Series: Top 10 things that KILL Summer Photos #4

Your life and memories deserve to be amazing! This series focuses on the 10 biggest mistakes that kill your summer family photos and how you can fix them.

MISTAKE #4 - Not Getting Close Enough to the Moment 

If your summer photos seem like a random collection of snapshots, it might just be because you are only making snapshots. Snapshots are effortless and usually taken from afar. They include too much in the frame with no clear subject. One is left struggling to understand why the photo was taken in the first place.

SOLUTION:  Move in Even Closer

Zoom in tight with your lens or even physically use your legs to move yourself closer to the family action.  You will eliminate distractions outside of the image frame and put focus on what is most important to you.   One of the strangest things I have learned about photography is the more you focus on small details or single moments, the more complete the visual story. 

If you want to dig deeper, here is a fun book I found that can help improve personal photos no matter what kind of camera you use...

Better Photo Basics: The Absolute Beginner's Guide to Taking Photos Like a Pro ($12.75)

Read about the other mistakes...

• MISTAKE #10 - Having everyone stand there and smile all the time

• MISTAKE #9 - Taking photos in direct sunlight

• MISTAKE #8 - Using those faux-filters in apps

• MISTAKE #7 - Leaving the camera in the hotel

• MISTAKE #6 - Disregard for your own children

• MISTAKE #5 - Never appearing in your own family photos

• MISTAKE #4 - Not getting close enough to the moment

• MISTAKE #3 - You didn't have a backup plan

• MISTAKE #2 - You didn't put much effort into it

• MISTAKE #1 - Using Only Your Smartphone Camera

-JMB

© 2015 Jared M. Burns Photography
Snohomish Family Photographer
www.jaredmburns.com | 206.659.7468 | info@jaredmburns.com

Series: Top 10 things that KILL Summer Photos #6

Your life and memories deserve to be amazing! This series focuses on the 10 biggest mistakes that kill your summer family photos and how you can fix them.

MISTAKE #6:  Disregard For Your Own Children, Photographically Speaking

Parents often act as though their perspective is the only perspective...let me explain. Millions of vacation photos each year are ruined by adults taking photos from above, looking down the children.  No matter how special the moment was, there’s nothing significant about seeing the tops of heads.

SOLUTION:  Consider who you are photographing

Consider their perspective. How can you make a photo that tells their story? It is easy, just get down to their level and try to see the world as they view it when you take the picture.  There's nothing more special than seeing it through their eyes.

Read about the other mistakes...

• MISTAKE #10 - Having everyone stand there and smile all the time

• MISTAKE #9 - Taking photos in direct sunlight

• MISTAKE #8 - Using those faux-filters in apps

• MISTAKE #7 - Leaving the camera in the hotel

• MISTAKE #6 - Disregard for your own children

• MISTAKE #5 - Never appearing in your own family photos

• MISTAKE #4 - Not getting close enough to the moment

• MISTAKE #3 - You didn't have a backup plan

• MISTAKE #2 - You didn't put much effort into it

• MISTAKE #1 - Using Only Your Smartphone Camera

-JMB

© 2015 Jared M. Burns Photography
Snohomish Family Photographer
www.jaredmburns.com | 206.659.7468 | info@jaredmburns.com

Series: Top 10 things that KILL Summer Photos #7

Your life and memories deserve to be amazing! This series focuses on the 10 biggest mistakes that kill your summer family photos and how you can fix them.

MISTAKE #7 - Leaving the camera in the hotel

Has this ever happened to you? We leave the hotel for a little outing saying, “No need to bring the camera for this one.” It really just means, "I just don't want to carry it around."  Inevitably something special happens and we catch ourselves exclaiming, “Ohh, I wish I brought the camera!”  It's because life always happens in the between moments.  The unplanned events often become some of the greatest stories to share, even the defining moments of your vacation.  No camera means no photo memories.

SOLUTION:  Bring the camera anyway

Yes, bring the camera wherever you go, even when you don’t want to.  Don’t leave it in the hotel or the car.  Have it with you. Have it out.  Have it ready.  Think about all the unbelievable, amazing, and hilarious Youtube family videos that have only been made by people who remembered to bring the camera.  These unexpected moments are big part of your story and not to be missed!

Read about the other mistakes...

• MISTAKE #10 - Having everyone stand there and smile all the time

• MISTAKE #9 - Taking photos in direct sunlight

• MISTAKE #8 - Using those faux-filters in apps

• MISTAKE #7 - Leaving the camera in the hotel

• MISTAKE #6 - Disregard for your own children

• MISTAKE #5 - Never appearing in your own family photos

• MISTAKE #4 - Not getting close enough to the moment

• MISTAKE #3 - You didn't have a backup plan

• MISTAKE #2 - You didn't put much effort into it

• MISTAKE #1 - Using Only Your Smartphone Camera

-JMB

© 2015 Jared M. Burns Photography
Snohomish Wedding Photographer
www.jaredmburns.com | 206.659.7468 | info@jaredmburns.com

Series: Top 10 things that KILL Summer Photos - #9

Your life and memories deserve to be amazing! This series focuses on the 10 biggest mistakes that kill your summer family photos and how you can fix them.

MISTAKE #9 - Taking photos in direct sunlight

So often we vacation where it is sunny and beautiful. Sunlight creates bright highlights and deep shadows and our cameras don’t have ability to make sense of such dynamic range. Worst of all, people make squinchy-scrunchy faces. It’s not pretty.

SOLUTION:  Find shade

Areas of shade are the best photo opportunities on a bright sunny day.  Look under trees and beside buildings or structures.  If none can be found, you can always make shade...just have your subjects turn their back to the sun. Their front side will no longer be exposed to the direct sun giving their faces less intense and better balanced light of their own shade.

Shade of a building

Shade from bushes and trees

Shade created when the subject's back is to the sun

Read about the other mistakes...

• MISTAKE #10 - Having everyone stand there and smile all the time

• MISTAKE #9 - Taking photos in direct sunlight

• MISTAKE #8 - Using those faux-filters in apps

• MISTAKE #7 - Leaving the camera in the hotel

• MISTAKE #6 - Disregard for your own children

• MISTAKE #5 - Never appearing in your own family photos

• MISTAKE #4 - Not getting close enough to the moment

• MISTAKE #3 - You didn't have a backup plan

• MISTAKE #2 - You didn't put much effort into it

• MISTAKE #1 - Using Only Your Smartphone Camera

-JMB

© 2015 Jared M. Burns Photography
Seattle Wedding Photographer & Snohomish Wedding Photographer
www.jaredmburns.com | 206.659.7468 | info@jaredmburns.com

Series: Top 10 things that KILL Summer Photos - #10

Your life and memories deserve to be amazing! This series focuses on the 10 biggest mistakes that kill your summer family photos and how you can fix them.

MISTAKE #10: Having everyone stand there and smile all the time

Forced, fake smiles are awkward...you and I both know it.  Yes, it seemed like a good idea at the time, but when we look at the image later, we wish it had been more natural.

SOLUTION:  Think photojournalistic

Vacation is about life together so think like a photojournalist and document the real moments as they happen.  There are still times and a places for posed photos, but have fun with them.  Let people be themselves.  Catch a moment. Tell a joke and snap the photo when they laugh.  I have heard rumor of “certain noises” that can crack even the most stoic and uncooperative of children.

Keegan sits atop a sand dune - Bruneau Dunes State Park, ID

Ella hiking with her puppy at the Three Patriarchs, Zion National Park, UT

More sand than they know what to do with - Bruneau Dunes State Park, ID

Read about the other mistakes...

• MISTAKE #10 - Having everyone stand there and smile all the time

• MISTAKE #9 - Taking photos in direct sunlight

• MISTAKE #8 - Using those faux-filters in apps

• MISTAKE #7 - Leaving the camera in the hotel

• MISTAKE #6 - Disregard for your own children

• MISTAKE #5 - Never appearing in your own family photos

• MISTAKE #4 - Not getting close enough to the moment

• MISTAKE #3 - You didn't have a backup plan

• MISTAKE #2 - You didn't put much effort into it

• MISTAKE #1 - Using Only Your Smartphone Camera

-JMB

© 2015 Jared M. Burns Photography
Snohomish Family Portrait Photographer
www.jaredmburns.com | 206.659.7468 | info@jaredmburns.com