the idea of placing a watermark on your images is a personal choice. some photographers don’t do it, while others do. it is really up to the photographer and if they want to or not. for me, i am faithful about watermarking my images. for the most obvious reason, i have had images stolen in the past and that just irks me. placing a watermark on my image doesn’t keep it totally safe, but it does offer a slight deterrent. if you are on the fence about watermarking your images and aren’t sure if you should or shouldn’t, for the sake of full disclosure, here are 3 reasons why i watermark my images each and every time.
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Watermarking Your Images : 3 Reasons I Faithfully Do It
.jpg "Watermarking Your Images : 3 Reasons I Faithfully Do It | Bethadilly Photography")
first of, there is no right or wrong answer here. watermarking your images is a personal choice. if you want to do it, do it. if not, don’t. every photographer has a different stance on watermarking, and choose whatever works best for you. for me, i love watermarking and you may be surprised why.
1. A Little Protection
like i said, i have had images stolen in the past. it sucks. but i believe in karma, so that is on the other person, right? i like to place a watermark on my images as a way to add a little extra protection to my images. yes, i know that someone could simply edit out my my watermark if they truly were passionate about stealing. but again, that is on them and their conscience and if that how someone wants to spend their time, that’s between them and their live choices. and again, karma.
2. Instant Branding
watermarking your images is a wonderful way to have instant branding. on social media outlets like instagram, it is popular for photography forums to share images from other photographers in their own feed. when you have a watermark on your image, you are instantly allowing your brand to be represented, no matter what feed you are featured on. i also given all my clients watermarked files of their session images for social media posting because, should they forget to mention the awesome photographer who took them, the watermark tells all their friends who they worked with and then…my email starts dinging with session requests. it’s as easy as a watermark!
.jpg "Watermarking Your Images : 3 Reasons I Faithfully Do It | Bethadilly Photography")
3. Creates Balance
one of the main reasons why i love watermarking my images is because it can create fun balance in an image. a thoughtful watermark placement can add to an image, instead of being a distraction. i am always thoughtful when deciding where to place my watermark to make sure it adds to the image and creates a visual balance.
whether watermarking your images is a choice you make or don’t make, that’s totally up to you. i personally do and have done it for awhile now and i love that it adds a little piece of mind, offers instant branding and creates a visual balance in my images.
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for week 11 of The Bethadilly 52, our focus lies on emotion. something that there is a lot of at my house, these days. we are full of happy emotion lately, as our little girl learns to crawl fast, clap her hands, and respond to simple spoken requests. then, after she goes to bed we find ourselves flipping through pictures of her on our phone, wondering how she has grown so much. typical parents, i know. with this week’s focus on emotion, i wanted to put an emphasis on my daughter and the emotion of motherhood. we just got our first snowfall of the season (it’s march!) yesterday, meaning there was a lot of white outdoors that was reflecting brightly indoors. i took advantage of this natural bright reflection to capture a portrait of my daughter and i near the window and really loved the results. i love the happy connection between the subjects and the emotion that is both contained within the image and created in the viewer.
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The Bethadilly 52 Week 11 – Emotion
.jpg "The Bethadilly 52 Week 11 - Emotion | Bethadilly Photography")
this photo was achieved using : nikon d750, sigma art 24mm f/1.4 lens, and tripod.
my settings were : ISO 400 | f/2.8 | 1/500ss
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to learn more about how to create emotion in your images, be sure to read 4 eye-catching ways to create emotion in photographs.
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when i was first starting out photographing lifestyle newborn sessions, i was always worried about bringing enough gear. in fact, i was so worried that i just started bringing anything and everything i owned…just in case i were to need it. and time after time, i only used the same two lenses. after years of photographing lifestyle newborn sessions, i feel like i know my dream lenses and pack only those. in addition to lenses, i also bring a few other items with me to ensure that i can photograph a session successfully. here a little peak at my game changing photography gear for lifestyle newborn sessions.
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Gamechanging Photography Gear For Lifestyle Newborn Sessions
.jpg "Gamechanging Photography Gear For Lifestyle Newborn Sessions | Bethadilly Photography")
everything that i bring with me fits in my camera bag. i think this is important to note because i don’t want to arrive at my clients home with arms full of gear and bags, it can seem a little overwhelming to the client who just brought a new baby home. and let’s be real, their home is already swimming with the reality of new baby items everywhere. i am not telling you not to bring things that are big that you actually will use, but maybe be mindful of looking like you are moving in.
.jpg "Gamechanging Photography Gear For Lifestyle Newborn Sessions | Bethadilly Photography")
A Wide Angle Lens
when it comes to game changing photography gear for lifestyle newborn sessions, my favorite lens and most used lens during my lifestyle newborn sessions is my sigma 24mm f/1.4 art lens. this lens not only takes super crisp photos, but it also works really well in small spaces. because i photograph my lifestyle newborn sessions sight unseen, i love that this lens offers me the peace of mind that i can work in small spaces, should that be what i show up to find. also, being that the goal of lifestyle photography is to document families in their homes, a wide angle lens is a must in getting my subjects, and well as their surroundings, all comfortably within the frame.
.jpg "Gamechanging Photography Gear For Lifestyle Newborn Sessions | Bethadilly Photography")
A Backup Camera Body
my primary camera is the nikon d750 but i bring a second camera body, my nikon d610, for two reasons. the first reasons is obvious, in case something happens to my primary camera, i have a backup. the second reason i bring a backup camera to my sessions is so i can place another lens on it and shoot simultaneously with two lenses. i love having my sigma 24mm f/1.4 art on my nikon d750 and my sigma 50mm f/1.4 art on my nikon d610 so i don’t waste time switching lenses out. i like to use all my time actually photographing, especially to take advantage of a new baby’s good mood.
.jpg "Gamechanging Photography Gear For Lifestyle Newborn Sessions | Bethadilly Photography")
A Portrait Lens
the second and final lens i bring with me is my sigma 50mm f/1.4 art lens, a portrait lens. i primarily use this lens when i am taking individual portraits of the baby or want to capture details such as their hair, toes, hands, face, etc. i love that this lens allows the baby to be the focus, allowing me to lower the aperture to create a soft blur around the baby for a beautiful portrait.
.jpg "Gamechanging Photography Gear For Lifestyle Newborn Sessions | Bethadilly Photography")
Monopod
i put a monopod in my camera bag, just in case i should need to steady my camera during a session. i only bring this out around 5% of the time during newborn sessions, it is just a backup option should i arrive at a home that is super dark and i need more support to steady my camera to get the photo in low light. it’s one of those things that i barely use, but can save a session if needed so i make sure to pack it.
after years of photographing newborns, i finally feel that i am carrying my dream photography gear for lifestyle newborn sessions. of course, the photographer is the brains behind the creativity and success of the session, but having the right gear helps to be successful with that vision. by bringing only two lenses, a backup camera and a monopod, i feel that i am more than prepared to photograph and feel even more confident because of the gear i am using.
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Letters To My Little One | Eleven Months Old
.jpg "Letters To My Little One | Eleven Months Old | Bethadilly Photography")
monday, march 13, 2017
my little doll,
i can’t fathom writing the words eleven months because i simply cannot bring myself to believe that you are already eleven months old. when talking to another new mom last week, she said, “doesn’t it feel like it’s been years since you were pregnant!?” i looked at her with a shocked face, “no! it seems like yesterday!” and it does, it really seems like it was yesterday that daddy and i would spend our days setting up your nursery and our evenings counting your kicks in my belly. wasn’t it just yesterday?
here we are today with an active and energetic little girl! you have officially mastered crawling and have gone from taking tentative and hesitant crawling moves to…zooming across the room in no time. your great aunt sent you some darling leg warmers to protect your knees on the go! we found ourselves quickly baby proofing the house and there is a new baby gate at the stairs, which you find to be very interesting. you love to crawl up and down the hallway and giggle with delight when mama comes after you saying, “i’m gonna get you!” you think it is the funnest game and we both exhaust ourselves playing it daily.
along with crawling, you have mastered sitting up all on your own. you can be laying down one minute, and upright the next. it still amazes us how quickly you will learn something. one day we will be worrying about when you will learn to sit up and the next, you are sitting up effortlessly. it reminds me that every day provides another step for growth and that you will do all things in your own time.
you love brushing your teeth. mama loves singing a little brushing song that she made up and you let mama brush your teeth first, before brushing on your own. and speaking of teeth, you earned 3 more teeth in 24 hours this month! 3 in 24 hours! it was insane and completely came out of nowhere. you really showed no signs of teething and didn’t even make a single fuss; all of a sudden your teeth were just there! two of the three came in together, during nap time! all three new teeth arrived while daddy was away on a business trip and, by the time he arrived home, you had a brand new smile.
you are enjoying trying new things and we are so eager to watch you do all of your “firsts.” with the spring weather here, we were able to enjoy an evening family walk last week. we put you in your stroller and took you to the park, with one goal : swing on the swing for the first time. once we placed you in the swing, your attention was immediately grabbed by the kids playing basketball and you were so enthralled with watching them bounce the ball that we don’t think you even realized you were swinging back and forth. it was really darling and endearing, but mama wants to get you giggling on the swing so we are going to try again on a quieter day. i can’t wait to take some video of you swinging.
you continue to be a wonderful eater and we are getting brave by allowing you more of a variety in finger foods. you really enjoy broccoli and carrots and black beans. you also love to eat raisins, and definitely feed a healthy amount of food to the puppies once you have had your fill. i guess you are already learning how to share, how kind of you!
the next time i sit down to write to you, you will be one year old. mama has already begun planning and preparing for your party and you will be blessed with both sets of grandparents celebrating your birthday with us, as well as friends. how exciting and lucky for us! we are so excited for them to be here and we are very lucky to have family come to help us celebrate the best thing that has ever happened to us, you. you are a very loved little girl and it’s no wonder why.
we love you more and more each day. just when i think it isn’t possible to love you more than i already do, i fall deeper in love.
love,
mama
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i think one of the main concerns moms have with photographing is that they get caught up in the idea that they must have a lot of photograph gear in order to create good images. but that is simply not true. in fact, i found that having too much gear was a deterrent because it was making me overthink my photos. i actually went through a purge and sold all my gear, only keeping two lenses and i found that having less gear made my photography even better. instead of focusing on “which lens should i choose for this,” i focused on the moment and rocked the lens on my camera. when it comes to camera lenses for moms, there are only two that i truly think you need.
read more about why i sold all my gear, keeping only two lenses.
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Camera Lenses for Moms : The Only Two Lenses You Need
.jpg "Camera Lenses for Moms : The Only Two Lenses You Need | Bethadilly Photography")
if you are that person that just loves the idea of having lots of gear, that is totally okay! i get it, gear is exciting! just don’t feel that you have to have a tons of lenses in order to create beautiful images, because really you don’t. for me, i only use two lenses when photographing my family and life and i find that they are more than enough.
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A Wide Angle Lens
when it comes to camera lenses for moms, i think a wide angle lens is an amazing choice. not only does it allow you to capture more of the surroundings within the frame, but it allows you to be fairly close to your kids while photographing. so many lenses force you to back up, further away in order to get your subject entirely in the frame. with a wide angle lens, you can stay fairly close to your subject and still get them in the frame. i find this really helpful when photographing my little girl because i can tickle her or soothe her, while photographing. not to mention, a wide angle works well in tight spaces!
A 50mm Lens
a 50mm lens is a very popular lens choice for most photographers and i would agree that it is a great investment. a 50mm allows you to get great portraits, as well as detailed photos. when it comes to camera lenses for moms, a 50mm is a very popular choice. i use my 50mm when i want to take portraits, or get detailed photos like baby toes, eyes, fingers, etc. between the two lenses, my wide angle is my first choice, but i am often very happy to have a 50mm as well.
that is truly it. yes, there are a lot of fun lenses out there and if you want to invest in them, go for it! but i truly believe that moms only need two lenses and these are my best bet. instead of focusing on the gear, focus on the moment. and don’t forget to get in the frame too! your children want to see pictures of you when they grow up and they will thank you for it.
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.jpg "Camera Lenses for Moms : The Only Two Lenses You Need | Bethadilly Photography")