Creative photography tips: what is it about? | London Creative Photographer

Welcome to this new series that was borne out of my personal need to regularly do something creative. If you are new to my page, I’m Lily and I have three little children and a camera, so I guess that officially makes me a MWAC {mum with a camera}. I started my business in 2009 although I have to say it really only started growing this year now that my youngest is almost 3 years old. Here’s a photo of me and my li’l baby taken in the summer by my lovely assistant Esther…

First things first. What is this series about? Well, it’s nothing to do with pixel-peeping, nor super-technical speak. It’s not about owning an awesome DSLR. And it’s not even about taking photos {gasp!}. What it is about is this: seeing. It’s about seeing differently, seeing with a creative eye, and most importantly, having fun in doing so. I’ll be sharing with you how I take photos of my kids and of objects I like, how I compose and frame, how I use available light and what goes on in my head as I take some shots.

Here is an image that I took using my point and shoot pocket camera a couple of weeks ago. This is SOOC {straight out of camera – no adjustments}.

Secondly, if you want to ride this creative journey with me, you would need the following requirements:

1. You – be open-minded, ready to try new things, willing to fail and excited to succeed.

2. Camera – to quote Chase Jarvis “the best camera is that one that’s with you”. So this could be a point and shoot pocket camera, an iPhone or android, or a DSLR. In this series, I will always use both my point and shoot pocket camera Nikon Coolpix S6200 and my D7000 DSLR to try and illustrate that it is not about the camera, it’s about the eye.

3. Editing software – although not necessary, is a good option. Your pocket camera will have some basic editing capabilities like colour enhancement, black and white conversion etc. Instagram is an excellent free app for iPhone and there are similar alternative apps for android users. For those into heavy editing, there’s a a multitude of choice: Photoshop Elements, Photoshop, Adobe Camera Raw, Lightroom, Picasa, iPhoto and many others.

Here’s another photo taken with my pocket camera, blurry but pretty.

And here’s a photo taken with my DSLR with no photoshop adjustments! It’s really just a little quick trick, so stay tuned if you want to find out how!

Thirdly, the PLAN. Every now and again when inspirations strikes, I will blog about it. It’ll be simple, doable and quick {although the latter is relative as it’s up to you how much time you wish to spend on it}. Where possible, I will include simple step-by-step suggestions including some technical tips {classified as easy, medium, tricky}. Of course, I will provide you with sample images for ideas.

Let me leave you with two images close to my heart. I took this photo a few months ago of my youngest while we were on a train journey on the way to Legoland and the next photo is one that she took of me on the train journey back, tired and trying to have a little rest. If like me, you want to be a little more creative with your camera, come and join me in this fun journey. Remember it’s not a technical journey, it’s a creative one.

Stay tuned for the first sets of tips coming out this weekend! It’s gonna be about Christmas!