This is where I spent my Thanksgiving vacation. Great times.
Blog
Happy Thanksgiving!
Hi Everyone! I would like to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving and a great start to the holiday season. I wish you safe journeys, good food, and good times with friends and family to you all!
Now…go eat some turkey!
Capturing Good Holiday Photos
Often, I am asked to give advice on capturing good snapshots…or, I find my clients saying, “I’m not good with a camera.” I think anyone can capture a photo that will make your friends say wow. So, today, in the spirit of the upcoming holidays, I have decided to to give away a few strategies I employ for getting that cool family shot or holiday shot.
1. Find an unusual angle or perspective. As adults, we are used to seeing each other and our family from a particular point of view. Looking at the world from a different perspective (through the lens, and at a different height) will make the picture “pop.” So, try a photo from a kid’s point of view. Look at that turkey or Christmas Tree from “down low” or if there is a ladder or steps in the room your shooting in, take the picture from “up high.” A change of perspective, or even simply a tilt of a lens can completely change the look and feel of an image. One special note: don’t shoot your family and friends from down low. Shooting up on a person will often bring out dreaded double chins, or show what is hiding deep in their nose. No one wants to see that.
2. Get in close. When framing your shot, get in close, or crop the picture tight in post processing. This will enable you to block out distracting backgrounds. Sometimes less is more. Give the viewer only enough information to see what you want them to see.
3. Don’t put your subject in the center of your frame. Have a look at this Wikipedia entry on the Rule of Thirds: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thirds. It was something great painters of the past followed, and holds true today in our photography. The center of a picture is a pretty dead space (note the common phrase “dead center”). A subject slightly off the center (in the left or right 1/3 of the frame) draws the eye to it. This could be your kid next to your tree, or a close up of your child’s face when they open that fabulous gift, with their eyes in the upper third of the frame.
These simple steps will certainly help you to create better photos. Happy Holidays!
Tim
tim hill images gives back!
November/December booking will benefit a charity dear to my heart: Kids with Cameras.
Kids with Cameras was founded in 2002 by photographer Zana Briski out of her work teaching photography to children in Calcutta’s red-light district. They believe that photography is an effective tool in igniting children’s imagination and building self-esteem. They believe in the power of art to transform lives, for both the artist and the viewer.
Kids with Cameras was the subject of a documentary film called “Born into Brothels” (available on Netflix). One of their first kids, Avijit, is now a film student at NYU! My donations will go directly to his scholarship fund. Here is a link to a short film he has made dios te salve maria yt version. I would like to see his dreams come true.
10% of my fee in November and December of 2009 will be donated to Kids With Cameras and the Avijit scholarship fund (http://www.kids-with-cameras.org).
As a performing artist, and a photographer, I know how art changed my life, growing up in the mountains of North Carolina. My first camera was a kodak instamatic x15f (think a little point and shoot camera with a disposable flash bar). I immediately began terrorizing the family pets by making them pose in my mother’s flower garden. While “at work” I destroyed many flowers and took hundreds of photos of the pets, flowers and the family, which my parents were obliged to print and save.
This certainly is a year in which charities really could use our help. Many are feeling the financial crunch. So, I now challenge you to consider giving a matching sized gift to a charity of your choice.
recent clients
William Burden - Publicity Photos
Annie Rosen - Headshots
Ricardo Lugo - Headshots & Publicity Photos
Retirement Yenta - Website Personality Photo
Gordon Schonfeld - Headshot
Save the Date! — Tim Sings
November 9, 2009
7:00 PM
St John’s Lutheran Church
81 Christopher St
NYC
KRISTALLNACHT SERVICE
On the evening of November 9, 1938, the government of Nazi Germany began burning down synagogues and smashing the glass fronts of Jewish shops in Berlin and other large cities in Germany and Austria. That night has been called Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken Glass. From that time onward, the momentum of the Holocaust gathered force and led to wholesale persecution. Please join St. John’s Lutheran Church for a candlelight service of rememberance commemorating Kristallnacht. The service will end with an active commitment to love, healing and peace for the world.
Music by Verdi, Strauss, Mendelssohn, Weil, Handel and others.
Martha Guth, soprano
Ann McMahon Quintero, mezz0-soprano
Robert McPherson, tenor
Tim Hill, bass-baritone
All are welcome. No Tickets – donations gratefully accepted.
Seating is limited, so please let us know that you’re coming.
November 20, 2009
8:00 PM
Gershwin Hotel
7 East 27th St
NYC
Support the Creation of Song!
