The other day I was out shopping and I happened to be looking around, since it was pretty photogenic, when I decided to look up.
There’s something special about old alleys and brick buildings and this area had both.
I usually utilize my Hipstamatic app, but lately I’ve been using my Camera+++ app.
It allows me to shoot in a rectangular mode, rather than the square mode.
For this image, I needed just a bit more width and with the horizontal format, I was able to include most of what I wanted.
The shadow from the window, gives a nice diagonal to the image which provides movement and visual interest.
I’ve chosen to show just a sliver of sky at the top of the frame to emphasize the building and make a more dramatic composition.
A quick shot of a historic building that uses a few rules to spice up the image.
Be inspired!
Michael is the author of, “Take Better Photos Now,” and, “Mommie Pics,” ebooks that help everyone become better photographers through tips and secrets that he has learned during his more than 25 years of experience as a professional photographer and photography teacher. He currently is an adjunct professor at Cal Baptist University in Riverside, California. To purchase either ebook, click the links. CLICK HERE FOR “TakeBetterPhotosNow!
CLICK HERE FOR MOMMIE PICS

I was at a bowling alley the other night, when I spotted this very cool ceiling.
A perfect example of repetition.
I quickly got my iPhone out and captured this great pattern.
Patterns exist everywhere, it’s just a matter of looking and expecting it to be there.
Keep your eyes open and be inspired!

Michael is the author of, “Take Better Photos Now,” and, “Mommie Pics,” ebooks that help everyone become better photographers through tips and secrets that he has learned during his more than 25 years of experience as a professional photographer and photography teacher. He currently is an adjunct professor at Cal Baptist University in Riverside, California. To purchase either ebook, click the links. CLICK HERE FOR “TakeBetterPhotosNow!
CLICK HERE FOR MOMMIE PICS

I unwrapped a gift that I purchased this weekend and noticed how beautiful the window light was playing on the angel that I purchased.
The light is coming from a large sliding glass door from camera left and washing across the angel and the wrapping paper.
Always look for the light first. A friend of mine says that if a plane is falling from the sky, that first rule goes out the window, but for the majority of us, that scenario will never happen. So, look for the light, then compose, catch the moment and make magic.
Be inspired!

Michael is the author of, “Take Better Photos Now,” and, “Mommie Pics,” ebooks that help everyone become better photographers through tips and secrets that he has learned during his more than 25 years of experience as a professional photographer and photography teacher. He currently is an adjunct professor at Cal Baptist University in Riverside, California. To purchase either ebook, click the links. CLICK HERE FOR “TakeBetterPhotosNow!
CLICK HERE FOR MOMMIE PICS

Found a great site for an image today and I wanted to share the process.
I was on assignment at the Garden Walk in Anaheim. It’s an outdoor mall across from Disneyland with restaurants, a movie theater, shops and a bowling alley.
I saw this mural and knew I wanted to capture it.
Here was my first view:

I knew that I needed a human element to show, 1) how large the mural was and 2) to give it that human element.
Of course, when I was approaching the scene there were at least a half dozen people wandering around the mural.
By the time I got my gear ready, I was able to make this last exposure with the family walking in front of the mural.
No one else came by for the next 15 minutes!!!
Typical.
I had to report for my assignment, so I had to settle for the first and only exposure with humans.
That’s why it’s good to be ready all the time.
Be inspired!

Michael is the author of, “Take Better Photos Now,” and, “Mommie Pics,” ebooks that help everyone become better photographers through tips and secrets that he has learned during his more than 25 years of experience as a professional photographer and photography teacher. He currently is an adjunct professor at Cal Baptist University in Riverside, California. To purchase either ebook, click the links. CLICK HERE FOR “TakeBetterPhotosNow!
CLICK HERE FOR MOMMIE PICS

I shot a beautiful backyard wedding this weekend.
I was in a position near the front when they had communion.
I was kind of trapped there for a bit as the ceremony continued, so I looked for a different type of moment.
That’s when I saw this moment.
I love that it seems that they are all alone on the most special day of their life.
I always want to capture moments like these that are completely unique to each bride and groom.
Placing the bride and groom at the extreme lower right of the canvas gives this moment and almost magical composition that isolates just the look on the brides’ face.
Be inspired!

Michael is the author of, “Take Better Photos Now,” and, “Mommie Pics,” ebooks that help everyone become better photographers through tips and secrets that he has learned during his more than 25 years of experience as a professional photographer and photography teacher. He currently is an adjunct professor at Cal Baptist University in Riverside, California. To purchase either ebook, click the links. CLICK HERE FOR “TakeBetterPhotosNow!
CLICK HERE FOR MOMMIE PICS

I was out looking for some Mother’s Day presents today and a birthday present, too.
That means I’ve got a lot of presents to buy and not a lot of time to do it.
I always head to an antique store that has a lot of consignment stalls.
It’s great and there’s always a bunch of great things for me to choose from that usually matches my mom, sisters and my wife’s tastes.
I was pumped and hoping to get this all done quickly, but I showed up about 45 minutes too early.
I headed over to the Starbuck’s around the corner to kill some time, but I got antsy and thought I might look for something to photograph while I was waiting.
There was some great light pouring through one of the many windows and it was creating some really interesting shadows on a dress form.
I couldn’t figure out which letters were making these cool designs, so I just shot it and ran it though a grunge filter that I found to make the image look older.
Bam!
One cool looking image and I was able to find quite a few presents, too!
Be inspired!

Michael is the author of, “Take Better Photos Now,” and, “Mommie Pics,” ebooks that help everyone become better photographers through tips and secrets that he has learned during his more than 25 years of experience as a professional photographer and photography teacher. He currently is an adjunct professor at Cal Baptist University in Riverside, California. To purchase either ebook, click the links. CLICK HERE FOR “TakeBetterPhotosNow!
CLICK HERE FOR MOMMIE PICS

Yesterday, I had a portrait session for an aspiring actress.
I shot the majority of the session with strobes and umbrellas, buy at the end I shot a few natural light frames.
I have a certain spot in my house that is perfect for this.
A large window that faces north, so the light is ambient but directional with some semi-transparent curtains that knock down the light even more.
The effect is beautiful light.
I also used one of the umbrellas to bounce just a bit of fill light back into my subject to even the light slightly.
Just look at the eyes, you can see the specular highlights on the left side of each of her eyes and the slightly brighter left side of her face, too.
This lighting set up provides directional light that is soft and incredibly flattering to just about any subject.
Go right now and find a north facing window and try this out on your next portrait shoot.
Be inspired!

Michael is the author of, “Take Better Photos Now,” and, “Mommie Pics,” ebooks that help everyone become better photographers through tips and secrets that he has learned during his more than 25 years of experience as a professional photographer and photography teacher. He currently is an adjunct professor at Cal Baptist University in Riverside, California. To purchase either ebook, click the links. CLICK HERE FOR “TakeBetterPhotosNow!
CLICK HERE FOR MOMMIE PICS

As most of you know, I’m always looking for photographic inspiration.
It doesn’t matter where I am, I’m trying to make myself be aware of anything that lends itself to interesting or inspirational images.
A few weeks ago, I led a photo class to the art district in Los Angeles.
A lot of murals and a lot of inspiration.
In fact, I think it was information overload for a lot of my students.
But they were able to buckle down and made a ton of great images.
Here’s one of my shots that I found that really made me stop and work the situation.
Angels and a provocative view of a subject’s eyes, drew me to make this image and be my muse for today’s post.
Be inspired!

Michael is the author of, “Take Better Photos Now,” and, “Mommie Pics,” ebooks that help everyone become better photographers through tips and secrets that he has learned during his more than 25 years of experience as a professional photographer and photography teacher. He currently is an adjunct professor at Cal Baptist University in Riverside, California. To purchase either ebook, click the links. CLICK HERE FOR “TakeBetterPhotosNow!
CLICK HERE FOR MOMMIE PICS

I photographed a senior portrait today and found I needed to make a connection before any real images could be captured.
Making a connection is everything. I’ve blogged about that before and it’s so important it’s worth saying again.
Today’s shoot was no different.
The subject is a popular senior who normally doesn’t care what anyone thinks about how he acts.
In fact, he’s an actor.
Still, even he needed some time to connect with me and the camera.
How did I achieve that?
Just hanging out and talking and letting him feel comfortable and almost forgetting about the camera.

Here’s a portrait near the end of the session.
It’s obvious that the subject is at ease and his true self is captured forever.
Remember, be real for your subjects and they’ll allow their real self to be captured.
Be inspired!

Michael is the author of, “Take Better Photos Now,” and, “Mommie Pics,” ebooks that help everyone become better photographers through tips and secrets that he has learned during his more than 25 years of experience as a professional photographer and photography teacher. He currently is an adjunct professor at Cal Baptist University in Riverside, California. To purchase either ebook, click the links. CLICK HERE FOR “TakeBetterPhotosNow!
CLICK HERE FOR MOMMIE PICS

Mother’s Day is coming, in fact, it’s Sunday!
This is an outtake from a surprise Mother’s Day gift that I shot this week.
Recently, I’ve had a string of fantastic models/subjects.
This 3 year old was amazing!
I just told him what I wanted and he did it.
If you have ever tried to coerce a 3 year old to do anything for a camera, you know how tough it can be.
This photo shoot was a dream.
For this image, I just told him to lift his hands to the sky and he told me the sun hurt his eyes.
I said to close them and you can see the energy he put into this image. Fantastic!
The ambient/open shade left as soon as I finished this sequence. The beautiful light went to harsh direct light as the sun burned through the clouds just as we ended this photo with the flowers.
Timing is everything!
Be inspired!

Michael is the author of, “Take Better Photos Now,” and, “Mommie Pics,” ebooks that help everyone become better photographers through tips and secrets that he has learned during his more than 25 years of experience as a professional photographer and photography teacher. He currently is an adjunct professor at Cal Baptist University in Riverside, California. To purchase either ebook, click the links. CLICK HERE FOR “TakeBetterPhotosNow!
CLICK HERE FOR MOMMIE PICS