Taking Great Pictures of Your Family

Hello photography fans! Stephen Dent Photography hopes you are all having an amazing summer and snapping some really great pictures of your adventures! If this is your first time on Stephen Dent’s blog, here is a little bit out Stephen Dent and the company. Stephen Dent is a professional photographer in southern California, who currently owns and operates several studios throughout the southern half of the state. Stephen Dent photographers can be hired to photograph or video record any occasion of your choice, from summer fun to wedding day gatherings. Stephen Dent also offers photography lessons both in studio and on site, helping you meet your photography needs in every way possible. We ask that as a part of the free services provided here on the blog, that you take a moment to at least look at our website, Stephen Dent Photos, and keep us in mind for future photography needs!

Stephen Dent knows that the summer is often the season when we spend the most time with our families, children are home from school and return from college, everyone gets together for vacations, reunions, and celebrations while the weather is nice. This is the perfect time to capture all your family moments, and there are a few easy tips for taking great family pictures. Read on to learn how to put your camera to work for your family…

Candid photos-candid pictures can be fun to take, but they do have the tendency to catch people making embarrassing faces as they speak. The best advice for taking great candid photos is to try to avoid taking pictures of family members while they are speaking. It can also be very helpful to snap a candid photo from a slightly greater distance than you would for a posed picture; this way you get more context in the image, helping you remember why you took that photo in that moment. If you get too much background, you can always crop it out later, but you can never add background that didn’t make it in to the picture in the first place!

Posed photos-posing family members for pictures is an awesome way to make sure that you get the entire family in one picture, and that everyone is looking at the camera, and hopefully smiling, with their eyes open (we all know that at least one person is bound to have their eyes closed at the wrong moment!). Stephen Dent recommends that you be creative in your posed pictures, rather than just having everyone line up in front of the same couch or wall every year. Try taking the family around the grill for some silly merriment, or take a dramatic night picture around the fire pit. These are just suggestions, use your creative power to frame lasting memories that you love!

Thanks for stopping by the Stephen Dent Photography blog, where we strive to provide awesome and free tips and tricks to photography fans world wide. Again, please take a moment to view our website at Stephen Dent Photos, and keep us in mind for any and all photography needs!

Stephen Dent Photos Tips and Tricks for August!

Stephen Dent Photos wants you to have the best photography experience possible, so we are here to give you even more tips and tricks for making the most of your camera. All we ask is that you check out our website www.stephendentphotos.com, and keep us in mind for any of your future photography needs!

Today we are going to talk about getting to know your digital camera. Cameras these days have so many great features that you can use to optimize your pictures, with different, easy to access setting for every different photography situation. These are just suggestions listed here, for more information, you should look through the book that came with your camera, or visit the maker’s website for information specific to your camera.

Click on your camera’s menu button. Once you have done so, you should see some kind of option like “shoot mode” or “camera options.” Depending on the age and quality of your camera, you should be able to access a variety of different modes to help you take the best picture. Common options are portrait, macro, action, or landscape. Select one and try it out!

One option available on my camera that I love is the sunset option, which tells the camera to pay special attention to the reds and oranges, which are colors that normally get suppressed in a picture. Using this mode, you can catch the true beauty of the sunset like you never imagined.

Here is a quick run down of what the common options are, and when you should use them. Portrait option should be used when taking a picture of a person, because this mode will blur out the background and bring the person into fuller focus. Macro is used when you are taking a picture of a small object, generally from very close up, such as a bug on a leaf. This mode zooms in on the object and magnifies it, making the picture far more sharp than if you took the picture regularly. The action setting is best used with a flash, in a brightly lit area. Action mode uses a faster shutter speed to catch objects in motion, such as someone kicking a soccer ball. Landscape mode enhances the colors of the picture so you see the scenery as it actually was, and gives equal crispness to every aspect of the picture.

I hope these tips help, and as always, please visit the website to contact Stephen Dent, or to book your next photo shoot with Stephen Dent at www.stephendentphotos.com.

Catch Amazing Action Pictures

Stephen Dent Photography doesn’t just want your photography business, we also want to help you take great pictures every day, and at all those events that we can’t be there for. That is why we started this blog, to help the fans of Stephen Dent take amazing pictures on their own.

One of the biggest complaints that amateur photographers have is that they can’t catch those once in a life time moments. You know the ones-your son slam-dunked the ball during the state finals, but all you got is a blur the color of his uniform. Or when your daughter pulled off a perfect pirouette for the first time, but you caught it a fraction of a second too late.

Don’t let your greatest life moments slip away in a blur of color, follow these simple tips to catch your next great moment!

1.) Utilize your flash Almost every camera comes equipped with a flash, so be sure to turn it on when you are trying to capture an action shot, even if the area you are in is already brightly lit. The flash doesn’t just add light to a dark photo, it can also be thought of as a mini time machine. The Flash freezes one single instant, the exact instant that your camera captures the picture. This will reduce blurriness (like in the basketball scenario above) and help give you a clear, crisp picture. Your camera probably has different flash settings, such as automatic, always off, or always on. When taking action pictures, Stephen Dent recommends that you turn the flash to the “always on” setting. If you leave it on automatic, the flash won’t go off if the room is already properly lit.
2.) Use multiple shot options Most digital cameras come with options for taking several shots in a row, in rapid succession. If your camera has this function it is a good idea to turn it on. It will slow your camera down slightly, but you will have far greater odds of catching a great picture. In this mode, your camera can take pictures faster than you could by manually pushing the button. Also try playing around with aperture settings and any other options your camera might have. Newer cameras have an amazing amount of modes, functions and features, so be sure to try them all before the big moment, so when the game starts, you’ll be prepared.
3.) Know your camera Stephen Dent always recommends that you read the manual that came with your camera. It will likely contain tips and tricks specific to your camera, and will explain the different functions available on the camera. Play with your camera in your free time to learn what it can and can not do. Some cameras simply are not equipped for taking motion pictures, and that is okay. If your camera can’t quite catch the shots you would like, call Stephen Dent Photos today to schedule your photo shoot.


Contact Stephen Dent any time at our website www.stephendentphotos.com, and check back for more neat camera tricks and advice here. Thanks for stopping by!

Stephen Dent and Steve Dent

Stephen Dent, owner of Stephen Dent Photography Studios here in California, just discovered the work of another Stephen (Steve) Dent, who is also a photographer living and working in California. Everyone here at Stephen Dent Studios wanted to share the work of Steve Dent with our followers. After all, it isn’t every day that you come across another person in the same profession, with the same name, living in the same state!

Here is the link for Steve Dent’s photography page: http://photo.net/photos/SteveDent

We think you should check it out and let us know what you think of California’s other Stephen Dent!

In other news, Stephen Dent Photos has had its most profitable year ever, and we would like to thank everyone who works here with Stephen Dent, and all of our amazing clients who come back time and again for a great photography experience. We know that earning a profit in this recession is a sign of a job done right, and we are honored by the deep compliment implied by every client we receive. Thank you to everyone who has referred us to their friends, helping us grow into a strong and lasting company.

I light of this recent profit, we will be making a charitable contribution to an organization of your choice. Leave a comment here on the page suggesting which organization you think deserves our money and why. We will be voting on the best charity based on your comments, so really sell it to us, and share this link with your friends so they can comment as well.

In addition, we will now be offering health insurance to all our employees. We believe that providing a happy and safe working environment directly contributes to the happiness of our clients. Stephen Dent also believes that providing health insurance is a good investment in our economy, our employees, our state, and our country. We are proud to help keep a handful of California residents employed by Stephen Dent healthy and insured!

As always, please visit our website for more information about Stephen Dent, the studios, locations, hours, and services. We can be reached at www.stephendentphotos.com, and you can follow us on twitter at www.twitter.com/stephendent10.