Magic of Candy!

As I've written before, candy is the magic in getting my girls to be friendly with the camera. I pulled out the lollipops and instantly had happy children waiting to be photographed.

We stepped in our front doorway to get the great natural light. Please excuse the welcoming toy room behind my girls. It often looks like I'm running a small daycare when you enter my house.

While I do love black and white, it is hard to resist a good color picture of my very different twin girls.

Here's a photography tip:

If at all possible, avoid using your flash by turning it off. The flash on your camera is extremely harsh and overall very unflattering. Have fun and experiment! When shooting indoors, find a doorway and/or window light as your light source. Also, play around by turning up the ISO (film speed)in your camera as high as it can go...try different speeds. 400...800...1600! When outside, the camera will often think it needs a flash as well. Turn off your flash. Find open shade to keep your kiddos (your subjects) out of the harsh light. Set your ISO to 100 or 200. Play around and have fun! You will be amazed at how you and your camera can become better friends.

Also, even if you don't own a DSLR...most point and shoot cameras will allow you to control your flash and ISO. Dust off your camera manual and find where you can control these fun features.