Capture your child’s back to school moments

Sadly, we're approaching the last few weeks of summer and fall is right around the corner!! Many of you will be busy making the most of these summer days, and some of you will be spending a large amount of time prepping for your kids to head back to school.

These last days of summer and first days of school are a great time to capture the beginning of a new phase of your little one’s lives and I wanted to offer up some photo tips to help you save time so you can capture the moment but also enjoy this special time.

Photo Tips:

What to wear: Keeping it simple is key. Stick to solids/small or simple prints, 1-3 color in their entire outfit

Location: Choose maybe your front steps, or under a tree, that you can use every year to keep it consistent. Even the school bus or somewhere outside with the school in the backdrop. Consistency is key when it comes to seeing growth over the years.

Lighting: If possible, find a shady area, with a shady backdrop so your child is the highlight of the image.

Camera settings: iPhone- stick it in portrait mode to get a fun portrait, and if you don’t have that setting or an iPhone, go ahead and just tap your screen to make sure your little one’s face is in focus. Tell them a joke, or make some silly noises to get a great laugh, and snap away.

Props: choose props that won’t change in size throughout their life- like their favorite book, or backpack, or stuffed animal etc. This can be used as a photo prop, and size gauge over the years to see how much your little one has grown. Another added fun bonus can be a fun piece of art you can make with them that has the date, age and grade they’re going into, with maybe a handprint or outline that they can then hold up again on their last day of school photo. This is particularly fun as it becomes a little souvenir they can have when their older.

If you don’t want to miss out on the moment but aren’t confident in your photo taking skills, you can always hire a professional like Kate to help you out! We are offering awesome mini sessions for families from now through December 31st so you can easily and beautifully capture this time in your family's life.

Whatever the occasion, from solo head shots or family portraits to lifestyle and landscape Kate Haus Photography is here to help and make sure that those memorable moments last a lifetime.

Firework Photo Tips for Your Fourth

Happy July!!!

My favorite holiday is upon us and I am excited to share some tips with you to photograph the best of your Independence day festivities!! 

Growing up outside of Boston Massachusetts, the fourth of July was pretty much the largest celebration of the year and everyone took part. Every year my family, friends and I would gather with the thousands of others on our high school football field at dusk. We'd lay out on blankets, and shortly after the sunset, excitedly stare up at the night sky to watch an incredible show of pyrotechnics light up our faces.

We'd oooo and ahhhh over the different colors and shapes shouting out which ones were our favorites with each pop, crackle and boom (mine are of the sparkly willow tree variety). Back then, in an amateur attempt to freeze the magic, I'd try my best to photograph the show but the images were always dark and unexciting.

So now after a bit of experience and to help you celebrate this year, I'm sharing a few fun pro photo tips on how you can capture the perfect firework moment like a professional with your phone and with your camera! 

Photo Tip: How to take the perfect firework photo from your phone!

1. Stabilize the phone on the ground, or with a tripod (or very, very steady hands).
2. Turn off the flash, digital zoom, HDR (or auto-HDR).
3. Tap the screen to focus on the firework you want to capture which will
therefore set the automatic focus and exposure for the firework and not the
night sky
4. Take photos in burst to capture multiple images to have multiple images
to pick through!

Photo Tip: How to take the perfect firework photo with your DSLR/Camera!

1. Stabilize the camera with a tripod.
2. Set camera to manual mode
3. Turn off the flash, digital zoom, HDR (or auto-HDR).
4. Reduce the ISO figure to reduce the chance of overexposure. A good starting point is ISO 200 Aperature f/11
5. Turn off autofocus and manually set lens to infinity focus.
6. Play with your shutter speed- if you can, put it to bulb mode which leaves the shutter open as long as you want (this is a great setting for night sky photos too)- you'll likely need to keep it open for a few seconds :)