This is a question I get asked all the time: “How do I get smiles from the kids, or stop people from looking awkward during a photo session?”

Let’s face it, most people just simply aren’t a fan of getting their photo taken, and find the situation uncomfortable, and kids often find the whole thing one big bore (and they’ve probably already been told to be on their best behaviour so they are already expecting the worst!) The result can be images that look stiff and awkward.

To help you get those relaxed happy family photos you’ve been looking for (and get those all important smiles from the kids) I’ve invited professional photographer Melissa Gibson to give me her tips on how she manages a session to make sure she gets the shots that people will love!

Are you in need of some Christmas photography ideas, or do want some tips for capturing Christmas morning, or perhaps you’d like a guide to photographing Christmas lights?! Or all three?!

If you answered yes, then good news, because this week we’re talking all things Christmas, with ideas, tips and prompts to help you beautifully capture the holidays.

I loooove photographing Christmas, because there are many lifestyle family moments to capture, traditions to record, details to focus on, and of course, the different lighting opportunities that come around!

So without further ado, let’s dive into our Christmas photography ideas, tips, and prompts….

We all love a good deal, which is why Black Friday is such a lovely time of year! If you’ve had your eye on something for a little while, then Black Friday is a great time to see whether there are any deals to be had.

But in case you’re not quite sure what to get, or just want some ideas, I’ve curated a list of black friday deals for photographers in 2020, so you can see what’s available. Some of these I personally use and love, and others I’ve included as alternatives for you, as they might suit you better!

I’ve also broken these by category, so you can dismiss some of these outright, for example if you’re not in business. Ready? Let’s go!

Can you believe it? Only 44 days left until the end of the year!

Around this time, I'm often thinking about what I wish I'd done differently the last 11 months, and what I can do better in the next one.

With regard to photography, there is one area I still struggle with and that is shooting consistently.

There can sometimes be weeks in between each time I pick up my camera, and that lack of consistency hurts my creativity,....which in turn means every photo I take seems blah and uninteresting....which in turn means I'm less motivated and less likely to pick up my camera.

Vicious circle in action right there :)

So I want to make a change, starting now 💪

I'm committing to taking 31 days of photos in December - and I want to bring you along with me! 💖

If you want to take your own family photos this year, either due to practicalities or budget constraints, then this is the post for you! I’m going to walk you through how to take your own family photos, step by step.

This is such a handy thing to know how to do, because it means you can take your own family portraits for things like holiday cards, or to hang on your wall, but also for other occasions, for example if you are holiday, or birthdays, when it might be too costly to hire a professional photographer each time.

Now, I’m not going to lie, it is easier to have a professional come in and take your photos, because they are able to simply focus on getting the best shot and making sure everyone is posed at they should be (after taking a set of family photos where my then-young son had his finger up his nose and I didn’t notice, you begin to appreciate these things ) rather than also having to worry about what they look like too :)

But of course, it is entirely doable to take your own family photos, so let’s get cracking on how to approach this!

We live in an age where everything we do is shared across a multitude of platforms online. From our websites to social media accounts and everything in between, we’re sharing our intellectual property with the world.

Surely, as a photographer, that’s good for business?

Well, yes, it is. But it also puts your work at risk of being stolen and redistributed by unauthorized persons.

Our industry depends on our ability to produce unique works of art, and we cannot risk an intellectual rights battle with thieves and hackers. The good old right click “Save As” function can cause untold destruction on your business.

So, how can you protect yourself from theft? And more importantly, how do you protect your work?

As photographers, there are times when we need to change the colour of something, for example, a t-shirt that a subject was wearing, their shoes, lipstick colour, or even take down the redness of the ears in backlit image, or change the colour of a product.

Up until now, this was a job best handled by Photoshop, simply because it had more precise colour controls.

But then good ol’ Lightroom went and added a hue slider to the local adjustment tools, and (fanfare please) we can do these colour changes within Lightroom!

Watch the video below to see where to find this piece of editing magic, and how to use it. I’ve also used a few different images so you can see the different occasions you might want to use it too!

When I ask in my community Facebook group what they are struggling with, without fail, I’ll get a ton of people who tell me that getting tack sharp images is a problem for them. So if you are having trouble with the same thing, believe me when I tell you - you are not alone, far from it!

I thought this would be a great topic to discuss, because I know that so many of you struggle with this, and because I totally understand that it can be difficult at first to get tack sharp images - I had the same problems that you are facing right now too, believe me :)

So in this week’s post, I wanted to give you a little bit of a troubleshooting checklist so that you can run through to try to diagnose your focus issues. Now, there are techniques and strategies over and above what I’ve outlined here that we can use to really fine tune our focus, depending on where and what we are photographing, but I wanted to go right back to the beginning to make sure that you have the foundation right, and then when you are ready, you can layer the most advanced techniques on top.

If you want to make this post really super actionable, I recommend that you grab a few images that you don’t feel are as sharp as they could be, and then run down this list to see if any of these common issues could be the source of your problem.

October is almost upon us, so it’s time to share some Halloween Photography Ideas!

This mix of fun and spooky Halloween photography ideas will give you some great prompts for photos you can try to capture, image examples you can look at for inspiration, and kickstart some ideas for Halloween photoshoots too!

A few weeks ago I wrote a post on the differences between Lightroom Classic CC and Lightroom CC, going over the BIG difference between the two programs, how the features differ, along with questions to ask yourself when deciding which one was right with you (not read it? Start there and then come back here so this post makes sense!)

This week, I wanted to jump in and tell you the reasons why I personally use and in most cases, recommend, Lightroom Classic CC over Lightroom CC. I know for myself that I love hearing the “why” behind other people’s decisions, as it helps me make my own, so hopefully this is the same for you!

You can either watch a Facebook live I did on this very subject (it’s at the end of the post!) or you can simply read the blog post - whatever works for you :)

So without further ado, let’s go over why I use and love Lightroom Classic CC…

Are you struggling with getting tack sharp images? Do you feel like your images are too soft and that you’re consistently missing focus? Then keep reading!

Today I’m going to talk you about just ONE reason why you might be struggling to nail focus, and that’s due to your lens needing calibrated.

Before we start though, I should start out by saying that most of the time, our images are soft due to user error, not our equipment. There are so many factors that go into getting a tack sharp image (and can stop us from getting one) that it’s far more likely that you have gotten one of them wrong, rather than the lens be the problem.

That said, if you are not consistently getting the sharp focus you want, it might be an idea to quickly test your lens, that way you’ll know whether you have a problem with your equipment or not.

If you do, then you can calibrate your lens to fix the problem, or if you don’t, at least it will put your mind at rest that your equipment is fine and you simply need to learn the strategies that will help you get tack sharp focus!

Fall is almost upon us, which means it’s time for some fall photo ideas! These fall photo prompts will give you a great jumping off point to inspire you own ideas for fall mini sessions or photoshoots, whether that’s capturing your own family, or photographing someone else’s, or just capturing the elements that make up fall (In other words, not a person in sight)

So without further ado, let’s jump into our 10 fun fall photo ideas and see if we can’t spark some ideas for you…

Want to learn how to edit photos in Lightroom? Then you are in the perfect place! In this post, I’m going to teach you how to edit your photos in Lightroom Classic like a pro, step by step.

The right editing is that extra ingredient that lifts your images from being good, decent, run of the mill photographs, and takes them onto next level, awe inspiring images.

It's the final step in creating beautiful photos that look professional and polished, and if you skip that step, or just slap on a preset (hello AUTO for editing!) your images simply aren't going to look half as good as they could.

Being able to look at your photo, see what it needs, and then know which tools to use to help bring your vision to life is such an important skill to learn if you want to take images that go beyond snapshots.

And that’s what we are going to cover today! There are 2 ways to enjoy this post - watch the video, or scroll down for written instructions.

Adobe certainly knew how to confuse the living bejesus out of photographers when they began offering TWO choices for their Lightroom program - Lightroom CC and Lightroom Classic.

So, what’s the difference between the two? What does each one do differently? Who are they for? And most importantly, which one should you get?!!

Find out the answers to all these questions below!

It's always fun having guest bloggers here at Live Snap Love, as it gives you a chance to learn something new, or just in a different way from me! So, today, we have Simon from Refractique on the blog to give you an introduction to lensball photography. Over to you Simon!

I came across lensball photography when I was perusing Instagram. As a landscape photographer and someone who loves to travel I came remember seeing some beautiful landscape photos from all around the world featuring the lensball. I was filled with wonder and have been hooked since! I even started a business to share this joyful hobby and distribute it!

It adds another dimension to virtually any type of photography however I most like using it in landscape photos because the wide angle lens the crystal ball provides. Check out the tips below if you’d like to learn more about lensball photography!