With longer days and warmer temperatures ahead, summer is the perfect season to grab your camera and head out to take some pictures. Plus, with kids home from school and fun activities all summer long you’ll want to capture all those memories!
Whether you want to photograph nature or document the family trip to the beach, we have the gear you need plus some tips and tricks for the best summer photos!
Check out our go-to gear for capturing all the photo opportunities summer may throw your way!
Golden Hour
Golden hour is the period shortly after sunrise and before sunset. It offers natural, flattering light that’s perfect for portraits and landscapes. Photographing during this time of the day gives you soft, warm light that can turn ordinary images into something special. Make it a priority this summer to get out and enjoy this gorgeous light!
Vibrant Colors
Vibrant colors aren’t hard to find in the summer so make sure to capture them in your photos! From Green landscapes and flowers to bright blue skies and food, find the colors around you and use them to make your images pop! Look for compositions that include contrasting colors to make your photos pop. Plus, consider enhancing saturation and contrast settings in post to really make your colors stand out without making them look unnatural!
Reflections
Much like color, water isn’t hard to find in the summer, especially for our readers near oceans or lakes! Don’t have a lake or ocean nearby, visit your local pool. Wherever you may find water in summer, consider using the water to capture dramatic reflections. This can be a super fun opportunity to experiment with different perspectives, angles, lighting, and more! Struggling with glare? Polarizing filters can help by cutting glare and enhancing the natural color of the water!
People and Activities
The summer months are full of fun activities such as sporting events, fairs, festivals, beach days, and so much more. Make sure to keep your camera close so you never miss a moment! Whether you’re capturing your friends and family or the sights around you, shots of events and people enjoying themselves can be a fun addition to your summer photography collection. Using a fast shutter speed will help you capture these moments and cut down on motion blur!
Macro Moments
Get up close with nature this summer by trying out macro photography! Macro lenses or putting your camera on macro mode allows you to get up close and personal with flowers, insects, foliage, and more! Take time to enjoy the details you may miss and find joy in the little things. For the best results we recommend shooting your macro photography in the morning when the light is soft and dewdrops are present on leaves and flowers!
Night Photography
Try your hand at low-light photography this summer with subjects like the night sky, bonfires, or illuminated cityscapes! These images can be technically challenging but rewarding when you get that perfect shot! We recommend using a tripod and a shutter release to minimize camera shake when shooting with long exposures!
Compositional Creativity
Classic compositional guidelines such as the rule of thirds are a great place to start but we encourage you to try new things and experiment! Test our different angles and perspectives. Use objects within your scene to frame your subject or looking for symmetry and leading lines you can use to draw your viewer to your subject!
Keep Learning
Whether you’re just getting into photography or are an expert, you can always learn more! Here at Pixel we have a wide variety of fun workshops going on all summer long you can use to learn new skills or brush up on photography skills you already have! Check out our full lineup of events here!
Summer is full of photographic potential and we’re here to support your artistic endeavors year round! Grab your camera and capture all your summer fun! Happy shooting!