December
Newsletter
Greetings from
Porter's Camera Store!
Get
Ready To Capture Holiday
Memories!
The Christmas and New Year's holiday season is one of the most popular
times of the year to take pictures and shoot videos. Gatherings of friends
and family provide us with perfect occasions for recording the good times.
Here are a few tips to make the most of these imaging opportunities.
BE
PREPARED Do you have plenty of film, blank video tape or digital
card storage space on hand? If not, stock up now. How about battery power
for your camera and flash? If your equipment uses disposable batteries,
be sure you have spares. If your camcorder or digital camera uses rechargeable
batteries, top off the charge a few days before the holidays begin so
you'll have maximum capacity. If your rechargeables are a few years old,
you should invest in replacement batteries now to use as backups when
the original batteries fail.
TAKE CANDID SHOTS
Pictures of people of all ages doing things are always interesting, whether
they are telling stories, preparing food or playing games. When taking
pictures of children, get on their level so the camera isn't always looking
down at them. Use your zoom lens to crop off unnecessary background clutter.
If you are using an SLR camera with a flash that has a bounce head, use
this feature to reflect the light off the ceiling (if it is white) to
soften the flash for natural-looking lighting.
POSED GROUP SHOTS ARE IMPORTANT, TOO
While some people may balk at being asked to pose for group photos, these
photos are invaluable years later as a way to refresh memories of what we
looked like "back in 2001". When taking pictures of a large group of people,
try to avoid posing them in a long line. This results in a lot of wasted space
in the picture, with too much floor and ceiling in the shot. Have some people
seated and some standing behind them. Use stair steps and furniture for posing
in rows or clusters to fill the frame of the viewfinder better. SHARE YOUR
PICTURES---This is a perfect time to request double prints when having your
film processed. Sharing the pictures is a great way to share the memories
of the holiday. (See p.8 of the Porter's catalog for Additional Print Certificates.
They prepay the cost of second sets of prints when using Porter's Prepaid
Processing Mailers.