those who really know me will be proud to hear that i have kept a plant alive for an entire year. and yes, i know this is an annual or a perennial or whatever it is. it’s a plant that grows back every year. but that is neither here nor there. the point it, regardless of whether it should come back, it did. which again, is a huge life accomplishment for me because i do not have a green thumb. part of it is truly because i just don’t care and another part is because i forget to, you know, water and nurture plants. apparently that’s a big deal, or something. but as the spring flowers began to bloom this year, so did these pink petites.
that’s another thing about me, i don’t know plant names. i just make stuff up, like “pink petites” or “that purple thing over there.” and while i don’t place much faith in our front yard plants returning each year, i was really happy to see this little pink plant come back. i have a soft place in my heart for it. it was planted last year after our daughter was born, as i wanted a little something pink for our front yard. seeing it bloom this year made me a happy mama. and darn proud of myself for not failing this little plant.
okay, okay. my husband watered it all year. but those are just details.
photographing my everyday is one of my passions. to inspire your everyday photography, be sure to read the everyday photograph.
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Pink Petites by Bethany Deschamp
.jpg "Pink Petites by Bethany Deschamp | Bethadilly Photography")
this photo was achieved using : nikon and wide angle lens.
my settings were : ISO 100 | f/1.4 | 1/125ss
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still life photography can be very powerful, as it is an opportunity to bring an inanimate and ordinary everyday object to life with your camera. when it comes to still life photography, it’s a great opportunity for you to get creative with your perspective and take your time. because your subject is inanimate, and therefore patient, be sure to take your time photographing and watch how subtle changes in your composition and your position in relation to the subject can play a huge factor in the success of your image. as you are exploring still life photography, there are 5 things that you should consider to ensure that you create a photograph that is strong.
photographing my everyday is one of my passions. to inspire your everyday photography, be sure to read the everyday photograph.
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Still Life Photography: 5 Secrets To Better Still Life Images
.jpg "Still Life Photography: 5 Secrets To Better Still Life Images | Bethadilly Photography")
Balance
just like with any photo you take with any subject, you should always consider balance when you are composing your image. you can do this by using the rule of thirds or by incorporating thoughtful negative space. sometimes a center composition can also be very powerful with still life. when you create balance in your still life image, you are creating harmony. in the image above of the lemons, i used the rule of thirds and negative space to create balance within the image and to show my viewer where i wanted them to focus their attention, in the lemons.
.jpg "Still Life Photography: 5 Secrets To Better Still Life Images | Bethadilly Photography")
Get Creative With Perspective
when it comes to still life photography, creative perspective plays a huge role. you can practice perspective by placing your still life object in one spot and then move yourself and your camera around it, as you photograph from a variety of angles. try photographing from above, from below, from the side, from further away, close up, etc. one of the biggest secrets for successful still life photography is how you put your own perspective on it. in the image above, even though my subject is the yarn, i placed my focal point on the basket. while the yarn is still clearly visible and recognizable, it falls into a soft blur and brings a different perspective.
.jpg "Still Life Photography: 5 Secrets To Better Still Life Images | Bethadilly Photography")
Consider Your Light
here me when i say, light will make or break your still life photography. consider your lighting in every photo you take. practice moving your subject closer or further away from the light to see the different results of how the light plays on your subject. in the photo above of the flowers, i was sure to place the flowers near a window (about 4 feet away) to allow the natural light to play on the petals and cast soft shadows. because of my use of light, i bring the flowers to life within the image and really showcase their texture with my wide angle lens.
.jpg "Still Life Photography: 5 Secrets To Better Still Life Images | Bethadilly Photography")
Be Mindful of Aperture
just like any photo you take, being aware of your aperture will allow you to take creative control of your still life photography and be more unique with the photos you take. as you are looking at your subject, do you want it to be in full focus, or would you like to incorporate creative blur? in the image above of the watermelon and watermelon cocktail, i wanted to showcase the drink. i used a lower aperture to place my focal point on the glass, allowing the table and watermelon pieces to fall into a soft, but still recognizable, blur.
.jpg "Still Life Photography: 5 Secrets To Better Still Life Images | Bethadilly Photography")
Bring Life To Your Still Life
sometimes it is necessary to bring some life to your still life photography. consider the image above of the cider and the mason jar. originally, i wanted to take a photo of the empty mason jar and bottle of hard cider sitting side by side on the table. however, it was becoming boring and uninteresting. to bring life to the image, i decided to hop in the frame and capture a photo of the cider being poured into the jar. this final photo is so much more compelling, as i incorporated movement in the liquid and texture in the bubbles.
still life photography can be very fun and also very eye opening as you experiment with your composition and perspective. as you are exploring still life photography, be sure to remember to consider your aperture, be mindful of your perspective, bring your still life to life, consider your use of light and incorporate balance within your image. as you are considering all of these factors for still life photography, you are bound to create images that are much more compelling, even with an inanimate object. you will be amazed at what you can bring to life with your camera.
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.jpg "Still Life Photography: 5 Secrets To Better Still Life Images | Bethadilly Photography")
when i first learned we were pregnant with our first baby, i thought of the beautiful pictures i would take. of course, i thought of how exciting it would be to be a mother and how a beautiful chapter of life was just beginning, but i also thought about the pictures. albums and albums full of pictures of our baby. being named one of the “5 best newborn photographers in dc,” i had spent years photographing other mother’s newborns and i was so very ready to finally photograph my own. you could say, i was made for it. i wanted to be sure to capture every moment from her first picture in the hospital to a picture of her blowing out her first birthday candle. and after a year of photographing my baby’s first year (totalling over 1,100 edited images), i wrote an ebook helping other mama’s do the same. the ultimate guide to photographing your baby’s first year is here and it’s the secret to successful baby photography.
the best thing about it? you can have it instantly! download your copy of the first twelve and begin taking pictures today!
The Ultimate Guide To Photographing Your Baby’s First Year
.jpg "The Ultimate Guide To Photographing Your Baby's First Year | Bethadilly Photography")
Prepare Your Home
the first twelve : a guide to photographing your baby’s first year will help you learn how to prepare your home to photograph your baby. don’t worry, this doesn’t mean logging onto pottery barn and buying a bunch of new things, but thinking through your design elements to ensure that you can get great photos of your baby. i will chat about what colors photograph best and worst, what paint colors would be best for your walls and the do’s and don’ts for window treatments when it comes to successful indoor photography of your baby.
Secrets To Successful Hospital Photography
want to get great photos of those first hours in the hospital, but don’t want to hire a photographer? i will share all of my secrets for getting really great photos in the hospital in the first twelve. plus, i will share what photography gear i was sure to bring with me to the hospital.
How To Dress Your Baby
need help deciding how to dress your baby? i’ve got you covered with a whole section dedicated to baby wardrobe in the first twelve. learn what clothing photographs the best to capture your baby’s small size and what clothing you should absolutely stay away from!
A Checklist Of Photos To Take in Year 1
there are a lot of photos you will want to take of your baby in their first year…so many that i created an entire checklist of photos you won’t want to forget to take! by reviewing the checklist and crossing off the milestones and moments as you photograph, you are bound to not miss one single moment of your baby’s first year. plus, you can relive them over and over again in the beautiful photographs you take. of all the things i did, having a checklist of photos to take was a game changer!
Document Their Growth
if there is one thing about little babies…it’s that they absolutely positively do NOT stay little for very long. in the first twelve, you will learn about what monthly photography projects you may want to consider to photograph your baby each month, in order to document their growth. these baby photography projects are so fun and i did quite a few of them!
Take Better Photos Of Your Baby
sometimes you have such great ideas for photos, but they just don’t turn out. i’ve been there. photography is a journey of trail and error. when it comes to photographing babies, i have some tips for getting better photographs of your babies that are bound to help you start taking pictures that you are actually proud of and want to show off.
Photographing Their Birthday
they turned one!? how the heck did that happen? just like photographing their first photo in the hospital was very important, so is photographing their first birthday. when it comes to their birthday party, i will share how you can get great photos of your baby’s special day, while also being able to enjoy the party yourself. it’s a party to celebrate you too, you know!
our daughter’s first birthday was everything i wanted it to be. be sure to take a peek at the photographs of her first birthday party.
when i look through my baby’s album of first year photos, i know that the days of photographing even though i was tired were well worth it. and because i am so happy with how i documented our daughter’s first year in photographs, i am more passionate than ever to help other parents do the same. learn how to photograph those everyday moments and milestones that make up your baby’s first year with the first twelve : a guide to photographing your baby’s first year.
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.jpg "The Ultimate Guide To Photographing Your Baby's First Year | Bethadilly Photography")
photographing in golden hour is the cat’s meow. it’s what can take an image from a flat and boring image, to an stunning image that is full of light and compelling tones. golden hour is a short timeframe either right after sunrise or right before sunset. usually, golden hour and it’s tones last around 2 hours. the images within this post were all taken around 2 hours before sunset, allowing me plenty of time to capture those rich tones of golden hour. when it comes to photographing in golden hour, there are so many reasons why you should wait for the right light. there really is a power in being patient, as the golden hour light will create very compelling photos.
photographing my everyday is one of my passions. to inspire your everyday photography, be sure to read the everyday photograph.
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Photographing in Golden Hour: The Power of Waiting For The Right Light
.jpg "Photographing in Golden Hour: The Power of Waiting For The Right Light | Bethadilly Photography")
Rich Warm Tones
one of the best things about photographing in golden hour are the natural rich golden tones that you can achieve straight out of camera. the tones are truly golden. during this time, the sun is either rising or setting, allowing you to take advantage of the beautiful light only available during that time. in the image above, the golden hour tones were not only creating beautiful skin tones on my subjects, but were also casting some rich light onto the surroundings, such as the slide and the golden hues in the dirt on camera left.
.jpg "Photographing in Golden Hour: The Power of Waiting For The Right Light | Bethadilly Photography")
Beautiful Sunbursts
because the sun is lower in the sky during this time, you will have an opportunity to create a beautiful sunburst. the secret to creating a sunburst is using a higher f-stop. in the image above, i used my nikon and wide angle lens with corresponding settings : ISO 125 | f/16 | 1/25ss to achieve this sunburst. when the sun is lower in the sky, your sunbursts have the potential to be stronger and more defined because you can shoot through things like fences or trees with the low sun.
.jpg "Photographing in Golden Hour: The Power of Waiting For The Right Light | Bethadilly Photography")
Natural Shadows
when the sun is high in the sky, it can cast shadows in ways that aren’t natural nor flattering. however, photographing during golden hour allows you to embrace the beautiful shadows because they are provided at a lower, and therefore more natural, angle. during golden hour you can use a variety of lighting techniques such as backlight and sidelight to incorporate the beautiful warm light and to also embrace deep shadows. in the image above, the sun was in front of them, allowing soft shadows to fall behind the wagon and on the surrounding grass.
.jpg "Photographing in Golden Hour: The Power of Waiting For The Right Light | Bethadilly Photography")
Opportunities For Surprise
as you prepare for photographing during golden hour, be ready to be surprised at how the light will bring ordinary things to life. in the image above, i notice a dead twig while out on an evening walk with my family. during regular hours of the day, this wouldn’t be very interesting. however, the beautiful light of golden hour was playing off of the little branches of the twig and bringing a seemingly dead object to life. this image was take with my nikon and wide angle lens at f/1.4 to create a really soft image.
.jpg "Photographing in Golden Hour: The Power of Waiting For The Right Light | Bethadilly Photography")
Golden Hour is Indoors Too
when we think of photographing in golden hour, we think of venturing outdoors. but really golden hour can be found indoors as well. be sure to open your blinds during this hour of the day and watch how the beautiful light plays on the walls. in the image above, i was photographing my daughter in her crib during golden hour. i loved how the beautiful light was bouncing off of her nursery walls and brought some beautiful golden interest to this image.
photographing in golden hour is definitely well worth it. by allowing more natural shadows to fall on your subjects and surroundings, bringing things to life through light, creating beautifully rich golden tones and allowing an opportunity for more interesting sunbursts, golden hour definitely earns it’s praise. as you are preparing to grab your camera, be sure to think through timing and plan your photography outing during golden hour. i promise you, it will be worth it.
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.jpg "Photographing in Golden Hour: The Power of Waiting For The Right Light | Bethadilly Photography")
these days, our mealtime appetizer is cheerios. she loves munching on them, and it gives me a little added time to prepare her meal, whatever it may be. i feel like i am constantly counting cheerios. counting the number that she actually eats and counting the number that she feeds to the dog, patiently waited below her highchair tray.
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as a mama, my goal was to photograph my baby’s first year perfectly. to inspire you to do the same, be sure to read the first twelve.
because i am obsessed with mason jars, i bought a huge mason far canister to hold her cheerios. it seems like she is munching on a handful before every meal, so i wanted them to be readily available on the counter to quickly grab and sprinkle a few on her high chair tray. but having something on my counter means, it has to look nice. i have an aversion to clutter and stuff on counters, so i like things to look intentional. and a box of cheerios wasn’t doing it for me. now this mason jar of cheerios is something that defines our everyday.
in this photo, i wanted to not only photograph my daughter enjoying her cheerio appetizer, but i also wanted to incorporate the jar. to incorporate the jar, yet keep her as my focal point, i used the jar as an element for framing, framing her between the jar and the dining chair. my aperture and lens choice (listed below) allowed me to incorporate multiple elements within the same frame and use a creative blur to be intentional with my focal point.
Counting Cheerios by Bethany Deschamp
.jpg "Counting Cheerios by Bethany Deschamp | Bethadilly Photography")
this photo was achieved using : nikon d750 and sigma art 24mm f/1.4 lens.
my settings were : ISO 800 | f/2.2 | 1/100ss
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need some photography tips + inspiration? check out what posts are trending below.