Shooting with Kids

When shooting with kids the discussion we had previously about taking lots of pictures is important. Kids can be very active and if you are not taking pictures it is really easy to miss something. With most of the newer DSLR cameras they have a rapid shutter release setting that can be nice if something involving action such as swing or some sort of sporty type of activity or tackling each other. At this point for most people shooting in an auto mode is probably going to be the easiest but as time goes on you will hopefully begin to understand the manual settings and begin to be able to use them. For me I am shooting this in a manual setting and under each picture I will put the camera settings that I used when taking them. If you are shooting with kids one thing that you need to use if they are on the move is a faster shutter speed if you want to catch the action and not get blur where the kid was. A setting that my wife's camera, Canon Power Shot which is a basic camera, has a kids and pet setting that has an automatic faster shutter speed then the auto setting. So if you are using a more basic point and shoot style camera, explore your setting, as these have may have more preset settings, you will find it helpful. So if you have kids, take them out and experiment with your camera. Keep in mind not to post or photograph other peoples kids with out permission. Have fun and don't hesitate to experiment.

These are an example of some photos with rapid shutter release

My daughter jumping from a swing "Flying". Yes this scares me a little

My other daughter going down a slide

These I'm including the Meta Data, Data included about the camera settings so you can see what the settings are that I am using for the pictures that I take.

 F6.3 Shutter 1/640  ISO 100 Focal length 18mm  

Lens I used on my camera was EF18-55mm

F6.3 Shutter 1/400 ISO100 Focal Length 37mm

Lens I used on my camera was EF18-55mm

I will get into what that means more soon, but this can be seen as an intro to what we can call photo language looks like. And when I went out to reference to my past post about take lots of pictures. today I took about 200 pictures and have about 20 that I really like. So remember take lots of pictures and have fun.

Dont be afraid to take pictures

Today we are going to go in a fun direction and look at a some pictures that I have taken on a couple of past trips to Yellowstone National Park. When I go to the park I am very thankful that I am in a time that photos are shot digitally and not on film because I could not afford to develop everything. I will take several hundred photos on a trip and only have maybe a small handful of really good photos. Don't be discouraged when this happens because this is not uncommon and is why you should take lots of photos no matter what you are photographing even if it is family or kids, you may take 40 pictures, but there may be only 1 or 2 that you really like that you may not have gotten if you only took 1 or 2. This is something used by pros in photography and video production. I have worked in commercial production and for a 30sec commercial on TV, I would have 30 min of video to go through to have the right scene or right audio clip, and some days even more. So don't be afraid to take those pictures when you go out there. Remember that it is free to download the pictures to your computer and you don't have to keep them all.

 Turquoise Spring Yellowstone National Park

 Beehive Geyser

Sunrise over Yellowstone Lake

Buying a Camera

When you are looking to buy a camera it is important to decide what you are looking for. For some people they may be as simple as brand loyalty but for others they may not be so sure. They may know that they want a DSLR, or not even know what a DSLR is. So lets start with what it is. It is basically a digital version of the old 35mm film cameras with the interchangeable lens. What do the letters stand for, Digital single-lens reflex. The benefit to this camera is that it uses a mirror to show the image to the view finder allowing the shooter to see the image and then moves the mirror allowing the same image to go directly to the photo sensor to be recorded. The main difference that you will see in the DSLR cameras is the MP or Megapixels size. These are most important depending on how big you are planning to enlarge your image or how small you are planning to crop. The Image is made up of pixels so the more there are the clear the image when enlarged or cropped.
       Another thing to look at is adaptability of lenses. I found that with Canon vs Nikon, you can mount a Nikon lens to a Canon DSLR but you can not mount a Canon lens to a Nikon DSLR. This means that with Canon you would have a lot more lens options to start with. I personally have always been a Canon person so I admit I am biased and have not tried Nikon.       When you are ready to go out and by a camera it is always important to do your own research and decide what is best for you. I cant tell you much about the Nikon other then some people do love them including the professional photographers, and from what I’ve seen slightly more expensive. Again if you are in or near Bozeman, I would recommend Bozeman Camera and Repair Inc. They are very friendly and knowledgeable and have always taken the time to answer questions and make sure I get what I want. No I don’t work for them, I just buy my equipment there, and no I don’t get discounts.            So go out there, do some of your own own research based on what you plan to day and get a camera that you will enjoy for years to come and shoot some great photos. Next time we will take a break and I will show you some of the pictures that I have taken. So have fun and see you next time.

Equipment I use

As I had mentioned in the introduction, I shoot with consumer quality equipment and not professional quality equipment so the photos that I take can be duplicated by anyone with a camera that can be bought at Walmart or Target. My camera is a Canon T4i that I bought as a kit from Costco. Since I bought it they have come out with a few newer generations but if you know how to use it you don’t need the newest camera. Another option if you do not want to spend the money and buy a brand-new camera, go to a local camera store and see what they have. You can usually find some good deals on used equipment, and it has been usually checked out. If you are in Bozeman Mt, Bozeman Camera and Repair Inc. is a great place to go. The lenses that I started with are the lenses that came with the camera, the 18-55mm and 55-250mm. Since,  I have added a 400mm Prime lens that I use for distance shooting of wildlife in the park. For those not familiar with the term prime, it refers to a lens with a fixed focal length as opposed to a zoom lens that most people may be used to.  The trick with this lens is that it is older and has no auto features and must be shot manually which we will discuss as time goes on. My other lens is a 90-300mm lens. I use all these for different types of shoots. They have different apertures which we will discuss the importance of later as well. In the next post we will discuss picking a camera and the pros and cons to different brands. So get out, have fun and take some pictures.

 Some times when you are trying to take pictures you get furry helper. Lets say she is not part of what I take on shoots when I go.

This is the basics of the setup that I bring. In the bag I have lens cleaners, battery chargers, a more basic Point and shoot, we will discuss the importance of that more soon as well, and spare lens covers, as I am good at loosing them.

Good Tip Learned the Hard Way

Here is a tip that I learned the hard way. When you go out to take photos, and you wear glasses or contact lenses, use them! I spent an entire day shooting in Yellowstone Park, got home, and found that all the pictures where slightly out of focus. Major disappointment. Luckily at the time I lived just a few minutes from the west gate of the park and went in daily so it wasn't a big deal but if I was on vacation this could have been a horrible thing. So tip of the day, Be sure you take everything you need when you go out including eye wear. It is worth the little time that it takes.

Introduction

Welcome To John's Photography, here I will be showing you different pictures that I have taken from around my home in Montana. With the pictures which will range from wildlife to scenic to even portrait photography, I will add tips on how to make these photos happen. If you ever have any questions please feel free to ask. 

I am out of Bozeman Montana and do a lot of shooting in Yellowstone National Park and the natural beauties of the rocky mountains that surround this wonderful place. As we move on I will get into more of the equipment that I use, and you will find that for the most part it is not the high end professional quality, so anyone can duplicate these images that you see.

I will try to update this blog every other day or so, but during the summer if I am out on longer trips it might be longer but there will be some fun pictures that follow. So with that lets get this started and have some fun.