cheater, cheater

Out of curiosity, how many times have you heard this before?

"Oh my goodness, your camera takes such pretty pictures!  That's amazing!"

Probably pretty often, right?  Especially if you're extra gifted in the photo-taking department, which I know a bunch of you are.  You think I'm lying, but I've seen the stuff you guys put on facebook.  Not child's play, my friends.

Well, here's the thing, no camera nerd worth her weight in salt likes hearing that, because there's actually quite a bit more that goes into taking a good picture than you might imagine, and getting the right settings on your camera before taking the picture (yes, even on your point-and-shoot) is just as important as actually pushing that button.  You might have noticed that your pictures are blurrier at night or that sometimes you look really pale in pictures.  I promise you're not actually fading away after dark and you don't have MJ's skin disease.  Instead, your shutter speed isn't fast enough and your exposure is set too high, respectively.  On most cameras, you can change that!  You just have to know how to diagnose the sitch and how to change it.  That way, YOU take pretty pictures, not your camera, and certainly not by mistake.

Last week, I found this handy dandy photography cheat sheet on Pinterest, and I thought it was so precious that I printed it out and hung it in my cubicle.  It's ok if you don't know what half this stuff means... google it!  Cameras really aren't the scary creatures that most people think they are, and I promise that once you adjust a few things in advance and your pictures start turning out a little prettier, you'll feel like a pro (which I certainly am not, I just know that feeling).  And here's my best advice:  that flash bulb that you have on the front of your camera isn't doing you any favors.  Even if you think it's your saving grace at that dark concert, it's probably just warping the pretty colors.  Instead, if you increase your shutter speed a little, you'll let less time pass between when you push the button and when the picture is taken, which means less light is let in, but it also means less time for the subject to move around and make your picture blurry.  And SHAZAM.  You didn't even distract him in the middle of his eighteenth encore.  So I always recommend turning off the flash, if for no other reason than keeping your face from looking like an oily, shiny mess at your next indoor brunch.

So, if you're into being a super nerd today and looking all this stuff up, I salute you.  But even if you aren't, just know that I believe in that relationship between you and your camera.  I'll even come to your wedding.