources in the background that will have the eye going there and not your subject.  And be carefull to not have odd things sticking up from the back of  your loved ones heads.  Be careful there are no mirrors back there for the flash to bounce back at you and ruin the image.

3.Let the action play on. When the kids are playing with the new game, don’t have them to stop and smile for the camera .  This ruins the moment and turns an active image into a static and boring image. Take the the action as it occurs; don’t try to dictate it.

4. Get on your subject’s level.  Too often I see images taken at the wrong  height.  If you are photographing your children and they are playing on the floor, get down there with them and shoot them from that angle. You will be surprised how much better the image works when you are on your subject’s level.  Don’t forget to occasionally turn the camera, vertical composition is  sometimes better than a horizontal one.

5.  Be patient and wait for the moment.  Be ready for it.  Be patient, watch the action through your camera, and be ready to snap the photo just when the smile hits. This is the kind of holiday picture that families treasure most and will be a timeless memory for years to come.

My first MDA event volunteering  photography was great.  They successfully auctioned off the above big bike donated by Schaeffer’s .   As everyone came into the ballroom, I posed them with the bike.  They later that night each went home with a 5 x 7 print.  Al Grout provided great entertainment by juggling more stuff than I have fingers, from his face and hands.  The Air Products band The Difference provided great rock and dance tunes all night.  To see some more folks with smiles on their faces as they dreamed about their winning bid for the bike, click here.

Just a day in the park..

This is two sisters family’s girls.  One had the top bid for a family portrait at the Iron Pigs Phillies Caravan , and asked if I could do a portrait of her children…It turned into trying to get all 5 kids together to sit at once.  That was not at all on ANY of these children’s mind that day.  I saved the day by sugessting we get some separate photos and make a montage.  The parent’s were quite pleased with the result, and gave a wall portrait to the grandparents for  an anniversary gift.