Outdoor Week: Photo Tips

As I was thinking about outdoor week I thought of two things; camping and photography.  For a long time now I have wanted to be a photographer, but I only have a simple point and shoot camera.  One day I will have an awesome camera, I promise.  I absolutely LOVE pictures of nature.  I love being outside and enjoying this beautiful earth that we have been given.  I thought I would share some of my tips for taking good pictures outside.

Oahu, Hawaii

The first thing you have to remember is your camera.  This may seem obvious but you have no idea how many times I have been without my camera and the perfect picture comes along.  I have a small camera that I keep in my purse at all times.  It is just a point and shoot but I think it works pretty well.  All of the pictures in this post were taken with the same point and shoot camera.  The next thing you have to remember is an extra set of batteries.  Yet again, many times with a dead camera!! So frustrating.  



Hawaii/My backyard

All of the pictures above were taken using the my macro setting on my camera.  This setting is great when you want to get up close and personal with your subject.  I really like to use the macro setting when I am taking pictures of plants and flowers.  I am amazed at the detail I can accomplish with just my simple camera.



Maui, Hawaii

Another thing I love to get pictures of are sunsets.  Both of the sunset pictures above were taken in Hawaii.  Now the lovely location might have something to do with the outcome of the pictures, but I think they turned out incredible!  I love scoping out new locations to take sunset pictures.  Don't you just love that tree silhouette?  The sun shining through turned out amazing.  The next tip is to take as many pictures as you can.  Thank goodness for digital, right?!  The more you take the better chance you have of getting a really good picture.



Clockwise from left; Moab, UT; Oceanside, CA; Bear Lake, UT; My backyard (cute puppies!)

 Even though nature scenes are my favorite to photograph.  You definitely have to document your vacations with pictures of you and the people you are with.  My husband always complains that all of our vacation pictures are of just him,  I told him that is because he never takes pictures, it is just me!  The next tip is to learn how to work your timer on your camera.  This helps so much when there is just the two of us.

I found a few places online that have some awesome tips for taking pictures.  Martha Stewart has five simple tips that are good to keep in mind.  Photo.net has 10 tips to improve your vacation photos when using a point and shoot camera.  Both of these sites are awesome! 

Do you have any tips you would like to share?  We would love to hear them.