Tip: Organizing Your Photos

It is summer time, and the kids are out of school. We seem to take a lot more photos during the summer. We certainly take a lot more photos with our digital camera then we ever did with film.

I have found that the key to have great “photo records” of our memories is in how we sort and organize our images.

We use a “point and shoot” digital camera with a four gigabyte memory card. That card holds a lot of photos—but we also use it for video, which eats up a lot of memory quickly.

When I copy images from my still camera to my computer, I will stop and take a moment to grab my two or three (or four or five or six) favorite images from the hundred or so we took, and immediately copy them to a folder I have named “Photo Favorites”. This keeps all my favorite photos in one place, and is easy for me to share without going through the several hundred “ok” photos every time I want to send one to a relative. I do this right after I copy the photos to my computer as they are freshest in my mind.

I also have that “Photo Favorites” photo synchronized with my iPod. You can set up your iPod to do this automatically. This not only gives me a backup of my favorites, but now I also have my favorite photos in my iPod to share with family or friends when I am on the road. You can do the same thing with a lot of cell phones on the market today.

Finally, I have an external hard drive that copies all of my photo directories. I will occasionally take that hard drive to my office to keep a backup copy of all our priceless photos backed up at my office (I recommend having a backup and keeping it somewhere different than your main copies).

My suggestion: have a “favorites” folder that holds all your FAVORITE photos, and back up all your photos every time you copy new ones to your computer.

Feel free to email or comment with any questions I can help you with.

Bob

Studio Plus retouching (click here)

Jennifer sent me a question yesterday (see comments) asking why she should choose Studio One to One for her portraits. In addition to the response I wrote yesterday, I would like to add that we do something at our studios that I am unaware of any other studios doing--we offer FREE Studio Plus retouching on all images purchased to our Club121 club members. Studio Plus is a light retouch that smooths the complexion and minimizes lines. Although it is very popular for our adult clients, it also is popular with children and babies. Click on the title of this post above (Studio Plus retouching) to see some Before and After examples of our Studio Plus retouching service. Rember, it is FREE to all Club121 members!

Photography Tip

My family got together at my sister's house for Father's Day yesterday. Of course everyone pulled out their digital cameras to capture the moment.

I am not sure how many photos we took over the weekend, but it was a bunch! Certainly more than in the days of film.

Watching everyone take photos reminded me of one of the best photography tips I ever received. While employed as a "Party Pic" photographer back in my college days at the University of Texas I was taught to "fill the frame".

This is a simple tip that most people don't recognize as important until it is pointed out to them. When taking a photo, fill the frame with your subject, not the background. For example, if your child is playing in the pool, have them come close to the edge--and take a more closely cropped photo--you can still tell they are in the pool, and you will get what is important to you in the photo--your child.

Many times I will see people step back and try and get the entire pool in the photo--in this case their child can be just a spec. Have them come closer--you can still tell they are in the pool having fun.

Follow this same principal if you are trying to get a photo of several people in a group shot. For example, if there are three people in the pool, have them all three come close together at the edge. Fill the frame with those important to you--you will later appreciate the photo of those three personalities (as opposed to a photo of three specs in a pool!).

Have a photography question? Feel free to ask. Just hit the comment button below.

Have a great day!

Father's Day

What does Dad want for Father's Day?

I am blessed to have four wonderful kids at home. Last year for Father's Day my wife took the kids to our Woodlands studio and had a portrait taken of our kids. Laura and her team did a great job! She had the studio turn this photo into a watercolor portrait that hangs above our fireplace.

It may be too late to have a watercolor portrait done for Father's Day this year--so what do you get Dad?

If he doesn't already have one, how about a "point and shoot" digital camera? I have found that the key to having a great digital camera is to get one that you will actually carry with you. I prefer the smaller models by Sony or Nikon--that will fit into your pocket. The quality is exceptional, and because it is so small, it is conveniant to take to our kid's events--which means we are taking more photos. Although I have larger "SLR" digital cameras, it is the small "point and shoot" camera that I almost always pick up when I head out the door.

One other GREAT use for today's "point and shoot" cameras--video! Instead of carrying around our old video camera, we use our "point and shoot" camera for all our family video. The quality is great. We play the video on our 42 inch television--I am impressed with how good it looks--and because it is digital, the quality will not deteriorate over time like our old VHS tapes. The upload is also easy--transferring the video to your home computer the same time you transfer your images.

I would be happy to answer any questions.

Happy Father's Day!

Bob

Studio One to One

My name is Bob Eveleth, founder of Studio One to One Photography. We designed Studio One to One to be your family portrait studio--bringing you a private photography experience at affordable prices.

I am starting this blog to share our latest developments and products at the studio, and get feedback from you, our customer.

What is important to you in a studio? What is important to you in a session? What can we do better? What do we do well?

I also would be happy to answer your personal photography questions; what type of camera should you get for personal use? What do I look for in a digital camera? What online sites give you the best information? Just ask away.

Thank-you for stopping by. Please feel free to ask questions or leave a comment.

Thank-you,
Bob Eveleth
Bob.Eveleth@S121.com