Sunset Shots Photography lesson

This is one of the coolest shots!  Everyone loves to see the sillouette shots.  And they are so easy to do!


Put the subjects in a romantic or cool pose with the main light source (sunset) behind them.  You will be shooting into the sun.  Set your aperture pretty high, somewhere between 9-11.  Shutterspeed should also be high,  250-400 depending upon the light.  What you are doing is exposing to make the background look good.  Take your shot, and see if you're getting the background colors that you want.  If it's too bright, raise shutter speed until you have a nice, warm colored sunset.  Now take your shot!

With more practice, you'll always get great sillouette shots!

Some of my favorites from 2010!! Enjoy!

Photography Lesson: Beware of Auto!

I know that alot of people buy a nice DSLR, and then leave it on auto all the time.  Well, if you're shooting mainly outside and in daylight, you're probably getting good results.  But have you every tried to shoot inside or in low light and wondered why your pics are blurry?  Most likely, the culprit is SHUTTER SPEED!  The auto setting on your camera sets the aperture and shutter speed for you.  If you don't have enough light, the camera will automatically lower your shutter speed to let enough light in. 

Next time you shoot inside on auto, look at your shutter speed.  The easy rule of thumb is,  don't shoot hand held at a shutter speed lower twice than your lens zoom setting.  Here's the easy example.  Let's pretend that your lens is a 14-50mm.  The largest zoom setting on this lens is 50mm.  Double that is 100.  You should not let your shutter speed go below 100 without risking blur when you are holding your camera.  If you have a 50-200mm lens, then your shutter speed should be above 400 handheld.

Now other pros will probably say that there are alot more factors involved.  They are right.  But these are some simple rules to try to make your pictures turn out better, quickly!

Photography lesson: blur the background

Thought I'd try to give a little insight for any newbies wanting to learn a bit about photography.  Seasoned pros will probably scoff a bit at my lessons, but my goal is to make this as easy as pie for anyone wanting to make beautiful pics quickly!

Okay.  To blur a background easily, you need a zoom lens.  Extend your zoom lens as far as possible (zoom in).  Position yourself  a distance away from the subject so that you get the shot that you want.  Since blurred backgrounds are usually used in portraits, move so that you either have a full face or bust type shot.  Now focus using your autofocus.  You should see a blurred background!  A good photographer can get a blurred background whenever they want it.  Practice this until you feel that you can as well!

Welcome Comments!!

It's a beautiful Saturday morning, and I'm chilling out watching A Knight's Tale.  Shopping is on the agenda, as well as dog sitting.  The photography biz is a little slow right now during the fall and winter months, so I'm wanting business!  Check out my sale going on at www.sandradeesphotography.com

Website back!

Okay,

After many tears and fears, my website is back up!  Visit it and let me know your opinions at
www.sandradeesphotography.com

Website Woes!!

I've been told that my website needs work.  Well, if you click on it today, it will probably look awful!  I'm trying to make some HUGE changes to make it a bit more elegant.  Bear with me!

Christmas sale going on now!

Hey all!  If you book a wedding package by December 24th, you'll get $200 off the regular price.  Just my way of wishing you a merry Christmas!

New Wedding Collection!

I'd like to introduce you to my newest budget wedding collection, called "Our Wedding" collection!  It's a no frills, no extras, yet you get all of your pictures from the getting ready images to the bouquet toss!  And you will receive a CD with images that are fully reproducible.  A great deal for only $900!

Done and Done!

Finished editing the engagement shots!  Pictures were taken on Sunday night.  Wow, I'm good to have them all edited and ready to ship and it's only Tuesday!  They weren't hard to finish, because they were such a beautiful couple.  See examples either on my facebook page under Sandra Dee's Photography, or on my website at www.sandradeesphotography.com

Halloween Shoot!

Yes, tomorrow I get to take some great engagement pics at Shakertown.  Should be a beautiful day with some beautiful people.  They also want some sundown shots.  Stay tuned for more!

First Blog ever!

Hey all!
Welcome to my first blog post!


As a Nicholasville and Lexington wedding, family and senior photographer, it is my goal to keep you up to date with my work and my schedule!

This Sunday, I plan to take engagement pics of a great couple in Shakertown!  Yahoo!  I post the results here when it's done.