Hi all!
Happy Scrap Girl here with another Photography Phriday post. 
It’s finally starting to be spring here where I live, and I’m so excited to be outside with my kids.  The fresh air is good for all of us, and it gets us all moving.  I’m excited to be able to take pictures out in the sunshine again (as opposed to my dark living room :-)  ) 

I thought for today’s tips I’d talk a bit about outdoor photography. I’m not a pro photographer, but I’ve picked up a few tips along the way that even us amateurs can easily apply to get better pictures for our scrapbook pages.

• The best time of day to take your photos is in the early morning or late afternoon / evening.  The light is does not cause as many harsh shadows during this time of day.  But, it’s not usually possible to limit our photo sessions to just these times.  We really want to have great photos at any time of the day.  
• Turn on your flash!  I know it sounds silly to add more lights to an already sunny day, but when the sun is over head, it can cause harsh shadows in our photos, especially under eyes, noses and necks.  Turning on your flash will help to fill in these shadows and create more even lighting.   
• Try taking photos in a lightly shaded area of your yard.  The trees will provide a natural filter for the bright sunlight, and will help to reduce those dark shadows – a flash is still a good idea here.  Same goes for a cloudy day – the clouds help to filter the light for fewer shadows.
• Think about the position of the sun when you are setting up your shots.  While you may not want to pose the shots you are taking, you can situate yourself so that the sun is working with you, and not against you.  The sun should be behind the photographer so that it is lighting up the faces of the subject.  You don’t want to have your subject looking directly at the sun (you’ll get squinty smiles for sure), so have the sun at an angle behind you.  
• Don’t focus so much on the image in the viewfinder.  What you are seeing there has already happened.  Keep an eye on where the action is headed and anticipate what will happen next.  This is especially useful for taking pictures of moving toddlers or sports shots.  Snap your photo a second before the foot hits the soccer ball, and you’ll get a photo of it connecting with the ball.  If you push the button when you see the foot touch the ball, you’ll get a photo of the ball moving down the field…
• Pay attention to everything that will be in the background as well.  You may have a wonderful shot of your angelic 2 year old, that might be completely ruined by the branch sticking out from behind their head.  If you can’t change what is in the background try changing your camera settings to make the background a bit blurry and out of focus.  A portrait setting works well for this, as does zooming way in with your lens.  

These are a few of the things that have worked well for me.  Don’t be overwhelmed by them, just start by focusing on one or two of them and after a while, they will become automatic. 
Now get outside and take some pictures!