America’s Sports Car Visits Katydid!

Ethan Sklar (pictured), an assistant at Katydid Photography, had the chance to drive this 2016 Chevrolet Corvette with a hulking V8 engine under the hood and a 7-Speed manual transmission.

Come visit us with your hot-rod, and leave with some amazing, eye-catching photos!

Happy Halloween Pictures!

Happy Halloween!

Tonights the night for trick-or-treaters! Get your cameras ready and charge up your batteries before they come knocking at your door. Here are some settings to try for digital cameras…

• Put your camera in the “P” mode (the perfect mode)
• Manual pop up your built-in flash
• Set your ISO on the higher end- try 800 ISO
• Make sure not to be more than 12 feet away from your subject
• Let your camera do the rest

Happy trick-or-treating!

How To Get That Perfect Autumn Shot

The fall season provides many photo opportunities- with the warm colors surrounding you, there are endless amounts of what you can capture.

Morning light in October

In Bucks County, there are more than plenty of locations you can shoot photos at. To name a few: Tyler State Park, Peace Valley Park, Fonthill Castle, and Peddler’s Village.

In order to make the colors of fall shine, it’s best to shoot during golden hour, which is the hour before sunset. During the Golden Hour, the sunlight is soft and warm, which creates a warm effect on your image.

Abstract photography works great in fall photography. If you run across any patterns, or anything that creates a shape, take a photo of it! Besides abstract things, foliage should be your main focus when shooting. Be sure to capture the leaves at their brightest!

Fall colors showing their beauty at noon with lots of contrast

Contrast should be inviting. For example, if you took a picture overlooking a field filled with the colors of autumn also with a white colored house, the house will standout among its surroundings. A blue sky can also give off the same effect. To deepen those color tones, use a polarizing filter on your lens.

If you’re interested in learning more about the features of your camera, how it make your backgrounds blurry on purpose, how to get sharp landscapes and more, please see our website or call Kathy for private lessons (215) – 262 – 7515.

Visit our large studio in the rear of the property with plenty of parking. We also have three acres of landscaped grounds for you to practice taking pictures. Call us today!

Family Portrait Season Is Upon Us!

Fall is upon us, the leaves are changing! The only thing you need is a good photographer who can capture the color of the season, great poses and expressions of your family.

Where To Shoot

Bucks County is filled with parks, creeks, and rivers that can pose to be optimal locations for capturing the fall weather. You can also photograph on our studio grounds. We have lots to offer such as a springhouse rock wall, gazebo, pond, and gardens.

Dress Appropriately

Fall is usually associated with cold weather and sweaters, it’s not best to appear wearing short sleeve t-shirts when the environment surrounding a subject screams fall. Colors also play a roll in photos. As your photographer, our goal is to make your subject contrast with their environment, driving attention towards them. Choose no more than three colors for your entire family, make sure there’s no patterns too. Colors that are optimal for fall include blues, purples, reds, black, and even jeans. Everyone featured must be dressed either casually or formally, no in-between. Baggy clothing is also not recommended and shoes do count.

 

We would love to speak with you about preparing for your family portrait session! Please give us a call at 215-262-7515 for your personal consultation.

Photographing Halloween Ghosts and Haunted Houses at Night

Kathy Peoples of Katydid Photography went to her favorite spot for spectacular images of life size ghost and goblins. Not everyone can create ethereal works of art out of the gauze once used to cast broken bones. Retired city school art teacher Dolores Dragan can, with a Halloween display that stops traffic. Every year, she adds more figures that are patterned after people she knows. It’s a site not to miss!

Here are some of the images we took with a tripod using long exposures. Students also learned how to light paint with flashlights.

We’ll be back here on October 24th from 6PM-8PM , so be sure to join us!

For more classes coming up, please visit our website at www.katydidphoto.com

Sunflower Field Workshop!

Come join me as we photograph the beauty of the sunflowers in the morning light. This is a newly planted field. I’m told there will be lots of color variety. Shoot with your Macro or closeup lenses for detailed work to create beauty at it’s finest. Also bring your wide angle lens for some great field shots too. Cell Phone pictures are welcome too!

Location: directions will be sent to you after you sign up. Danboro, Pa
Date: Sat.October 5, 2019
Time: 10:00 (arrive by 10:00) Kathy will teach for an hour.
Cost: $25.00. There is an addt’l $12.99 for entrance fee which includes staying for up to 3 hours.

To sign up, visit katydidphoto.com

Batman comes to life at Katydid Photography Studio

Batman, rescue, Gotham, Nathan

Bring your child in for a very cool Super Hero photograph. Little boys love costumes and little girls love to dress up. Capture this special time in their life with a wall poster for them to enjoy waking up to. Give them a sense of beauty and accomplishment with these type of photos…phycologists say it’s way better than waking up to a mirror! Children first years are very impressionable. Help mold your child into the great person they will become. We have ideas and props here at the studio too!

We Welcome Our New Intern, Ethan Sklar, to Katydid Photography!

Ethan currently attends Central Bucks High School – East in the 11^th grade, and Middle Bucks Institute of Technology in the 200 level of their Multimedia Technology program. Ethan is an Adobe Certified Associate in Visual Design using Adobe Photoshop CC 2015, and Digital Video using Adobe Premiere Pro CC 2015.

Ethan is always up for challenging tasks, as he enjoys trying new things and collaborating in the ever-changing world of multimedia. He is looking forward to learning more about photo manipulation, retouching in Adobe Lightroom, and being in control of his camera; all under the supervision of Kathy Peoples.

If you, or your child is interested in interning here at Katydid, don’t hesitate to contact Kathy at katydidphotography@comcast.net.

July 4th Fireworks!

It’s a star-spangled time of year again, so be ready, get your batteries charged, get your tripod out, and try out our long-exposure technique on shooting fireworks!

1. Use a tripod.
2. Use a cable release or wireless remote to trigger the shutter if you have one. If you do not, use your 2 sec. self-timer or your 10 sec. self-timer.
3. Turn on Long Exposure Noise Reduction (found in your menu).
4. Shoot the highest quality JPEG file you can but RAW is ideal.
5. Set your camera to Manual Mode.
6. Set the camera to a low ISO, such as 200 or 400.
7. A good starting point for aperture is f/11.
8. Shutter Speed… Two options: Instead of choosing a shutter speed, set the camera to Bulb (B) which allows you to keep the shutter open as long as you want. Expose for the entire fireworks burst. You can even keep the shutter open for multiple bursts. You can also try 2-10 sec. exposures.
9. If your camera will not take a picture, it is due to the autofocus being unable to find enough contrast in the dark. Then turn off the autofocus. Manually focus your lens at infinity.
10. Try different lenses. A wide-angle lens is best for shooting multiple bursts of fireworks. Try a zoom lens to get in tight and get some crazy, cool colors.
11. Remember to bring your bug spray, and try to find a location where there are no streetlights or headlights around you.

Macro Photography

10 tips for powerful macro photography:

• Set the camera to aperture priority and that will let you choose the aperture while the camera chooses the shutter speed.
• If your camera has a Close-Up Scene Mode—which is represented by a flower icon [on the mode dial]—choose it and the camera will select the correct exposure for a macro image
• Use a tripod to steady the camera or place the camera on a steady surface.
• Contrast your subject and the background with colors and details.
• Select a shallow depth of field. Ideally, set the aperture of the lens to f/2.8 or f/4.
• When shooting outdoor macro photography subjects, like butterflies, set up a wind barrier to prevent the subject from moving or flying away while you compose.
• Set the White Balance. AutoWB will cover a majority of lighting situations and deliver a macro photo with good colorization.
• If you cannot get outdoors in the early morning to shoot the dew on flowers, spritz a little water from a water bottle on the petals and leaves to create a more interesting picture.
• When photographing living subjects, like babies; pets or other animals and wildlife, remember to be patient. Those subjects tend to move around and may not always be ready to pose and cooperate.
• For a bit of fun, and to draw more interest to your images, get in really close to your subject so that only you know what you shot—but then have your friends try to guess what it is that you photographed! 

   

  You can also purchase close-up lenses at New York Camera & Video in Southampton for $30.

  

  

  

  

  

New Book Available Now!

We had the pleasure of photographing Jim Rosin for his new book; People, Places, & Me. It is now available for purchase and all the proceeds go to Breastcancer.org.

Tips for Sunrise & Sunset Photos

Here’s the thing about sunrises and sunsets, they are going to happen everyday whether you are their to capture them or not. But when you do capture them it’s what you do with them that make’s an impact. In order to make the best of your opportunity remember these first;

• The sun does not have to be the subject of the photograph.
• The effect of the sun on the landscape is often the picture.
• Plan or anticipate the picture you want to make.
• Give yourself the time and the tools to make it.

Now lets create the image

• Try to get to your location about 45 minutes before the sun rises.
• Bring a tripod! It’s possible to shoot this hand held but the tripod will aid in achieving a better end result
• Pay attention to the clouds and their movement.
• Find your horizon, you wanna try to take your shot before the sun peaks over the horizon. Once the
  sun has peaked it tends to get too intense, therefore aim for that in between moment.
• Think about the sun and how it is illuminating the objects in front of you; rocks, boats, docks, bridges, skylines, ect.
• Choose your f/stop, majority of the time you want everything in the foreground to be sharp
• Shutter speed, if there’s something in moving you want a higher shutter speed so it won’t result in a blurred image
• ISO, after determining the previous two items you can determine your ISO, which can always be pushed if needed