Guest Blogger: Kevin Chin

I am super excited to feature my second guest blogger today--Kevin Chin of Kevin Chin Photography. I have known Kevin for many years, and he continues to amaze me with his photography which truly captures the timeless essence of weddings. I love working with him because he really makes people feel at ease in front of the camera, with his soft spoken and easy going nature. Once you get to know him, he also keeps you laughing with his great sense of humor! When I was pregnant, Kevin took some amazing photos of my husband and I, along with my sister (who was also pregnant at the same time) and her husband. At nearly 8 months along then, I didn't feel quite so beautiful (or mobile) but Kevin was able to make me relax and feel my best in front of the camera. We loved how the photos came out--definitely classic and timeless just like we wanted them to be.

Ever since my daughter was born, my husband and I have purchased 2 DSLR cameras, in hopes to get the most amazing photographs of every living, breathing moment of our little princess. But, it didn't quite happen that way because we didn't know how to operate such a complicated piece of equipment! In talking to other parents, they felt the same way....that they often just relied on the auto feature to do its work. That seems to defeat the purpose of such an expensive purchase though! What to do then?? Perhaps it's time to call upon an expert....

Here is Kevin...

We all know the importance of hiring a professional photographer for life’s many important events. Milestone events such as a wedding only happy once. You don’t have a second chance if the photos don’t turn out well. Children grow up so fast and these precious moments need to be captured by a professional. Once they grow up, the will never be at that precious stage again and hopefully you have professional photos to always remember those moments.

But what about the times when you don’t have a professional photographer. There are many consumer cameras out there that you can purchase and the all take great photos. Digital photography has made it very easy for anyone to pick up a camera and start taking photos. Of course the disappointment comes when you realize the photos you take don’t always look like professional quality. Have you ever taken a photo that looks like this?

By simply adjusting the camera’s aperture to allow more of the background lighting to show, you can improve your photo to look something like this.

Both of these photos were taken with a “point & shoot” consumer camera. I know a lot of you own DSLR cameras and many of you are not making full use of your camera’s potential. Are you one of those that put the camera on “auto” and never learned to use any of the camera’s “manual” or “semi-manual” modes? Do all of those controls confuse you? The last thing you want to do is miss “the moment” as you fiddle with your camera.

If this describes you, I am offering an introductory photography class that I will be teaching later this summer. The goal of this class is to greatly improve you photos by better understanding you camera and using it to it’s fullest potential. It will be taught in a very non-techie, easy to understand format. I will announce the dates for my class and other details soon so check back to Jubilee’s blog regularly. You can also contact me at kchin@kevinchin.com.