If you're taking pictures outside try using a flash!  Especially with harsh sun light, using a flah can take away that deep shadows on a persons face.  If you have a pop up flash moving that up will make the flash go off, look at your camera book for how your individual camera works.

I've been so busy lately photographing Rush Soccer, The Woodlands United Methodist Church UPWARD program, & South Montgomery County YMCA but I have to take a moment to laugh at the crazy kids I work with sometimes! 

Coming on September 24th 2009 Montgomery County Association of Business Women is throwing the best LADIES NIGHT OUT of the year!!!  We're gonna have: Casino Gaming Tables, Pet Psychic Readings, Pet Pictures, Karaoke, Entertainment, Games, Silent Auctions, Raffles, Heavy Appetizers and Desserts, Cash Bar & Much more.  It's so much fun and is for a good cause with the profits going straight to Friends of Montgomery County Texas Animal Shelter.  If you can't make it you can always donate straight to the cause on the website as well.  Go to www.MCABW.org/LNO for all the goodies

I tell people all the time to keep their digital images in more than one place...I never thought it would be my sister that I would have to worry about.  She's in the moving process and changing over computers and I'm trying to explain to her about having a backup system.  Not backing up to a cd/dvd...those are too easy to damage, loose and hard to upload large amounts of data, which pictures usually are.  Personally I have two external drives and to make it simple an external drive is like the storage part on your computer but it's sperate from the computer.  The first drive is one I use all the time and keep all my data on, I keep no files on my computers hard drive.  I then periodically copy them to my second drive as a backup to my backup.  When it's stormy out the drive gets unplug for fear of it getting fried and when I'm out of town it goes into the fire proof safe.  Here is the kind of external drive I use: http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/navigate.do?dest=5&item=392916 and it's 1tb (which is plenty of space) on sale at Sams Club for just over $100!  A side note this is also great since you can take it easier than your desktop and transfer files when you get a new computer later on.  Small price tag for peace of mind!

I went to the pool the other day and there was a woman there with a camera in her hand sitting with her feet in the pool.  Now while I applaud her for being on the ball marking these great moments in her kids life, we were at a pool that has a BIG splash every 5 minutes or so.  She was sitting in the direct fire of the over spray.  Unless your camera is something you're ok just throwing away & have another one or the money to just get another I would never recommend this.  I get clients all the time wondering why I can't shoot in a little bit of sprinkle.  One drop of water in the wrong spot and the electronics inside that camera are dead.