Tag Archives: camera

May23

iPhone 15 Pro Max Camera Problems

Posted on by
Standard
iPhone 15 Pro Max Camera Problems

Hello!! It has been a few weeks since we have had a new OOTD and I am sure you’re all wondering why. I recently upgraded from the iPhone 12 to the iPhone 15 Pro Max for work. My old phone is currently at storage capacity so I have been using my new phone to shoot content as it was intended. Unfortunately, I am having some major issues with the camera – I kid you not that my pictures look infinitely better on my iPhone 12 than on the brand new one. I have noticed a lot of people online complaining about similar issues so I thought I would put my two cents in too!

iPhone 12

IMG_6942

iPhone 15 Pro Max

IMG_8075

What I liked the most about my old phone is that no matter the lighting or the setting, the pictures I took on them always turned out crisp and clear. While I have shot a few cool pictures and the awesome pics of Constellations at their first show (See yesterday’s post), I have been overall very unimpressed with the quality of everything else. I notice that all of the pictures seem kind of blurry, grainy, and the colors appear muddled. It is such a 180 from what I am used to and it has been most frustrating trying to figure it out.

I have combed through different “help” pages looking for solutions to this problem. I have done every single thing suggested and nothing has worked. Johnny and I have shot from all angles and all lighting for just regular old pictures and they still look busted. My next step, of course, will be calling for support to see if this can be fixed or if I will need a new phone altogether. I wanted to write this post to say that you are not losing your mind if you just can’t seem to take a good picture on this phone. I pride myself on taking “good” pictures and I haven’t had a single one taken on the new phone that’s usable. I am not sure what Apple was thinking because this is most definitely a downgrade and this phone was advertised specifically for its camera. SMH!

Trust and believe that I have been attempting to shoot outfits – you just aren’t seeing them right now lol. I can’t wait to get this issue sorted out so I can go back to one of my favorite segments on lifewithlilred!

Do you have any troubleshooting tips for me? What do you think about the iPhone 15 Pro Max? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Aug10

3 Reasons Why You Should Take A Photo Every Day

Posted on by
Standard
3 Reasons Why You Should Take A Photo Every Day

You’ve got to give it to people, they are pretty good at coming up with weird and interesting ways of spending their free time. The kinds of hobbies and pastimes which work their way into the public consciousness range from daredevil stunts to things like knitting and stamp collecting, on the extreme opposite end of the scale.

One trend which took off with a few vloggers some years ago, included taking a photo of themselves every day for a number of years, and then compiling the photos together into time-lapse videos. Here’s a slightly different proposition for you. Instead of taking a photo of yourself every day, why not take a photo every day of anything that you find interesting?

What you do with the photos is up to you. You could visit Setapp.com for a list of tips on how to edit photos on your Mac, and then set about turning them into pieces of art, or you could create a conventional photo album. Whatever the case may be, here are some good reasons why you should take a photo every day:

It forces you to look for the interesting in each day:

You know how a typical day goes in your life. You get out of bed, force down your breakfast, go to work, come home, collapse on the sofa, and space out, feeling deeply bored and unimpressed. Then, there’s that one friend of yours who has pretty much the same routine, but who always seems to light up a dark room and to genuinely have fun each day.

Taking a photo each day forces you to move a bit closer to that positive mode of being. Why? Because it inspires you to look for the interesting in each day, in order to take a photo worth having. It could be anything from a cool rock on the ground to a gorgeous sunset, but it makes you keep your eyes peeled all day for the perfect shot.

It gives you a great log of your life:

Journals are a pretty good way of documenting your life and experiences that you can look back on with joy and satisfaction. The thing is, a lot of people don’t really like journaling. It takes time, it can be hard to know what to say, and there’s always the issue of someone else reading it. Taking a photo each day can be a great way of documenting your life, and providing you with mental anchors to events and moments, years down the line.

It can help kick start new art projects and other cool pastimes:

Taking a photo every day can be a wonderful first step in exploring your more artistic side. Once you’ve amassed a good enough number of photos, you can create a display out of them, put them up online, or do any number of interesting things with them. This can, in turn, lead you towards other cool pastimes and hobbies, and can also be a great conversation starter or anecdote to share.

Having a hobby is important. Having a hobby that helps improve your daily life is even better. What can you capture with a photo a day?

Featured Image By: Pixabay

Jun6

How To Organize Your Photography Portfolio

Posted on by
Standard
How To Organize Your Photography Portfolio

Whether you are a professional photographer or an amateur snapper with ambition, it is sensible to have a portfolio of work that you can show clients, friends, and anyone else who shows an interest. These days, photography is mainly digital, so an online portfolio is the way to go, but even if you still develop your photographs the old-fashioned way, the same tips apply:

Quality Control:

The best thing about digital photography, is that you can take hundreds of photos in a very short time. The bad thing is, that you end up with thousands. Be honest: most of your photos are not worthy of a place in a portfolio. This is not to say that they are no good, but the whole point of creating a portfolio is that you are highlighting your very best work.

The first step in creating a portfolio is to curate your work. Go through your best shots and select the ones that you think are worthy of a place in your portfolio. Don’t just rely on your own judgment, as it will almost certainly be biased. Instead, ask a selection of people to choose their favorite shots based on artistic qualities and technical ability. The photos that make the grade should tick the right boxes for everyone.

Quality control isn’t just about your pictures itself but employing best practices at every shoot so you can continue to grow your portfolio. Come prepared to smile, be engaging, and have fun. Don’t forget backup equipment because nothing halts a photo shoot like technical problems. However, if you forget a spare film camera battery, it’s worth noting that many film cameras can still function, allowing you to take pictures even without a working light meter. Your clients have the potential to review you via word of mouth and online so you always want to put your best, most professional face forward.

Professional Portfolios:

If you are a professional photographer, or you have aspirations to become one, you need to organize your photos to fit your business model. For example, a Suffolk Wedding Photographer wouldn’t include images of edgy urban scenes, as clients are not going to be interested. Instead, he/she would make sure that there were plenty of wedding themed photos in the portfolio so potential clients know exactly what they are getting when they book the photographer.

Organize into Themes and Galleries:

Check out Virtualphotographystudio.Com to see how to organize your work into galleries. Themed galleries are very important, as they help clients and viewers find the images that they want to see.

Using our example of a wedding photographer, we might have separate galleries for couples’ shots, family portraits, and perhaps miscellaneous photos of kids, animals, and even wedding cakes. If you have several existing clients, you might choose to organize your work by the client rather than subject matter. This would be applicable to a fashion photographer. You could also organize by creative theme. For example, if you have a series of images of Tuscan villas or Canadian landscapes, add them in separate folders.

A portfolio needs to be easy to navigate. Use a main menu and sub-menus. The harder it is to find images, the more likely you are to lose a viewer.

Caption Images:

Images should be captioned with key details such as title, the year it was taken, etc. If you have an online portfolio, images also need an image tag so that search engines can identify what they are and include them in search results.

Choose the right portfolio design. There are many themes to choose from if you decide to create an online portfolio, so select the best one for your business model and impress the socks off of potential clients!

Featured Image By: Pexels

Nov17

Perfect Gifts For Your Photographer Friend

Posted on by
Standard
Perfect Gifts For Your Photographer Friend

Due to how Christmas has developed over the years, the holiday has become more about giving presents than anything else. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing – you can easily show how much someone means to you with a thoughtful and meaningful gift. You don’t have to spend millions; a smaller budget can actually make you think more about the meaning behind the gift that you’re giving.

It’s also a great opportunity to slyly slip forward your wish list for gifts that you hope will turn into reality. And for people with slightly more expensive hobbies, like photography, it can be a rare chance to get something you really really really want. Like some of the following:

Lens:

A lens can cost anywhere between fifty and five hundred dollars easily. And it really depends on the camera you have, the quality of the lens you want, and the type of lens you’re after. If you ask for a lens, maybe ask for a case for one, too. You wouldn’t want any breaks to happen immediately after you get your gift!

Cases:

Speaking of cases, a new case could really change the game for you. You might need a waterproof one, and that might just be for the camera while in use or for storage. You can get a branded case, which is designed to fit your particular camera or a generic one which is designed to house a range of sizes.

Tripods:

Ranging from large and traditional to small and versatile, a tripod is a great way to take your photography to the next level. Plus, they aren’t that expensive. Most tripods can fit a bunch of different cameras, so you don’t have to get the branded one. If you’re going to be shooting off in the wild, you might want to look a bit deeper into the specs before choosing.

Camera:

And then, there’s an actual camera. We all know how costly a good camera can be, and it’s likely that you’ve been saving for a while so you can get one yourself. Rather than asking one person to get you one this Christmas, why not ask it of multiple people? It will spread the cost, and it’ll be more likely that you can get the one you’d really like. Or you can always offer to go halfsies.

When looking for the camera you’d like, don’t just go for the flashiest model. Think about what you actually want the camera to do. Are you shooting outside or in? Will you be using a tripod more than going free hand? Do you need the best low light camera or the best portrait camera? Or even one that’s decent at doing both? There are many things to consider, and if you’re just starting out, it’s worth getting one that covers a lot of different options. As your skills develop, you’ll know exactly what kind you need when you get around to upgrading. Maybe next Christmas?

Featured Image By: Pexels

Feb23

How Randomness Can Add Creativity To Your Photography

Posted on by
Standard

In many ways, the high technology of the modern world spoils us, especially when it comes to photography. Thanks to computers and Photoshop, there is more scope than ever before to be creative and to be expressive in photos. There are all sorts of techniques that can be used and many of them can help to make your work look more artistic and creative. Here are some fun camera hacks to help you add randomness and creativity to your work:

Move The Camera: Most professional photography courses emphasize the importance of keeping the camera as still as possible. The reason for this is to preserve things like lines and sharp edges and to prevent the photo from looking blurred. But sometimes you actually want to blur to convey a sense of motion to the image you’re snapping.

There are several popular ways of using the motion of the camera to take a better shot. “Panning”, for example, is a technique used most frequently in sports when following a target, like a horse, from one side of the field of view to the other. Another technique is “rotation” where the camera takes a photograph mid-whirls. Finally, there is camera throwing, where you literally throw the camera to take the shot. (With this one, you might want to prepare an area where the camera can land softly!).

As you can see, moving the camera can provide countless effects in itself. However, if you are shooting objects that are really moving, you might need more specialized equipment. For example, a car race would be shot best with a Line Scan Camera because of its high speed processing.

cameraa

The camera was not thrown for this picture!

Creative Focusing: You don’t need a full-blown DSLR to play around with focus. Some of the best bridge cameras in 2017 also come with options that allow users to focus either slightly in front or slightly behind the subject. The purpose of doing this is usually to pick out some other element of the photograph to focus on, leaving the rest of the image blurred. With the right foreground and background colors, this sort of technique can create intrigue and mystery.

camera1

I’m intrigued 😉

Zoom & Shoot: Another way to use your camera is to zoom in while you shoot. This has the effect of making the outer edge of the image blurred while keeping the subject in the center in focus. Zooming while shooting makes it appear as if the whole image is sort of popping out at you. It’s also possible to combine zoom with a slow sync flash, which can produce some pretty spectacular results.

camera2

Flickr Image

Shoot From Below: Top professional photographers have been using low-angle shots for decades to evoke a sense of scale. It turns out that the technique is extremely useful. Even regular sized objects take on whole new personalities when shot from below. What’s more, shooting from below is interesting for viewers. In our daily lives, we rarely see things from a mouse-eye view, and so when we do, it’s engaging if nothing else.

camera3

Holy moly!

Use Over Exposure: Another thing photography school warns about is overexposing your shots. But doing it in the right setting, especially when an image contains dazzling colors, can be really effective. If you bump up the exposure setting on your camera, sometimes you can generate beautiful effects with foreground objects contrasting nicely with the burnt out background of the scene.

camera4

Pretty!

Whether your passion lies in front of or behind the camera, learning the proper techniques can only benefit you in your line of work!

Feb21

Hello, It’s Me!

Posted on by
Standard
Hello, It’s Me!

Hey there everyone and happy Sunday! I hope all of you are having a wonderful and relaxing weekend. I’ve noticed that I haven’t put up a whole lot of pictures of me on the ol’ blog lately. To remedy that, I had my dad break out his prized camera and snap some pictures of me during this past week. We shot some pictures outside and as you can see, Ohio got quite a bit of snow! (So much so that I was snowed in at home for an afternoon!) We also took some pics on our cool, color blocked hallway for your viewing pleasure. Take a look:

^^^ Thanks, dad! ❤

What I Wore:

  • Featured Image Jacket: This was one of my Christmas gifts, compliments of Target. You can read all about it in my post, New Coat Heaven.
  • Killin’ It Hoodie: My hoodie dress is one of my all time favorite Forever 21 finds which you can read about in my Monday Update: Forever 21 Haul Edition.
  • Black Skinnies: I got these from Express about a year or so ago. They used to have the coolest snakeskin pattern printed on them but unfortunately it faded away after over a year of washing. -_-
  • Zipper Front Heels: These babies are one of my steals that I got from Kohl’s a while back ago which you can read about in, If The Shoe Fits – Apt. 9 Edition.
  • Teal Fingerless Gloves: My glovies are one of my favorite accessories that I own. My mom got these for me from TJMaxx when I was in high school. It was on a day that I didn’t feel like going to school so we went shopping instead! I love them just as much now as I did when I first got them.

It was so nice to be able to spend the afternoon being photographed by my dear old dad. He definitely shot some winners and it was a great way to spend time together! How has everyone’s weekend been? What kind of weather are you having in your neck of the woods right now? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Sep15

Daffodil Blue Photography

Posted on by
Standard
Daffodil Blue Photography

Helllooooo everyone and welcome to a very special article on lifewithlilred about a blossoming business in the Akron, Ohio area, Daffodil Blue Photography. Daffodil Blue is run by the lovely and talented Britta Michele and I had the absolute pleasure of sitting down with her for some coffee and all of the details about her endeavors as a young businesswoman. Before Britta and I scheduled a time to meet up, I asked her to pick her all time favorite photos that she’s taken for a Photographer’s Choice segment. Put a face to the name with this pretty pic of Britta and then take a look at these sweet shots before reading the interview that I had such a blast conducting:

brittadbpdbp3dbp4

 

  • Lil Red: Alright! What made your Photographer’s Choice pictures your favorites? Let’s start with our little cupcake faced cutie!
  • Britta: Well, I’m pretty sure that that was her first cupcake, which was an awesome moment to photograph! This was taken at her second birthday party and I just think that this photo captures her personality so well. She looks so sweet but she definitely has some sass to her! I also like how the cupcake is all over her face, it’s so stinkin’ adorable!
  • LR: What about the second photo? They both look so happy!
  • B: They were! Baby Jameson loved the camera! I had so much fun photographing him and his mom, Ashley. I’m really glad that I was able to capture such sweet moments for her and her little one.
  • LR: Too cute! And now for the third and final Photographer’s Choice picture! What made you choose this photo as one of your faves?
  • B: These siblings were a blast to work with. I had a lot of props for them to play with, like bubbles and balloons, so they weren’t always paying attention to the camera – but it still made for some amazing shots! I really like this portrait because it shows how much love all three siblings have for each other and I’m happy to have been the one to capture it!
  • LR: So when I knew you, we were high schoolers in French class and you went by Brittany. How did we get to be called Britta and a photographer a few years later?
  • B: I decided to go by Britta because it’s a very rare name! I’ve never heard of it before and I think that it’s memorable. I want people to think of my name and go “Oh, Britta? She’s a photographer!” Photography has always been a passion of mine from a very young age. My cousin was a photographer who taught me everything that I know and she has been the inspiration for my work ever since.
  • LR: When did you take your first “real” photograph?
  • B: Oh gosh! When I was thirteen or so?
  • LR: Speaking of unique names, Daffodil Blue Photography is another one! What’s the story behind that?
  • B: Similar to my name, I wanted something that was different. I had seen “Moments By” and “Photographs By” countless times and that type of name could be run by anyone. I had played around with names and searched for different word pairings and then I started to think more in terms of things that I like. I love daffodils and blue is one of my favorite colors.
  • LR: So the name wasn’t something that came out of the blue? 😉
  • B: Nope! But I definitely wasn’t dead set on it. I kept going back and forth – I wanted it to have more meaning. It wasn’t until people began telling me how much they love the name Daffodil Blue that I began to love it too!
  • LR: As I browsed through your websites, I noticed that you do a lot of family shoots. Is that your favorite kind of shoot to do?
  • B: Yes! I love children and I can’t wait to have my own some day to photograph! When kids are involved, I always try to make it as fun as possible for them. I bring stuffed animals and just let them play. I always prefer to have action shots of children because they just can’t sit still! And the best thing is, even if there are photographs of them not looking at the camera, I have some tricks up my sleeve to edit them to make it appear that they are.
  • LR: From all of the shoots that you’ve done has there been a most memorable moment?
  • B: All of them are! There really isn’t just one. I do like to continue photographing beyond the session time my clients have signed up for because you can’t get everything that you want in the allotted time. The post session photos are usually of the kids just playing around – and that’s when you get the real smiles!
  • LR: As a photographer, it’s your job to create memories. Is there a specific shoot that you’re dying to do?
  • B: Wedding shoots! Weddings are just so magical. I love taking pictures of someone who looks so beautiful and happy. I want the couple to look at the photos twenty years from now and think, “Wow, look how amazing we look. Look how happy we look. We still are happy”.
  • LR: And now for the cliche interview question…Where do you see Daffodil Blue Photography one year from now?
  • B: Hopefully with a lot more people photographed – particularly some wedding shoots! I would love to travel and make Daffodil Blue a full time business rather than a part time hobby.

I had the absolute best time catching up with Britta and hearing all about Daffodil Blue Photography. With so many aspiring photographers out there, I asked her to grace us with some advice on how to make the best of a young business. Here’s what she had to say:

  1. Don’t ever give up. Believe me, I wanted to so many times, especially because I was comparing myself to others so often. You have to learn from the people who have more experience than you, not compare yourself to them.
  2. Have patience. I started Daffodil Blue at the beginning of last year and I’m just now gaining more and more clients.
  3. Don’t charge what professionals are charging right away. Get a steady client base before you raise your prices but never go too cheap!!
  4. Believe in yourself and don’t be afraid to reach out to people who might be interested in your business.

During our talk, I was shocked to learn that Britta had not named her Nikon camera! We decided on the very original “Nicki the Nikon” and here’s the facts about what makes her D3200 camera baby the perfect one for her:

  1. Through extensive research, Britta came to the conclusion that Nikon was a bit better than Canon, which made her Nikon purchase a no brainer. “Canon is still a good brand but I would pick Nikon any day!”
  2. Nicki the Nikon boasts 24 megapixels while the D3100 only has 12. However, I learned from my self taught photographer friend that it’s not the megapixels that matter, it’s what lens you use.
  3. Britta is currently using the kit lens and is very happy with it. She told me that not many professional photographers would use that lens but that’s okay with her! Throughout our afternoon together, Britta mentioned frequently that just because she may not have the best equipment yet, it doesn’t mean that she can’t take an amazing picture! (However, Britta will be treating herself to a 50 mm. 1.8 G lens for her upcoming birthday!)

Interested in Daffodil Blue Photography?

Guys, I’m not gonna lie, this was my favorite write up I’ve done yet. Britta is the real deal. She’s intelligent, creative, and has such evident talent that it’s palpable. We both thought that it would be fun if my readers took a look at her websites and chose their favorite photo to share with us! Until then, do you have any advice for Britta as she continues her work at Daffodil Blue? What is one of your favorite pictures that you’ve ever taken? We wanna hear from all of you, so leave us a comment and let’s chat! And please make sure to leave us a Reader’s Choice picture in the comments! Much love. -Sarah