How to Photograph Your Life: Capturing Everyday Moments
Nick Kelsh’s Photo Tips for Album makers
1. Get closer. Eliminate anything that doesn’t belong in the picture.
2. Consider your backgrounds carefully. Spending ½ of your time looking at the background is not unreasonable.
3. Push the button a lot. Take more pictures. Get lucky.
4. Don’t put your subjects in the middle of the frame. Take some chances with composition. It’s fun. You have nothing to loose.
5. Experiment with turning off the flash. Look for beautiful alternative light.
6. Think in terms of groups of photographs that will work together. Visualize a layout in your scrapbook when your taking pictures.
7. Use some pictures without people. It adds visual texture to your pages.
8. Try to avoid layouts that only have pictures of people looking directly into the camera.
9. Shoot close-up storytelling details. They add variety.
10. Learn when and when not to use a tripod.
11. Buy an extra battery for your camera. Consider buying an extra battery charger and keep it in your car.
12. Learn to use your camera’s timer so you can be in some of your pictures.
13. Try to use photographs of real, un posed moments on many of your layouts.
14. Learn to journal. Don’t say what the viewer can already see in the picture. Add something to the picture with words. Read Strunk and White’s “The Elements of Style.”
15. Funny pictures are always a good thing
16. Always be on the lookout for ways to give photography as a gift.
17. Get out of the car!
