Capital Photography Center Blog

March 9, 2022

10 Tips For Capturing Spring Flowers

Marie Joabar

Winter is behind us and we can hardly wait for the spring blooms.  The Saucer Magnolias and Cherry Blossoms are getting ready to pop and close on their heels are the redbuds, dogwoods, the colorful tulips.

Even if flower photography is not your passion, it’s hard to pass by these spring beauties without framing a few in your viewfinder.

February 16, 2022

Celebrating Black Photographers and Their Vision

Marie Joabar

In recognition of Black History Month we want to "expose" these black photographers to you and celebrate their vision. Enjoy these online articles featuring both legendary and contemporary black photographers. 

January 27, 2022

14 Tips For Architectural Photography

Marie Joabar

With a few key tips, it’s easy for anyone to make improvements in their architectural photography. THe DC area has plenty of beautiful buildings to practice with both indoors and out.

January 6, 2022

8 Bad Photography Habits and Tips To Correct Them

Marie Joabar

As the year begins, let’s make sure we’re starting off on the right foot with good photography practices. Now is a great time to identify your bad habits and going forward, make a commitment and a strategy to correct them.  Check out the list below of some common bad habits… are any of them on your list?

December 20, 2021

Capturing Holiday Magic at Home

Marie Joabar

If travel is not in your plans over the holidays here are a few photo ideas to capture in your own home.

October 21, 2021

10 Tips for Colorful Fall Photos

Marie Joabar

Autumn provides shutterbugs of all levels the chance to photograph any and everything with a colorful fall back drop. Although it’s a bit slow this year, soon we’ll be at peak so get your cameras ready for some beautiful fall landscapes and seasonal portraits of family and friends.

Consider these 10 tips for exciting fall photos.

September 29, 2021

Photographing Abandoned Places and Urban Decay

Beth Haubach

Some of my best photography has been done at old or abandoned buildings. Exploring these locations is a look back in time and if the walls of these old buildings could talk, I have no doubt they would tell some amazing stories!

August 19, 2021

9 Tips To Stay Motivated With Your Photography

Marie Joabar

Have you ever been in a photo slump and lost your motivation to photograph? Are you doubting your ability to create compelling images even though you know you’re capable of taking them?Are you struggling to find subjects to excite and motivate you to photograph?

If you answered yes to any of these you’re not alone! Many people struggle with this but it's important to get it behind you. 

Hoping these 9 tips will help you find motivation to start moving forward with your photography again.

July 29, 2021

Exposure Bracketing: Why And When We Need It

Marie Joabar

Often when shooting landscapes or cityscapes we’re faced with a scene which presents us with a challenge; How can we capture such a wide range of tones, from light to dark, in the same exposure? Typically, the only way to do this is with Exposure Bracketing.

July 7, 2021

Creatively Capturing Lotus Flowers

Emily Carter Mitchell

Summer time is flower season and the DMV area offers some beautiful fields of flowers that people travel from surrounding states to visit. The Lotus flowers are truly unique and can be captured in so many creative ways. 

June 16, 2021

Travel Tips for Photographers

Marie Joabar

Summer is here and after a more than a year of Covid, who doesn’t want to travel and explore beautiful locations to photograph again?! 

There’s a lot to think about when traveling with your gear but the first consideration is deciding WHAT camera equipment to take and then, HOW you’re going to take it. Also think about how to get the best shots and how to back up images as you travel. 

May 12, 2021

10 Tips For Successful Silhouettes!

Marie Joabar

When faced with photographing our subject in front of a bright background, we often end up with the background perfectly exposed but our subject a silhouette.

If this has happened to you and you purposely planned to capture a silhouette, then good for you, you probably don’t need to read the rest of this article. If however, you captured a silhouette by accident and want to know how it happened so you can do it again, or perhaps NOT do it again, then read on.

April 21, 2021

A Photographer’s Vision - Tips for Pre-Visualizing

Marie Joabar

Each photographer has a vision of what they want their photo to look like either before they start shooting or once they see their images in post processing.

Pre-visualization is seeing the finished photo in your mind’s eye before you begin photographing. It is a helpful technique giving you a goal to achieve and working through the challenges you might face while shooting.

March 31, 2021

My Favorite Places for Signs of Spring

Lori Lankford

Here are some of my favorite local places to really see the birth of spring. I hope you will get out with your camera and celebrate the new beginning of spring. 

March 9, 2021

Tips for Stronger Compositions

Michael Koren

The composition of a photograph is the single most important element a photographer uses to convey an artistic statement.  What’s included, excluded and the arrangement of elements within the frame is all part of composition.

Composition makes order out of the chaos of a three-dimensional world and distills it to the two-dimensional picture that becomes a photograph.