Every winter season families gather together to create holiday cheer. The dreaded Christmas portrait is always on the agenda. For many families it is the same routine year after year. They dress up in ugly holiday sweaters, crowd around the fireplace and force generic smiles. All this mess is made just to send a Christmas picture with your annual Christmas cards.

It doesn’t matter if you are shooting your Christmas portrait yourself, having a friend do it or hiring the services of a professional photographer. There are still some things you can do to ensure you end up with a great family portrait. Following these few simple tips will help create some of your best Christmas memories.

Photography backgrounds are an essential component of a complete studio setup. The photo backdrops are made from a variety of materials. Seamless paper is a disposable paper backdrop, muslin is a woven cotton fabric, and digital backgrounds are actually placed in the photograph during post-production with a special computer program.

Each type of photo backdrop has its advantages and disadvantages. It’s a good idea to learn the different features, benefits and limitations of each type before buying or utilizing one. As you do, you can determine which backdrop is best for your style, needs and preferences.

There’s more demand than ever for amazing food photos for restaurants. Owners of restaurants request images that capture the beautiful, delicious essence of their dishes in order to sell their services. Bloggers who specialize in food utilize images to let people know when a restaurant exists or is about to open. Other kinds of potential customers might also prefer to capture an image that represents their experience. Here are some tips on how to take good pictures of food.

High school prom is easily one of the most significant events in any teenager’s life. With this grand affair comes tuxedos, fancy dresses, flowers, limousines, and of course a mass of photographs. What better way to capture the memory of a Senior Prom than with photographs of the whole evening? Whether you’re an amateur photographer trying to get a few shots of your child and their friends on this special day, or professional photographer looking to shoot on location with backdrops and props, here are nine tips to help you take the best prom pictures!

Professional photography backdrops vary in style, size, material and color, to fit any type of studio or special event’s needs. Understanding the basics of each type of photo backdrop can be quite a daunting task for beginner studio photographers. Below we offer you some quick, helpful facts to set you on the right path to deciding which backdrop would work best for you and your clients.

A good portrait really emphasizes the subject or subjects in the frame, so that their face, clothing and body stands out above everything else. In other words, nothing should distract from the subject of the portrait, making the photo backdrops chosen for the portrait more important than a novice photographer may think. Different colors of seamless paper or muslin will convey a different tone and mood to the portrait itself and also change based on the subject’s skin tone, hair color, clothing and eyes. With a keen understanding of how different photography backdrops affect a portrait, a photographer will have more options when it comes to changing the mood of each portrait they shoot. Below is a breakdown of all the different colors that can be used as seamless backdrops for portraits and what is conveyed through each one.