⚡Transform Your Family Photos: 4 Expert Tips


LEVEL UP

YOUR PHONE PHOTOGRAPHY

with Gabrielle Touchette

In today's newsletter:

  1. An in-person phone photography workshop in Winnipeg
  2. 4 expert tips for taking family photos with a phone
  3. How (and where!) to print phone photos with quality

1. Workshop Announcement!

First off, I'm excited to announce that I'm hosting a rare in-person phone photography workshop at Sweet Petals Farm on Saturday September 7th!

Participants will be treated to private access to Terry's farm where we'll get to walk through her flower gardens as I teach you how to take better nature photos with your phone camera. This will be a very hands on workshop with lots of practical tips and direction.

The second part of the workshop will include tips on how to edit your photos so they pop and also how to edit them for prints and cards.

Space is limited, so reserve your spot today!

Stories have to be told or they die, and when they die, we can’t remember who we are or why we’re here. – Sue Monk Kidd

2. Four tips for amazing family photos

A lot of you have been asking me: how do I take better family photos with my phone?

The answer is simple! Just follow my four top tips:

  1. Choose soft, even lighting. Put the family in full shade and make sure there are no sun spots or shadows landing on anyone.
  2. Find a simple, non-distracting background. Sometimes we are drawn to really "pretty" backgrounds like a flower bed or an elaborate garden. While these may be pretty to look at, they don't always work well as a background for people photos. I recommend finding clean, simple backgrounds so that your subject's face stands out.
  3. Make it quick. Don't spend too much time trying to make young kids smile. Start with one quick pose with everyone looking at the camera and (hopefully!) smiling. Kids have a short attention span, so quickly move on to the next pose: something fun, wacky or super playful. That will get you genuine smiles from even the youngest kids. The quicker you can take the photo, the more genuine the smiles will be!
  4. Edit your photos in Lightroom. I increase contrast, brightness and sharpness. I also increase the colour saturation a bit. For extra fun, you can select just the background (using the masking tool in Lightroom) and make it more bright, so that your subject pops out even more:

For a detailed tutorial and the exact settings I used to edit these photos, watch my new Patreon how-to video here:

3. How (and where) to print your phone photos

There's nothing like having your digital photos in print form. In this blog post, I share the step-by-step process for preparing your phone snapshots into stunning, high-quality prints.

All you need is any phone, Lightroom Mobile, and access to the internet. I share where I upload my photos and print them at one of my favourite photo labs:


Gabrielle Touchette Photography

Find more of my free resources:

InstagramPatreonMy Blog


UnsubscribePreferences • PO Box 46, Winnipeg, MB R2H 3B4

Level Up Your Phone Photography

Simplified and actionable photo tips, with a dash of creative inspiration, to improve your phone photography skills and build your confidence as a new photographer. Start taking photos with consistency and intention to make a bigger impact, capture attention and build trust. Distilled from over 15 years of professional photography expertise.

Read more from Level Up Your Phone Photography

LEVEL UP YOUR PHONE PHOTOGRAPHY WITH GABRIELLE TOUCHETTE ••• Why is it that some people's phone photos look like this... ... while other people's photos (using the same phone camera) look like this?: That's because the first person is shooting in auto mode, and the other person is shooting in a more intentional, manual way. So if phone camera technology is so advanced in 2024, why does auto mode produce such terrible photos? DESIGNED TO BE AVERAGE That's because phone cameras were designed to...

LEVEL UP YOUR PHONE PHOTOGRAPHY WITH GABRIELLE TOUCHETTE ••• Becoming a good photographer involves three different types of skills. And yes, even pro photographers struggle to develop these skills. I can personally attest to this! When I was first starting out, I would see so many good photos by other photographers, but whenever I tried to recreate them, my photos always looked painfully bad. They were either too dark, too unclear, too cheesy or too boring. Soooooo many cheesy photos. If you...

LEVEL UP YOUR PHONE PHOTOGRAPHY with Gabrielle Touchette In today's e-mail: The power of 3 for more creative photos. A live workshop on Zoom, coming up in January. A 20-sec tutorial on sharper, clearer phone photos. Read more below.... THE POWER OF 3 Bad design shouts at you. Good design is the silent seller. -Shane Meendering Things grouped in threes tend to bring more natural, harmonious visual appeal to a photo. That's why good photographers gravitate towards this number when composing an...