Hotshoe PEZ Dispenser for kids
- Shooting photos of kids can be quite the feat. It seems like they are interested in looking at everything BUT the camera. I have two kids of my own, and I know that the only way to get them to smile and look at the camera is with a good bribe.
- The perfect solution is to buy a simple PEZ dispenser on the hotshoe of your camera! The base of the PEZ dispenser is a tiny bit wider than a standard hotshoe, so you'll have to trim it just slightly with a kitchen knife before the shoot.
- Then, when the kids are being good and looking at the PEZ dispenser, you can have them come up and grab a little candy periodically during the shoot. It's pure genius.
Day to night in a flash
- Sometimes you're out shooting portraits on a bright sunny day and the light just looks too… natural. I often find this is the case when shooting a wedding or engagement when I'm shooting at a park or other outdoor location and I get bored with the same lighting in every shot.
- One trick that I really enjoy is to turn up the power on my flash to the max. This will, obviously, make the subject extremely bright. If you change your camera settings to expose for the subject, it will make the background look extremely dark because the flash didn't hit it.
Remove the lens for macro
- This is the coolest camera trick I've seen in a long time. If you take off your lens and hold it in front of the camera, you get a macro lens! I was really skeptical about this, but I just tried it and it worked like a charm.
- There are four things you need to know about using this trick:
- Your camera won't take a picture with the lens off unless you're in manual mode.
- The best focal length seems to be around 50mm, so either a 50mm prime or an 18-55mm kit lens would be perfect!
- Obviously, you lose autofocus since your lens isn't attached to the camera. Focus is achieved by simply moving closer to or further away from the subject, and
- The camera can't open up the aperture, so you'll do it with your hand. On the back of the lens (the side you mount on the camera), move the little plastic slider piece that controls the aperture. If you look in the lens while doing it, you'll see the hole open up.
