A question Crystal and I get asked ALL the time is how we like working as a partnership. At first glance, it seems that most photographers work solo, so it is a natural question. There are a lot of really great teams out there (Bobbi+Mike, Jasmine and JD, the Sallees, and Bob and Dawn Davis, just to name a few) but they tend to be husband and wife teams, so how do friends fare? I think that the team question is a very personal one. It depends a lot on the personalities of the people involved. Both Crystal and I are pretty laid back personalities. We like to have people be happy, so we both are pretty slow to get upset (I don’t think we have ever had a fight) and pretty quick to try and see the positive in what the other is doing. So that right there has given us a big advantage. We also have really complimentary “talents.” Crystal is a veritable FOUNTAIN of creativity. It just pours out of her. She …

Man, cameras these days. So smart. There are so many options in making an image with a camera now. You can keep all of the control of the camera (this is what Crystal and I (Rachel) do. When people oooh and ahh over our cameras and say, “Wow, those must take GREAT pictures!”, we smile and say, “Yep, we taught them everything they know!” ), you can keep some of the control of the camera, but let the camera make some decisions, or you can let the camera make the decisions. Each way has pros and cons, and some models of camera will only allow a one or maybe two of these choices. A point and shoot is a good example of a camera that will usually only allow you to let the camera call the shots. Sigh…so that means you have no control, right? If the picture turns out good, it was all the camera? And if it turns out bad, there was nothing to be done? Should we just sit in the corner …

So you’ve gotten a new SLR for Christmas? WOO! Excellent choice! But now, there are all of those knobs and buttons and dials…not to mention the meters. And everything is labeled with enough photography jargon to make your head spin. But! Do not despair! I have a pretty simple tip that can get you making more creative exposures pretty quickly and painlessly. But first off, a jargon moment. No, no, not to add to the confusion, but to clear some up. I remember when I first started wondering about photography. I started Googling and reading and I kept coming across terms like shutter speed, ISO and aperture. Now, I kind of got what ISO was. Because when I bought film (yes, I am old) I chose which ISO I wanted. It was how sensitive the film (and now the sensor) is to light. Ok. Shutter speed seemed pretty self-explanatory. How fast the shutter clicked. I figured the faster it clicked, the less light came into the camera. (There’s more to it for both of these …