Shoot the Moon

by Deborah Cruz on May 22, 2012

Post image for Shoot the Moon

Do you fancy yourself a photographer? I think many of us moms find ourselves thrust into the position of photographer when we have children, for the sheer fact that we don’t want to miss a moment.

It is amazing to me that I have hardly any photos of myself when I was in college and in my 20’s. Partially because cameras weren’t as accessible to us as they are now and partially because I just wasn’t that vain.

Now, however, my camera is attached to my hand indefinitely. I love photographing my children and, honestly, the entire world seems more photogenic with my children in it.

But I’m no professional and I still have issues trying to shoot certain images; for example the BIG moon and the stars. I end up with blurs in the sky. The same goes for shooting people in low-light or moving against the night sky backdrop.

Here are a few tips that I picked up in my Popular Photography magazine for shooting in low-light.

Expose Slow

In low-light people pictures, use a slow shutter speed (½ second) for an impressionistic effect in candlelit portraits. Use the same technique when photographing people dancing.

Light With a Phone

Use your smartphone as a light for your regular camera. The “flash” LED beam can be used to add a catch-light in the eyes, or simply as an auto-focus aid. Set the LCD panel as bright as your can for the use as a mini-soft box.

Nature’s Backdrop

Use flash for portraits against a late-day sky; underexpose the background for a dramatic effect.

Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars ~Brian Littrell

What is your favorite photography tip for shooting photos in the dark?

Photo Source: AdmiralspalastBerlin

  • http://www.funnyorsnot.com/ Poppy

    I’m not sure if it is a good or bad thing there aren’t more pictures to capture my reckless youth :)  

    Sometimes I feel bad for my kids when I make them pose for 10 minutes to get the perfect shot when before it was just a crap shoot we had to wait for when we got the pictures back from the Fotomat!

  • http://profiles.google.com/linda.leyble Linda Leyble

    Hi –

    I am like you…not many pictures of myself in my 20s and even 30s.  I guess I was too busy raising children and taking not so great pictures of them.

    Thanks for these tips.  I recently bought an DSLR camera and i have been slowly learning how to use it better.  I jumped for joy when I learned how to take it off “auto” mode – and changed the shutter speed!  I felt very proud of myself.

    There are plemty of tutorials online. YouTube is great for photography help.  There’s probably several videos for every camera out there.  I plan on taking a few photography classes – community colleges are great if you want to increase your skill – in a short amount of time.

    I took some blurry photos and badly composed photos of my children – at critical moments of their lives.  I wish now that I had more skill then – so I could cherish more now!!

    Linda

    PS – I didn’t know that tip about using your phone to help light…that’s a neat tip!

  • Penny W.

    I agree wit Poppy! No way would I have wanted my friends to always be taking pictures and then posting them for the world to see! I already got into enough trouble as it was without photographic evidence! ;D LOL. Poor kids today, they go to a fun party and then have a potential employer checking out your tagged pics! 

Previous post:

Next post: