Big Picture Classes - Save $20 on "The Phone Photography Project" and "The Phone Photography Project 2"

Document your summer adventures better than ever AND learn to make the most of your smartphone with 31 FUN summer photo challenges and 60 awesome app reviews.

Our wildly popular workshop from last summer, The Phone Photography Project, is now available as a self-paced workshop! Sign up today and you get instant access to all class content. You can start today (or whenever you want) and proceed at your own pace. 

Tip: Register in the next week or two, you'll have time to complete all 31 challenges before our long-awaited sequel, The Phone Photography Project 2, begins on July 17. 

Register for both The Phone Photography Project: Summer Challenges AND The Phone Photography Project 2 in a single purchase and you can save $20 instantly! 

Already registered for the sequel? Enter code 2XPHONEFUN to save $20 off the self-paced class only. Offer expires June 16.

Disclosure: This link contains affiliate links. If a purchase is made through these links, The Craft Mom receives a small commission.

Big Picture Classes - Last Day to Save 13% on "Finding Your Photo Style"

Photo Fabulousness Can Be Yours Would you like to express YOUR unique vision, personality, and perspective through every amazing photo you take? And save 13%? Join us as we look through a new lens alongside a different photography instructor each week. Explore color, open shade, and editing tricks with Maggie Holmes. Have fun with light, framing, and composition with Tracey Clark. Learn about cameras, portraiture, and place with Andrea Jenkins. Play with perspective, light, and exposure with Rebecca Cooper. Experiment with visual storytelling, instinct, and post-processing goals with Elizabeth Dillow. Explore location, faux studios, and black-and-white photographs with Kate T. Parker. Shoot with soul, beauty, life and self-expression with Alessandra Cave. Did we mention that you can find ALL OF THIS in one incredible workshop, starting Thursday? This is your last chance to join hundreds of budding photographers in Finding Your Photo Style: 7 weeks of creative photo ideas from 7 industry experts. Last chance to register! Save 13% now with code PHOTOFAB13.

Halloween Photography Tips and an Ebook Discount from Big Picture Classes

Halloween can be a 'tricky' time of year for taking photos. Try these five photography tips from Rebecca Cooper, author of Don’t Say Cheese: Capture real smiles with 247 tips for photographing kids.

1. Change Perspective
The traditional smiling-in-their-Halloween-costume photos are great, but don't forget to switch things up! For this shot, which is one of my all-time Halloween favorites, I was crouched low to the ground behind the kids as they walked away from me.

2. Play it Up
Instead of asking costumed kids to “say cheese,” ask them to act like the character they're dressed up as. Even the most serious or scary expressions quickly turn into smiles!

3. Take Before and After Shots
Take one photo “before” followed by an “after” photo that’s as similar in setting and composition as possible. This works great for pumpkins, party decor, and of course, costumes.

4. Shoot Before Dark
Think about having your trick or treaters ready a bit early. Head out at dusk when the sun is low and you have just enough of that golden sunlight left to capture a few memorable photos.

5. Get in the Glow
For the best spooky jack-o-lantern glow, it’s best to:

• Turn out the lights and turn off your flash
  
• Use your camera's self timer or a remote and set your camera on a stable surface or a tripod to avoid blur
  
• Photograph your pumpkin on a glossy surface for added spookiness
  
• Opt for an artificial light source inside the pumpkin (battery-operated candles or flashlight) for more even lighting
  
• Use more than one “light source” (e.g., multiple glowing pumpkins)
  
• Tell your kids to look at the jack-o-lanterns and play "freeze.” There can be no blinking, no itching noses, no giggling. Kids love the challenge, and you’ll love the resulting photos!

Happy Halloween from us to you! And here’s a bonus treat: Rebecca’s 54-page eBook, Don’t Say Cheese, is 31% off through the weekend. Enter code SPOOKY at checkout by Sunday, November 3.

Craftsy - New Online Photography Classes!

Craftsy's New Photography Courses 

Craftsy’s goal is to revolutionize online education by allowing photography enthusiasts to go on location with world-class instructors, learn professional techniques and engage with instructors and fellow students. 

Craftsy courses are highly interactive, allowing students to ask questions, make digital video notes, and learn using the latest tools. 

Check out the great course offerings currently available:

• Shoot It: Product Photography Class - You don't need expensive software or a super-fancy camera to take great photos - just the knowledge you'll get in this essential class.
• Kirk Tuck: Studio Portrait Lighting - Let photographer Kirk Tuck show you the equipment, setup and lighting techniques you’ll need to create alluring, professional-quality studio portraits.
• Portraits With an On-Camera Speedlight - Use light to bring your portraits to life! Harness available light and learn advanced on-camera flash techniques with Neil van Niekerk.
• Landscape Photography: Great Sand Dunes - Journey through stunning sand dune vistas with photo guru Rick Sammon & elevate your landscape photos from bland to breathtaking in this online class.
• Shooting Intimate Landscapes - Turn the ordinary into the extraordinary! See beauty on a small scale and find intimate landscapes anywhere with photographer Rob Sheppard.
• Off-Camera Flash Photography with Neil van Niekerk - Put your subjects in their best light no matter what the setting by taking your speedlight off-camera and creating fantastic portraits with Neil van Niekerk’s expert flash techniques.