Care and Maintenance of Your Camera

I found this article this morning when searching the internet.  I thought it would be helpful for all levels of experience to be reminded about how to take care of your camera.  I know I need it!  This information applies to all type of cameras not just DSLR cameras. 

If you would like additional information about photography terminology, classes offered, etc. please go to this website:  http://www.ritzpixphotopatrol.com/glossary/

All cameras are highly tuned, electro-mechanical marvels. They operate at peak efficiency when they are kept clean, handled properly, and cleaned and checked regularly. Here are some guidelines when working with your equipment. Dirt, Dust, and Sand Keep your camera in a case, when not in use. A case will not only protect your camera from the elements; it will also cushion minor impact. Periodically you should clean your camera body and lens. A soft blow brush or low-pressure compressed air can be helpful. When cleaning the lens, use a blow brush to remove loose particles then use photo tissue and cleaning solution to clean the lens. Always use tissue and cleaning solution made for camera lenses; eye glass tissue is often treated with chemicals that can damage the delicate coatings found on photographic lenses. Apply the cleaning solution to the tissue, not the lens, and wipe in a circular motion. Then, with a dry tissue, remove any remaining solution. A micro-fiber cloth is another way to keep your lens clean. (They also work great for eyeglasses.) Be especially cautious at the beach, sand is a camera killer. To be cleaned properly, sand damaged cameras require total disassembly. That means a qualified technician. Moisture Water, or fluid of any type, can seriously damage your photo equipment. It is vital that you protect your equipment from fluids. A handy plastic bag may help to protect your equipment in a sudden downpour. It is also advisable to keep a moisture absorbent packet in your camera bag. If your camera should become wet, remove the batteries immediately, wrap it in plastic, and get it immediately to any Ritz Camera location. We will then forward it to the service center. Sometimes a fluid damaged camera can be saved, however; a camera that has been submersed is probably rendered beyond economical repair. Temperature Never leave your equipment in a car where it can experience extreme temperature changes. Extreme heat can turn internal lubricants into very thin liquids that will migrate to other areas within the camera. Excessive heat can also warp or distort plastic parts. Extreme cold can freeze lubricants. The lower the temperature, the more likely your battery will not work. Temperature changes can also cause a moisture build up within the camera and lenses. Impact Of course, everyone's intent is to be careful. Still, one of the most common causes of camera failure is due to impact. Continuous care must be taken to ensure a safe environment for your camera. Impact can severely damage cameras and lenses. Always use a comfortable neck or wrist strap in case your camera "Gets away from you." You should also be especially careful when your camera is on a tripod. Tripod accidents are a leading cause of impact damaged cameras. 

Backlit Portraits with Natural Light

I found this article on online and wanted to share it with you.  This is a simple way of getting and using lighting to its full potential.  You don't need to have a fancy camera to try this.  Just read the article and at sunset follow the tips that Lisa has laid out for you!

Follow this link:  https://iso.500px.com/backlight-natural-light-portrait-photo-tutorial/

Enjoy your day!

Deanna  :)

Lisa Holloway is an internationally-published, award-winning fine art portrait photographer from rural Northwestern Arizona. In this tutorial, Lisa will demonstrate how she created backlight with natural light for capturing dreamy portraits outdoors. Plus, she shares her expert tips on how to photograph and connect with children as subjects. Read on and get inspired!

Engagement Session with Rachel and Jacob

Summer got off to a rough start for me this year.  I had to have surgery on my shoulder and was down for quite some time.  In order to keep myself busy with picture taking while I recovered, I spent some time watching out the window at the birds coming to my bird feeder.  When I started feeling better I started taking pictures of our feathered friends!  There will be another day for that blog post!

Anyway, it was good that I had the surgery when I did because my daughter Rachel got engaged to a wonderful young man.  I was pretty well recovered from the surgery and ready to get to work taking some pictures.  She of course is one of my favorite subjects to photography.

Rachel and Jacob are doing well and are very happy together.  My husband and I could not be any happier for them.  Even though the wedding has past I wanted to post some of my favorite pictures from their engagement session.

Enjoy!

Deanna  :)

To see more pictures of my work please go to my website at:

www.indigi.photoshelter.com

Pic of the Day: From Fun to Fabulous

Hello Everyone,

I was editing one of my daughters pictures from a recent shoot and decided I would like to have people see how much work can go into photo editing.  I feel that a lot of people simply don't understand the time that can go into one picture to make it really shine.  They think you just point and shoot and it all looks great.  This picture is fun and could stand on its own without any edits, but when I put the time into editing this image it goes from fun to fabulous.  This picture took about 40 minutes to take it from Fun to Fabulous.

To get a really good feel of the difference, just double click on the image and it will come up larger.  This way you can see the detail and changes in the image more clearly.  

Let me know what your thoughts are on this. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Deanna  :)

Pic of the Day: Beautiful Brown Horse

My "Pic of the Day" comes from one of my many drives that I love to take.  Always looking for a photo opportunity.  I know I drive my family crazy sometimes.  O.k.  If the truth were told by them they would probably say I drive them crazy more than I want to realize and more than they are confessing.  I usually have a camera in tow and ready to shoot!

One of my favorite subjects to take pictures of is horses.  I am constantly looking for horses.  I have always loved horses.  Growing up I had a horse named Cowboy.  Yeah.  Original, I know.  The truth is, I didn't pick his name.  That was his name when we bought him so we left it that way.

Well, enough of that.  Here is the picture that I choose from my many images of horses.  He is just beautiful and looking right at me.  Love it when there is eye contact in a picture.  Even when it is with a horse!  

Have a good night and thanks for stopping by!

Deanna  :)

Pic of the Day: Hydrangea Photo

Hello!

I just wanted to share my favorite photo of the day.  Last week I bought this beautiful Hydrangea plant for my front porch.  I love taking macro pics of flowers!  This is one of my favorite flower plants.  I don't know why I waited so long to buy one.  On my trip to Missouri my sisters inspired me with their green thumbs and I came back home wanting to put plants everywhere!  Since the budget won't allow that, I will have to start with a few at a time!

Enjoy!

Deanna  :)

Pic of the Day: Cute Squirrel

The pic of the day goes to this cute squirrel trying to get into the bird feeder.  He ate a lot of seeds on the ground but decided to try for the mother load!

Enjoy!

Deanna  :)

Pic of the Day: Returning Home

While visiting family in Missouri, I would get up with the birds in the morning.  Seriously!  I would hear them outside and I would quietly sneak outside and bird watch for an hour or more while everyone slept.  I have some really fun images to share.

My goal is to share one picture a day and blog it on this website.  Just fun pictures of my favorite images.

This image is of one of the birds returning to the nest which was built in this boot wreath.  I just happened to be up early enough to capture this.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Deanna  :)

Moab Spring Break Trip

I know it is has been awhile since we went on this trip last year during my kids spring break, but it feels like yesterday to me.  I had so much fun!  I am finally finding time to do some edits for myself.  It is fun to look back at the pictures and let the memories flow like it was yesterday!

We stayed at a campground called Wind Whistle.  It was a bit out of the way but it was a beautiful, peaceful place to camp.  I would camp there again.  The wind really did softly whistle early in the morning.  Such a calming, incredible sound. 

Anyway, I hope you enjoy some of my images from this fun trip.  I felt like I was 20 something again hanging out with the college group.  Nice to feel that once in awhile!

Enjoy!

Deanna  :)

Photo Session With Rachel

I had a great time last night taking pictures of the lovely, funny Rachel Van Kampen.  Thanks for making this session awesome!

Indigi Photography: The Campbell Family

http://loveslaughsncrafts.blogspot.com/2013/06/post-marriage-engagements.html?spref=fb

The Campbell Family

I was so excited to take the pictures of Jenn and Ryan.  Not only are they an adorable couple but also very fun to be around.  For our shoot we went to Smith and Edwards.  They have so much random stuff there you can have new material every time you go do another photo session.

When we get there we immediately find cool stuff to make a great shot.  It was about 5:50 when we started shooting and at 6:10 p.m. the guy who works there told us they close at 6:00 p.m.  Oops!  My bad for assuming they were open past 6:00 p.m.  He was really nice about it and said he had to stay a little longer and let us stay as well.  It turned out they were working on a really old moonshine truck and the owner was there waiting for him to finish.  I really wanted pictures of Jenn and Ryan by this truck.  It never hurts to ask!  She was very sweet and allowed us to take some pictures by it.

After we took pictures of the truck we wanted to take more pictures.  We went on a photo session adventure to see what we could find.  Lucky for me this couple was so awesome and relaxed about not getting to spend much time at Smith and Edwards.  We found some really cool places to shoot and had a great time.  

Thanks Jenn and Ryan for a wonderful photo shoot!  

Deanna  :)

Photoshoot with the Leavitt Family

I am little behind on my posting.  I had a great photo shoot with the Leavitt family about a month ago.  They were so at ease with the camera and they kept this photographer laughing more than she has laughed on any other shoot!

This is a wonderful family.  Thanks for letting me enjoy your company for awhile!

Deanna  :)

Baby's Cake Smash Photo Shoot

A cake smash photo shoot is an incredibly fun way to mark your baby's first birthday. It's fun to do a cake smash BEFORE the birthday party so you can focus on getting good pictures of your baby enjoying his first bite of cake without worrying about neglecting your guests. And you can let him make all the mess he wants and then get it all cleaned up before the party takes place. Sure, he can have more cake at the party, but if you know you already have great photos, you won't be so worried about getting the perfect shot during the party.

For more pictures and complete information, please go to the following link:

http://www.itsalwaysautumn.com/home/2012/5/1/photograph-diy-cake-smash.html

Tips for Newborn Photography – Part Two

http://www.fuelyourphotography.com/tips-for-newborn-photography-part-two/

Individual PortraitsToday’s article is Part Two in a series on newborn photography. If you missed Part One, you can catch up here. In this article, I will be going into more depth on posing newborns, plus the three types of images I’m always looking to end up with from a newborn session: individual portraits, environmental portraits, and family portraits.

The individual portraits are my first priority and usually include the classic sleeping baby shots. The secret weapon here is a boppy pillow. Just about every mom has one, so I always ask for it. I’ll lay the boppy down and cover it with a blanket or two. The baby nestles perfectly in the middle and I’m able to securely prop his head up. In this way, I can get multiple poses done quickly: the baby on his back, side, and tummy. In each position, I explore every angle and composition I can before moving to the next. You’d be surprised how many angles you can find by just moving yourself. I shoot from the side and from above, I get close ups of his face, a full body shot, then details like feet, ears, and hands. If you do all of these angles in each position, you’ll end up with lots of poses to choose from in the end.

Another trick I use: each time I rotate the baby from one position to the next, or whenever I want to adjust anything in the pose, I do it from in between the blanket and the boppy. I can adjust from underneath the blanket to move the baby’s bottom half without startling him nearly as much as if I’m reaching in and moving him from above.

One note: obviously, it’s so important to always be safe and mindful of how you’re positioning the baby. I won’t ever do anything either the mom or I am uncomfortable with. I’d rather have the mom feel like her baby is safe than get an amazing shot that might make her anxious. I also think it’s really important to use a camera strap and to never be in a position where the camera might slip out of your hands from above or swing from the strap and hurt the baby.

Environmental Portraits

The environmental portraits show the bigger picture of where the family lives. These tend to be some of my favorites. I like to back up and photograph the room we are in to give some context in a more documentary style. So if we’re in the living room where the mom is changing the baby or rocking him to sleep on the couch, I’ll use a wide lens to include the whole scene. Some parents put a lot of work into a nursery, so that’s another great area to photograph, with the baby in the crib, with mom and baby in the rocking chair, or even the room and it’s details alone (often this happens during feedings when I have nothing else to do). I also love using the master bedroom, with the baby curled up on the bed alone or with the parents.

Family Portraits

Family portraits are an important type of image that sometimes parents forget about. I love to capture the new mom and dad, snuggled in close to their little one. I also make sure to photograph each parent separately with the newborn and if there are other siblings, I’ll get a shot with them as well. These family photos are usually the easiest to take, because there is so little direction needed to get a sweet relationship image when the parents are already so enamored with their brand new baby. If someone does seem a bit anxious or unsure of what to do, suggest something simple, like “nuzzle your face in close,” “kiss his nose,” or “close your eyes and snuggle her close to you.” It doesn’t take much to get a natural, beautiful shot of someone loving on their baby!

I hope this article has given you some ideas for your next newborn session and getting some images that your clients will love. Feel free to leave any questions in the comments and I’d be more than happy to share any answers I may have.