This photo was taken at the top of the waterfall from a little bridge. Check out more wonderful fall photographs by visiting You Capture.

Each chapter features a visual delight based on these three and three more important elements; palette, time and wonder. A brief essay introducing the concept for each element and then a flow of images. Once I started flipping through the pages, I couldn’t stop. A good photograph really makes you stop and think about that moment, imagine yourself in it and every photograph in this book does just that.

Some of the images are being displayed at the National Geographic Museum through February 2011. The images in the book are also available as frameable prints.

This book would make a wonderful gift to any photography enthusiast and is a wonderful additional to any home library.

Fall 2010 Collage

Visit You Capture for more…

The Fall is a perfect time of year for outdoor photography. The colors are spectacular and make a wonderful natural backdrop. It’s much easier to get a good picture outside in the natural light that it is inside.

1. Get down low.
Get down to their level, sit on the ground and just watch. Try to capture a moment. Getting young children to pose is next to impossible to don’t even try. Capture a natural, active moment, the laughter and giggles. If they are old enough to pose, by all means, give it a try. Any picture taken outside in a natural setting will look natural even if the subjects are posing.

2. Check your background.
Make sure all you see is landscaping. Try not to have a car, or house or any other object that would detract from the picture in the background. Use nature, hedges, a large bush, a fence, or near trees.

3. Be Prepared.
Hold your finger on the button, press slight to focus and be ready especially if you have a digital camera because all digitals have a little delay from when you press the button to when they take the picture, but you can reduce it to almost nothing if you half press the shutter button and are ready.

4. Take lots of pictures.
This is especially easy with digital since you can always delete all the ones that aren’t the “money shot.” Snap away and you will surely get a few fabulous pictures.

5. Use the Season.
Fall is a great time of year for outdoor shots and perfect for getting that personalized holiday card. Rake up a pile of leaves and let the kids jump around. Add the pumpkin to it, a small bale of hay. Have the children hold an apple. Or take the pictures at the pumpkin patch, or on an apple picking excursion, both perfect natural settings. A trip to a park can also be a great location. Or a simple colorful pile of leaves in the backyard is a perfect backdrop.

Happy snapping!

I love how a photograph captures a moment in time and freezes it. Is there anything better than freezing a child in a moment? They get so enthralled with what they are doing they forget about the world around them. The nice weather this past week meant a trip to the park, the first of the year, and re-discovery. The kids could not get enough of running across the bridge, throwing rocks over the side and watching them splash and up and down the hill. Or becoming a pirate on a ship without regard for all the people in the park on that beautiful day.

“Ahoy Mateys,” he shouted!

Visit You Capture for more Moments in Time.

1. Photoshop Mobile – A miniature version of Photoshop, it doesn’t do much, but you can add some fun effects to photos and save them and have full control over adjusting the effects with a slider.

2. Shutterfly – Access to your existing Shutterfly account, upload or download pictures and view all your albums in Shutterfly. You can email photos or post them to your Share Site fro your iPhone or iTouch. With the iPhone you can also use the camera and save directly to your Shutterfly account.

3. Flickr – That’s right, upload right to your Flickr account.

4. Camera Flash - This is nice for those of us who like taking pictures of our food is dark restaurants. After the fact, open the photo in this App and lighten it.

5. GorillaCam – GorillaCam is a zoom option for your iPhone camera and also has a grid option to easily apply the photography “rule of thirds” to your photos. It has a self-timer, anti-shake, time-lapse, and 3 shot burst mode.

6. Retro Camera – This is kinda fun, this is a “lite” version, more is available on the paid version, but the free allows you to apply many choices of retro looking effects to a selected photo and frame borders as well. Then save them to your camera roll.

7. Camera Fun Lite – This “lite” version only has a few options, but you have to admit, the sketch one is pretty neat. You apply the effect you want before you take the picture.(Yes, that is a wall collage of photos on my family room wall.

8. Photobucket - your existing Photobucket account right on your phone, you can upload right to your account in 2 clicks. And download to your phone as well.

9. CamZoom – Allows you to have a zoom lens on your iPhone. Quality is not fantastic but zooming in a little works nicely.

10. Collage Lite – The “lite” version allows you to make 4 picture collages you can then save and or use as your wallpaper.

Do you have a favorite iPhone Camera / Photo app? Do share please.

If you’re in the market for a digital point-and-shoot camera for a beginner, here are 5 models which are highly recommended by the leading websites on digital photography.

These cameras are compact, easy for a beginner to use, yet have enough features for a budding digital photography enthusiast. They’re also price reasonably for someone who’s still exploring the world of digital photography.

Of course, the camera can only do so much; the quality of a picture still depends on the skill of the photographer. Make sure to claim your copy of “Shoot Digital Pics Like the Pros,” to get professional photography tips and tricks. It’s a totally f-ree report.

Here’s our top 5 cameras for digital photography beginners:

1. Canon Powershot A1100 IS

A top choice in many digital photography sites. It takes 12.1-megapixel photos and includes all the features beginners will appreciate, such as shooting modes that automatically select the right settings, Face Detection Technology, and Intelligent Contrast Correction. Yet other modes will allow the shooter to select his own settings for exposure, shutter speed and other variables. And at only a little over $100, this is one affordable yet powerful camera.

2. Panasonic DMC-FS25

Another 12.1-megapixel camera that gets consistently high ratings from photography sites. Aside from face detection and intelligent ISO control, the Panasonic DMC-FS25 allows the user to lock focus on a moving subject. The shutter release is ultra-fast, with a time lag as little as 0.006 seconds. At the ISO 6400 setting, you can take pictures even in almost total darkness.

3. Casio EX-FC100

This 9.1-megapixel camera bosts of high-speed burst shooting, which lets the user take 30 shots per second – great for sports and other action-packed photography. It also records HD video and features fast uploading to YouTube.

4. Sony Cybershot DSC-W290

This camera’s Intelligent Auto Mode, Intelligent Scene Recognition and Face Detection Technology make picture-taking foolproof even for the rank beginner. It even has Anti-Blink Function, which helps keep subjects from blinking, and warns the photographer when a subject has blinked. It has a range of other features, including 13 photo modes, image stabilization and a 9-point autofocus. This 12.1-megapixel camera also takes HD video.

5. Nikon Coolpix L100

This is a 10.0-megapixel camera with 15x optical zoom. The Smart Portrait System lets users take portraits without the dreaded red-eye, which the camera fixes automatically. It also has face-finding technology, so faces are always in focus, a Smile Mode, which shoots the picture when the subject smiles, and a Blink Warning, which lets the user know when the subject blinked. Other features include image stabilization, high-speed shooting, low-light shooting, and Sport Continuous Scene Mode of up to 13 frames per second.

Hopefully this list will help you find the perfect entry-level camera. Compare the features with your digital photography needs and, of course, your budget, to find the best point-and-shoot camera for you. I’m a Canon girl myself, both my point and shoot and DSLR are Canon’s.

The proof is in the picture. And if you’d like to take professional-looking pictures, then download your f-ree copy of the report, “Shoot Digital Pics Like the Pros.”

Disclaimer: I am an affiliate of Learn Digital Photography Now…but it does contain lots of great advise for taking better photos.

And then a not too distant past favorite was the very quick photo session we had trying to get pictures for our Christmas card. It was an ugly day out and I decided at the last minute to do a photo card again and this is how they decided to act…

I love the look on Little Man’s face, priceless.

Visit I Heart Faces for more Hilarious Outtakes!

My son so proud of his domino creation…gotta love those little rectangles!

Birthday Tiramisu with circular Biscotti

Pocket Watches

Ahh, Martini glasses, little triangles on sticks. Bliss.

Visit You Capture for more great takes on Shapes this week.

First up, my new baby, my iPhone with a pretty red case.

F7.0

F 13

Then some Murano glass candy, the only red one I have. Don’t mind the dust please, I hate dusting, it’s so pointless…and I didn’t notice it until after I had taken the pictures and opened transferred them to the computer. The glass Gondola in the background blurs a little more as you go higher in Aperture setting.

F16

F10

F6.4

On the first set, I like the higher Aperture photos more, on the glass candy, I prefer to lower Aperture photo.