Slow down, soldier. Before you take 200 shots that seem great at time, but then upon review of final picture are less than what you expected, let's prepare. Prepare?!?! I'll bet you thought charging battery was hardest part of taking great photos, didn't you? Sorry to disappoint you, but if you want to improve your photo results 50% in 2 minutes, let's review some basic advice of pros.

There are two categories of GENERAL ADVICE which applies, regardless of whether you're using a digital camera to take family portrait poses, baby pictures, pet portraits, group pictures, funny photos, or even maternity portraits. The first category is...

1) Prepare For The Event

Prepare for event by thinking about every photograph you want to take and what kind of photography pose or poses you would like to capture. Consider who, where, how, and type of environment.

2) Take Multiple Photographs

Take multiple shots of each pose (remember, digital memory is reusable, a.k.a. "free"). Regardless of what you say or do, people will blink. And don't count on spotting small problems on tiny camera LCD screen (even on full magnification); which leads to...

3) Check LCD Screen

Check digital camera's LCD screen for general framing of picture, any movement, visibility of faces, and histogram. Note that you can think up a fantastic photography pose; arrange everyone perfectly; and, have photograph "frozen" (no blinking, and no shaking of camera)...but, when you check it out in LCD, you see 2 drunks fighting in background! And, my favorite...

4) Funny Phrases

Have some funny phrases handy to use just before you take photo. Don't use it when setting up for shot. And, don't use same phrase all time. Throw in funny anecdotes, phrases, names, words that you know your family will find more amusing than "cheese." A natural smile looks four times better than a fake one. The second category is...

Taking indoor family photography, is very different than outdoor family photograph (duh!). For INDOOR pictures...

Materials:

Plant images and names cut from your seed catalogues or magazines

Cardboard or balsa wood rectangles to fit your images

Wooden tongue depressors, popsicle sticks or stainless steel skewers as stakes to mount your plant tags and poke them into ground

Elmer’s Glue-All or Mod Podge

Scissors

Small bowl of water

Acrylic paint (optional)

Prep surface: If you are using balsa wood, you may need to sand off any rough edges. Do so gently to avoid splintering wood. Then wipe away any dust with a damp sponge.

Decide if you want a colored background. The balsa wood showing through is a nice look by itself – kind of like old-fashioned orange crates. If you want color, apply two coats of acrylic paint, allowing two hours drying time for each coat. If there are any rough spots, sand again; and wipe away any dust as before.

Decoupage

This is a great tip from Durwin Rice. If you are using images with color on both sides (like from a catalogue or magazine), soak each image in a small bowl of water until it stops curling and floats freely without wrinkles.