10 Steps to Taking Your Camera OFF Auto {Photographer Guest Post}

I’m a 26-year-old mother to two beautiful girls.
They’re a year apart and so much fun!
I wouldn’t change a thing.

I’m also a wife of 3+ years to one super fun guy
who just so happens to be my best friend and such a good dad!

(Us. The dating years. Oh man, he’s cute!)

We love to adventure together as a family.
We also love a relaxing day at home.
But mostly we just like to be together.

I am a self-taught photographer by profession. Check out some of my photos HERE. I am currently living in the Los Angeles/Long Beach area. I love what I do and one of my goals before and during a photo session is to get to know my clients so we actually become friends.

You can check out my website.
Follow me on my blog.
And “like” me on FB.

Okay… On to the tutorial!

First of all, please do not feel overwhelmed. Once you begin to put these steps into practice you will get it, your photos WILL look better, and you will feel so proud of yourself. Now go grab your DSLR and try these tips out.

Let’s just keep it simple: If you are just photographing your cute kids then I recommend shooting JPEG. The JPEG files are smaller than RAW and most programs support them. Refer to your instruction manual.

If you are outside in the sun, use a low ISO setting. If you are inside where it’s darker, you will need to raise your ISO. I always like to start low and raise it if my photos are still coming out too dark. The main problem with high ISO is that your photos may look more grainy. The top photo was taken with a low ISO (100) and the bottom with high (1600). You’ll notice there are grainy spots in the shadows of the bottom photo.

Your camera will give you different options for White Balance. Choose the one that applies to your situation. The appropriate White Balance will give your photos warmth and character.

This photo was taken outside in direct sunlight. For the top photo I set my camera to ‘Daylight’ WB mode. Nice and warm. For the bottom photo I set my camera to ‘White Fluorescent Light’ WB mode. Washed out with too much blue in it.

There are two components to Exposure: Aperture and Shutter Speed. They need to work together to get a good picture.


Aperture (Av): Controls the how blurry or clear your background and foreground are. If you want to control the amount of blur-effect then set your camera to Av Mode. The lower your f-number, the more blurry your background and foreground will be. The left photo was taken with a low f-number (F1.8). The right photo was taken with a high f-number (F20).

Shutter Speed (Tv): Controls the motion blur of your subject. If you want to control the amount of motion blur then set your camera to Tv Mode. The Shutter Speed is measured in seconds. 1/500 means 1/500th of a second is how long the shutter will be open. Most shutter speeds range from 1/4000 to 30 seconds. The longer your shutter is open, the more motion blur you will get. The left photo was taken with a longer shutter speed (1/25). The right photo was taken with a shorter shutter speed (1/3200). You might need a tripod for longer shutter speeds to avoid unwanted blur due to camera shake. Also, if your photos come out too exposed (too bright) then shorten your shutter speed.


Manual Mode (M): Play with it if you want but I stick with Av and Tv most of the time.

6. Focus
In Auto mode your camera will focus on the closest subject. Because you may not always want this you can change your camera’s Auto Focus Mode to focus where you want. Refer to your instruction manual under Focusing\AF-mode. Follow the instructions to have it focus on the center square. Now you can look through your viewfinder and choose what you want to focus on.

Place the center square over your subject, press and hold the shutter button halfway (the button you use to take the picture), then press the button the rest of the way. As long as the shutter is held halfway the focus will stay the same.

So in order to get my orange in focus, I put the orange in the center of my viewfinder, held the shutter button half way down, then moved my camera so the orange was where I wanted it, and then pushed the shutter button the rest of the way down. This was my result:

5. Flash
The best philosophy when it comes to the flash is: use it when you have to, avoid it when you can. Your photos will look so much better in natural light. Sometimes the flash can be your friend but, for the most part, a flash creates unflattering and unnatural shadows. If you are in a low-light situation, first try lowering your f-stop or increasing your shutter speed OR bumping up your ISO. If you need to use your flash then use it, but only as a last resort.

Here is an example of how a flash can create unwanted contrast. The flash created a reflection and a shadow that is avoidable.

If you take a picture and it comes out too dark because the subject is back-lit, using your flash as a Fill-Flash is a good idea.

I have an external flash that I sometimes bounce off the ceiling when indoors. This helps to illuminate the subject without giving the shadows of a direct flash to the face.

Shade is your friend when photographing people. Most people look outside on an overcast day and think, “Well, there goes my photo shoot! There’s no sun in sight!” Not true. The sun often creates shadows and makes people squint, so an overcast day is great! Want to get some great shots of your baby? Sit them in a shady spot under a tree. The sun is great for some shots too, but one thing to be sure of is to avoid partial shade/partial sun. Your photos will turn out looking blotchy otherwise like in the photo below.

Imagine there is a grid when you look through your viewfinder. Instead of always having your subject in the center square, consider centering your subject on one of the red marks. This is called The Rule of Thirds.

It makes your photo more visually appealing. Also, if there are horizontal or vertical lines, try to place them on the corresponding horizontal or vertical lines in this grid.

Take your camera with you everywhere you go! Make it a point to take it out and use it in many different settings to get the experience. If you need some incentive to using it, get a cute strap to make your camera seem like an accessory!

Hire me because, not only are my prices incredibly affordable, but because (if you are anything like me) I bet you are hardly in any of your photos. When is the last time you took a family photo that you love? Make it happen and send me an email for session information. Contact me HERE. I’d love to meet you!