Welcome. Grab a cup of coffee. Stay a while. Learn how to use your fancy camera of yours.

eye contact

By Cori Derksen | May 2, 2010

Give those kiddos some eye contact. Just a simple easy idea…a quick tip and something that happens to work for me. A large portion of my photography is little kids. And these kids (4 months to 5 years old) don’t quite get what we’re doing when we’re trying to take their pictures. Think about it…

Read More

wall hangings

By Cori Derksen | Apr 21, 2010

I thought I’d share something practical for people who love photography, take pictures, print pictures, and then………need to hang pictures. :) I have a few thoughts, a few ideas. Wanna see how I do it? Ok, you know how when you buy a frame from a place like Aaron Brothers (I buy a lot of…

Read More

wanna learn your camera?

By Cori Derksen | Apr 8, 2010

I had a photography workshop last month to help some lovely people learn their camera and it was a great success! Are you interested? Do you want to learn how to use your Digital SLR camera off of auto mode? How to compose a fantastic picture? How to look at light? Well, I will be…

Read More

dark setting? sometimes…still refrain from flash

By Cori Derksen | Mar 31, 2010

There are certain times when it’s dark, when it’s still best to refrain from using a flash. Look at this picture below. Here are my settings: Camera setting = manual ISO = 1000 aperture = 3.2 shutter speed = 1/160 And, how different would this picture have been with a flash? In my opinion not…

Read More

emotion

By Cori Derksen | Mar 24, 2010

Why do people take pictures? Often it’s to remember something. Remember a moment. Remember a feeling. Capture the emotion of that moment. Well, capture it! Capture those moments that your photographer is not around for. THESE moments are why you want to, need to, should learn how to use your camera well. Stick to it.…

Read More

composition: lines & patterns

By Cori Derksen | Mar 11, 2010

Lines and patterns make pictures interesting. They also can control the path of your eye. They can guide your eye toward the focal point of the image. They can also keep your eye in the picture (and not let it escape). I’ll show you what I mean with some examples below. Now remember, this is…

Read More

my camera bag (2010)

By Cori Derksen | Mar 9, 2010

What’s in my camera bag?? Hmmm, that’s a fun question… I actually get asked that question quite a bit. So here it is. I’m a simple girl…but I’m completely a canon girl. Update: See the current list on my equipment page. Canon 5D Mark II camera body (my main fabulous camera) Canon 5D camera body…

Read More

composition: fill the frame

By Cori Derksen | Mar 2, 2010

Another beautiful way of composing a picture is to completely fill the frame. Fill it with your fabulous subject. Fill it with your landscape. Fill it with whatever you’re shooting. I’ll include some examples below. Fill the frame with that little face…completely. At times I will even cut off a slight portion of the head…

Read More

composition: rule of thirds

By Cori Derksen | Feb 26, 2010

I’ve gotten some requests to cover the subject of composition. Thanks for your input! And here goes…an initial post on composition. There are a lot of ways to compose a picture and make it look interesting. But there is something about the rule of thirds that draws my eyes to an image. I love pictures…

Read More