Wildflowers Galore! (North Idaho Nature Photography)

Last week we took an evening four wheeler ride down to Cottonwood Flats. It is not too far from our house and right now there are wildflowers everywhere down there. I for one am a sucker for flowers. The bugs were out in force though and I got ate alive. I got some images that made it all worthwhile. Now hopefully these big red bites go away before the wedding in a few days. Especially the big ones right in the middle of my forehead that look like giant zits. Anyway now for the flowers.

Photography Tip - Watch what you cut off! (North Idaho Photography)

Last week was super busy for me with Dylan's swimming lessons, my sister and her friend staying the night and my anniversary. This next week will no be much better as we will be heading to the coast for my sister's wedding. So I have a combined photography tip for the two weeks. Last week I talked about zooming in. This week I want you to watch what is getting cut off in the frame when zooming in. The rule of thumb is that it is not pleasing to the eye cutting people off at the joint. Also watch for the middle of the hand or feet. When cropping around the head make sure that it looks intentional really crop in, don't just clip it.

In this image above the hand is cut off and the side of the foot is just clipped. A quick crop will give us the more pleasing image below.

In the image above again his hand is cut off and the top of his head is just clipped. A crop gives us this image below instead.

Dworshak Reservoir! (North Idaho Outdoor Photography)

Yesterday Cory and I got back from spending the night on the Dworshak Reservoir. It was our anniversary Thursday and this was our quick get away celebration. Dylan stayed with Grandma and Grandpa. Cory and I got to spend some precious time alone. He got to fish and I got to take pictures and read. I am so excited that after four years of living in Idaho I finally got some images of the reservoir that I like. A couple are in my all time favorites. I think the best way to get the best light of the day is to spend the night. You get both sunset and sunrise and still get some sleep in the process.

One of my new favorites.

Another new favorite.

See more of Amy’s work at www.amyschmidphoto.com. Become a fan of Amy’s work on Facebook.

After the Storm! (Idaho Outdoor Photographer)

One great thing about living in the mountains is that we get great thunderstorms. Thunderstorms mean great skies for landscape and outdoor photography. I saw this out the window after one a few nights ago. So out I ran with my camera. At first there was only one but after taking a few images the second one appeared. I could actually see both sides over our little town, but we live too close for me to have gotten it all in.

Photography Tip - Get closer! (North Idaho Photography)

One of the things I love most about being a photographer is that I have every images of my family that I love. For the most part when I am taking pictures especially of Dylan I am in photographer mode making photographs and not just taking snapshots. Being that I am a photographer it has become second nature to me to know exactly how to make great images, but for most people this is not the case. So I am going to start doing a weekly post on photo tips to help others get great images of their own family.

This week's tip is to get closer. Most people stand way back from what they are taking a picture of and leave a lot of space around their subject in the photo. You end up with a lot of clutter detracting from your tiny main subject in the middle of the photograph or something like this image here.

Here you see all the messy clutter in the background and the dogs rear end in the foreground. All of this takes away focus from the subject. Instead fill the frame with your subject. This takes out all the distracting background and really focuses in on that great expression or action. You end up with a image that really shows what you were trying to take a picture of. Which is not a messy house or dog rear, but of a baby learning how to walk. Something more like this.


Here is another good example.

There is an arm in the frame at the top taking away from the great smile. As well as both hands being cut off. A quick zoom or crop edit give us this great image.


So next time you go to take a photograph of your loved ones take a second zoom in or move closer fill the frame with what drew you to take the image in the first place. If you practice this enough it will start to become second nature and you will have some great images of those expressions you will want to remember forever.

One side note: you can also fix this problem by cropping your image later on the computer. Sometimes this is necessary as you only have a few seconds to capture the image before the expression goes away. Just be sure to pay attention to your images when you load them on to your computer and fix them then.

See more of Amy’s work at www.amyschmidphoto.com. Become a fan of Amy’s work on Facebook.

The Importance of Wedding Photography! (North Idaho Wedding Photographer)

I felt a need to write this post after talking to a few brides lately. I don't think for the most part that people realize how big a role photography plays in your wedding day. Probably because unlike everything else you do not see the results of the photography until after the day is over.
Your wedding is going to be one of the most important days of your life. It is something you are going to remember for the rest of your life. After all the champagne has been drunk, the last guest has left, and the flowers have wilted all you are going to have left of the day you spent months, or even years planning is a dress you will never wear again and photographs that you will always cherish. With a wedding there are no second chances or do overs. No matter how carefully planned there are always glitches. You want a photographer that is professional and knows what they are doing. That can handle anything thrown their way and still get the shot, never missing a moment. You are going to be so focused on the day ahead of you, that there are moments that you will miss. Your photographer should be there to capture those moments for you. Not only will they get it all but they do it in beautiful timeless images that you will forever treasure.

Many people do not put as much value on photography when planning their wedding and end up with an experience and images with they are greatly disappointed. Trust me I know from experience. Not only was the quality of the images not great, but the experience left me tired and cranky on my wedding day. Having been there I know what a bride needs and wants on her big day. My style of photography is non intrusive. I am always there, but you do not really notice me. There is no everyone look at me and smile. I do portraits but they are casual, quick and painless. You end up with high quality, professional, and archival prints, albums, and canvases that will last all the generations to which they are passed.

North Idaho Labradors Retrievers - North Idaho Pet Photographer

A few weeks ago I did a photo shoot for North Idaho Labrador Retrievers. This is a kennel started by my in-laws Kevin and Diane Schmid. They specialize in breeding and training shed antler hunting dogs. It has been really neat to watch them build this business and train the dogs. It is amazing to me that the dogs can be trained to actually find shed horns. Right now they have Camo, Bow, and Arrow that they are training and will keep for breeding. They also have Hunter and Scout that they are training and available for purchase. The shoot was to get images to start building their web page. Which is now up, though still under construction some. The website can be found at northidahoantlerdogs.com. This job really made me have to think back to school as it required me to use a lot of photoshop skills that I had all but forgotten. I don't think I did too bad considering it had been a few years since I had done a lot of this kind of stuff in photoshop.