Toastmasters Speech #3- Get to the Point
Taking Better Photos
I need everyone to help me out. I need everyone to snap for me. OK, let’s try it in unison. When I say “snap,” everyone snap, OK? …Snap… OK, now I want everyone to do it 3 times in a row when I say “snap, snap, snap.” …Snap, Snap, Snap… …That sounds so cool! Alright, now you all know one of the 3 tips I’m going to give you on snapping good digital pictures for the holidays! This is my digital- yes digital-camera, which I love- a Nikon D70, a semi-professional camera. I’m no professional photographer, but I enjoy taking pictures and sharing my results with others, as many of you know from viewing my picture website. Through trial and error-and I’ve added up the number of pictures I’ve taken and it is over 10,000! – so through LOTS of trial and error, with my digital camera, I have come up with a few things you can easily do which will help your picture-taking this holiday season. The first is how to work with lighting, the second tip is zooming and the third is… “snap, snap, snap.”
This camera is bigger, but not much different than many of your digital cameras. It has auto-focus, like many of yours. One thing that is also similar, in a bad way, with many digital cameras, is that the flash is EXTREMELY bright. Now, as I mentioned, I am just amateur, and I don’t know how to lower the brightness on the flash. However, I want to share a tip on how to work with lighting. The biggest thing to remember about lighting is that natural light, being outdoors in the daytime, is the best light for taking pictures. You will be amazed at how nice pictures look in comparison, when they are taken outside. When you are outside, you don’t NEED the flash, but ok, it’s kind of cold out this time of year… and PROBABLY, you’re not going to hold your Christmas gathering outside. In lieu of being outside, the next best thing is to take your pictures inside, near windows during the day. If you want to take posed pictures, place people a few feet away FACING a large picture window or sliding door, with curtains open, if possible. You should stand with your back to the window so that the light is on your subjects. I know it sounds elementary, but so many times I think- oh there is plenty of light in here- but I fail to realize that if the light is BEHIND the people I’m taking a picture of, the people will turn out very dark in the pictures. Finally, if your gathering is in the evening, and you have some control over the environment, just “Turn on the lights!” You don’t have to be obnoxious about it and turn on every single light in your house, but when rooms are dimly lit, that is when it is REALLY obvious that your flash is so bright. It happens a lot in dimly lit restaurants or in rooms with TVs where people tend to dim the lights. One of two things are going to happen- people are going to run from you every time they see you with your camera because you’re going to blind them or they are going to blink for your pictures (or even worse, half-blink, which gives the person a nice, stoned look). If it isn’t your house, turn on the lamp nearby while you take a few pictures and then turn it off again if others don’t want it left on. So let me recount what you’ve learned about lighting- take pictures outside, take pictures with people FACING (NOT in front of) a window during the day so the light is on your subjects, and turn on the lights!
Next, I’d like to share some tips on zooming. #1- Never use your digital zoom. Digital zoom will make your pictures grainy and blurry most of the time. Use your manual or commonly referred to as “optical zoom.” #2 Use your zoom. Most people point their camera, center the object and snap the picture. Pictures look so much better when they are zoomed in to capture what you actually wanted to take a picture of. In the case of people, their faces…. not the people you’re taking a picture of, the ceiling and the 10 people in the background getting food from the buffet. You’ll always get a better picture if you fill up the picture with a baby’s face, the dog’s face or your Mom & Dad’s faces smiling, rather than taking full length shots with their entire body. And # 3- Even when you don’t think you need to use the zoom, take a step back and zoom in, all the way, if possible. I really don’t know why this method takes better pictures, but in my experience it does, especially with natural light. If you’re using flash, you want to stay a reasonable distance from the subject- 4 feet or less. And that’s it- #1 Never use digital zoom #2 Use your zoom to zoom in a faces rather than whole rooms or people and #3- Even when you don’t think you need to use zoom, use it anyway.
And there was one more tip, what was it? (Snap my figures as if I’m trying to remember)… oh, right! “Snap, Snap, Snap!” If you remember just one thing from this speech, please remember to keep snapping away. Digital cameras give us this luxury that would have been too expensive to do with film cameras. I, the person giving this tip, forget this tip a lot. But, each time I am reminded when I get a picture of someone blinking or with their mouth open a funny way and that is the ONLY shot I have of them. One thing to try is snapping two or three pictures right in succession… this helps with the blinking… you can always delete all but the best one. Tell your subjects ahead of time you’re going to take two or three shots and ask them to stay in position. If you like candid pictures better than posed, then keep your camera with you throughout your family event and snap away. Try to get a few shots of each person at different points in the evening so that you don’t end up with just one really bad shot of grandma and great shots of everyone else. If there is an especially cute thing going on, like the baby nephew playing with the dog, then snap, snap snap! Take as many pictures of you can, because inevitably, only one of the pictures really captures the cutest smile. To summarize the tip “Snap, Snap, Snap”- try taking a few pictures in succession for posed shots to help with blinking, keep your camera with your throughout the evening and snap away, and remember to Snap, Snap, Snap when there’s something happening that you want a really good picture of.
I hope that these tips help you take some great digital pictures for the holidays! What were they again? How to work with lighting, Using Your Zoom and … “Snap, Snap, Snap.” OK, everyone- Say, “Cheese!” [take a picture of the group]
I need everyone to help me out. I need everyone to snap for me. OK, let’s try it in unison. When I say “snap,” everyone snap, OK? …Snap… OK, now I want everyone to do it 3 times in a row when I say “snap, snap, snap.” …Snap, Snap, Snap… …That sounds so cool! Alright, now you all know one of the 3 tips I’m going to give you on snapping good digital pictures for the holidays! This is my digital- yes digital-camera, which I love- a Nikon D70, a semi-professional camera. I’m no professional photographer, but I enjoy taking pictures and sharing my results with others, as many of you know from viewing my picture website. Through trial and error-and I’ve added up the number of pictures I’ve taken and it is over 10,000! – so through LOTS of trial and error, with my digital camera, I have come up with a few things you can easily do which will help your picture-taking this holiday season. The first is how to work with lighting, the second tip is zooming and the third is… “snap, snap, snap.”
This camera is bigger, but not much different than many of your digital cameras. It has auto-focus, like many of yours. One thing that is also similar, in a bad way, with many digital cameras, is that the flash is EXTREMELY bright. Now, as I mentioned, I am just amateur, and I don’t know how to lower the brightness on the flash. However, I want to share a tip on how to work with lighting. The biggest thing to remember about lighting is that natural light, being outdoors in the daytime, is the best light for taking pictures. You will be amazed at how nice pictures look in comparison, when they are taken outside. When you are outside, you don’t NEED the flash, but ok, it’s kind of cold out this time of year… and PROBABLY, you’re not going to hold your Christmas gathering outside. In lieu of being outside, the next best thing is to take your pictures inside, near windows during the day. If you want to take posed pictures, place people a few feet away FACING a large picture window or sliding door, with curtains open, if possible. You should stand with your back to the window so that the light is on your subjects. I know it sounds elementary, but so many times I think- oh there is plenty of light in here- but I fail to realize that if the light is BEHIND the people I’m taking a picture of, the people will turn out very dark in the pictures. Finally, if your gathering is in the evening, and you have some control over the environment, just “Turn on the lights!” You don’t have to be obnoxious about it and turn on every single light in your house, but when rooms are dimly lit, that is when it is REALLY obvious that your flash is so bright. It happens a lot in dimly lit restaurants or in rooms with TVs where people tend to dim the lights. One of two things are going to happen- people are going to run from you every time they see you with your camera because you’re going to blind them or they are going to blink for your pictures (or even worse, half-blink, which gives the person a nice, stoned look). If it isn’t your house, turn on the lamp nearby while you take a few pictures and then turn it off again if others don’t want it left on. So let me recount what you’ve learned about lighting- take pictures outside, take pictures with people FACING (NOT in front of) a window during the day so the light is on your subjects, and turn on the lights!
Next, I’d like to share some tips on zooming. #1- Never use your digital zoom. Digital zoom will make your pictures grainy and blurry most of the time. Use your manual or commonly referred to as “optical zoom.” #2 Use your zoom. Most people point their camera, center the object and snap the picture. Pictures look so much better when they are zoomed in to capture what you actually wanted to take a picture of. In the case of people, their faces…. not the people you’re taking a picture of, the ceiling and the 10 people in the background getting food from the buffet. You’ll always get a better picture if you fill up the picture with a baby’s face, the dog’s face or your Mom & Dad’s faces smiling, rather than taking full length shots with their entire body. And # 3- Even when you don’t think you need to use the zoom, take a step back and zoom in, all the way, if possible. I really don’t know why this method takes better pictures, but in my experience it does, especially with natural light. If you’re using flash, you want to stay a reasonable distance from the subject- 4 feet or less. And that’s it- #1 Never use digital zoom #2 Use your zoom to zoom in a faces rather than whole rooms or people and #3- Even when you don’t think you need to use zoom, use it anyway.
And there was one more tip, what was it? (Snap my figures as if I’m trying to remember)… oh, right! “Snap, Snap, Snap!” If you remember just one thing from this speech, please remember to keep snapping away. Digital cameras give us this luxury that would have been too expensive to do with film cameras. I, the person giving this tip, forget this tip a lot. But, each time I am reminded when I get a picture of someone blinking or with their mouth open a funny way and that is the ONLY shot I have of them. One thing to try is snapping two or three pictures right in succession… this helps with the blinking… you can always delete all but the best one. Tell your subjects ahead of time you’re going to take two or three shots and ask them to stay in position. If you like candid pictures better than posed, then keep your camera with you throughout your family event and snap away. Try to get a few shots of each person at different points in the evening so that you don’t end up with just one really bad shot of grandma and great shots of everyone else. If there is an especially cute thing going on, like the baby nephew playing with the dog, then snap, snap snap! Take as many pictures of you can, because inevitably, only one of the pictures really captures the cutest smile. To summarize the tip “Snap, Snap, Snap”- try taking a few pictures in succession for posed shots to help with blinking, keep your camera with your throughout the evening and snap away, and remember to Snap, Snap, Snap when there’s something happening that you want a really good picture of.
I hope that these tips help you take some great digital pictures for the holidays! What were they again? How to work with lighting, Using Your Zoom and … “Snap, Snap, Snap.” OK, everyone- Say, “Cheese!” [take a picture of the group]
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