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!

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: